The Easter post for 2025 is here with links. More recent Easter-related posts are here, here, and here.
My 2016 Easter post contains links leading to New Testament and related passages concerning Easter and to correct information on the origin of the word (dead link, but summary intact). And this post gives NT references for the Passion narrative.
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Isaiah between Judaism and Christianity Early Christian Reception and Interpretation
Edited by Tobias Nicklas, Judith König, Stefan Green and Antti Laato2026. 395 pages.
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe (WUNT II) 647
DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-163287-7€109.00
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The contributors to this volume illustrate the way in which exegesis of the book of Isaiah was developed in early Christianity. Reception unfolded within spaces opened, shaped, and defined along Judaeo-Christian borderlines. The book of Isaiah was of utmost importance to the first Jesus followers and their literary production, particularly in the way they articulated their beliefs. Consequently, scholars have often referred to Isaiah as »the fifth Gospel.«
The present volume collects investigations into the specific ways the book of Isaiah was received in various early Christian contexts - from the canonical gospels to early Syriac Christian literature. The contributors explore the different modes and purposes of reading Isaiah and integrating its ideas, style, and concepts into new writings.
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In the new “Echoes of Egypt: A Haggada,” curated by Berman and recently published by Koren, the scholar argues that the term “a mighty hand and outstretched arm” represents just one of the many examples where the Torah seems to employ tools of the Egyptian narrative or propaganda and use them against the very people who enslaved the ancient Israelites.For more on that biblical phrase, see here and links.
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The Chronicles of David and SolomonI noted the publication of The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah (2017) here.1 Chronicles 10 - 2 Chronicles 9: A New Translation and Commentary
Yigal Levin (Author)
Hardback
$175.00 $157.50Ebook (PDF)
$157.50 $126.00Product details
Published Jan 22 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 584
ISBN 9780567674302
Imprint T&T Clark
Dimensions 9 x 6 inches
Publisher Bloomsbury PublishingDescription
The book of Chronicles, the last book of the Hebrew Bible and a central historical book of the Christian Old Testament, has in recent decades gone from being “the Cinderella of biblical studies” to being one of the most researched books of the Bible. The anonymous author, often simply called “the Chronicler” by modern scholars, looks back at the old Israelite monarchy, before the Babylonian exile, from his vantage point in the post-exilic early Second Temple Period, and attempts to “update” the older historiographies of Samuel and Kings in order to elucidate their meaning to the people of his own time.
In The Chronicles of the David and Solomon, Yigal Levin does the same for the modern reader. He offers a brand-new translation and commentary on 1 Chronicles 10 – 2 Chronicles 9, examining the period of David's and Solomon's reign as presented in the text in exhaustive detail.
The Chronicles of David and Solomon is preceded in publication by The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah on 2 Chronicles 10 – 36, and will be followed by The Chronicles of All Israel on the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9 and including comprehensive essays on the book of Chronicles, its time, purposes, methods and meanings.
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Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all include accounts of women discovering Jesus’ tomb empty three days after his crucifixion that share a common structure, but vary considerably in their details. Christians reading the story at Easter experience vicariously the women’s fear and awe, just as Jews re-experience the Exodus through the Haggadah.
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The products of a period in which Judaism was considered to have been superseded by Christianity and Jews were treated as inferiors, the Talmud and Toledot Yeshu literature developed a biting, farcical retelling of Jesus’ story, which, at the same time, reveals the Jewish struggle to explain his massive impact on world religion. Yet, medieval rabbis also responded to Jesus’ death in a serious way, noting that ultimately, things turned out for the best: Jesus always planned to be crucified, and Jesus asked God to forgive everyone involved.For more on Toledot Yeshu start here and follow the links. Arguably on linguistic grounds, the earliest (Aramaic) version was composed as early as the third or fourth century. For some discussion see, e.g., here.
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When Jesus and his disciples gathered for the Last Supper, how was the meal laid out? Did the group emulate the Roman dining practice of the triclinium, reclining at low tables arranged in a U shape and eating from individual place settings? Or did they sit around an arrangement of communal dishes from which all individuals partook? In the Spring 2026 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, in his feature article titled “What Did the Last Supper Really Look Like?,” Matthew J. Grey considers these questions, shedding valuable light on the workings of this famous feast.The article is behind the subscription wall, but this BHD essay summarizes it. Grey thinks that they were sitting in the domestic common room, not reclining in the triclinium.[...]
