Did the Reed Sea Crossing Really Happen?

[Hizikyah]

[h=1]The “Original” Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls[/h] [h=2]Can the scrolls help expose the original Bible language within the Masoretic Text and Septuagint?[/h] Noah Wiener • 06/27/2014

The Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:8) in the Masoretic Text describes the Most High dividing the nations according to number of “the sons [children?] of Israel.” This Dead Sea Scroll fragment (4QDeutj) and the third-century B.C.E. translation of the Hebrew Pentateuch into Greek (the Septuagint [LXX]), however, say the nations were divided according to the “sons of Elohim” (God). What did the original Bible text say? Photo: IAA.

For centuries, Bible scholars examined two ancient texts to elucidate the original language of the Bible: the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint. The Masoretic Text is a traditional Hebrew text finalized by Jewish scholars around 1000 C.E. The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Torah created by the Jews of Alexandria in the third century B.C.E. (The other books of the Hebrew Bible were translated over the course of the following century.) According to Septuagint tradition, at least 70 isolated ancient scholars came up with identical Greek translations of the Torah. Which is the “original” Bible? How do we decide which of these two ancient texts is more authoritative? In “Searching for the ‘Original’ Bible” in the July/August 2014 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Hebrew University of Jerusalem scholar and long-time editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls publication team Emanuel Tov suggests we turn to the Dead Sea Scrolls to help us compare the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint.
Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls actually have more in common with the Greek Septuagint than the traditional Hebrew Masoretic Text, showing that the Greek translators must have been translating from Hebrew texts that resembled the Dead Sea Scrolls. Are the Dead Sea Scroll texts as trustworthy as these other two sources? Are they as close to the text of the original Bible?

The religion section of most bookstores includes an amazing array of Bibles. In our free eBook The Holy Bible: A Buyer’s Guide, prominent Biblical scholars Leonard Greenspoon and Harvey Minkoff expertly guide you through 21 different Bible translations (or versions) and address their content, text, style and religious orientation.

The Great Isaiah Scroll is one of the most iconic of the Dead Sea Scrolls, yet it does not reflect the original language of the Bible. Tov calls it “a classroom example of what an inferior text looks like, with its manifold contextual changes, harmonizations, grammatical adaptions, etc.” Photo: John C. Trevor, Ph.D. Digital Image: James E. Trevor.

Some turn to the Dead Sea Scrolls simply because they are older: 2,000-year-old texts were less likely to be subjected to scribal corruption, implying that they reflect a more original Bible language. Tov supplements this chronological reasoning with a logical—and admittedly subjective—approach: He examines which text makes the most sense in a given context. Tov examines a number of textual discrepancies between Bible versions (Did God finish work on the sixth or seventh day before resting on the seventh day? How were the nations divided according to the number of the sons of God?) in his search for the original Bible. As an example, Tov asks: Did Hannah bring one bull or three bulls as an offering at Shiloh? (1 Samuel 1:24):

When the infant Samuel had been weaned and his mother, Hannah, finally came to Shiloh with her son, she also brought with her an offering for the Lord that is described in two ways in our textual sources. According to the Masoretic Text, she brought “three bulls,” but according to the Septuagint and a Qumran scroll (4QSama from 50–25 B.C.E.) she brought one “three-year-old bull.”
I believe that Hannah probably offered only a single bull (as in the Septuagint and 4QSama); supporting this choice is the next verse in the Masoretic Text which speaks about “the bull.” I believe the Masoretic Text was textually corrupted when the continuous writing (without spaces between words) of the original words prm/shlshh (literally: “bulls three”) underlying the Septuagint was divided wrongly to pr mshlsh (“three-year-old bull”).*
The evidence of the Septuagint, being in Greek, always depends on a reconstruction into Hebrew, and consequently the Qumran scroll here helps us in deciding between the various options. Incidentally an offering of a “three-year-old bull” is mentioned in Genesis 15:9. It shows that a Hebrew text underlying the Septuagint once existed in which Hannah brought only one three-year-old bull.
​

Tov uses the Dead Sea Scrolls to elucidate the original language of the Bible not only because they are the oldest Bible manuscripts, but also because they provide additional logical clues. He concludes: “In finding our way in the labyrinth of textual sources of the Bible, we must slowly accumulate experience and intuition. When maneuvering among the sources, we will find much help in the Dead Sea Scrolls. But they must be used judiciously.”

 

[Hizikyah]

[h=1]How Ancient Taxes Were Collected Under King Manasseh[/h] [h=2]A new bulla inscribed in paleo-Hebrew provides evidence of Judah’s tax system[/h] Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 06/01/2014

Discovered during the Temple Mount Sifting Project, this seventh-century B.C.E. clay bulla inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script with the phrase “Gibeon, for the king” provides new evidence for how ancient taxes were collected during the reign of the Biblical King Manasseh.

