1,809 texts · Page 2 of 38
After Jacob's direct encounter with the Divine, something unexpected happens. The text says, "He finished speaking with him, and He went up from him, and Jacob looked till He had a...
It’s a story packed with adventure, piety, and a healthy dose of divine intervention. to a particularly intense moment from the beginning of the story. Our hero, Tobit, is in deep ...
He's in despair, naturally. Meanwhile, in a faraway land, Sarah, daughter of Reuel, is suffering her own torment. She’s been married seven times, but each husband has been killed b...
That’s precisely where Tobiyyah finds himself in the Book of Tobit. He needs to journey to Media – a long and perilous trip – to retrieve money owed to his father. But who will gui...
That’s where Tobi finds himself in the Book of Tobit. Blind, disheartened, yet still clinging to faith. It’s a powerful image, isn't it? So, Tobiyyah, Tobi’s son, has found someone...
Old Tobi, from the Book of Tobit, definitely knew that feeling. Here’s a scene: Tobi, blind and worried about his son Tobias's perilous journey, needs a reliable guide. He finds on...
It’s a feeling that resonates across generations, and it’s right at the heart of the Book of Tobit. Our story begins with Tobi, a righteous man living in exile, who is now blind. H...
Our story today begins with just that feeling. We’re diving into the Book of Tobit, specifically Chapter 6. It's a tale filled with adventure, divine intervention, and a fish – yes...
So, there he is, Tobiyyah, son of Tobit, traveling with the angel Raphael – disguised as a human named Azaryah, of course. They're making their way to Media, and things are already...
Our heroes, Tobiyyah and the angel Raphael (disguised as a human, of course), are on a journey. They arrive at Agbatauis (Ecbatana), and Raphael drops a bombshell. "My brother," he...
Trust me, you're about to. to the Book of Tobit, specifically chapter 6, where things get… interesting. Our hero, Tobiyyah, is on a journey. He’s got an angel – though he doesn't k...
Remember, he's on this journey to retrieve some money owed to his father. Accompanied by the angel Raphael in disguise, he's about to encounter a family mystery that will change ev...
Remember Tobiyyah (sometimes called Tobias), our hero? He's on this epic journey to retrieve some money for his blind father, Tobit. And he's got the angel Raphael disguised as a h...
Seems like a happy occasion. But this isn't your typical "happily ever after" beginning. Sarah, poor thing, has been through the wringer. She's been married seven times before, and...
The Book of Tobit, a beautiful story nestled in the Apocrypha, knows all about that feeling. We find ourselves with Tobiyyah, son of Tobit, who's just married Sarah, daughter of Re...
To a little story from the Book of Tobit that might just offer a glimpse. Our hero, Tobiyyah, has just married Sarah, a woman who, shall we say, had a complicated dating history. S...
Tobiyyah, young and full of life, is on his way home. Can you imagine the relief? The anticipation? He’s returning from a quest that has tested his courage and faith, and he's brin...
That’s exactly where we find Hannah, the mother of Tobiyyah, in the Book of Tobit. She's not just pacing the floor; she's literally sitting on the highway, her eyes fixed on the ho...
Maybe you've been searching for a light in the darkness, a glimmer of hope when things seem bleakest. Well, the Book of Tobit, a beautiful story from the Apocrypha, offers us just ...
The Book of Tobit, a beautiful story nestled within the Apocrypha, touches on just that. It's a tale filled with faith, healing, and the surprising intervention of angels. We find ...
The Book of Tobit, a beautiful story nestled within the Apocrypha, gives us just that kind of moment. It's a story filled with faith, healing, and a hidden angel in disguise. We ar...
The Letter of Aristeas asks us to do just that, to linger in the details. It’s a fascinating ancient text purporting to be a letter from an official in the court of Ptolemy II Phil...
He's got a whole Syrian army backing him up. Now, contrast that with Judas. He’s not exactly bringing a battalion to this battle. He's in Adasa with just three thousand men. Three....
