The “Strange” Ending of the Gospel of Mark and Why It Makes All the Difference

04/01/2017 | James Tabor presents a fresh look at the original text of the earliest Gospel.   Read more…

Posted in: New Testament

Mark and John: A Wedding at Cana—Whose and Where?

11/16/2015 | In a guest post republished from his blog, James Tabor discusses the wedding at Cana from the Gospels of Mark and John. Whose wedding was this and why were Jesus   Read more…

Posted in: Jesus/Historical Jesus, New Testament

The Quest for the Historical Paul

08/14/2014 | What can we reliably know about Paul and how can we know it? As is the case with Jesus this is not an easy question.   Read more…

Posted in: People in the Bible

The Last Days of Jesus: A Final “Messianic” Meal

04/18/2014 | On Wednesday Jesus began to make plans for Passover. He sent two of his disciples into the city to prepare a large second-­story guest room where he could gather secretly   Read more…

Posted in: Jesus/Historical Jesus, New Testament

Can A Pre-Christian Version of the Book of Revelation Be Recovered?

10/24/2013 | James Tabor suggests that in the same way the basic apocalyptic texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls have as their historical reference points the parties and politics of the mid-1st   Read more…

Posted in: Bible Interpretation

The “Gabriel Stone” on Display

05/13/2013 | James Tabor describes Israel Knohl’s changed interpretation of the critical line discussing the resurrection of the dead after three days of “Gabriel’s Revelation.”   Read more…

Posted in: Archaeologists, Biblical Scholars & Works, Inscriptions

The Making of a Messiah

03/08/2013 | In this post I want to to consider what I call the “textual dynamics of messianic self-identity.” I realize that is a mouthful but bear with me here, as this   Read more…

Posted in: Bible Interpretation, Jesus/Historical Jesus

If I Ascend to Heaven … Paul’s Journey to Paradise

01/03/2013 | The various types of the heavenly journeys we have reports about can be divided into four basic categories, based upon the fundamental purpose or outcome of the ascent as reported   Read more…

Posted in: People in the Bible

That Other “King of the Jews”

10/24/2012 | According to the gospel of Mark, when Jesus is on trial before the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate he was asked if he claimed to be the “King of the Jews,”   Read more…

Posted in: Jesus/Historical Jesus

The Only Ancient Jewish Male Hair Ever Found

09/27/2012 | The braided hair of a Jewish woman was found at Masada but until recently no example of preserved hair from a Jewish male had ever been found from the late   Read more…

A “Jesus Hideout” in Jordan

09/05/2012 | Biblical Scholar James Tabor examines the setting of some of the Jesus’ final excursions before his crucifixion.   Read more…