When April 15 rolls around, taxpayers may take some small comfort in the fact that taxes are by no means a modern invention. Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain both famously remarked about the certainty of death and taxes, and a recent archaeological discovery concerning ancient taxes in Jerusalem has added to scholars’ certainty about a tax system in ancient Israel, especially during the reign of Judah’s King Manasseh.
While wet sifting soil from the excavation of an ancient refuse pit on the eastern slope of the Temple Mount, workers at the Temple Mount Sifting Project* discovered a small clay bulla, or seal impression, inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script. Although some of the letters had broken off, archaeologist and codirector of the sifting project Gabriel Barkay reconstructs the two lines of fragmentary paleo-Hebrew text to read “[g]b’n/lmlk,” or “Gibeon, for the king.” This puts the new find in a special group of more than 50 so-called fiscal bullae, but it is the first of these to come from a professional excavation; all of the previous examples are from the antiquities market (the Temple Mount Sifting Project subsequently discovered a second example while sifting soil from Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron’s excavation near the Gihon Spring).


[HR][/HR]
Interested in ancient inscriptions? Read Alan Millard’s assessment of the oldest alphabetic inscription ever found in Jerusalem in “Precursor to Paleo-Hebrew Script Discovered in Jerusalem.”

[HR][/HR]
Unlike the lmlk jar handles familiar to our readers,** Barkay told Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) by telephone that the fiscal bullae were not part of Hezekiah’s administrative preparations for the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701 B.C. Rather, he thinks the bullae are evidence for a system of ancient taxes used by Hezekiah’s son and successor, King Manasseh, in the seventh century B.C.E. Barkay told BAR that under this system, “the urban administrative centers collected [ancient] taxes in kind [i.e., grain, oil, etc.] and then sent them on to the king in Jerusalem with the documentation attached and sealed by these bullae identifying where it had come from—in this case, Gibeon.” At least 19 cities are identified in the paleo-Hebrew inscriptions on the fiscal bullae, representing nine of the 12 districts of Judah listed in Joshua 15:20–63. Barkay suggests that this Biblical passage may even have been composed for purposes of administering and collecting ancient taxes during the reign of King Manasseh. King Manasseh was not popular with the Biblical authors (as Barkay puts it, “they hated his guts”), but Assyrian records suggest that he implemented heavy taxes on his people in order to pay tribute to King Esarhaddon and then King Ashurbanipal, Sennacherib’s successors in Assyria. These ancient taxes thus helped King Manasseh maintain relative peace in Judah during his 55-year reign. Other evidence from the paleo-Hebrew inscribed fiscal bullae indicates that the city of Lachish was rebuilt during this time, as Barkay told BAR, 16 years after its destruction by Sennacherib’s invading army.

 

[Hizikyah]

The Siloam Pool: Where Jesus Healed the Blind Man

A sacred Christian site identified by archaeologists

Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 06/02/2014
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in May 2011. It has been updated.—Ed.
[HR][/HR]

In 2004, the stepped remains of the ancient Siloam Pool, long thought to be located elsewhere, were uncovered near the City of David. According to the Gospel of John, it was at this sacred Christian site that Jesus healed the blind man. Photo: Todd Bolen/BiblePlaces.com.

The Siloam Pool has long been considered a sacred Christian site, even if the correct identification of the site itself was uncertain. According to the Gospel of John, it was at the Siloam Pool where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9:1–11). Traditionally, the Christian site of the Siloam Pool was the pool and church that were built by the Byzantine empress Eudocia (c. 400–460 A.D.) to commemorate the miracle recounted in the New Testament. However, the exact location of the original pool as it existed during the time of Jesus remained a mystery until June 2004.
During construction work to repair a large water pipe south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, at the southern end of the ridge known as the City of David, archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron identified two ancient stone steps. Further excavation revealed that they were part of a monumental pool from the Second Temple period, the period in which Jesus lived. The structure Reich and Shukron discovered was 225 feet long, with corners that are slightly greater than 90 degrees, indicating a trapezoidal shape, with the widening end oriented toward Tyropoeon valley.
The Siloam Pool is adjacent to the area in the ancient City of David known as the King’s Garden and is just southeast of the remains of the fifth-century church and pool traditionally believed to be the sacred Christian site.


[HR][/HR]
The free eBook Ten Top Biblical Archaeology Discoveries brings together the exciting worlds of archaeology and the Bible with such finds as the Tel Dan inscription, the Siloam Pool and the Nag Hammadi Library.

[HR][/HR]

Artist’s rendering of the Siloam Pool, the Biblical Christian site where Jesus healed the blind man. Image: Jason Clarke.

What was the function of the Siloam Pool during Jesus’ time? Because the pool is fed by waters from the Gihon Spring, located in the Kidron Valley, the naturally flowing spring water would have qualified the pool for use as a mikveh for ritual bathing. However, it could also have been an important source of fresh water for the inhabitants on that part of the city. One scholar has even suggested that it was a Roman-style swimming pool. Whatever its original purpose, the Siloam Pool where Jesus healed the blind man is an important Christian site, and its discovery represents a watershed moment in the field of Biblical archaeology. As with many sites in the Holy Land, the origins of the Siloam Pool reach back even further in history—at least seven centuries before the time of Jesus. Judah’s King Hezekiah (late eighth century B.C.) correctly anticipated a siege against Jerusalem by the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib.
To protect the city’s water supply during the siege, Hezekiah undertook a strategic engineering project that would be an impressive feat in any age: He ordered the digging of a 1,750-foot tunnel under the City of David to bring water from the Gihon Spring, which lay outside the city wall, inside the city to a pool on the opposite side of the ridge. In the years that followed, “Hezekiah’s Tunnel” continued to carry fresh water to this section of Jerusalem, and different pools were built here over the centuries, including the Second Temple pool that Jesus knew.