Our story comes from The Book of Susanna, a short but powerful addition to the Book of Daniel. It’s a tale of beauty, betrayal, and ultimately, vindication. Susanna, we’re told, wa...
The Book of Jasher isn't part of the canonical Hebrew Bible, but it's referenced within it (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8). It's considered by some to be a valuable historical s...
The Book of Jasher, a non-canonical Jewish text that fills in gaps in the biblical narrative, offers some fascinating glimpses. to one particularly dramatic episode from Chapter 15...
Sometimes, looking to other texts can give us a fuller picture. Take, for example, this passage from the Book of Jasher. It begins with a rumble of war. Chedorlaomer, king of Elam,...
We know the broad strokes of Abraham, the patriarch, and the destruction of Sodom. But what about the details? Sometimes, the lesser-known texts fill in the gaps, offering a richer...
Today, we're diving into one of those: a chapter from the Book of Jasher. Now, the Book of Jasher isn't part of the Tanakh. Its authenticity and origins are disputed by scholars. B...
Beyond just having it, I mean. What does it take to establish a claim that lasts for generations? Chapter 24 of the Book of Jasher, an ancient text referenced in the Bible itself (...
After journeying from Shechem to Hebron to be with their father Isaac, Jacob's sons settled in the valley. The pastures of Shechem were still good, and that’s where they tended the...
Remember Joseph? The Hebrew slave who correctly interpreted Pharaoh's dream about the famine? Well, Pharaoh hasn't forgotten. According to the Book of Jasher, after seeing that Jos...
There are so many fascinating texts that offer different perspectives and details on familiar narratives. Today, we're diving into a chapter from one of these books: the Book of Ja...
We all know the story of his dramatic rescue as a baby, floating down the Nile in a basket. But what happened next, after he was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter? The Book of Jasher, ...
We all know the story of the Exodus, the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea. But what about the years leading up to that moment? The Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text of...
There are entire books dedicated to filling in those gaps, offering tantalizing glimpses into the lives of our ancestors. One such book is the Book of Jasher, a work referenced in ...
The Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), fills in some of those gaps. It's like a behind-the-scenes look at the...
We know the big story: the plagues, the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea. But what about the nitty-gritty details of those first few days of freedom? The Book of Jasher, a text m...
That feeling of frustration, of being turned back just as you're reaching your goal... well, the Israelites knew it well. Chapter 85 of the Book of Jasher plunges us right into a m...
A medieval text composed between 700 and 1000 CE, the child prodigy Ben Sira mastered the entirety of human and divine knowledge in just seven years. The text lays it out year by y...
Before Eve, there was Lilith. According to the Alphabet of Ben Sira, a medieval text composed between 700 and 1000 CE, God didn't create Eve first. God created a woman from the sam...
This is one of the greatest trickster stories in all of Jewish literature. According to the Alphabet of Ben Sira, composed between 700 and 1000 CE, every land animal has a correspo...
Jewish tradition holds that a handful of people never died. They walked into Gan Eden - the Garden of Eden - while still alive, bypassing death entirely. The Alphabet of Ben Sira, ...
Buried in a cave near the Dead Sea for two thousand years, the War Scroll (Megillat HaMilchamah, מגילת המלחמה) lays out the most detailed battle plan ever written for the end of th...
The War Scroll doesn't just predict a cosmic battle—it choreographs one. Columns 7 through 9 of the scroll lay out the most elaborate angelic military operation in all of Jewish li...
Columns 11 through 12 of the War Scroll contain some of the most powerful hymns in all of Second Temple literature—victory songs composed in advance for a battle that hasn't happen...
The Community Rule (Serekh HaYachad, סרך היחד), one of the first seven scrolls discovered in Cave 1 in 1947, contains what may be the most startling theological statement in all of...
The Thanksgiving Hymns (Hodayot, הודיות) are a collection of intensely personal poems found in Cave 1 near Qumran, composed sometime in the 2nd or 1st century BCE. Several of them ...
