Archeology

Monday, November 24, 2014

Anna and Caiaphais the two high priest during the birth of Jesus

	http://www.biblehistory.net/newsletter/joseph_caiaphas.htm

	The Bible states that at the time of the trial of Jesus, there were two high priests, Annas and Caiaphas. Luke 3:1-3 says the following:
	"Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."
	All the men mentioned in the previous Bible passage including the high priests Annas and Caiaphas are mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus in his work entitled Jewish Antiquities. He states in the following passages:



	Annas, the son of Seth was installed as high priest by Quirinius. During this time, Herod Antipas and Philip were administering their tetrarchies . . . The third Caesar was Tiberius who appointed Valerius Gratus to succeed Rufus as procurator over the Jews. Gratus removed Annas from the high priesthood and then appointed Joseph Caiaphas to the office. Gratus retired to Rome after being in Judea for eleven years. He was succeeded by Pontius Pilate." . . . "Herod Agrippa became king and the Emperor Claudius added Judea and Samaria to his rule as well as all lands formerly ruled by Herod the Great, as well as Abilene, which had been governed by Lysanias."
	Concerning the high priest Caiaphas, Josephus mentions that his full name was Joseph Caiaphas. Archaeologists in 1990 discovered a burial cave on the outskirts of Jerusalem which contained a collection of bone boxes. During the first century, bodies of the dead were laid in caves. After the flesh had decomposed, the bones were gathered and put into boxes, indicating a belief in the resurrection.
	One of the casket-like boxes found in the cave was elaborately carved and is inscribed with the words: "Joseph, son of Caiaphas." The box contains the actual remains of the Biblical figure Caiaphas.

	THE GREATEST QUESTION ASKED BY CAIAPHAS:

	'And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled..... And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"
	Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Matthew 26:57-64



	ONE MAN DIES FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THE PEOPLE

	'Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. "If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."
	And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all," nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish." Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.' John 11:47-52


	'And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?"
	Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: "If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, "let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. "This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:5-12

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The star of Bethlehem

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Little scrolls referred in Revelation 10

Ketef Hinnom (Hebrew: כָּתֵף הִינוֹם katef hinom, "shoulder of Hinnom") is an archaeological site southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem, adjacent to St. Andrew's Church, now on the grounds of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.

The site consists of a series of rock-hewn burial chambers based on natural caverns. In 1979 two tiny silver scrolls, inscribed with portions of the well-known apotropaic Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers and apparently once used as amulets, were found in one of the burial chambers. The delicate process of unrolling the scrolls while developing a method that would prevent them from disintegrating took three years. They contain what may be the oldest surviving texts from the Hebrew Bible, dating from around 600 BCE.

A major re-examination of the scrolls was therefore undertaken by the University of Southern California's West Semitic Research Project, using advanced photographic and computer enhancement techniques which enabled the script to be read more easily and the paleography to be dated more confidently. The results confirmed a date immediately prior to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586/7 BCE.^[5] Dr. Kyle McCarter of Johns Hopkins University, a specialist in ancient Semitic scripts, has said the study should "settle any controversy over [the date of] these inscriptions".^[6

The 2004 team described the scrolls as "one of most significant discoveries ever made" for biblical studies.^[7] Apart from their significance for our knowledge of the development of the Hebrew alphabet, the scrolls "preserve the earliest known citations of texts also found in the Hebrew Bible and ... the earliest examples of confessional statements concerning Yahweh." The reference to Yahweh as "Rebuker of Evil," found in later incantations and amulets associated with Israel, is evidence that these artifacts were also amulets.^[6]

Dr. Wayne Pitard has stated that although evidence for the antiquity of the Priestly Blessing is now compelling, this does not necessarily mean that the Book of Numbers already existed at that time.^[6] Dr. James R. Davila has similarly pointed out that the idea that the scrolls are "proof that the Five Books of Moses were in existence during the First Temple period" (as described in an article in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz) is "an overinterpretation of the evidence." He nonetheless acknowledged that the find proves that at least "some of the material found in the Five Books of Moses existed in the First Temple period."^[8]

The scrolls[edit]

The scrolls are known as KH1 and KH2. They are written in Paleo-Hebrew characters,^[9] not the Aramaic square script more familiar to most modern readers. Text below in square brackets represents informed deduction.

KH1 (27 x 97 mm; 1.0 x 3.75 inches)[edit]

[Top line(s) broken]

...] YHW ...
[...]
the grea[t ... who keeps]
the covenant and
[G]raciousness towards those who love [him] and (alt: [hi]m;)
those who keep [his commandments ...
...].
the Eternal? [...].
[the?] blessing more than any
[sna]re and more than Evil.
For redemption is in him.
For YHWH
is our restorer [and]
rock. May YHWH bles[s]
you and
[may he] keep you.
[May] YHWH make
[his face] shine ...

[Bottom line(s) broken.]

Compare lines 3-6 to:

Exodus 20:6 – showing mercy to thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments
Deuteronomy 5:10 – showing mercy to thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments
Deuteronomy 7:9 – keeping covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations
Daniel 9:4 – keeping covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments
Nehemiah 1:5 – keeping covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His commandments

The omission of "thousands" may have originally appeared on line 7 as in Deuteronomy 7:9.

Sefer Torah "Bamidbar" (Number) Chapter 6 verse 6:24 to 6:26 6:24 The LORD bless you, and keep you; 6:25 The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 6:26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you "peace".

KH2 (11 x 39 mm; 0.5 x 1.5 inches)[edit]

A photograph of KH2 and a transcription of the letters is shown below, followed by an analysis of the text.

[Top line(s) broken: For PN xxxx]

-h/hu. May be blessed h/sh-
-[e] by YHW[H,]
the warrior/helper and
the rebuker of
[E]vil: May bless you,
YHWH,
keep you.
Make shine, YH-
-[W]H, His face
[upon] you and g-
-rant you p-
-[ea]ce.

[Bottom line(s) broken.]

Compare lines 7-13 to:

Numbers 6:24—Yahweh bless you and keep you;
Numbers 6:25—Yahweh make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
Numbers 6:26--Yahweh lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

(Note that the two bold italicized phrases above are not present on this scroll; also note that all of Numbers 6:25-26 may have appeared on KH1 after line 18 where the scroll has disintegrated).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketef_Hinnom