 

[Hizikyah]

Found in Jerusalem: Remains of the Babylonian Siege
By Suzanne F. Singer

On the last day of his 1975 season Professor Nachman Avigad of Hebrew University, digging in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, discovered four arrowheads buried in ashes at the base of a massive stone defense tower. The tower was built by the Israelites more than 2600 years ago—before the Babylonian destruction of the city in 586 B.C. It had been constructed to protect Jerusalem’s vulnerable northern perimeter. The four arrowheads had fallen short of their mark, apparently hitting the outside wall of the tower. They came to rest in the ashes of the burning city—probably when soldiers of the Babylonian leader Nebuchadnezzar “came and burnt down the House of the Lord and the Royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem … and the walls around Jerusalem were torn down …” (2 Kings 25:9–10).

 

[Hizikyah]

so;

"His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen" - #1

 

[Hizikyah]

[h=1]The House of Peter: The Home of Jesus in Capernaum?[/h] [h=2]How the remnants of the humble dwelling of Jesus in Capernaum illuminate how Christianity began[/h] Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 03/29/2011

Beneath the foundations of this octagonal Byzantine martyrium church at Capernaum, archaeologists made one of the most exciting Biblical archaeology discoveries: a simple first-century A.D. home that may have been the house of Peter, the home of Jesus in Capernaum. Photo: Garo Nalbandian

For much of his adult life, Jesus resided in the small fishing village of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. It was here during the infancy of early Christianity that he began his ministry in the town synagogue (Mark 1:21), recruited his first disciples (Mark 1:16–20) and became renowned for his power to heal the sick and infirm (Mark 3:1–5).
Early travelers to the site had long recognized the beautifully preserved remains of the ancient synagogue that many believe marked the site, if not the actual building, of Jesus’ earliest teaching. But an important detail of how Christianity began still remained: Where in the town had Jesus actually lived? Where was the house of Peter, which the Bible suggests was the home of Jesus in Capernaum (Matthew 8:14–16)?
Italian excavators working in Capernaum may have actually uncovered the remnants of the humble house of Peter that Jesus called home while in Capernaum. (This house of Peter was one of the first Biblical archaeology discoveries reported in BAR more than 25 years ago.)
Buried beneath the remains of an octagonal Byzantine martyrium church, excavators found the ruins of a rather mundane dwelling dating to the first century B.C.
Although slightly larger than most, the house was simple, with coarse walls and a roof of earth and straw. Like most early Roman-period houses, it consisted of a few small rooms clustered around two open courtyards. Despite later proving to be one of the most exciting Biblical archaeology discoveries, the house appeared quite ordinary. According to the excavators, however, it is what happened to the house after the middle of the first century A.D. that marked it as exceptional and most likely the house of Peter, the home of Jesus in Capernaum.
In the years immediately following Jesus’ death, the function of the house changed dramatically. The house’s main room was completely plastered over from floor to ceiling—a rarity for houses of the day. At about the same time, the house’s pottery, which had previously been household cooking pots and bowls, now consisted entirely of large storage jars and oil lamps. Such radical alterations indicate that the house no longer functioned as a residence but instead had become a place for communal gatherings, possibly even the first christian gatherings, a key factor in how Christianity began. As with many Biblical archeology discoveries, often the small details most convincingly tie ancient material remains to Biblical events and characters.
For instance, the excavators found that during the ensuing centuries, the plastered room from the original house had been renovated and converted into the central hall of a rudimentary church. The room’s old stone walls were buttressed by a newly built two-story arch that, in turn, supported a new stone roof. The room was even replastered and painted over with floral and geometric designs of various colors.
The building’s key role in understanding how Christianity began was confirmed by more than a hundred graffiti scratched into the church’s walls. Most of the inscriptions say things like “Lord Jesus Christ help thy servant” or “Christ have mercy.” They are written in Greek, Syriac or Hebrew and are sometimes accompanied by etchings of small crosses or, in one case, a boat. The excavators claim that the name of Peter is mentioned in several graffiti, although many scholars now dispute these readings.
This simple church building, helpful in determining how Christianity began, survived for more than 300 years before it was finally replaced in the fifth century by a well-built octagonal martyrium church. Octagonal martyria were built to commemorate an important site, such as the original house of Peter that once stood here. The inner sanctum of the octagonal building was built directly above the remains of the very room of the first-century house that had formed the central hall of the earlier church.
Biblical archaeology discoveries are not cut-and-dry cases. Though there is no definitive proof in this instance that the house ruin uncovered by the excavators actually is the ancient house of Peter, there is layer upon layer of circumstantial evidence to support its importance in early Christianity and its association with Jesus in Capernaum and his foremost disciple, Peter. Were it not for its association with Jesus and Peter, why else would a run-of-the-mill first-century house in Capernaum have become a focal point of Christian worship and identity for centuries to come?
Based on “Issue 200: Ten Top Discoveries.” Biblical Archaeology Review, Jul/Aug Sep/Oct 2009, 74-96.

