2,672 passages in Modern Compilations & Folklore
Individual passages from Legends of the Jews, shown in source order. Page 51 of 56.
We see that play out time and again in history, and it’s a theme that echoes powerfully in the stories of the Hebrew Bible. Take the tale of Jehu, King of Israel. His story starts ...
The kings of Judah, weren't always paragons of virtue. They were...well, human. Just like the rulers of the northern kingdom of Israel. Take Ahaziah, for example. According to the ...
Jehoiada was quite the figure – the son of Benaiah, who served as commander-in-chief of the army under Solomon. King Joash, guided by Jehoiada, diligently set about restoring the T...
The karmic wheel turned quickly. Ginzberg, in Legends of the Jews, paints a grim picture: Joash didn't just die; he suffered. He fell into the hands of the Syrians, who, the text d...
The story of Hosea offers us a glimpse into just that, a peek behind the curtain of divine communication. Hosea was the elder statesman of this prophetic trio. He was the son of Be...
Hosea ben Beeri – one of the twelve minor prophets – lived during a turbulent time in Israelite history. He preached about repentance, faithfulness, and God's unwavering love, even...
He wasn't your typical prophet. He came after Hosea, before Isaiah, and as the Legends of the Jews tell us, he even had a speech impediment! But when God calls, you answer. So, Amo...
The story of Amos, the prophet, gives us a glimpse. He was fearless, wasn't he? But that very fearlessness, sadly, led to his demise. Legend has it that King Uzziah, enraged by Amo...
When Isaiah had this incredible vision, he was overwhelmed. He’d been in a tough spot, facing a king with, shall we say, questionable intentions. And Isaiah, seeing the glory of Go...
King Uzziah, Jotham’s father, suffered from leprosy, making him ritually impure and unable to fully carry out his royal duties. And so, Jotham stepped up, governing Judah for twent...
Ahaz, King of Judah. Not exactly a name whispered with reverence, is it? In fact, he's often remembered for, shall we say, his less-than-stellar behavior. But here’s a fascinating ...
Remember Pekah? He was the king who, well, didn’t exactly get to savor his victories. Because right after he came to power, the king of Assyria swooped in and, as Ginzberg tells us...
It's fascinating to consider. According to Legends of the Jews, those who settled in Samaria after the Assyrians deported the Ten Tribes weren’t exactly quick to embrace the Jewish...
The story of King Hezekiah gives us a glimpse. His father, Ahaz, hadn't exactly been a champion of Jewish learning. In fact, according to the legends, he actively suppressed it! Ca...
Legends of the Jews turns to Death of King Hezekiah. The sheer scale of it is staggering. This wasn't just an army; it was a mobile city. The camp stretched for four hundred parasa...
Take Sennacherib, the Assyrian king who dared to threaten Jerusalem. His story takes a wild turn after his army's miraculous defeat. In Legends of the Jews, Sennacherib, brimming w...
External pressures, internal conflicts... Sometimes it feels like they all come crashing down at once. That's exactly what happened to King Hezekiah. Remember him? The righteous ki...
Shebnah wasn't just anyone; he was a high-ranking official in Jerusalem. But his loyalty wasn't to his people, it was to himself. He was power-hungry, treacherous, and, as we'll se...
The Assyrians had just steamrolled the northern kingdom of Samaria, and now they were facing off against Hezekiah of Judah. Nobody gave him a chance. Why? Because the man was fruga...
Isn't it fascinating how sometimes, even after experiencing incredible miracles, we can still miss the point? Take Hezekiah, for example. Here was a king who witnessed firsthand th...
The idea that history could have taken a different turn, ushering in an era of peace and divine presence. Well, according to some fascinating legends, we might have been closer tha...
He was a pretty big deal, a righteous ruler of Judah. But even the best of us stumble. And sometimes, those stumbles have… consequences. The Talmud (Berakhot 10a) tells us that Hez...
Death had been decreed against him. Seriously. But Hezekiah, being the resourceful and pious king that he was, wasn't about to take that lying down. He prayed. He pleaded with God....
