Sermons and Biblical Studies

Bryant G. Wood BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 110 BSP 7:4 (Autumn 1978) p. 111 After wandering in the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula for some 38 years, the Israelites proceeded up the east side of the Dead Sea to enter the Promised Land from the east. In the following pages we will travel with … Continue reading “THE
ISRAELITES AND THE KINGS HIGHWAY”

Tommy Brisco [Tommy Brisco is a teaching fellow in biblical backgrounds at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.] Few areas on earth match the splendor and mystery of the Sinai. Incredible beauty awaits the visitor in this land of sparse population and climatic extremes. The Sinai Peninsula is basically a desert, but the varying geological formations … Continue reading “THE
SINAI PENINSULA AND THE EXODUS”

Archaeologists and other specialists are presently conducting research at five sites southeast of the Dead Sea which are possibly the “Cities of the Plain” mentioned in Genesis 13, 14, and 19, the best known of which were Sodom and Gomorrah. (For previous reports see the Summer 1974 and Winter 1977 issues of Bible and Spade.) … Continue reading “FROM
JORDAN
SPECIALISTS HELP RECONSTRUCT LIFE IN THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN”

Kenneth A. Kitchen [Kenneth A. Kitchen is lecturer in Egyptian and Coptic in the School of Archaeology and Oriental Studies at the University of Liverpool, England. He is the author of Ancient Orient and Old Testament (Inter-Varsity Press, 1966) as well as numerous other articles and books on the ancient Near East.] Like a brilliant … Continue reading “EBLA
— QUEEN OF ANCIENT SYRIA”

Bryant G. Wood The Jabbok River is mentioned a number of times in the Bible as an important boundary line and travel route. While serving as a member of an archaeological survey team during the early part of this year, the author had the opportunity to become intimately familiar with a section of the Jabbok. … Continue reading “JOURNEY
DOWN THE JABBOK”

John K. Cooley In Nebuchadnezzar’s great image in Daniel 2, which represented the world powers from Babylon to Rome, the Greek empire was a “kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth” (Daniel 2:39). This empire had its beginnings with Philip II of Macedon (359-336 B.C.), but it was his son, Alexander … Continue reading “A
GREEK GOLDEN TREASURE”

Clyde T. Francisco [Clyde T. Francisco is John R. Sampey professor of Old Testament, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.] As the Greek writers observed, Egypt is indeed “the gift of the Nile.” This well-watered and relatively secure country was the major setting for the life of the Hebrews during the Exodus events. The Sinai peninsula itself … Continue reading “THE
EXODUS IN ITS HISTORICAL SETTING”

In our Winter 1977 issue we gave a short report on the discovery of the earliest known example of Hebrew writing. The text scratched on a piece of pottery (an “ostracon”), has now been published, giving further details on this important discovery. The Site The ostracon was found at a site call Izbet Sartah in … Continue reading “FROM
ISRAEL
THE OLDEST KNOWN HEBREW WRITING”

We frequently mention the Jewish historian Josephus in the pages of Bible and Spade. So that you will get to know him a little better, here is a short biography of Josephus. Born Joseph ben Matthias, he is called Flavius Josephus, the Flavius a later embellishment, taken in deference to his patron and savior, the … Continue reading “MEET
JOSEPHUS”

There are a number of words used for God in the Old Testament, but the one that is most puzzling to Bible scholars is the name Yahweh. Hebrew grammarians cannot be sure of the exact spelling of the NAME because, originally, Hebrew was written without vowel letters. It appeared as YHWH in the text, the … Continue reading “THE
INEFFABLE NAME OF GOD”