Category Archives: Bible Study

Things are not always what they seem

Posted on April 28, 2010 | 2 comments

Surely I will receive a few links from friends who want to inform me that certain discoveries have been made that should be mentioned on this page. Because I am busy getting ready to leave the country I do not have time to write in detail. Please take a look at the links I suggest for reliable information.

Noah’s Ark Found. Yes, it was reported on major news outlets. See the following links:

Bible Places Blog by Todd Bolen.

Ben Witherington. Be sure to see the Bill Cosby clip, too.

Giant Skeleton Found. Michael Hasel discusses the report of the discovery of skeleton’s of giants in the recent issue of DigSight here. There is also good info on the Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation and ostracon.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Study, Turkey

Samaritan Passover is today

Posted on April 28, 2010 | 1 comment

The Samaritans celebrate passover today, April 28, 2010. Lambs will be sacrificed and roasted in the pits seen here on Mount Gerizim.

Pits used by Samaritans on Mt. Gerizim at Passover. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Pits used by Samaritans on Mt. Gerizim at Passover. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

See old photos at Life in the Holy Land here. Todd Bolen has some nice photos and explanations at Bible Places here, and another article here. A website provided by the Samaritans is available here.

Passover is a celebration that originated as the Israelites prepared to depart from Egypt.

And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. (Exodus 12:26-27 ESV)

The Samaritans are a curiosity in the modern world. The men and boys wear a dress-like robe, while many of the women dress in modern fashions. We have written more about the Samaritans here.

Samaritan man and woman on Mount Gerizim. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Samaritan man and woman on Mount Gerizim. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Jesus paused in the valley below Mount Gerizim at Jacob’s well. He discussed the issue of worship in “this mountain” with the woman of Samaria (John 4:1-42).

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:20-24 ESV)

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Posted in Bible Places, Bible Study, Israel, New Testament, Old Testament

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Jodanian students work at Umm Qais

Posted on April 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

Jordanian students from the International Academy Amman spent a week excavating at Umm Qais. The full article may be read in The Jordan Times here.

Students from the International Academy in Amman work at Um Qais. Photo by Taylor Luck, Jordan Times.

Students from the International Academy in Amman work at Um Qais. Photo by Taylor Luck, Jordan Times.

Umm Qais (a common spelling) is the site of Gadara, one of the cities of the Decapolis. Mendel Nun discovered 16 ancient ports around the Sea of Galilee, including one for the city of Gadara. He describes Gadara:

Gadara, the most magnificent of the Hellenistic towns that circled the Sea of Galilee, was located on the heights of Gilead above the Yarmuk River. The marine suburb and the city’s harbor were located on the southeastern shore of the lake, at Tel Samra (now Ha-on Holiday Village). In form, Gadara’s harbor resembles that of Sussita—a closed basin with an opening to the south—but it is much larger and more luxurious. The central breakwater is 800 feet long and its base 15 feet wide. The promenade was 650 feet long, built with finely chiseled stones, only one of which remains. The 150-foot-wide basin covered an area of 3 acres.

This harbor is superior to the one at Sussita not only because of its size but also because of its facilities. At the center of the promenade are the remains of a tower. Ruins of a large structure—probably the building of the harbor administration—are scattered on the ground near the harbor gate.

Gadara’s maritime character is attested by its coins, which depicted ships of war for some 250 years. The city’s harbor at Tel Samra was almost certainly not only an anchorage for ships. Second-century coins from Gadara commemorate the Naumachia—naval battle games performed for the inhabitants of Gadara. Until recently, researchers assumed that these games took place on the Yarmuk River, which flows into the Jordan just south of the Sea of Galilee; but this does not seem likely, and no remains of a facility of this kind have been found at this site. The large harbor basin at Tel Samra, however, with its 1,600-foot-long combined promenade and breakwater, would surely have been more suitable to accommodate the throngs of spectators as they arrived. In addition, Gadara’s harbor must have been used by thousands of visitors to the famous baths at Hamat Gader, located 5 miles southeast of the sea. The ancient Roman road connecting Beth Shean and Sussita passed near Tel Samra, and the road to Hamat Gader branched off this road. (Mendel Nun. “Ports of Galilee.” Biblical Archaeology Review 25:04; July/Aug 1999)

From Umm Qais (Gadara) one has a great view of the Sea of Galilee and the Yarmuk River valley. We are told that Jesus visited the region of Decapolis.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. (Mark 7:31 ESV)

The Gospel of Matthew informs us about the healing by Jesus of two demon-possessed men in the country of the Gadarenes (Matthew 8:28). Mark puts this event in the country of the Gerasenes (Mark 5:1-20). Luke adds that they “sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee” (Luke 8:26).

