Daily Archives: August 1, 2008

Seal of Zedekiah’s minister found

Posted on August 1, 2008 | Leave a comment

The Jerusalem Post is reporting here on the discovery of a seal impression belonging to Gedalyahu ben Pashur (English versions have Gedaliah the son of Pashhur). The relevant text from Jeremiah reads,

Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people (Jeremiah 38:1 ESV)

Here are a few excepts from the Jerusalem Post article:

The seal impression, or bulla, with the name Gedalyahu ben Pashur, who served as minister to King Zedekiah (597-586 BCE) according to the Book of Jeremiah, was found just meters away from a separate seal impression of another of Zedekia’s ministers, Yehukual ben Shelemyahu, which was uncovered three years ago, said Prof. Eilat Mazar who is leading the dig at the site.

…

Other Biblical-era bullae were previously found a quarter century ago at the City of David site. In 1982, the Israeli archeologist Yigal Shiloh discovered a cache of bullae in a nearby site, including one with the name of Gemaryahu ben Shaphan – mentioned in the Bible as a minister and scribe during the reign of King Jehoiakim (608-597 BCE).

Hopefully a nice photo of the seal with be forthcoming shortly.

HT: Paleojudaica

Update. For a photo of the inscription check the Trumpet.

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Posted in Archaeology, Israel, Old Testament

The ESV Study Bible

Posted on August 1, 2008 | 1 comment

Quite a bit of attention is being given to the forthcoming (October 15) English Standard Version Study Bible. Dr. Leen Ritmeyer has served as archaeological and architectural editor for the new study Bible. On his blog he calls attention to two interviews with Justin Taylor, Project Director and Managing Editor of the ESV Study Bible.

The first interview is “What Did Calvary Look Like?” Evidence for the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden Tomb is summarized. Golgotha on this drawing is now the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Drawing showing Golgotha.

Drawing showing Golgotha.

The second interview is “What Did Jesus’ Tomb Look Like?”

If you teach the Bible you will want to download the large drawings associated with these interviews. Some sample pages in PDF (Introductions to Luke, Revelation, and Psalms) are available for download here.

Taylor explains the high quality of these drawings (“paintings”):

Using Dr. Ritmeyer’s extensive research and new drawings, we then turned to the illustration firm Maltings Partnership (in Derby, England) to produce the final, full-color paintings. We knew of Maltings’ superb work from their reconstruction drawings in the DK Travel Guides and the National Geographic Traveler guides. We could not be happier with the final results.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Study, Books, Israel, New Testament

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