14
Dec
It is not unusual to find contradictions between different historical reports about events in the Hebrew Bible. One such contradiction comes in the form of the tribal affiliation Samuel has. In one source (1 Sam 1:1), Samuel comes from a family well embedded in the hills of Efraim. The description gives no place for any other tribe than Efraim. On the other hand, 1Chro 6:18-23 describe a person called Samuel who has the same genealogy as Samuel in 1Sam. However, this Samuel belongs to a Levitical family from the line of Qehat.
In this article I want to examine the information about Samuel and see if he was a Levi or not and if so, is there a contradiction between the two sources?
27
Mar
A question which I deal with every year, but do not have a conclusive answer: How old did the Pesach lamb have to be?
28
Jan
The verb שלח is most commonly used to indicate the idea of sending away. Such is the case of Parashat Beshalch where Pharaoh sends away the Israelites from Egypt. This is also the common use when someone sends a message or a messenger to someone, and this is the common use in modern Hebrew. However, like most words in Hebrew there are many more meanings which stem from the basic semantic meaning.
7
Feb
We all know the famous “Eshet Chayil” of Proverbs 31:10. Commonly it is translated as “Woman of Valour” to indicate great deeds. The text does go ahead and give us a long list of deeds which this woman does. The same attribute is also used to describe men of great deeds such as Exodus 18:21.
7
Feb
Many words in Hebrew can have several meanings which are based on context. Here is a case of one word which in time became a symbol for bad things, such as demonic powers and the devil, when originally it was used to describe good things.