The photo below was made in the late afternoon when citizens of the local Jordanian village came out to enjoy the view. The view across the Sea is not clear, but you can see the entire western coast line. In the right foreground you can see a bunker used by the Jordanians in recent wars in the region. The hill directly across from the bunker is the beginning of the Golan Heights. Prior to 1967 this was in Syria. The Yarmuk River flows into the Jordan River south of the Sea of Galilee. All of the significant rivers of Jordan that flow into the Jordan River have dams on them, thus decreasing the amount of water flowing into the Jordan.

Late afternoon view of the Sea of Galilee from Umm Qais. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The next photo was made in 2002. It shows a portion of the nymphaeum (attractive water fountain) and the Yarmuk Valley.

The Sea of Galilee from Umm Qais (Gadara). Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The Sea of Galilee from Umm Qais (Gadara). Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Todd Bolen posted a beautiful, clear photo that also shows the Yarmuk River valley and the nymphaeum here. Note that the nymphaeum had undergone some reconstruction when his photo was made.

HT: Joseph Lauer

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Bible Study, Biblical Studies, Israel, Jordan, New Testament, Photography

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Palestine nineteen centuries ago

Posted on April 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

Alfred Edersheim wrote his Sketches of Jewish Social Life in 1876. He tells us how the land of Palestine looked after three and a half centuries of Ottoman Rule. If you have read after some of the older scholars you know they were fond of long paragraphs. A far cry from the single sentence paragraphs we see in newspapers today. It says a lot about the readers, I suppose. Anyway, I have divided the single paragraph into four for ease of reading.

Eighteen and a half centuries ago, and the land which now lies desolate—its bare, grey hills looking into ill-tilled or neglected valleys, its timber cut down, its olive- and vine-clad terraces crumbled into dust, its villages stricken with poverty and squalor, its thoroughfares insecure and deserted, its native population well-nigh gone, and with them its industry, wealth, and strength—presented a scene of beauty, richness, and busy life almost unsurpassed in the then known world.

Then, he tells us how the land was described eighteen centuries prior to his day:

The Rabbis never weary of its praises, whether their theme be the physical or the moral pre-eminence of Palestine. It happened, so writes one of the oldest Hebrew commentaries, that Rabbi Jonathan was sitting under a fig-tree, surrounded by his students. Of a sudden he noticed how the ripe fruit overhead, bursting for richness, dropped its luscious juice on the ground, while at a little distance the distended udder of a she-goat was no longer able to hold the milk. “Behold,” exclaimed the Rabbi, as the two streams mingled, “the literal fulfillment of the promise: ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’“ “The land of Israel is not lacking in any product whatever,” argued Rabbi Meir, “as it is written (Deuteronomy 8:9): ‘Thou shalt not lack anything in it.’“ Nor were such statements unwarranted; for Palestine combined every variety of climate, from the snows of Hermon and the cool of Lebanon to the genial warmth of the Lake of Galilee and the tropical heat of the Jordan valley. Accordingly not only the fruit trees, the grain, and garden produce known in our colder latitudes were found in the land, along with those of sunnier climes, but also the rare spices and perfumes of the hottest zones.

Fig growing at Caesarea Philippi. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Fig growing at the Banias River, Caesarea Philippi. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Similarly, it is said, every kind of fish teemed in its waters, while birds of most gorgeous plumage filled the air with their song. Within such small compass the country must have been unequaled for charm and variety. On the eastern side of Jordan stretched wide plains, upland valleys, park-like forests, and almost boundless corn and pasture lands; on the western side were terraced hills, covered with olives and vines, delicious glens, in which sweet springs murmured, and fairy-like beauty and busy life, as around the Lake of Galilee.

In the distance stretched the wide sea, dotted with spreading sails; here was luxurious richness, as in the ancient possessions of Issachar, Manasseh, and Ephraim; and there, beyond these plains and valleys, the highland scenery of Judah, shelving down through the pasture tracts of the Negev, or South country, into the great and terrible wilderness. And over all, so long as God’s blessing lasted, were peace and plenty. Far as the eye could reach, browsed “the cattle on a thousand hills”; the pastures were “clothed with flocks, the valleys also covered over with corn”; and the land, “greatly enriched with the river of God,” seemed to “shout for joy,” and “also to sing.” Such a possession, heaven-given at the first and heaven-guarded throughout, might well kindle the deepest enthusiasm.