Take the story of King Hezekiah. Hezekiah's recovery from a life-threatening illness was miraculous in itself. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, it was actu...
The story begins with an embassy, a delegation, sent by the king of Babylon. Now, according to Legends of the Jews, this wasn't just a friendly visit. It was, at its heart, an ackn...
Yet, even he wasn't perfect. The story goes that when envoys from Babylon came to visit, Hezekiah made some… questionable choices. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of t...
He was one of the most righteous kings of Judah, a real standout. He lived way back when, around the 8th century BCE. And he's remembered for some seriously impressive things. The ...
King Hezekiah knew the feeling. He finally listened to the prophet Isaiah and took a wife – Isaiah's daughter, no less! A match made in, if not heaven, then at least in spiritually...
The story of King Manasseh, successor to the righteous Hezekiah, offers a chilling example. According to Legends of the Jews, after Hezekiah's death, Manasseh completely abandoned ...
The story of King Manasseh is a wild ride, a evidence of the idea that no one is beyond the reach of repentance. See, Manasseh wasn't just a bad king; he was really bad. He deserve...
Manasseh wasn't just any king. Leviticus! But here's the kicker: despite all that knowledge, he fell headfirst into idolatry. How does that even happen? The Talmud, in Sanhedrin 10...
Legends of the Jews turns to Kingdom of Amon. In Legends of the Jews, Ginzberg's masterful retelling of rabbinic tradition, Amon was even more wicked than his father. And what's tr...
He was, to put it mildly, not a nice guy. His deeds were so evil, so contrary to everything the Torah stood for, that he really should have forfeited his share in the olam ha-ba, t...
King Josiah, a righteous ruler of Judah, found himself in just that position. The prophecies were grim. Destruction loomed. And Josiah, desperate to protect his people, decided on ...
He was a righteous king, determined to bring his people back to God. He tore down idols, reinstituted the proper observance of the Law, and really tried to get everyone on board. B...
Take the story of King Josiah, a righteous ruler who met a tragic end. Josiah was a king known for his piety and his efforts to purify the land of idolatry. He reigned during a tum...
His reign, according to the Legends of the Jews, was truly something special. After Solomon, he was the only king to rule over both Judah and Israel. Imagine the scope of that! And...
Legends of the Jews turns to Death of Jehoiakim. So, here’s the setup: After the death of Josiah, the people chose Jehoahaz as their king, even though his brother, Jehoiakim, was a...
As Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews, He held back, specifically because the people were leading God-fearing lives during the reign of Jehoiakim. Even the righteous couldn't...
After his little "expedition" into Palestinian territory, he swaggered back to Babylonia, the ancient texts tell us, to a hero's welcome. Huge celebrations, the whole shebang. And ...
Jehoiachin was a king of Judah, and not a particularly lucky one, it seems. He inherited the throne at a turbulent time, with the Babylonian empire breathing down Jerusalem's neck....
That was Jehoiachin's fate. He was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar, along with members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court. Now, the Sanhedrin were seriously worried. With J...
Legends of the Jews turns to Nebuchadnezzar and the Holy Sanctuary. The Legends of the Jews, that incredible collection of rabbinic tales compiled by Louis Ginzberg, recounts this ...
Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful Babylonian king, had installed Zedekiah as a vassal king. He wanted to ensure Zedekiah’s loyalty, so he demanded an oath. Now, Zedekiah was ready to sw...
It all started with a vow – a solemn promise made by Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, to Nebuchadnezzar. But things went south, as they often do in these stories. Zedekiah, for re...
King Zedekiah of Judah knew that feeling all too well. He made a promise he couldn't keep, and the consequences, well, they were devastating. Zedekiah's big mistake? Perjury. A bro...
The story of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah before the Babylonian exile, is a powerful example. We find it told in fascinating detail in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews. Zedekiah ...
Even though he messed up big time by breaking his oath, he was, at heart, a good and just ruler. So good, in fact, that God almost changed His mind about punishing the wicked gener...