 

[Hizikyah]

The original Reed sea crossing video has been removed, here is a new one;

[video=youtube;vaN2acVMGC8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaN2acVMGC8[/video]

 

[Hizikyah]

Book of Leviticus Verses Recovered from Burnt Hebrew Bible Scroll

Oldest Hebrew Bible scroll since the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Ein Gedi

Robin Ngo • 09/23/2016
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in 2015. It has been updated.—Ed.
[HR][/HR]

A charred Hebrew Bible scroll was discovered in the Torah ark in a Byzantine synagogue at Ein Gedi, Israel. Photo: Shai Halevi, Israel Antiquities Authority.

A burnt ancient scroll found in 1970 has finally been deciphered thanks to advanced digital technology. Four and a half decades after its discovery, the scroll was recently revealed to contain a passage from the Book of Leviticus. Excavated from the Torah ark of a Byzantine-period synagogue at Ein Gedi in Israel, the scroll had been victim to a fire that raged through the entire village. The scroll is considered to be the oldest Hebrew Bible scroll discovered since the Dead Sea Scrolls. Furthermore, the discovery represents the first time a Torah scroll has been excavated from an ancient synagogue. When Merkel Technologies Company, Ltd. Israel performed high-resolution 3D scanning on Dead Sea Scroll fragments and phylactery cases (tefillin) in 2014, the burnt scroll from Ein Gedi was added to the batch. Afterward, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) sent the scans to be analyzed by Dr. Brent Seales, Professor and Chair of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky, who had developed digital imaging software to read the scrolls. The researchers initially discovered that the scroll contained the first eight verses of the Book of Leviticus:[SUP]*[/SUP]
The Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying: Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When any of you bring an offering of livestock to the Lord, you shall bring your offering from the herd or from the flock. If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you shall offer a male without blemish; you shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, for acceptance in your behalf before the Lord. You shall lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be acceptable in your behalf as atonement for you. The bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer the blood, dashing the blood against all sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The burnt offering shall be flayed and cut up into its parts. The sons of the priest Aaron shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the parts, with the head and the suet, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar.

Leviticus 1:1-8 (NRSV)​

The free eBook Life in the Ancient World guides you through craft centers in ancient Jerusalem, family structure across Israel and ancient practices—from dining to makeup—throughout the Mediterranean world.

Using advanced digital technology, the burnt Hebrew Bible scroll from Ein Gedi was virtually unrolled and deciphered. Photo: Seth Parker, University of Kentucky, and Ehud Shor, Jerusalem.

Ein Gedi is an oasis nestled on the western shore of the Dead Sea. Excavations conducted at the site in the 1960s and 1970s were focused on the prominent summit, Tel Goren. The site was inhabited beginning in the Chalcolithic period, but most of the remains at Ein Gedi date from the Iron Age through the Byzantine period. In the Byzantine period, Ein Gedi had a synagogue with a colorful mosaic pavement and a Torah ark.[SUP]1[/SUP] In an IAA press release, Yosef Porath, one of the directors of the Ein Gedi excavations in the 1970s, described what happened to the Jewish village in the sixth century:
“The settlement was completely burnt to the ground, and none of its inhabitants ever returned to reside there again, or to pick through the ruins in order to salvage valuable property. In the archaeological excavations of the burnt synagogue, we found in addition to the charred scroll fragments a bronze seven-branched candelabrum (menorah), the community’s money box containing about 3,500 coins, glass and ceramic oil lamps, and vessels that held perfume. We have no information regarding the cause of the fire, but speculation about the destruction ranges from Bedouin raiders from the region east of the Dead Sea to conflicts with the Byzantine government.”
“The deciphering of the scroll, which was a puzzle for us for 45 years,” Porath added, “is very exciting.”


This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on July 21, 2015.


[HR][/HR]
* Update, September 23, 2016: Research on this scroll has been published in “An Early Leviticus Scroll from En-Gedi: Preliminary Publication” by Michael Segal, Emanuel Tov, William Brent Seales, Clifford Seth Parker, Pnina Shor and Yosef Porath with an Appendix by Ada Yardeni in Textus 26 (2016). The researchers now state that verses from the first two chapters of the Book Leviticus have been deciphered on the scroll.

 

[Hizikyah]

Why Study Prehistoric Israel?

Gaining better insight into the Biblical period through prehistoric Israel

Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 08/30/2016
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in 2014.—Ed.
[HR][/HR]

Field photo and reconstruction of an adult and adolescent skeleton discovered in situ during excavations in the Natufian layer at Raqefet Cave, Mt. Carmel. Images: Photograph reproduced with permission from E. Gernstein. Illustration by A. Regev-Gisis.

Excavations at Raqefet Cave on Mt. Carmel have revealed a number of fascinating insights into the Natufian culture in prehistoric Israel. Archaeological investigations show, for example, that the Natufians—hunter-gatherers living 15,000–11,600 years ago in the Levant—held feasts at the burial sites of the deceased and decorated the graves with flowers. The practice of laying flowers at graves to commemorate the dead still exists today, providing us with a powerful emotional link to the past. As Daniel Nadel explains in his Archaeological Views column “Why People Interested in Biblical Archaeology Should Also Be Interested in the Prehistory of the Land of Israel” in the September/October 2014 issue of BAR, studying prehistoric Israel can be of great interest to both scholars and laypeople alike. In fact, understanding the prehistory of Israel can give us a better perspective on Israel in the Biblical period.
Prehistoric Israel spans the Paleolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. Ubeidiya in the Jordan Valley, dating about 1.5 million years before present, is the oldest site thus far uncovered in the region and was home to some of the first hominids who migrated out of Africa. Excavations at Paleolithic sites all over prehistoric Israel have yielded, among other things, stone tools, butchered animals bones and evidence for the control of fire.