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Early farming sites uncovered in Syria

Posted on April 21, 2010 | Leave a comment

The Syrian Department of Archaeology and Museums reports excavations of some farming communities on the Euphrates River in northern Syria dating back to the 10th millennium B.C.

Assistant Director of the Syrian Department of Archaeology and Museums Thaer Yerte said excavations at the site revealed information about the communities that settled on the banks of the Euphrates, uncovering two different areas that include three communal buildings and dozens of circular houses built from limestone and paved with pebbles from the river.

The structures contained various flint tools such as blades, knives, sickles, arrow tips and hatchets, tools used for leatherwork and crafting straw mats, stone mills and pestles, pottery fragments and animal bones and horns, Yerte added.

He pointed out that the first communal building in the site contains a circular hole in the ground 15 meters deep with a diameter of 12 meters, with a clay terrace inside the building containing limestone blocks decorated with engravings of animals, geometrical shapes and the sun. The floor is made of clay tiles painted with lime, while the ceiling is supported by wooden pillars.

The second communal building is circular with a diameter of 7 meters, consisting of five chambers with a square stone support pillar in its center. It contained flint and stone tools, stone pottery, a flint figurine representing a mother goddess, a clay figurine representing a half-human half-animal creature, and ox horns.

The complete article may be read here.

The area in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey along the Euphrates River is known as Paddan-aram in the book of Genesis. This area served as home for several of the biblical patriarchs. See Genesis 25:20; 28:2,5-7; 31:18; 33:18; 35:9,26; 46:15).

Today’s photo of the Euphrates River was made in northern Syria about 25 miles south of the border with Turkey.

The Euphrates River in northern Syria. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The Euphrates River in northern Syria. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Bible Study, Culture, Old Testament

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Jaffa Gate unveiling tomorrow

Posted on April 20, 2010 | 2 comments

The newly rehabilitated Jaffa Gate will be unveiled tomorrow, April 21, after several months of conservation work. Jaffa Gate is the only one of the seven gates of the Old City on the western side of Jerusalem.

Jaffa Gate awaiting unveiling. Photo: IAA.

Jaffa Gate awaits unveiling after several months of rehabilitation. Photo: IAA.

The Israel Antiquities Authority press release briefly describes the history of the gate:

Jaffa Gate was first inaugurated in 1538. It constituted part of the city walls and in fact it was only toward the end of the nineteenth century did it become a center of bustling and prosperous activity. The period culminated in the year 1898, when it was decided to breach a wide entrance in the city wall of Jerusalem (as we know it today) and thereby allow the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II and his wife, Augusta Victoria, to enter the city in their carriage. Thus, for the first time in the history of modern Jerusalem, carts could enter the Old City.

In the War of Independence the gate was the focal point of some very harsh battles. During the war Jaffa Gate was completely blocked by an armored vehicle that had been damaged in the fighting and was wedged in the opening. In the cease-fire agreements between Israel and Jordan Jaffa Gate stood at the opening to the no man’s land that stretched from Jaffa Gate to Zahal Square and the Mamilla neighborhood and separated it from Jordanian controlled Jerusalem in the east. Consequently, the blocked armored vehicle was not removed, and the gate remained closed the entire period that the city was divided. The remains of the bullets that pierced the stones of the gate are clearly visible on the upper parts of the structure.

You may read the press release in its entirety here.

Jaffa Gate during rehabilitation. Photo: IAA.

Jaffa Gate during rehabilitation. Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority.

English Bible students will recognize the word Jaffa as Joppa. This is the gate through which one would leave Jerusalem to go to Joppa on the Mediterranean coast. Cedar timber from Lebanon was brought from Joppa to Jerusalem for the building of Solomon’s temple.

And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may take it up to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 2:16 ESV)

HT: Joseph I. Lauer

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Posted in Bible Places, Bible Study, Israel, Jordan, New Testament, Old Testament

Practical uses of potsherds

Posted on April 19, 2010 | 1 comment

Once pottery is broken it appears to be useless. The prophet Jeremiah, prior the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, was told by the LORD to buy a piece of pottery. Follow the story:

The LORD told Jeremiah, “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take with you some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders of the priests. Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Announce there what I tell you. (Jeremiah 19:1-2 NET)

Eventually, he was to break the clay jar.

