3,887 related texts · Page 5 of 81
In this ancient text, which some consider to be part of the broader Jewish apocrypha, we find a pivotal moment concerning Abraham, his wife Sarah, and a promise that reshapes the d...
The builders of the Tower of Babel were not just confused. They were transformed. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gast...
That's exactly what happened in the story of Abraham's birth. According to Legends of the Jews, Terah, Abraham’s father, married Emtelai, the daughter of Karnabo. A simple enough b...
It’s a story filled with fear, hope, and divine intervention. Imagine a woman, heavy with child, fleeing in terror. This isn’t just any woman; this is Abraham's mother. And she’s n...
Abraham certainly did. Imagine being thrown into a dark, dank prison, left to starve and thirst, all for standing up for what you believe in. That's exactly where our patriarch fou...
The story goes that King Nimrod, a powerful and, shall we say, unpleasant ruler, wasn't too thrilled with Abraham's monotheistic views. He believed in many gods, and Abraham was go...
It's not just about peace, though that's certainly part of it. But there's a deeper story, one that speaks to our relationship with the Divine and the choices we make even when fac...
When Noah was loading up the ark, Og made a deal. He swore to Noah and his sons that if they’d let him come along, he’d be their servant forever. Now, space on the ark was tight, t...
After the conquest of Canaan, God deliberately left certain nations in the land — not because He couldn't remove them, but to test Israel (Judges 3:1-2). The rabbis found this prac...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 8:22) anchors the new covenant in something every farmer and every child understands. Sowing in the season of Tishri, and harvest in the season o...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 9:17) closes the rainbow passage with a final seal. Noah is told face to face: This is the sign of the covenant that I have covenanted between My...
Right after the terrifying vision of Gehinnom and the four kingdoms, the Lord sets a covenant. And Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 15:18) spells out the promise with an emphasis...
When the Lord frames the covenant in (Genesis 17:7), Targum Pseudo-Jonathan slips in one of its most telling technical terms. The covenant is established between My Word and thee. ...
A well in the Negev. Seven ewe lambs set apart. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 21:32), the Aramaic preserves the ancient name of the place — Beira de-Sheva, the Well of the ...
Two brothers. Two careers. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 25:27) gives the contrast in parallel sentences. Esau grew up a "man of idleness to catch birds and beasts, a man goin...
We often rush past Noah and the ark, but there's a tiny section in (Genesis 9:26-27) that's sparked centuries of interpretation. It’s a passage about blessings, expansions, and dwe...
We find a fascinating glimpse into that struggle in Bereshit Rabbah 44, a section of the ancient midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) collection on the Book of Genesis. It ...
We read the stories, we know the milestones – but sometimes the weight of those moments gets lost. Take the act of circumcision, the brit milah, at the ripe old age of ninety-nine....
(Genesis 18:1) tells us, "He was sitting [yoshev] at the entrance of the tent in the heat of the day." But there's more to it than meets the eye. Rabbi Berekhya, quoting Rabbi Levi...
The Book of Jubilees pauses in chapter 7 on one of the strangest scenes in Torah — a small but potent episode that centers on an embarrassing incident involving Noah, his sons Shem...
It all goes back to a rather dramatic episode after the flood, as recounted in the Book of Jubilees. Now, we know the story: Noah's son, Ham, sees his father in a… well, let’s just...
We find a fascinating, and perhaps surprising, answer in the Book of Jubilees. Now, the Book of Jubilees isn’t part of the Tanakh. It's a Jewish religious writing of the Hellenisti...
How did they decide who got what? Well, the Book of Jubilees, a fascinating ancient Jewish text considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, gives us a glimpse into that ...
Jubilees, for those unfamiliar, is a Jewish work of the Second Temple period. It retells the stories of Genesis and Exodus but with a unique theological slant and additional detail...
It's an ancient Jewish text, considered apocryphal by some, pseudepigraphal by others. Basically, it's an "outside book," a text that exists outside the traditionally accepted bibl...
One fascinating, if somewhat enigmatic, text that attempts to answer this very question is the Book of Jubilees. Jubilees, a Jewish work of the Second Temple period, offers a uniqu...
We hear about the ark, the dove, the rainbow... but then what? Turns out, things weren’t exactly smooth sailing. Imagine this: The world is starting over. Noah and his family are t...
We often gloss over that part of the Noah story, but the Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text of legend and lore, dives right in! Chapter 7 is all about the generations that foll...
The Genesis Apocryphon (Apocryphal Genesis, אפוקריפון בראשית), one of the original seven scrolls discovered in 1947, is an Aramaic retelling of Genesis that adds breathtaking detai...
The Genesis Apocryphon's account of Noah's birth is one of the most vivid nativity scenes in all of ancient Jewish literature—and it is deeply unsettling. The baby does not look hu...
The sages tell us that there were ten generations between Noah and Abraham. Ten generations! And the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) emphasizes that this long span shows...
We all know the story: the flood, the animals two-by-two, a new beginning. But what about the creatures that almost didn't make it? Or the ones that hitched a ride in the most unex...
We all know the story: the flood, the animals two-by-two… but imagine the sheer logistics! It wasn't just about getting them all on board. It was about keeping them alive, and well...
The Bible itself gives us some clues, but the full picture? It's painted in vibrant detail in the Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg's masterful compilation of rabbinic lore. So, ...
In the year 1569 after creation, Noah himself, guided by an angel, divided the world among his three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Imagine the scene – a world freshly cleansed, a f...
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing for humanity. In fact, according to the Legends of the Jews, things got complicated pretty quickly. Even while Noah was still alive, a new world or...
Our tales are full of such figures, some righteous, some…not so much. to the story of one of the first: Nimrod. His origin is a bit unusual, right from the start. Nimrod was born t...
Surprisingly, Jewish tradition grapples with it too. Take, for example, the story of the Tower of Babel. We all know it – the people, united in hubris, attempt to build a tower so ...
The Torah is full of blessings, but it's not always straightforward. Some blessings are more potent than others, some are given grudgingly, and some come with unexpected consequenc...
The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into this very verse. It's not just about avoiding bad company, though that's certa...
The ancient text Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations, suggests that there just might be. The text draws our attention to the fifth day. ...
We often picture him releasing the dove, seeing the rainbow, and then… silence. But life, as it always does, went on. And with life, came choices, mistakes, and some pretty strange...
We often think of it as a formal obligation, a percentage we owe. But its roots, according to some fascinating ancient texts, are surprisingly personal, filled with gratitude and r...
(Deuteronomy 32:7) tells us, "Remember the days of yore" (Devarim 32:7). That little word, yore, it's packed with meaning. It's not just about remembering the past; it's about lear...
Sifrei Devarim 310, a passage from the ancient commentary on Deuteronomy, really digs into this idea. It starts with a powerful line: "Reflect upon the years of generation upon gen...
When the Flood ended, the Hebrew Bible says God sent a wind to dry the earth (Genesis 8:1). The Targum Jonathan says God sent "the wind of mercies." One word changes the theology. ...
The Flood is named. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 6:17) renders it: "I, behold, I bring a flood of waters upon the earth to swallow up all flesh which hath in it the spirit of...
Where was Isaac during all this? The Torah says he was "coming from Beer-lahai-roi." Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 24:62) tells us something far more specific. He was coming f...
