Which tree did Eve and Adam eat from?

WAIT, WHAT? What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden (Jack Sasson, TheTorah.com).

The primordial man and woman may believe they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, but they actually ate from the Life-Giving Tree. This causes a chain reaction leading to the emergence of sexuality, procreation, and continuity for the human species.

Raises some interesting points that I had never thought about, notably the woman's apparent confusion over which tree was forbidden. But I think that to say that they ate from the tree of life goes against the grain of the narrative. For example, in 3:22 God expresses worry that the humans will eat "also" from the tree of life, which implies they had eaten from the other tree. That said, it is hard to make all the details in the story fit together.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Exhibition: "First Fragments" at the Chester Beatty

VARIANT READINGS: First Fragments at the Chester Beatty. Brent Nongbri draws our attention to a new manuscript exhibition. M

I am please to note that the Greek “Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri” include not only New Testament and Old Testament LXX manuscripts, but also Apocrypha (at least Susanna and Ecclesiasticus) and Pseudepigrapha (Epistle of Enoch and Apocryphon of Ezekiel).

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Chester Beatty (Library), start here and follow the links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Review of Heger, Institutionalized Routine Prayers at Qumran

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Book Note | Institutionalized Routine Prayers at Qumran: Fact or Assumption? (Patrick Angiolillo).

Paul Heger, Institutionalized Routine Prayers at Qumran: Fact or Assumption? Posthumously edited by Bernard M. Levinson. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019.

... In other words, perhaps the “intrinsic distinction between the various approaches to God” (p. 41) that Heger insists is necessary to understanding ancient Jewish prayer on its own terms is not so intrinsic, after all. It therefore remains to be seen whether we can produce a functional “grammar” or uncover a “native theory” of prayer in ancient Judaism, but Heger’s study, by pushing to apply strict definitions to the terms we employ in describing ancient Jewish prayer, invites us to think about what consensuses we should revisit in order to achieve such a goal, while also displaying for us the potential shortcomings in any scholarly attempt to taxonomize ancient literature.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Biblical Studies Carnival 200

ZWINGLIUS REDIVIVUS: The 200th Biblical Studies Carnival Extravaganza!!!!!!!!!!!!. Jim West posts an unusually comprehensive carnival, with links to other social media etc. besides blogs.

Meanwhile, Phil Long, the organizer of the carnival, laments the lack of interest in hosting it. He also comments on recent trends in social media platforms and content presentation. If you are interested in hosting a carnival, do drop Phil a note.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

A monumental inscription of King Hezekiah?

HEBREW EPIGRAPHY: Possible Monumental Inscription with Hezekiah’s Name (Luke Chandler). HT Todd Bolen at the Bible Places Blog.

Could be. This is not an entirely new story. I noted the fragment as possibly mentioning Hezekiah's name (badly damaged, of course) back in 2009. See here and here. I don't think I knew about the other fragment, discovered by Shiloh in 1978.

The fragments are tantalizingly ambiguous and may or may not belong to the same inscription. The angel Lacunael has been at work here.

It does look plausible that we are dealing with one or two monumental lapidary inscriptions. Those were expensive to produce. It seems likely they came from some official, possibly royal, source. But it is difficult to say more unless we find more fragments.

For more on the Hezekiah bulla, see here and links. For more on the Siloam Tunnel Inscription, see here and many links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Review of Noga-Banai, Sacred Stimulus: Jerusalem in the Visual Christianization of Rome

ANCIENT JEW REVIEW: Sacred Stimulus: Jerusalem in the Visual Christianization of Rome (Ian Kinman).

Galit Noga-Banai. Sacred Stimulus: Jerusalem in the Visual Christianization of Rome. Oxford University Press, 2018.

... Noga-Banai structures her study around repeated journeys between Jerusalem and Rome from the first through fifth centuries, tracing a period from subtle to increasingly assured visual appropriation of memories and tropes, culminating in a self-assured and assertive Rome confident in its identity as the perceived historical center of the Christian movement. ...

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Msgr. John P. Meier, 1942-2022

SAD NEWS: New York Priest, Msgr. John Meier, Dies; Wrote ‘A Marginal Jew’ (The Tablet). Msgr. Meier passed away earlier this month.

You can also find a New York Times obituary, but it is behind a subscription wall. His Wikipedia page is here.

Requiescat in pace.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Column base excavated near Mount Hermon

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Roman-era column base discovered near Mount Hermon (i24 News).

In Roman times, columns were generally used to support buildings. However, the enormous dimensions of the one discovered at the foot of the Hermon meant that it had to serve as support for a structure much larger than a conventional building.

The fact that the remains of walls were found near the column supports this hypothesis.

Inside the walls, archaeologists found flowers, a clay candle, and ancient tools. Researchers believe it may have been a flour mill or other agricultural facility

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Indexing MTNA3 (with a note on MOTP2)

THE APOCRYPHYCITY BLOG: On Indexing More New Testament Apocrypha vol. 3. Tony Burke reports on MNTA3 and shares his experience with indexing it.

This is my tenth go round at indexing and I have the process down to a science. It is surprisingly old-school. You would think that some electronic search and organization process would get the job done in no time, but as my publisher’s Guide to Preparing Indexes states, “There really is no substitute for rereading the whole work and preparing an index yourself.” Still, I have been able to create a few shortcuts.

We look forward to the next MTNA volume.

As an aside, many readers will be wondering what has become of More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha volume 2 (MOTP2).

The volume is well advanced. Most contributions are in. I have a semester of research leave starting in January to finish editing the book. All going well, it will be heading to the publisher by late in 2023.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.