The free eBook Life in the Ancient World guides you through craft centers in ancient Jerusalem, family structure across Israel and ancient practices—from dining to makeup—throughout the Mediterranean world.

Investigating the long cultural history of the Levant can deepen our understanding of how settlements grew increasingly complex over millennia. Nadel writes that by the Neolithic period (11,600–6,500 years ago), for example, “the common use of pottery was established, large villages with hundreds of people thrived and architecture reached sophisticated achievements with monuments such as the high Jericho tower (30 feet high), on the one hand, and two-story dwelling complexes on the other.” Innovations that developed over millennia in prehistoric Israel—agriculture, the domestication of animals and metallurgy, to name a few—thus set the stage for the emergence of complex cities and mighty kingdoms in the Biblical period.
Learn more about the archaeology of prehistoric Israel by reading the full column “Why People Interested in Biblical Archaeology Should Also Be Interested in the Prehistory of the Land of Israel” by Daniel Nadel in the September/October 2014 issue of BAR.

 

[know1]

I have heard from some theologians that the water level at the time of their crossing was only knee deep.
Even if that was true, which it's not, God still did a miracle by drowning Pharaoh's army, both horses and men, in knee deep water.

 

[blue_ladybug]

No, the Reed Sea crossing never happened.. lol

 

[Yonah]

well it good that the truth prevails no matter what mans "wisdom" tries to disprove.

 

[Hizikyah]

No, the Reed Sea crossing never happened.. lol

No actually the real name is the Reed sea/Yam Suph. wAY TO DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE MAKING FUN .

Yam Suph

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yam Suph (Hebrew: יַם-סוּף) has traditionally been understood to refer to the salt water inlet located between Africa and the Arabian peninsula known in English as the Red Sea. More recently, alternative western scholarly understandings of the term have been proposed for those passages where it refers to the Israelite Crossing of the Sea as told in Exodus 13-15. These proposals would mean that Yam Suph is better translated in these passages as Sea of Reeds or Sea of Seaweed; see Egyptian reed fields, also described as the ka of the Nile Delta. In Jewish sources, 1 Kings 9:26 yam suph is translated as Sea of Reeds at Eilat on the Gulf of Eilat.

 

[Hizikyah]

As you can see the vast majority of translations get it wrong, however a few get it right, and a word study shows it is reed, or what most would call seaweed.

1Kings 9:26 And Sovereign Shelomoh built a fleet of ships at Etsyon Geḇer, which is near Ĕyloth on the shore of the Sea of Reeds*, in the land of Eḏom.

*5488. suphStrong's Concordance

suph: reeds, rushes
​

Original Word: סוּף
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: suph
Phonetic Spelling: (soof)
Short Definition: red

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
probably of foreign origin
Definition
reeds, rushes
NASB Translation
red* (24), reeds (2), rushes (1), weeds (1).

1 Kings 9:26
Parallel Verses
New International Version
King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.

New Living Translation
King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.

English Standard Version
King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

New American Standard Bible
King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

King James Bible
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
King Solomon put together a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.

International Standard Version
King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Reed Sea in the land of Edom.

NET Bible
King Solomon also built ships in Ezion Geber, which is located near Elat in the land of Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.

New Heart English Bible
King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Sea of Suf, in the land of Edom.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
King Solomon also built a fleet near the Red Sea coast at Ezion Geber by Elath in Edom.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

New American Standard 1977
King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

Jubilee Bible 2000
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

King James 2000 Bible
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

American King James Version
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

American Standard Version
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And king Solomon made a fleet in Asiongaber, which is by Ailath on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.

Darby Bible Translation
And king Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

English Revised Version
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

Webster's Bible Translation
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

World English Bible
King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

Young's Literal Translation
And a navy hath king Solomon made in Ezion-Geber, that is beside Eloth, on the edge of the Sea of Suph, in the land of Edom.

 

[prove-all]

And then God parted the waters of the Red Sea. “[A]nd the waters were a wall
unto them on their right hand, and on their left”
-

As A new member of Christs, we accept the sacrifice and blood that He shead.

But The Passover only pictures the death of Christ for the remission of sins
that are past (Romans 3:25).

The accepting of His blood does not forgive sins we may later commit;
it does not give license to continue in sin. Therefore when we accept it,
our sins are forgiven only up to that time—past sins.

To what extent shall we put away sin? Not partially, but completely!
And, as leaven is also a type of sin (1 Corinthians 5:8)— leaven puffs up,
and so does sin—and, as seven is God’s number symbolizing completeness,
we are to follow the Passover with seven Days of Unleavened Bread!

The seven Days of Unleavened Bread following Passover picture to us
the complete putting away of sin, the keeping of the commandments—
after past sins are forgiven.

a memorial picturing deliverance from sin, in our right hand and forehead,
as God’s sign, in order that we shall keep His commandments.


-

we must willingly, of our own accord, start out of sin as soon as we accept
the blood of Christ. They (israelits) started out on their own power
—and we must make the start ourselves.

