Bible Review

See Zeev Weiss, “The Sepphoris Synagogue Mosaic,” BAR 26:05.

This same passage still troubles scholars today. For a new understanding of the “figured stone” (even maskit), see Victor Hurowitz, “Wish Upon a Stone: Discovering the Idolatry of the Even Maskit,” BR 15:05.

A Targum is an Aramaic paraphrase, often with expansions, of the Hebrew Bible. Pseudo-Jonathan, the most expansive of the Targums to the Pentateuch, is roughly twice the length of the original Hebrew text. It was redacted in the eighth or ninth century C.E.

According to Jewish law, old books and ritual objects bearing the name of God may never be destroyed and should be buried in consecrated ground. A synagogue’s genizah served as a temporary storage place until the writings could be properly buried. The Ben Ezra synagogue in Old Cairo is the most famous genizah yet discovered.

On the changing interpretation of the second commandment in Jewish tradition over time, see Victor Hurowitz, “Did King Solomon Violate the Second Commandment?” BR 10:05.

Archaeologist Robert Schick has explored the effects of eighth-century iconoclasm on Christian churches in Palestine. See “The Image Destroyers,” AO 02:05.

On the numbering of this commandment as the first or second in Jewish and Christian tradition, see Ronald Youngblood, “Counting the Ten Commandments,” BR 10:06.

A similar statement is made by the unnamed prophet who anoints Jehu king of Israel in 2 Kings 9:10.

In the Septuagint, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings are all included in Kings, which therefore has four books, 1–4 Kings.