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17 votes
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John 8:57 and the age of Jesus, before his crucifixion

The Phrasing is Not a Direct Comment on Jesus being over 40 Years Old Irenaeus is in error with his logic here, partly because he is missing the context and particular significance of the statement. ...
ScottS's user avatar
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17 votes

Why will Dan not be in heaven? What did he do worse than his brethren?

The real key is that TWO names are missing from the list of territorial tribes and have been replaced. We need to watch these names, because they point us towards the symbolic meaning of the list. I ...
Stephen Disraeli's user avatar
15 votes
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What evidence is used to support the claim that Isaiah was written before the reign of King Cyrus?

Prima Facie evidence The primary evidence is that the text claims to have been written by Isaiah the son of Amoz, and that his career spanned portions of the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and ...
Hold To The Rod's user avatar
14 votes

Was Potiphar, being a captain of an Egyptian guard, likely a eunuch?

I regret that I do not have access to the article by Johnston, but I understand his gist from Susan’s answer. First of all, the argument that “research has failed to turn up any evidence for the use ...
fdb's user avatar
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13 votes
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Was Potiphar, being a captain of an Egyptian guard, likely a eunuch?

The word used to describe Potiphar's relationship with Pharaoh (37:36, 39:1) is sārı̂s, which is indeed commonly glossed "eunuch" (e.g. BDB; cf. LXX εὐνοῦχος). However, to my knowledge no major ...
Susan's user avatar
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12 votes

What are the similarities and differences between the Genesis creation account and other creation stories of the time

There are several creation accounts in antiquity from two main areas in the fertile crescent; Babylon/Sumer and Egypt. I will attempt to summarize and compare/contrast points of each creation myth ...
James Shewey's user avatar
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11 votes
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Has the lengthened day of Joshua 10 been modeled in a simulation to show how this could have occurred?

The short answer is that, no, despite a persistent urban legend that NASA modeled this on one of their early computer systems, the reality is that such a simulation is impossible. According to Dr. ...
James Shewey's user avatar
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10 votes
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In the time of Jesus, were the Jewish authorities allowed to execute?

It seems that the Romans initially allowed the Jewish authorities to exercise capital punishment, but withdrew the privilege some time during Jesus' life. The historian Josephus writes of an ...
Wad Cheber's user avatar
10 votes
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To whom was the letter 1 John written?

In the Introduction to 1 John in the NIV Study Bible, Donald W. Burdick writes: Author: Unlike most NT letters, 1 John does not tell us who the author is. The earliest identification of him ...
Lesley's user avatar
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8 votes

The Ten Commandments were based on the Code of Hammurabi?

I don't know of any scholar who denies that Hammurabi wrote a code of laws before Moses received the Ten Commandments and the accompanying law. So if the question is: Did Moses invent the idea of ...
Jay's user avatar
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8 votes

Why will Dan not be in heaven? What did he do worse than his brethren?

Not just Dan was not on the list, the sequence was not orderly arranged too. Also Manasseh was part of Joseph's tribe. So the list reveals something unusual. If we reviewed the meaning of the names ...
Vincent Wong's user avatar
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8 votes
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Son of theos vs son of kyrios

We can translate John 11:27 from Greek to English. John 11:27 (Greek New Testament) λέγει αὐτῷ· ναὶ κύριε, ἐγὼ πεπίστευκα ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐρχόμενος. She said to ...
ktm5124's user avatar
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7 votes
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Who was Neri, father of Shealtiel?

The idea in brief A recent (2015) work, The First Nativity (Part II): History and Theology of Our Incarnate Lord and Savior by Joseph David Rhodes contains a good discussion of Neri. In short, the ...
ThaddeusB's user avatar
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7 votes

Should Luke be considered a 'primary' source concerning events in Jesus' life?

To discern what constitutes a "primary" source requires asking some research question or other: a "primary source" is any evidence which bears on the question's answer or solution; a "secondary ...
Dɑvïd's user avatar
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7 votes

Acts 15:5 - Could Christians remain Pharisees?

Paul state after his conversion that he is still Pharisee on two occasions Acts 23:6 Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “...
Enoch's user avatar
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6 votes

What are the similarities and differences between the Genesis creation account and other creation stories of the time

(Continued answer. See the introduction, table of contents and the first part of this answer here.) Creation myth of Ptah The creation myth of Ptah comes from Memphis which was created as the ...
James Shewey's user avatar
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6 votes
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In Genesis 24:2 why did Abraham have his servant make his oath under his "thigh"?

Definition The Hebrew term often translated "thigh" is ירך (yārēḵ; יָרֵךְ), which HALOT notes can refer to (my numbering; HALOT has only 2 entries and groups a number of meanings under #1 of there ...
ScottS's user avatar
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6 votes
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Did Jesus recover the lost tribes of Israel?

This question is great and requires a thoughtful response. I would like to draw your attention to Paul's writings concerning this: What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the ...
Jacob's user avatar
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6 votes
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How did Paul became a Roman citizen?

Paul was born a Roman citizen: And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born (Acts 22:28). This means that a) Paul's father was a ...
Hold To The Rod's user avatar
5 votes

What are the similarities and differences between the Genesis creation account and other creation stories of the time

(Continued answer. See the introduction, table of contents and the first part of this answer here.) Ogdoad of Hermopolis The creation myth of the Ogdoad is the oldest creation myth and It is very ...
James Shewey's user avatar
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5 votes

Did Luke use Josephus as a source?

Richard Carrier "Luke and Josephus (2000)," writes: "There has long been the observation that Luke-Acts contains numerous parallels with the works of Josephus, generating three different ...
David Conklin's user avatar
5 votes

In Hebrews 4:12 what is the difference between ψυχή ("soul") and πνεῦμα ("spirit")?

The verse in question resembles what many scholars have termed pre-literary creeds and hymns (See, e.g. How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of A Jewish Preacher from Galilee by Bart Ehrman, ...
The Votive Soul's user avatar
5 votes
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Did houses only have one room 2000 years ago?

A typical 1st century family home in Palestine was not one room but several rooms, on one or two floors, around a common open courtyard. Each room opened to the central space, so one lampstand in the ...
Schuh's user avatar
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5 votes

What textual clues are there that the original readers of Genesis would have understood 11:27–50:26 in a different way than Genesis 2:4–11:26?

There are a number of indicators: Themes In the texts in Chapter 11 and earlier, all of the stories are about God's punishment of mankind. While the theme of salvation is present in these texts, ...
James Shewey's user avatar
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5 votes

What did the label "abomination" indicate in Egyptian society?

The ancient Egyptian equivalent of the Hebrew תּוֹעֵבָה (tôʿēbâ) is bawut: Although bwt is sometimes still translated ‘abomination’, the consensus of contemporary Egyptologists suggests a meaning ...
Schuh's user avatar
  • 2,601
5 votes

Does Leviticus say that leprosy can be cured with two birds?

No, this passage does not say that leprosy can be cured using birds. The rite described here is not about "curing" at all. Rather, it is about the ritual purification. These verses describe the first ...
Susan's user avatar
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5 votes

In Genesis 24, camel reference

The gamal refers to both two-humped camels and dromedaries. If you are referring to the same archaeology studies I have looked at, some things need to be born in mind when applying it to the Biblical ...
Frank Luke's user avatar
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