Posted by Bronwen Manning on March 25, 2008 under Archaeology, History | 
A 3rd Century CE Roman grave has revealed a startling find- a small golden scroll with the Hebrew prayer, known as the Shema, "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The scroll is a Greek transcription of the prayer, and was found resting in an infant’s grave. This finding may push back by 600 years the evidence of a Jewish Presence in modern day Austria.
To read more go to the University of Vienna.
Some caution needs to be exercised however since the finding is an isolated one, and may have been carried as an amulet by a non-Jew. Despite these concerns, it is an exciting find given the quality of the amulet and its dating.
This finding is analogous with the silver-scrolled amulets found outside of Jerusalem at Ketef Hinnom which are much older than the Dead Sea Scrolls. These amulets were also found in a family grave and parallel the Priestly Blessings found in Numbers 6: 24-26.
"The Lord (Yhwh) bless you, and Keep you,
The Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you,
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace."
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Posted by Bronwen Manning on March 16, 2008 under Archaeology |
A new seal stamp bearing a Hebrew name has been found in the excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem under the authority of Eilat Mazar. If one recalls it will be remembered that many other exciting seals and bullae have already been uncovered in older excavations at the same site, such as the name ‘Gemaryahu, son of Shaphan’, who is recorded in Jeremiah 36:10-12, 25 and was the scribe to King Jehoiakim (608-591) in Jerusalem.
It was then with some excitement that this seal was revealed with another Biblical name, that of Temech- a Priestly family mentioned in the book of Nehemiah. However the reading was quickly changed, after it was realized one needed to read the Hebrew characters in the reverse, since that is how it was inscribed on the stamp. Once the stamp is then impressed into wet clay it would leave the name of the bearer the correct way, from right to left.
The proper reading is shin, lamed, mem, taw and can be pronounced a variety of ways, one being ‘Shlomit’. This name appears to be female because of the characteristic taw ending, although it can be argued was the name of a man. King Solomon (in Hebrew Shlomo) is the largest personality in the Bible who bore the male version of this name. Both names come from the verb meaning ‘to be safe’; and the word for ‘peace’, Shalom is also derived from this verb.
‘Shlomit’ forms the bottom register of the seal while above it, flanking what appears to be a horned altar, are two bearded figures. In the top register is a crescent moon. The dating is still under debate and shall not be concluded until we have information as to the stone material of the seal, and its stratigraphic placement in the excavation. However a date may be proposed based on the glyptic scene which is common for the Iron Age period, and more specifically the late seventh and early sixth centuries. This is a small but very impressive seal, offering us a wealth of information. Let us hope for many more this year!
Interested in learning Biblical Hebrew? Sign up for a trial lesson at www.classicalhebrew.com
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Posted by Naama Baumgarten on March 9, 2008 under Historical Geography |
The city of Bethel is located north of Jerusalem and is identified as what is now the Arab village Bitan. It is first mentioned as a place near which Abraham first settled when arriving in Canaan, and is mentioned throughout Israelite history in the Bible. The archaeological findings date as far back as the 21st century BCE.
According to the Book of Genesis, Bethel, literally “The House of God,” which was originally named Luz, was thus named by the Patriarch Jacob. It was there that Jacob, when sleeping on the road after escaping from his brother, Esau, saw a vision of a ladder reaching up into the heavens and angels ascending and descending on it. It was during this vision that he was promised the land of Israel for his descendants, and he proceeded to make a vow to God: “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going . . . so that I return to my father’s house in peace, then YHWH shall be my God” (Genesis 28:20-21).
Later in the History of Israel, the city was conquered by Joshua and became part of the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph. Bethel was a major city in the times of the Judges and of the prophet Samuel, and an important place of worship. Bethel gained a special status upon the division of the United Kingdom in the days of Jeroboam, and was one of the two major places of worship where the golden calves were placed (along with the northern city of Dan).
Bethel was not destructed during the Assyrian attack against the Israelite kingdom, but it was conquered by the Judean king Josiah, who destroyed the cultic center as part of his religious reformation (circa 622 BCE).
Bethel was resettled after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile and thrived throughout the Second Temple Period, and was probably still sparsely populated until the Byzantine period.
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Tags: Abraham, Babylonian exile, biblical history, City of Bethel, Genesis, history of Israel, Israelite history, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, prophet Samuel, Second Temple, vision of the ladder
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Posted by Bronwen Manning on March 5, 2008 under Language and Genre |
The Tetragrammaton Yhwh is the personal name for the God of Israel and Judah as revealed to Moses in the Wilderness (Exodus 3:14). This name is first attested to outside the bible in the late ninth century Mesha Inscription, where the enemy king of Moab announces “I took the vessels of Yhwh and dragged them before Chemosh” (line 17). It is unmistakable that Yhwh was worshipped and his name was known and spoken by even Israel’s neighbours. However it happened that the nation of Israel went from a time when they knew the name of their God, and spoke it, to a time where they forgot the proper pronunciation, and avoided using it.
This change began to occur in the late Second Temple Period when the Jews decided to avoid speaking the name of Yhwh in public places. By the time of the Middle Ages the name of their God was not spoken at all, and in fact the knowledge of how to correctly pronounce Yhwh had been forgotten. Instead the simple title ‘Lord’ was preferred and used, one reason was to safeguard against intended or unintended blasphemy.
The correct pronunciation of Yhwh and its meaning has been the subject of much scholarly debate and a great effort has been made to recapture what was lost over time. Foremost in understanding of the name Yhwh is to realize that in the Hebrew Bible it is written one way, but pronounced another way entirely; this is called a qere perpetuum. This is when the consonants Y h w h are marked either with the vowels of Adoni (my Lord/Master) or with the vowels of Elohim (God). This was to indicate to those reading the text that they should actually read (qere) “Lord” or “Master” instead of the unspeakably holy name of God! Not knowing this writing convention has led to the erroneous reading of Jehovah which conflates the consonants Yhwh with the vowels of ‘My Master’.
Today it is generally accepted to see Yhwh as a verbal form derived from the root hyh meaning “be at hand, exist, become, come to pass”; and should be pronounced as Yahweh. If translated as a hiphil verb, which is causative, then it appears we are dealing with a sentence name, such as Yahweh Shalom “he creates peace” the name written on Gideon’s altar (Judges 6:24). We have a clue into the eternal and consistent nature of Yahweh through the story in Exodus 3:14 where Yahweh declares
’ehyeh ’asher ’ehyeh. The many translations we have bear testimony to the difficulty in capturing its meaning; “I AM who I AM”; “I create whatever I create” or “I AM The One Who Always Is”. Both ’ehyeh and Yahweh are from the same verb and are attesting to the character of the God who bears its name; a creator who is an eternal being.
Interested in learning Biblical Hebrew? Sign up for a trial lesson at www.classicalhebrew.com
Tags: causative, Chemosh, etymology, hiphil, Masoretic Text, Mesha Inscription, Middle Ages, Moab, qere perpetuum, Second Temple Period, Tetragrammaton, YHWH
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A 3rd Century CE Roman grave has revealed a startling find- a small golden scroll with the Hebrew prayer, known as the Shema, "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The scroll is a Greek transcription of the prayer, and was found resting in an infant’s grave. This finding may push back by 600 years the evidence of a Jewish Presence in modern day Austria.
