1,419 related texts · Page 23 of 158
to a tiny but fascinating corner of the Book of Jubilees, a text brimming with instructions and insights into the lives of our ancestors. Specifically, we're looking at chapter 21,...
Specifically, the Letter of Aristeas. This isn't a letter in the Bible, but a letter about the Bible – or rather, about its translation into Greek, which became known as the Septua...
The Letter of Aristeas gives us a peek behind the curtain. It's a fascinating text, purporting to be from an official in the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, telling the story of how...
We all know the story of the Maccabees, the brave Jewish warriors who fought against the oppressive decrees of the Seleucid king Antiochus. But what happened after they won? Well, ...
The Book of Maccabees I, specifically chapter 5, opens with a simple but loaded sentence: "Now when the nations round about heard that the altar was built and the sanctuary renewed...
It's an age-old problem, and one that the historian Josephus tackled head-on in his work, Against Apion. We're going to delve into one specific accusation hurled against the Jews i...
He sacrifices some animals. End of story. But what if there was a deeper meaning hidden within those verses? That's what the Midrash of Philo explores when it asks about Genesis 8:...
Philo, in his exploration of Genesis, delves into this very question. He points out that these five animals – the ox (represented by the heifer), the goat, the sheep (the ram), the...
We pick up with Jacob, now 99 years old, receiving a divine instruction. "Arise, go to Bethel," God tells him, "and remain there, and make there an altar to the Lord who appeareth ...