But they did not get far until Pharaoh pursued after them (Exodus 14:5-7).
If Egypt is a type of sin, then surely Pharaoh must picture Satan;
the army of Egypt, Satan’s demons.

And, as the Israelites went out with a high hand (Numbers 33:3),
in great exultation and elation over their deliverance from bondage,
so does the newly begotten Christian start out his Christian life


-

The devil and sin immediately pursue after the newly begotten son of God.
as soon as the Israelites saw this great army pursuing them, they lost their
courage. Fear came over them. They began to grumble and complain.

They saw it was impossible for them to get away from Pharaoh and his army,
because he was too powerful for them. And they were helpless.

So it is with us. notice the message of God to them through Moses:

“Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the [Eternal]for the Egyptians …
ye shall see them again no more for ever. The [Eternal] shall fight for you”


Helpless, we are told to stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.
He shall fight for us. We cannot conquer Satan and sin, but He can.

It is the risen Christ—our High Priest—who will cleanse us—sanctify us
—deliver us—who said He would never leave us nor forsake us!


-


The angel that had gone before, showing the Israelites the way, now went
behind them, getting between them and their enemy, protecting them.

And then God parted the waters of the Red Sea. “[A]nd the waters were a wall
unto them on their right hand, and on their left”

In Isaiah 55:1 and John 7:37-39, the waters are a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

The living waters of God are a wall to us, on our right hand and on our left,
guiding us in the true path, making the path, protecting us in it.


-

the feast of Unleavened Bread, as well as the Passover,
was ordained and established forever, prior to the Old Covenant.

 

[Hizikyah]

[h=1]The Magdala Stone: The Jerusalem Temple Embodied[/h] [h=2]Carved stone block depicts symbols of the Jerusalem Temple[/h] Jennifer Ristine • 10/27/2016

Discovered in the center of a first-century C.E. synagogue at the Galilean site of Magdala, the Magdala Stone bears one of the earliest images of the seven-branched menorah. Photo: Yael Yulowich, courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.

Imagine a first-century Jew living in the land near their Temple in Jerusalem, yet they are too far away to make frequent visits. What did the Temple represent in their daily life? Did they locate God’s presence in the Jerusalem Temple alone or also in their midst when they gathered in the synagogue? For a people living in the diaspora, unable to visit the Temple frequently, what kept the memory and centrality of the Temple fresh in their minds? An intriguing stone uncovered at the site of Magdala on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee in September 2009 might offer a clue. Carved with symbols from the Temple, the quartzite stone was discovered in the middle of an ancient synagogue. The so-called Magdala Stone is a stone block carved with symbols of the Temple in Jerusalem, with the core of the Temple represented (the Hall, Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies). The stone measure 1.8 by 2 feet with a height of 1 foot. Found almost in the center of the synagogue, the Magdala Stone is believed to be a piece of ceremonial furniture on which the Torah and other sacred scrolls were placed. But is it simply a bimah (a traditional holder for the scrolls), or does it have some deeper significance?
Various theories are being explored. Dr. Rina Talgam of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a forerunner in research on the Magdala Stone, believes that the Magdala Stone may indicate an early Jewish Movement in which the synagogue was perceived to be a “minor temple.” Gathering together with Scripture could be conceived as a form of spiritual worship in lieu of a ritual sacrifice offered in the Temple. It begs the question: Was there an evolving concept of worship in the diaspora? Was there an understanding of God’s presence in the midst of those who revered Scripture? Can this be considered a form of prayer within a first-century synagogue? Or would this be a Christian interpretation imposed upon a Jewish object? Talgam’s research and reflections on the Magdala Stone are awaiting publication.
The front of the Magdala Stone displays an obviously Jewish symbol, the menorah (see image below). It is currently the oldest carved image of the Second Temple’s seven-branched menorah found in a public place. Its tripod base indicates the likelihood that the artist saw the actual menorah in the Temple.

The seven-branched menorah on the Magdala Stone. Photo: Courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.

The menorah on the Magdala Stone appears to rest on top of a decorated square—symbolic of the altar of sacrifice. It is flanked by two jars, perhaps representing the water and oil used in the Temple. If a rabbi stood in front of the stone, facing the menorah, he would set his gaze south toward Jerusalem, as though entering the Temple itself.


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Along the sides of the stone, the onlooker sees several pillared archways and another set of archways within, giving it a three-dimensional feel (see image below). Talgam speculates that these archways represent the gates of the Azara, or the wall around the Sanctuary and the wall of the Sanctuary itself. A small object at the start of these archways has the shape of an oil lamp from the Herodian period. One can imagine walking through the Temple’s passageways illuminated by oil lamps.

Pillared archways on the side of the Magdala Stone. Photo: Courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.

Scholars still debate the meaning of several objects on the top of the Magdala Stone (see image below). For example, opinions differ about the interpretation of two clusters of three hearts—six hearts in total. Are they pretty space fillers? Are they ivy leaves? Are they bread loaves? Motti Aviam, Professor of Archaeology at Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, interprets these as bread loaves that were offered on the shewbread table. Splitting each heart in half conjures up an image paralleling the way bread was offered on the shewbread table: two sets of six bread loaves. The symbols representing the shewbread tables look like upside-down cups. Finding this symbol on ancient coins gives credence to this interpretation.

