Jesus
The Bible: From One-Reeler to Docu-dramaTuesday, April 23, 2013 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The History Channel's The Bible is a small epic, with editorial choices that produce predictable results. But some of this smallness yields unexpected insights.
The Outstretched HandWednesday, April 10, 2013 by Motti Inbari | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
My family and I celebrated Passover in Lumberton, North Carolina. We are the only Israelis in town and, as far as I know, the only Jews. But it’s not as lonely as it might sound, thanks to our Evangelical Christian neighbors.
Editors' Picks
Another Crime of Passion Larry Poland, Abraham Cooper, Yitzchok Adlerstein, First Things. Most of the Jewish characters in the History Channel's The Bible look like "imports from Texas." But Caiaphas and company are made to appear distinctively Jewish.
Remembering Geza Vermes Mark Goodacre, NT Blog. An authority on the early history of both Judaism and Christianity, Geza Vermes, who passed away this week, translated the Dead Sea Scrolls and revolutionized the academic study of Jesus.
Art That's "Too Jewish" Bernard Starr, Algemeiner. Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millet was aiming to revive the Christian pathos of early-Renaissance art. But critics attacked him for "portraying the youthful Savior as a red-headed Jew boy."
Was Crucifixion a Jewish Penalty? Geza Vermes, Standpoint. Although never enumerated among biblical forms of capital punishment, both Josephus and the Dead Sea Scrolls suggest that during the Hasmonean era, crucifixion was part of Jewish penal legislation.
God's Children James Tabor, Taborblog. Angels, anointed kings, and the Children of Israel are all called sons of God in the Bible—without its implying that they share in God's divinity.
"Are you the Messiah?" James Tabor, Taborblog. Scholars have long dismissed Jesus' self-identification as the Messiah, related in Mark, claiming that his followers called him the Messiah only after his death. But the sources suggest otherwise.
The Original Jews for Jesus Mark Edwards, Marginalia. It wasn’t unusual in Jesus’ time to find Jews claiming that they could heal long-distance and raise the dead. Why was it only Jesus who attained the status of a god?
How December 25 Became Christmas Andrew McGowan, Bible History Daily. It's no coincidence that Christmas is nine months to the day from the Feast of the Annunciation—which marks the day Jesus was conceived.
Frankincense Resurrected Matthew Kalman, Times of Israel. 1,500 years after the last frankincense tree disappeared from the Holy Land, Dr. Elaine Solowey has grown the first shoots of the tree whose sap was worth more than gold.
Variations on a Theme Geza Vermes, Standpoint. Discrepancies among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Septuagint, and the Masoretic biblical text point to interpretative ferment in the time of Jesus.