The Mandeans trace themselves back to the original followers of John the Baptist, who, according to tradition, fled the land Holy Land in the first century, preserving traditions independent of the emerging Christian Church in the subsequent centuries. In June 1999, I was privileged to be a part of a…
This groundbreaking article by the late Bargil Pixner, a Benedictine priest and my dear friend, mentor, and colleague, was published in Biblical Archaeology Review in May/June, 1990. For me it was a most important article–groundbreaking! Other than Jim Strange and Shimon Gibson, there is no one from whom I have learned…
I am honored to post as a guest celebrating the 10th anniversary of Bart Ehrman’s popular and informative blog today–highlighting my translation of the Book of Genesis,as well as the Transparent English Bible more generally. Normally Bart’s blog requires a subscription, which is a nominal fee, the proceeds of which…
I filmed all day yesterday (August 3, 2022) with Derek Lambert of Mythvision Podcast on Youtube, a mini-course on the Gospel of Mark based on what I learned from my teacher, the late, great, Norman Perrin at the University of Chicago and my subsequent study and years of teaching Mark…
The following four essays were in response to a comprehensive essay exam I gave in my Dead Sea Scrolls course. They were written by my student Jeffrey Poplin and used with his permission. I thank Jeffrey for his superb work and happily pass these along to my blog readers: Essay One: Offer…
And he will rule the nations with a rod of iron shattering them as earthen pots I wanted to recommend another post by fellow-blogger Alex Finkelson of “Scribes of the Kingdom.” ((Search “Finkelson” on my TaborBlog for previous posts that Alex has done that I have put up on my…
1. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered between 1947-1956 in 11 caves (5 by Beduin; 6 by archaeologists) on the upper northwest shore of the Dead Sea. The area is 13 miles east of Jerusalem, and is -1300 ft. below sea level (Jerusalem is +2400 ft. above sea level). 2.…
Ross Nichols has just uploaded on a very balanced and reasonable set of reflections on the “Jerusalem stone” inscription and the resulting controversies that broke over the weekend–see my “Breaking News and Updates” posted here on my blog this morning–with quite a few links that fill in the backstory on…
Dr. James Tabor retired (2022) as a full-Professor from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he taught Christian origins and ancient Judaism, for 33 years, serving as Chair for a decade. His MA/Ph.D. is from the University of Chicago (1981). He previously…
I have written and lectured a lot on “When Prophecy Fails,” that is how various groups over the past 2500 years, both Jewish and Christian, have had their hopes and expectations dashed by what one might call the “brick wall” of historical reality. In times of global unrest and uncertainty,…