The top of the Magdala Stone. Photo: Courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.

Another fascinating symbol dominates the center of the top of the Magdala Stone: a six-petaled rosette. It is flanked by columns with palmette capitals, echoing ancient Jewish historian Josephus’s description of the area directly before the Holy of Holies. The rosette itself symbolizes the actual veil before the Holy of Holies. Josephus describes this veil as being decorated with flowers—perhaps with this very rosette.
Curiously, the rosette is a common Jewish motif found on ossuaries, sarcophagi and monumental tomb façades from the late Second Temple period to the second century C.E. Considering this connection, one wonders if it signifies a passing through the “veil” of this life into the presence of God, just as passing through the veil into the Holy of Holies is an entry into God’s glory localized in the Temple.
This brings us to the final symbol representing the deepest part of the Temple on the Magdala Stone: the Holy of Holies. Two wheels appear suspended in the air with triangular shapes underneath, representing fire (see image below). Early Jewish writings use this imagery to represent the heavenly realm. The wheels are interpreted as the bottom of the chariot, symbolizing God’s throne. The fiery chariot described in Ezekiel 1 and 10 gives credence to the symbol representing God’s presence dwelling both in the Temple and in the heavens.

The back side of a replica of the Magdala Stone at the synagogue. Photo: Magdala Project.

The richness and completeness of the symbols forces the question: Did the Jewish people in Magdala believe God’s presence was among them in a particular way as they gathered around Scripture? If so, Magdala offers more than mere first-century archaeology. The site allows us also to ponder the crossroad of Jewish and Christian history and faith.

 

[jaybird88]

funny how Moses divided the water and Jesus just walks over the top of it. maybe there is a lost story of Elijah walking under the water.

 

[Hizikyah]

funny how Moses divided the water and Jesus just walks over the top of it. maybe there is a lost story of Elijah walking under the water.

There is this:

2 Kings 2:8 And Ĕliyahu took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water. And it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them passed over on dry ground.

 

[Hizikyah]

[h=1]Sifting Antiquity on the Temple Mount Sifting Project[/h] [h=2]Temple Mount Sifting Project investigates Temple Mount soil[/h] Robin Ngo • 10/20/2016

Aerial view of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Photo: Andrew Shiva’s photo is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is today a contested site. Archaeological excavations are not allowed here, though one project—the Temple Mount Sifting Project—has been analyzing soil that came from the Temple Mount since 2004. In “Relics in Rubble: The Temple Mount Sifting Project” in the November/December 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Temple Mount Sifting Project codirectors Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Dvira detail where the soil came from, how their partnership began and what ancient finds have come to light from this holy site. Preserved as a nearly rectangular man-made platform, the Temple Mount stretches 36 acres—equivalent to about 28 football fields. Located in the current Old City of Jerusalem, the site was where King Solomon built the First Temple in the 10th century B.C.E., where the Second Temple was erected in 516 B.C.E., and where King Herod rebuilt the Temple and expanded the Temple Mount in 19 B.C.E. The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.
The Temple Mount has been a Christian pilgrimage site since at least the fourth century C.E., when the Pilgrim of Bordeaux chronicled his journey through the Holy Land. The Jerusalem Temple is referenced several time in the New Testament—it is where Jesus drove out merchants and overturned the money-changers’ tables to cleanse the Temple (Mark 11:15–19; Matthew 21:12–17; Luke 19:45–48).
Jerusalem lies at the heart of Biblical archaeology. In the free eBook Jerusalem Archaeology: Exposing the Biblical City, learn about the latest finds in the Biblical world’s most vibrant city.

A diagram of the Temple Mount highlighting the origin of the soil studied by the Temple Mount Sifting Project. Image: Temple Mount Sifting Project.

At the southern end of the Temple Mount (Arabic: Haram al-Sharif, or “Noble Sanctuary”) sits al-Aqsa Mosque (“the farthest mosque”)—the third holiest site in Islam—where in Islamic tradition the prophet Muhammad was transported from Mecca on the Night Journey, and at the center of the Temple Mount is the Dome of the Rock, a gold-domed shrine commemorating the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven (Sura 17:1). In the late 1990s, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, the trust that manages the Islamic structures on the Temple Mount, conducted a construction project without archaeological supervision—violating the State of Israel’s antiquities laws and the understanding between Israel and the Waqf that no excavation take place on the Temple Mount. The Waqf had bulldozed a section in the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount to create a stairway down to an underground vaulted structure known as Solomon’s Stables as part of the conversion of the space to Al-Marwani Mosque. Hundreds of truckloads of archaeologically rich soil were dumped into the Kidron Valley just east of the Temple Mount.

A volunteer on the Temple Mount Sifting Project wet-sifts material that originally came from the Temple Mount. Photo: Temple Mount Sifting Project.

