Today we released a music video for Psalm 23, featuring the beautiful “Adonai Ro’i” song by Miqedem and illustrated with photos from our collection. The song is in Hebrew, the very words composed by David in ancient Judah 3,000 years ago, and played by a band of believers in Israel. I think it’s one of the best videos of Psalm 23 ever created.
You can watch the video here, and if you like it, it would be a great help if you could share, like, and comment. Thank you.
A team excavating in Luxor has uncovered a mummy in a wooden sarcophagus that dates to 1600 BC.
“Archaeologists have discovered a shrine in a temple in Egypt that describes a ritual never seen before.”
Six thousand artifacts taken from the Kerak Castle will be displayed in the city museum.
Syria announced the uncovering of a large, remarkable 1,600-year-old mosaic depicting scenes of the Trojan War.
“New mosaics with various figures were unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Hadrianopolis, which is called the ‘Zeugma of Black Sea.’”
“Archaeologists may have found the sanctuary of the Samian Poseidon while they were conducting excavations at the Samicum Acropolis in Greece.”
The British Institute for the Study of Iraq is hosting an online international conference to mark the 100th anniversary of Sir Leonard Wooley’s first season of excavations at Ur.
Shai Gordin and Avital Romach explain the benefits of using computers to study ancient cuneiform texts.
New release: A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East, edited by Ted Kaizer (Wiley, £159; Amazon).
International Archaeology Day on October 22 will be celebrated at the Nashville Parthenon with a number of activities.
“An American tourist knocked over two ancient Roman busts in the Vatican Museums after he was told he couldn’t meet with Pope Francis.”
Our team has been working on a special little project, and we look forward to sharing that this week. By way of preview, I will say that it is a powerfully beautiful celebration of one of the most loved passages in all the Bible.
HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Ted Weis, Explorator
Aaron Reich looks at evidence for Sukkot pilgrimages along the first-century street leading from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount.
A foundation stone has been laid for a rope bridge to connect Mount Zion to the village of Abu Tor.
On Wednesday, tens of thousands gathered at the Western Wall to hear the president of Israel read portions of Scripture in accord with the command for such a gathering to be held every seven years.
Expedition Bible just surpassed 100,000 subscribers on YouTube with the release of its 25th video focused on the father of archaeology, Sir Flinders Petrie.
The latest BAS video in the “Digging In” series focuses on Azekah (4 min).
Behirut is a new Chrome extension designed to make reading Hebrew text on the web clearer.
“After reviewing new historical evidence, scholars now believe the Apostle Paul used the handy map in the back of his Bible when deciding where to travel to next.”
I join Henry Smith on the latest episode of Digging for Truth, explaining the importance and major features of Hezekiah’s Tunnel.
HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Carl Rasmussen, Ted Weis
Egyptian archaeologists do not often find a complete sarcophagus in its original tomb, but they did recently while National Geographic cameras were rolling. The tomb of Ramses II’s treasurer was discovered at Saqqara at the bottom of a 25-foot shaft that was filled with sand.
“Hieroglyphics: Unlocking Ancient Egypt” is a new exhibition at the British Museum.
“The mode of writing used in Ancient South Arabia, the legendary realm of the Queen of Sheba, was especially unique. The Sabaeans and their neighbours did not write on common materials such as leather or papyrus but rather on something surprisingly simple: branches of fresh wood just cut off the tree.”
Zoom lecture on Oct 11: “The Jordan Museum: More Than 10,000 Years of Human Resilience and Innovation,” by Ihab Amarin.
Excavation work on the Sardis synagogue is complete after 60 years, and all major finds will be displayed in the Manisa Museum.
Archaeologists discovered a Roman-era gymnasium north of Konya (biblical Iconium). The Laodicea mentioned in the article is not the same one mentioned in the New Testament.
Turkish Archaeological News has a roundup of stories for September.
A statue of Hercules from the 2nd century AD has been discovered in excavations at Philippi.
Mercenaries were an important part of Greek armies in the 5th century BC, a fact ancient Greek historians fail to mention.
“Archaeologists are using Apple’s iPad Pro to gather data, analyze objects, create a database and come to conclusions about the ancient site of Pompeii.”
“Entertainment among the Romans” is a new exhibition at the Lugdunum Museum in Lyon, France.
HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis, Explorator, Paleojudaica
“Forty-four pure gold coins were recently found hidden in a wall during excavations at the Banias archaeological site.” The coins were minted in the reigns of the last two Byzantine emperors before the Muslim conquest in AD 635.
Mahmoud Hawari has a brief report on the Khirbat al-Mafjar Archaeological Project at Jericho.
As a follow-up to his previous post about a 1st-century synagogue at Chorazin, Carl Rasmussen shares some photos taken earlier this week on the current restoration project.
Leen Ritmeyer shares a number of reconstruction drawings from the Double Gate in Jerusalem, which he identifies with the Beautiful Gate of Acts 3.