Be that as it may, you can get a glimpse of a reconstructed Roman triclinium at Cartagena here. For a clearer reconstruction of one, see the Haaretz article linked to here.
Some other PaleoJudaica posts on the Last Supper are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
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In one of [the Hippos cathedral's] two baptismal halls, the expedition unearthed a unique object, in that nothing like it has been found before in such contexts: a marble block with three hemispheric cavities carved out of its top, excavation directors Michael Eisenberg and Arleta Kowalewska of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa reported in Palestine Exploration Quarterly in March. They cannot explain its function, but have a theory.In late antiquity, a candidate for baptism was anointed with oil before the baptismal ceremony. For a near contemporary (early sixth-century) account of the process, see chapter 2 of Pseudo-Dionysius's Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. Baptism is called the rite of "illumination" there. The same work describes the rite of the consecration of the sacred ointment (the myron), used for baptism and other liturgical rituals, in chapter 4. Perhaps the cups in this marble block once held the baptismal ointment.This artifact may be rare solid evidence of a forgotten stage in the baptism rite, they suggest. The cup shapes carved into its surface may have housed oils or other sanctified liquids. No known parallel to the object exists in the archaeological record, they add. So it may not only be a forgotten stage but an unusual one.
For many PaleoJudaica posts on artifacts and architecture recovered in and around the site of Hippos-Sussita (here a.k.a. Antiochia Hippo) from the Maccabean era to the Byzantine period, start here and follow the links. Hippos is one of those sites that just keeps on giving.
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The answer isn’t found in the Bible—but in Greek philosophy.Excerpt:
There is no way to answer the question definitively of whether the ten-ness of the plagues in the exodus story is an incidental detail, an unintended byproduct of how the Torah was composed, or encodes some kind of hidden message as scholars like Zevit argue. But we can gain some insight by investigating what led early interpreters of the Bible to read meaning into the number of plagues.
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Cynics might say Israeli archaeologists always “pull out” discoveries right before the holidays (just like last summer when we found a First Temple destruction clay sealing right before Tisha B’Av). But it turns out reality beats any timing!This past Sunday, Arbel Monnickendam and his family came to sift soil from the Temple Mount (don’t worry, we have a protected space), and they found a fragment of a clay sealings from the First Temple period. The sealing features distinct Egyptian symbols, including a winged sun (a symbol of rule under divine protection) and parts of a cartouche (an oval frame enclosing Egyptian names).
We can’t publish more details or a closeup photo just yet, as the artifact requires proper scientific research and publication before being presented to the wider public. But because of the amazing timing right before Passover night, we just had to share our excitement with you!
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Last year's Passover post is here, with links. Subsequent Passover-related posts are here here, here, here, and here. Also, today's first post.
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Some articles from the Syriac Press on this year's observance:
Akitu: Shared Memory and Horizons of Coexistence
International new year greetings reflect growing recognition of Kha Nison-Akitu
For more on the modern festival, see here and links. And follow the links from there for more on the ancient festival. Cross-file under Modern Aramaic Watch.
Happy New Year to all those celebrating!
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“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and YHWH your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm...”( Deuteronomy 5:15). Two Egyptian motifs—military dominance and divine benevolence—lie behind this image of YHWH.The motifs of the hand and arm of the Lord continued to develop during and after the biblical period in sometimes surprising ways. For an overview of some of them, see here.
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The headline over-promises (not the author's fault), since the article is about the origins of the Pentateuch. I would nuance this or that, but overall it is a quite good overview of the traditional Documentary Hypothesis.
That said, many specialist now have considerable reservations about elements of the traditional hypothesis. I think there is widespread agreement on a Deuteronomy source and a Priestly source. Beyond that, there is less agreement. D and P are embedded in the Pentatuech with a lot of other stuff that I like to think of as the Sticky Goo source(s) (a.k.a. JE). And some specialists want to break even D and P down into sub-sources.
For more comments on the current state of the question, see here and here.
