The entire tale in the book of Genesis of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has been portrayed as the FALL OF Humanity from God’s Grace and Favor. It is quite the opposite. In this video I examine the…
I learned this single CORE idea from Jonathan Z. Smith, the greatest historian of religion of our time, during the first week of the first class I had from him at the University of Chicago called simply “Hellenistic Religion.” It remains the case that very few in my academic field…
The publication of this revised and expanded 4th edition of my book Restoring Abrahamic Faith has been delayed over the past months due to pending research that I want to include. The official publication date is now October 3, 2024. The book will be published on Amazon in Kindle, Paper,…
A plain historical reading of Isaiah 7 and 8 in context reveal that Immanuel is NOT Jesus or any Messiah–it is Isaiah’s Son! I invite you to join my Tabor Research Community for lots more, discussions, my responses to messages, a monthly Zoom meetings, and a fantastic and diverse group…
Millions sing the old evangelical Christian hymn “I Know that My Redeemer Lives,” referring to Jesus. However, the idea comes from Job 19 and it turns out it has been seriously mistranslated in Christian versions of the Bible and the actual meaning is something totally different–but equally amazing! For a…
Today is the biblical Shavuot as observed in late 2nd Temple times–not on a date of the Jewish month (Sivan 5th), which never changes, but a literal counting of days from the Sunday (“morrow after the Sabbath”), seven Sabbath will be complete untiil the “morrow” (Sunday) after the 7th Sabbath.…
Millions for centuries–and into our own time, read Genesis 2 and the creation of Adam from the dust as referring only to his body–but then he receives the “breath of life” from God and becomes a living soul–special and above the animals, who are only beasts who perish. Here is…
The traditional translation of “Den of Thieves” is misleading both in the mouth of Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple–but more significant,–in the mouth of the Prophet Jeremiah whom Jesus quotes. Here is the back-story on what was really going on, both in the time of Jeremiah and of Jesus. Here…
The very first verse of the Bible–Genesis 1:1–which millions can quote by heart–is MIStranslated in most all major versions and all languages–with very few exceptions. The reasons are simple–Marketing and Commercialism. Who would buy a Bible translation that does not begin with “In the Beginning, God Created the Heavens and…
Michael Stone, now retired from Hebrew University, but as active as ever in his scholarly investigations and publications, is one of the most engaging scholars in the general area of Jewish texts and traditions of the late 2nd Temple period. I still consider his little book, Scriptures, Sects, and Visions…