The LORD continued, “Now break the jar in front of those who have come here with you. Tell them the LORD who rules over all says, ‘I will do just as Jeremiah has done. I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter’s vessel which is broken beyond repair. The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.’ (Jeremiah 19:10-11 NET)

Broken pottery is clay that has been formed and fired before being broken. David described his weakened condition using an analogy to potsherds:

The roof of my mouth is as dry as a piece of pottery; (NET), or “my strength is dried up like a potsherd” (Psalm 22:15 ESV)

Collected potsherds on the surface of Derbe. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Collected potsherds on the surface of Derbe. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The pottery is now potsherds, sherds, or shards. Is there any practical use for it? Yes.

  • Scraping sores. “Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes.” (Job 2:8 NET)
  • Taking fire from the hearth, or scooping water from a cistern (Isaiah 30:14). This would require a shard from a larger jar.
  • Writing material. When the potsherd is used as a writing surface it is called an ostracon (plural is ostraca). We have some famous examples such as the Lachish Letters, the lots at Masada, the Arad ostraca, Samaritan ostraca, et al.

In Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the future, the “toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay [pottery, NAU]” (Daniel 2:42). I could have told him this would not work. “Iron does not mix with clay [pottery, NAU]” (Daniel 2:43).

If we move to modern times, there is another practical use for potsherds.

  • Archaeological dating. Potsherds are an indicator of the chronological periods during which a tell was occupied. Flinders Petrie, working at Tell el-Hesi in 1890, observed the relationship between the various layers of the tell and the pottery found in each layer.

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Bible Study, Culture, Israel, Old Testament

Potsherds, sherds, and shards

Posted on April 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

Pottery is the most durable of things discovered during an archaeological dig. Even when the pottery is broken it endures, and can be useful for some purposes. The pieces of broken pottery are called potsherds, sherds, or shards.  Visit any archaeological site and you will see a pile of broken pottery. The largest pile I recall seeing is at Ramat Rachel between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

A pile of potsherds at Ramat Rachel. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

A pile of potsherds at Ramat Rachel. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Cities of biblical times likely had a common place to dump broken pottery. In the days of Jeremiah, Jerusalem had a gate known as the Potsherd Gate.

Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Announce there what I tell you. (Jeremiah 19:2 NET)

Looking through the pottery shards at Ramat Rachel.

Ferrell Jenkins looking at a rim and a handle at Ramat Rachel. Photo: Leon Mauldin.

Is there any use for this broken pottery? Answer to follow…

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Bible Study, Culture, Israel, Old Testament

Temples made by man

Posted on April 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

Any Greek or Roman city we visit is surely to have ruins of a theater and a temple. Both Greek and Roman theaters remain at Syracuse (Acts 28:12).The Paoli Orsi Regional Archaeological Museum displays a model of the Temple of Athena (left; 480 B.C.) and the Temple of Artemis (right; 520 B.C.).

Temple models at Syracuse, Sicily, archaeological museum.

Model of Temple Athena and Temple of Artemis. Syracuse. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The Apostle Paul had to contend with this in every Roman city he visited. At Athens he said,

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:24-25 ESV)

He reminded the Corinthians, who lived in a city filled with temples,

For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth–as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”– yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Corinthians 8:5-6 ESV)

Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, as well as the later temples built by Zerubbabel and Herod, were made with hands. Paul certainly knows this. But he also knows what Solomon said about the same subject:

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! (1 Kings 8:27 ESV)

Read the full account of the building and dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 6-8. The temple was a place of worship, but it was not to be the object of worship.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9).

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Posted in Archaeology, Bible Places, Bible Study, Culture, Greece, New Testament, Old Testament

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Paul stayed three days in Syracuse

Posted on April 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

After three months on the Island of Malta, Paul’s voyage to Rome resumed when an Alexandrian ship that had wintered there set sail. The next stop was Syracuse in Sicily (Acts 28:11-12).

K. L. McKay describes Syracuse:

A city with a large harbour on the E coast of Sicily. Founded in 734 bc by Corinthian colonists, it had by the end of the 5th century bc become the most important city, politically and commercially, in Sicily, especially under the tyrants Gelon and Dionysius I. (New Bible Dictionary, 1143).

The stop at Syracuse is nearly overlooked by Luke, with only these words:

We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. (Acts 28:12 NET)

It is doubtful that Paul, as a prisoner, had much liberty to visit the sites of the city as he did at Athens (Acts 17:23). There are a few Roman and Greek ruins to be seen today. Our photo today is of the Greek theater built in the fourth century B.C.

Syracuse Greek Theater. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Ruins of the Greek Theater in Syracuse. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

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