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The Hebrew particle נָא naʾ appears almost four hundred times in the Bible. How should it be translated? To answer this question, we need to look at: 1) the biblical contexts; 2) the ancient translations of the Bible; 3) medieval grammarians; and 4) modern grammarians.If we move a little further afield and look at cognates, Akkadian has an enclitic particle -ma which has an emphatic sense. I've wondered if biblical Hebrew -na' had that usage too. It often fits the context. Then there's the baffling Ugaritic enclitic particle -m ...
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Excavators digging at the ancient site of Nuraghe Ruinas of Arzana on the Italian island of Sardinia have found a Phoenician-type scarab seal, the Superintendency of Archaeology for the Sassari and Nuoro provinces in Sardinia announced on February 3. This discovery further confirms the presence of the Phoenicians on the island during the Iron Age (c. 950-500 b.c.e.).I have already noted the discovery here. But this article is worth a read for its more detailed biblical background. And for a recent post on the Phoenician Nora Stone Inscription and the Phoenicians at Nora (Sardinia), see here.[...]
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More than a decade ago, archaeologists investigating a cistern among the ruins of Azekah, an ancient town southwest of Jerusalem, made a gruesome discovery. The millennia-old water reservoir was not only filled with broken pottery and sediment washed in during centuries of abandonment, as one would expect. It also contained dozens of skeletons of children.The underlying open-access peer-review article in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly:This mass grave for infants, most of them less than two years old, was likely in use during the Persian Period, some 2,500 years ago. It housed the fragile, jumbled remains of up to 89 individuals, the researchers say.
[...]
A mass grave of young children and infants from the Persian period in Tel Azekah and its importance for the understanding of burial practices of unweaned infantsFor more on the Ashkelon brothel infant burials, see here and here and the links in between. For many posts on the infant burials at Carthage, which are widely, but not universally, taken to be human sacrifices, start here and follow the links.Oded Lipschits, Annika Hauser, Noa Shatil, Manfred Oeming, Omer Sergi, Liora Freud, Tal Nemet, Hila Mayl & Sabine Kleimana
Published online: 27 Mar 2026
Cite this article https://doi.org/10.1080/00310328.2025.2589646ABSTRACT
During the excavations at Tel Azekah, a cistern was discovered on the tell’s lower plateau containing the remains of a minimum of 68 individuals, almost all of whom were infants and young children. The osteological analysis revealed that approximately 90% of the individuals were under five years of age, 70% even less than two years old. The burial seems to be primary, and the deposition of the remains was dated to the Persian period (ca. 5th century bce) based on the analysis of ceramics and small finds. This paper presents the archaeological context, ceramics, small finds, and human remains. We propose that during the Persian period, the cistern functioned mainly as a mass burial site for infants who were not granted individual interments since they were not yet weaned. The findings address broader questions, such as the social status of infants, weaning as a rite of passage, and mortuary practices during the Persian Period.
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The first stage, then, was the creation of an open and accessible database. The second stage, currently underway, is transforming the database into an advanced scientific repository. To this end, thousands of archives, laboratory data, and additional information that the IAA collected are being fed into it, and in the future it will include research articles from around the world.The first stage is done. Great. AI will be quite useful for the second stage, which amounts to advanced bean counting.“In the second stage, which we are in right now,” said [Alby] Malka, head of the IAA Technologies Division], “the Israel Antiquities Authority is using Google’s artificial intelligence tools. A pilot project has already scanned 5,000 archaeological research articles relevant to finds discovered in Israel.”
The third and most ambitious stage will enable the AI system not only to retrieve information but also make connections, suggest new perspectives, and answer complex questions. The system will integrate archaeological finds, scientific articles, and general knowledge, performing a synthesis that can serve as a research tool. Completing this stage will undoubtedly constitute a significant breakthrough in combining new technology with the findings of the past.
The catch comes with the third stage. The achilles heel of LLM AI is that there is no one home. Its a collection of automated processes—advanced autocorrect—which give a result with no one reviewing it against baseline reality. That's why it hallucinates. AI will speed up the third stage as long as humans oversee it to correct its misapprehensions.
When I get a chance, I may say more about this. Meanwhile, this is a good article that understands the benefits and limitations of AI.
Cross-file under Technology Watch.
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A collection of essays by pioneering underwater archaeologist Honor Frost. For more on her and her her contribution to Phoenician and Punic marine archaeology, as well as to the archaeology of Jericho, see here and here.
Cross-file under marine (maritime, underwater) archaeology.
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