TL;DR: The hand-washing dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees in Mark 7 was not about hygiene but about a Pharisaic ritual practice of ceremonially purifying hands before meals, modeled after priestly Temple rituals. In the first half of chapter 7 of the Gospel of Mark Jesus gets into a heated argument with a group of […]
For many of us, the word “angel” conjures up an image of a perfect divine creature who offers us spiritual guidance. An angel is the essence of selflessness and generosity. In English, we even praise someone who has done something particular nice by saying “you are such an angel”. If, however, we open the Bible […]
In this post, I would like to introduce you to Magdala, one of the most famous sites on the shores of the Sea of Galilee mentioned in the Gospels. What makes Magdala so unique is that the archaeological remains of the city actually date to the first century. This contrasts with Bethsaida and Chorazin, also mentioned in […]
The Gospel of John uses a unique word to describe the Holy Spirit: the Advocate. For example: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you” (John 14:26). We are used to thinking of the […]
Among the best known stories in the Hebrew Bible is the account of the Ten Plagues, described in Exodus chapters 6-12. This series of increasingly nasty afflictions is meant to persuade Pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage. Beginning with a blood-filled Nile and ending with the death of all the first born sons, time and time again, […]
The Hebrew Bible is full of poetic language that to be truly savored must be read – preferably aloud – in the original Hebrew. Nowhere can the music of Biblical Hebrew be felt more than in the Book of Psalms. In the days when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, many of the psalms were actually […]
The River Jordan, which forms the eastern boundary of the Land of Israel, is one of the most famous biblical bodies of water. It is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible. Joshua split its waters to allow the Israelites passage into the Land, Elijah ascended up to heaven from its waters, and of course, […]
One of the well-known miracles performed by Jesus during his Galilean ministry is the healing of the Gadarene demoniacs. Following his stilling of the storm, Jesus crosses over to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and finds two men possessed by demons who live in tombs. He removes the demons from the men […]
In recent weeks, archaeologists have uncovered a large ritual bath in the southeastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona (see below). The ancient bath was found underground in the course of the construction of a playground, not an uncommon occurrence in Israel. It is difficult to construct anything new (roads, houses, malls) without coming across something ancient (roads, houses, […]
The account of Jesus’ giving of the “sign of Jonah” is found in two of the four gospels (Matthew 12:38-42 and Luke 11:29-32) with an important difference. In both versions of the story Jesus is angered by the crowd’s request for a “sign” (σημεῖον) to prove his legitimacy. Previously when crowds had asked Jesus to perform acts of […]
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