Guides
Curated walkthroughs exploring how themes and traditions evolve across ancient texts
The Influence of Philo of Alexandria
Explore how the first-century Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria read the Torah through Greek philosophy, and how the concepts he developed influenced the New Testament.
The World Tree in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Traditions
Explore how the image of a great tree at the center of the world was inherited from Mesopotamian myth into the Hebrew Bible and reshaped by later Jewish and Christian traditions.
King Josiah at the Center of Israel's History
Explore how Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings use distinct Deuteronomic language and literary structure that converges on Josiah's reform, suggesting his scribes shaped the history to center on his image as the ideal king.
The Solar and Lunar Calendar Debate
Explore how communities debated whether the sun or the moon should govern the festival year, from the solar calendar of 1 Enoch and Jubilees through the Qumran community to the rabbinic decisions that produced the lunar calendar still in use today.
Paul the Rabbi
Explore how Paul's methods of reading scripture, reasoning, arguing, and telling stories anticipate the techniques later expanded and codified in rabbinic traditions.
The Divine Council and the Development of Bureaucracy
Explore how the biblical divine council evolved from an informal council of gods into a structured divine administration, and how its evolution follows the influence of Mesopotamian, Persian, and Hellenistic bureaucracies.
Beauty and Divine Favor in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible
Explore how ancient Near Eastern royal ideology connected physical beauty to divine election and how this influenced the Hebrew Bible. This concept is found in the description of figures like Saul, David, Absalom, Joseph, and Esther, and the servant of Isaiah 53 notably reverses it.
Some Differences Between the Septuagint and Masoretic Traditions
Explore how the two most influential text traditions, the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text, each shaped, expanded, and condensed their inherited texts to serve their communities, and how the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed that textual diversity was the norm rather than the exception.
How the Dead Sea Scrolls Anticipate the New Testament
Explore theological and social concepts in the Dead Sea Scrolls that are similar to the theology, language, and practices later described in the New Testament.
Melammu: Divine Radiance in the Ancient Near East and Biblical Traditions
Explore how Melammu, the awe-inspiring radiance of gods and kings in ancient Mesopotamia, originated in the overwhelming brightness of the sun and stars and eventually shaped Biblical and derivative traditions about Adam’s lost glory, Moses’ shining face, apocalyptic visions of the righteous transformed into light, and the promise of a radiant world to come.
The Primordial History: Genesis 1–11 and the Ancient Near East
Explore key narratives in Genesis 1–11, from creation to Babel, compared with their Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Sumerian counterparts to reveal how Israelite traditions incorporated and reshaped Near Eastern traditions.
The Influence of 1 Enoch on the New Testament
Explore how 1 Enoch likely shaped the language, imagery, and theology of the New Testament, from the Gospels' Son of Man to Revelation's final judgment.
Protecting Widows, Orphans, and the Poor
Explore how the social obligation to protect the most vulnerable members of society evolved from ancient Near Eastern culture into the Hebrew Bible, prophetic critique, Second Temple piety, early Christianity, and Rabbinic tradition.
From the Tablet of Destinies to the Book of Life
Explore how the Mesopotamian idea of divine tablets that tracked everyone's destiny evolved through the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Jewish literature, the New Testament, and Rabbinic traditions as the "book of life."
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