The Museum of the Bible and DIVE (Digital Interactive Virtual Experiences) are hosting a virtual tour of the Kidron and Hinnom Valleys on November 9. The cost is $20.
Ferrell Jenkins provides some history and photos of Tirzah, the second capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Zoom lecture on Oct 26: “One Site, Two Peoples: Phoenicians and Jews at Kedesh of the Upper Galilee,” by Andrea Berlin
Bryan Windle has written another well-illustrated archaeological biography, this one on Hazael, the Aramean king who boasted of defeating Israel and the “house of David” in the famous Tel Dan Inscription.
New release: Encyclopedia of Material Culture in the Biblical World. A New Biblisches Reallexikon, edited by Angelika Berlejung with P.M. Michèle Daviau, Jens Kamlah, and Gunnar Lehmann (Mohr Siebeck, $223).
Eretz Magazine has created a new travel guide to the Herodium, lavishly illustrated with photos, maps, and reconstructions.
New subscribers to Approaching Jerusalem (Chandler Collins) receive a free e-booklet, “Golden Heights: Five Accessible Panoramas of Jerusalem.”
HT: Agade, Arne Halbakken, Alexander Schick, Ted Weis, Explorator, Paleojudaica
The second of my three articles published recently belongs to an issue (pdf) in The Master’s Seminary Journal devoted to the Messiah in the Old Testament. My article is entitled “The Messiah in Isaiah 7:14: The Virgin Birth” (on Academia, or direct link here).
Some may roll their eyes at the idea that there is anything left to be said on a subject debated for a couple of thousand years now. I have, however, endeavored to break new ground, particularly in my first section. There I argue that the greater context (Isaiah 1-12) is all about the coming of God to be with his people after judgment. I don’t recall this argument being clearly articulated before with respect to the interpretation of Isaiah 7:14. My logic is that if Isaiah consistently presents Israel’s hope as lying beyond the exile, then it is most natural to expect that a “God-with-us” child was never intended to give hope to a wicked Ahaz but was for a future generation. If a woman gave birth in a dramatic sign in Isaiah’s own day, it would contradict Isaiah’s message in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11.
In the second section, I try to show why hermeneutical efforts to see two fulfillments are textually illegitimate. Here I cite a number of conservative Christian writers who believe the text demands an 8th-century fulfillment, but who are compelled by Christian confession to affirm that Jesus was somehow also related to the passage. In my opinion, the only valid hermeneutical options are (1) the Jewish view, in which the prophecy was fulfilled in Ahaz’s day, or (2) the traditional Christian view, in which the prophecy was fulfilled only in the birth of Jesus.
In the third section, I make the case that the details of Isaiah 7 decisively preclude the birth of the child in the 8th century. If one accepts that almah means virgin, then the case is closed. (This, of course, is why some conservatives have labored so strenuously to insist that almah can signify a non-virgin.) But even were I to be wrong on that matter, an 8th-century fulfillment is impossible. Here’s how I summarized this argument in the article’s abstract.
Analysis of Isaiah 7:14–17 reveals that an 8th-century fulfillment is impossible given the nature of the sign, the meaning of almah, the syntax of the announcement, as well as the child’s name, role, diet, and character. A closer look at the timeline in Isaiah 7:16–17 shows that Immanuel could only be born after the land of Judah was laid waste, a reality that did not occur in the 8th century.
In other words, the greater context of Isaiah aligns with the particular details of the Immanuel prophecy. Those who wish to identify the Immanuel child with Maher-shalal-hash-baz necessarily ignore many details in the text, including the child eating curds and honey in a time of exile.
Here is the concluding paragraph of the article:
The best understanding of Isaiah 7:14 agrees with the interpretation of Matthew and the view of the church for most of its history. Because of Ahaz’s refusal to trust the Lord, Isaiah prophesied judgment against him and his kingdom. Like most other prophecies against Israel, this one had a silver lining. A special child would be born during the time of exile and would be called “Immanuel.” This prophecy could not have been fulfilled in the time of Isaiah because the conditions did not match the prophecy, and it was fulfilled once and only once in the person of Jesus the Messiah. The historical-grammatical interpretation of Isaiah 7 eliminates the need for hermeneutical liberties, fits the greater context of Isaiah, and corresponds with the fulfillment recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. The prophecy of the virgin birth heralded the earth-shaking tidings of the coming of God to live with his people as a man, making him qualified to atone for their sins and rule over God’s kingdom in righteousness.
My desire is that this article will help students of the Word to think more clearly about this most debated passage. If you know someone interested in the subject, please pass the article on them.
In fact, I recommend the entire issue and believe it will be quite valuable in strengthening the church’s understanding and appreciation of the unity of God’s Word, the divine origin of Scripture, and the need for hermeneutical integrity.
