There is a long-standing debate over Sunday and Saturday among Christ-followers, both Jewish and non-Jewish. The institution of Sunday in historical Christianity is a well-known fact and for many Christians, their very identity is tied to Sunday and what it…Continue Reading
Tag: Jews
Fifth Century Samaritan Master Adios Inscription
A new Tzur Natan neighborhood construction in central Israel was proceeded by a dig. The excavation unearthed a rare written record. It points to a Samaritan business from 1600 hundred years ago. The Greek inscription mentions a wealthy landowner ‘Master…Continue Reading
Essenes and Qumranites: Unresolved Questions
Were Qumanites Essenes? The famous Dead Sea Scrolls continue to interest many students of ancient Jewish life. One question the scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls have not resolved is whether the Qumran community was indeed Essene. This was a…Continue Reading
Ancient Menorah Stone in Tiberias
Archaeologists unearthed a beautiful and ancient stone in the city of Tiberius in Galilee in November of 2017. It is an impressive piece of basalt rock with an image of a seven-branched menorah. Menorah is a special temple lampstand which the…Continue Reading
The Shiloah Tunnel
Shiloah is Hebrew for Siloam, the famed water source of ancient Jerusalem. In John’s gospel, Jesus healed a man born blind at Siloam (Shiloah). But what about the tunnel? That story goes back much further. The rebellion of the king…Continue Reading
Worship of Pan in Galilee
This newly uncovered gateway and a mysterious mask may offer clues about the ancient greek god. Researchers at the University of Haifa just uncovered a Roman gateway in Israel’s Sussita National Park near the Sea of Galilee. What’s so special…Continue Reading
The Thinker Jug
Israeli archaeologists and high school students found this jug in Yehud, a town near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. It depicts “the thinker” a figure of a human in a retrospective pose. While jugs like this are fairly common finds…Continue Reading
One God, Different Callings
Christians, Jews, Christ-following Jews- What’s the difference? Aren’t we all God’s chosen children, the Israel of God? For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.…Continue Reading
Seeing Jesus Among The Rabbis
Jesus was a Rabbi. But how does that matter? This understanding has no value if one does not know much about ancient Rabbis. Merely stating that Jesus is Jewish or that he was a Rabbi means absolutely nothing unless one understands…Continue Reading
Rethinking the Nicolaitans of Revelation
Revelation mentions a mysterious group, a false teaching of Nicolaitans. There are many theories who these Nicolaitans were, but research focused on the cultural, historical and linguistic context of Revelation changes everything and challenges the traditional theories built on more…Continue Reading
The Synagogue of Freedmen in Jerusalem
The Synagogue of Freedmen (συναγωγή των Λιβερτίνων) is mentioned in Acts 6:9. The Greek term Freedmen (Λιβερτῖνος) is a loanword from Latin libertini, who were freed slaves. In the Roman world, this was a reference to one’s social status, usually…Continue Reading
The Fullness of Gentiles in Romans
Apostle Paul’s letter to Romans is not an easy reading. In my opinion, it is written from a perspective of a missionary to non-Jews, who wants them to understand that they are not the axis, but a part of a…Continue Reading