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The Contours of the Land in Israel's History
The Land of Palestine
The land of Palestine took its name from the Philistines (the Pelishtim in Hebrew) who settled along the Mediterranean coast from Joppa to Gaza about 1300–12...
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Put Together by a Committee! by Robert L. Hubbard Jr.
Joshua part 1
Surprise! I’ll bet that you didn’t know this: a committee, not Joshua himself, wrote the book of Joshua. In fact, that commi...
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The Philistines by V. Phillips Long
One of the most obvious uses of background studies is to help readers learn more about the peoples of the ancient world that are mentioned ...
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Shamgar son of Anath by Daniel Block (3:31)
Who is this guy? This deliverer gets only one verse in the Bible—no wonder he is mysterious. Daniel Block sorts it out for us in his Judge...
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Gideon's Fleece by Daniel I. Block
Practices that appear in the Bible may at times seem very strange to us. When we encounter them we may at times supply our own intuition to...
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Walter C. Kaiser discusses Old Testament studies and Hermeneutics
Dr. Walter Kaiser talks about his favorite areas of research: Old Testament studies and Hermeneutics.
A question for only his former studen...
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Ancient Burial Practices by Dale Manor
When Ruth pledges to Naomi "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried" (Ruth 1:17), her words are pregnant with far-r...
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The Altar on Mount Ebal by Richard S. Hess
It is quite rare for archaeology to actually excavate something that is referred to in the Bible. A few examples exist where the ruins of a...
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Our Understanding of Judges by Daniel Block
Sometimes to understand the Bible, it is not the translation of a word that we need, but the translation of an idea. The very name of the b...
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The Walls of Jerico . . . and When Archaeology and the Bible Disagree
One of the most remarkable events recorded in the Old Testament is the collapse of the walls of Jericho. Here would seem to be an ideal opp...
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Influential Books and Authors: Miles Van Pelt on John Piper, Bill Mounce and others
Each week in Influential Books and Authors we hear from a noted scholar on the author(s) and book(s) that have been most important to ...
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The Ten Commandments . . . in Context
When the Law stele of Hammurabi and other collections of legal sayings from the ancient world were found, it was noticed that there were pa...
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Peter Enns discusses Old Testament Studies and Biblical Studies
What do you think - how has archaeological discoveries affected your research? What do you think will happen and/or needs to happen in thi...
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The Pig as Unclean—Leviticus 11
Modern readers are often mystified by the dietary regulations placed upon the ancient Israelites. Common popular suggestions that these wer...
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The Tabernacle and Its Parallels
The Tabernacle represents the re-establishment of sacred space that was forfeited when humans were cast out from the Garden of Eden. Though...
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Teraphim and Family Gods
The mysterious teraphim show up in a variety of texts. They are used to describe the images Rachel stole from her father and as what Michal...
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Azazel and the “Scapegoat” (Leviticus 16)
Often we encounter sections and practices in the Old Testament that seem very strange to us. It should not be surprising that some of these...
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