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Category: Academic Bible Study

How many children did Michal have? Explanation of a Talmudic passage in light of the writings of Josephus Flavius

How many children did Michal have? Explanation of a Talmudic passage in light of the writings of Josephus Flavius

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How many children did Michal have? Explanation of a Talmudic passage in light of the writings of Josephus Flavius[1]  By Chaim Sunitsky The following Talmudic passage appears in Sanhedrin 19b (we are using mostly Soncino translation): R. Yossi was asked by his disciples: How could David marry two sisters while they were both living? He answered: He married Michal after the death of Meirav. R. Yehoshua ben Korha said: His marriage to Meirav was contracted in error, as it is said,…

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Review of Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture by Shaye J.D. Cohen

Review of Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture by Shaye J.D. Cohen

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Review of Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture   by Shaye J.D. Cohen Shaye J. D. Cohen is the Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Harvard University. This is his first contribution to the Seforim blog. Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture. Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture. Edited by Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman….

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The Yeshivah and the Academy: How We Can Learn from One Another in Biblical Scholarship

The Yeshivah and the Academy: How We Can Learn from One Another in Biblical Scholarship

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Hayyim Angel’s latest book, Peshat Isn’t so Simple, has just been published. The Seforim Blog is happy to present this excerpt. The Yeshivah and the Academy: How We Can Learn from One Another in Biblical Scholarship I The study of Tanakh is an awesome undertaking, given its infinite depth. This chapter will explore the approaches of the yeshivah and the academy to Tanakh study. We will define the yeshivah broadly to include any traditional religious Jewish setting, be it the…

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Torah mi-Sinai and More

Torah mi-Sinai and More

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Torah mi-Sinai and More by Marc B. Shapiro 1. Some people have requested that I do more posts on theological matters, as I have done in the past. So let me begin with what I think will be a three-part series on Torah mi-Sinai. In a previous post, available here, I mentioned R. Shlomo Fisher’s rejection of R. Moshe Feinstein’s view that R. Yehudah he-Hasid’s “biblical criticism” was not authentic. As R. Fisher put it, R. Moshe assumed that even in the…

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Identifying Achashverosh and Esther in Secular Sources

Identifying Achashverosh and Esther in Secular Sources

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Identifying Achashverosh and Esther in Secular Sources  By Mitchell First  This article is a summary of a longer article which will appear in his forthcoming book Esther Unmasked: Solving Eleven Mysteries of the Jewish Holidays and Liturgy (Kodesh Press), pp. 129-167.      In this article, we will explain how scholars were finally able to identify Achashverosh in secular sources. We will also show that Esther can be identified in secular sources as well. Finally, we will utilize these sources to shed…

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Introduction to The Song of Songs (An Excerpt) by Amos Hakham

Introduction to The Song of Songs (An Excerpt) by Amos Hakham

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Introduction to The Song of Songs (An Excerpt) by Amos Hakham Translated by David S. Zinberg Amos Hakham passed away on August 2, 2012 at the age of 91.  The following is an unofficial translation of an excerpt from the Introduction to his commentary on the Song of Songs, published in 1973 by Mossad Harav Kook, in the Da’at Mikra series of Bible commentaries.   The selection below is an outstanding example of Hakham’s distinct approach, in both his Introduction and commentary,…

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