This debris became the subject of study for the Temple Mount Sifting Project. After the Temple Mount soil had been dumped, archaeologist Zachi Dvira and his then-professor at Bar-Ilan University, prominent scholar Gabriel Barkay, began the project to systematically study the soil that had been disturbed from its original context. Experimenting with different methods of sifting the soil, Barkay and Dvira gradually developed a technique that worked for them. Dirt is first dry-sifted over wire screens into buckets, and then the buckets of debris are brought to a greenhouse and filled with water. The soaking buckets loosen the dirt from stones and artifacts, which are then wet-sifted over screens using spray taps. Volunteers examine the wet-sifted material under the supervision of Temple Mount Sifting Project staff and sort artifacts into six main categories: pottery, glass, bones, stone tesserae (mosaic cubes), metal and special stones.


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This sifting method has proven successful for the Temple Mount Sifting Project, which has found such artifacts as stone vessel fragments, opus sectile stone tiles believed to be from the Herodian expansion of the Temple Mount, more than 6,000 coins (ancient and modern) and jewelry made of semiprecious stones. The finds range in chronology from the Middle Bronze Age II (1950–1550 B.C.E.) to the present day, but most date from the 10th century B.C.E. onward.

Second Temple Period coins. Photo: Left and Center: Temple Mount Sifting Project; Right: Zev Radovan/Courtesy Temple Mount Sifting Project.

“To date, about 70 percent of the debris has been sifted,” write Barkay and Dvira. “More than half a million artifacts have been saved and stored. From the beginning, the work has been done by volunteers, and close to 200,000 of them have participated in the sifting.”

Jewelry found by the Temple Mount Sifting Project dating to different periods. Photo: Zev Radovan/Courtesy Temple Mount Sifting Project.

 

[Hizikyah]

[h=1]The Masada Siege[/h] [h=2]The Roman assault on Herod’s desert fortress[/h] Robin Ngo • 08/17/2016
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in 2014.—Ed.
[HR][/HR]

The Romans waged both literal and psychological warfare on the Jewish rebels in the siege of Masada. Evidence of the large-scale siege works, including the great assault ramp on the western slope of the cliff of Masada, reflects this strategy. Photo: Werner Braun.

Masada—for many, the name evokes the image of a cliff rising dramatically above an austere desert landscape. The name is famously associated with the Masada siege, the final stand between the Jewish rebels and the relentless Roman army at the end of the First Jewish Revolt in 73/74 C.E. Trapped in the desert fortress-palace Herod built in the previous century, the rebels chose—as Jewish historian Josephus tells us—to commit mass suicide rather than be captured and enslaved by the Romans. This final scene in the siege of Masada has been celebrated and immortalized as an act of heroic resistance on the part of the Jewish rebels. But what do we know about the Roman siege itself? In “The Masada Siege—From the Roman Viewpoint” in the July/August 2014 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, Gwyn Davies examines the assault from the Roman perspective.
After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., the Romans turned their attention to stamping out the last of the rebels holding out at the fortresses of Herodium and Machaerus as well as in the “Forest of Jardes” (which has not yet been identified). The last remaining site occupied by the Jewish rebels was at Herod’s desert fortress-palace on the cliff-top of Masada.
Led by Roman general Flavius Silva, the Legio X Fretensis—a veteran military unit—began the siege operation against the rebels in 72 or 73 C.E.
Masada, the mountaintop fortress that set the stage for one of the ancient world’s most dramatic tragedies, is today one of the world’s most iconic archaeological sites. In the free ebook Masada: The Dead Sea’s Desert Fortress, discover what archaeology reveals about the Jewish defenders’ identity, fortifications and arms before their ultimate sacrifice.

Fifteen towers, including the one pictured, were mounted with catapults and positioned along the Roman circumvallation wall. Photo: Gwyn Davies.

Archaeological investigations of the Roman siege works at Masada have been much more limited in scope than those conducted on the cliff-top fortress. According to author Gwyn Davies, we must therefore consider both the account given by Josephus and the surviving archaeological evidence in order to reconstruct what happened in the Masada siege. The Roman army began their assault, as described by Josephus, by throwing up “a wall all around the fortress to make it difficult for any of the besieged to escape, and posted sentinels to guard it” (The Jewish War VII.276). Archaeological investigations reveal that a 2.5-mile circumvallation wall ringed the area around the desert fortress. The wall, composed of rough stone blocks with a rubble core, measured more than 5 feet wide and 10 feet high. Fifteen towers lined the eastern and northern stretches of the circumvallation wall, while eight camps laid down around the wall served as bases and garrison points for the troops.
The most conspicuous surviving evidence of the Roman siege of Masada is the great assault ramp on the western slope of the cliff. The Romans constructed on a natural spur (which Josephus calls the “Leuke,” or “white promontory”) that abuts the mountain a ramp composed of stone and earth reinforced with timber bracings. Josephus tells us that an ironclad siege tower housing a battering ram was hoisted up the ramp and placed into position to strike against the rebels’ casemate wall. Indeed, the location of the breached defense wall lies directly above the modern summit of the ramp. Furthermore, the distribution of stone ballista projectiles discovered within the desert fortress suggests that they were fired from catapults mounted on a siege tower. Setting fire to the wood-and-earth defense wall, the Romans at last made it to the top of Masada.
For a deeper probe into how the Romans waged both literal and psychological warfare on the besieged rebels, read the full article “The Masada Siege—From the Roman Viewpoint” by Gwyn Davies in the July/August 2014 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
—————— BAS Library Members: Read the full article “The Masada Siege—From the Roman Viewpoint” by Gwyn Davies as it appears in the July/August 2014 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.