Bible Review, June 1998
Special Section
Jethro
On first reading the biblical text, Jethro seems a simple person, almost monolithic, someone who impresses us most as a family man. When he meets a young refugee, Moses, whom he believes to be Egyptian, he thinks immediately of his daughter Zipporah, who is not yet married...Read more ›
Features
“Spinning” the Bible
How Judaism and Christianity shape the Canon differently
Most people think that the Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible are two names for the same thing. Actually, they are quite different, as I shall show—even though all of the books of the Hebrew Bible are indeed included in the Old Testament: Protestant Bibles contain all...Read more ›
The Jewish Roots of the Transfiguration
The Transfiguration—the moment when Jesus is mystically transformed by divine power in the company of Moses and Elijah—offers a uniquely Christian message. At this moment Jesus’ divinity is revealed to his disciples. Yet the roots of this complex story, so critical to Christian theology, are deeply embedded...Read more ›
Why Moses Could Not Enter The Promised Land
Why was Moses condemned to die in the wilderness? Perhaps the historical Moses simply expired before reaching the Promised Land and was buried in Transjordan in a now-forgotten grave (Deuteronomy 34:6). But the Torah—the Hebrew name for the five books of...Read more ›