Biblical Archaeology Review

See Hershel Shanks, “The Difference Between Scholarly Mistakes and Scholarly Concealment: The Case of MMT,” BAR 16:05; Lawrence H. Schiffman, “The Significance of the Scrolls,” BR 06:05.

The relevance of the number seven is that it shows that there was a pattern of longer lists of beatitudes as opposed to single isolated beatitudes, which are most common in the Hebrew Bible.

The Book of Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) is part of canonical or inspired scripture for Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians, who follow the longer canon or list of the Greek Bible, but not for Jews or Protestants, who follow the shorter canon of the Hebrew Bible, though the Talmud quotes the book with respect. Much of the book’s Hebrew text has been recovered over the last century. The book is useful for reconstructing the development of Jewish ethical thought in the centuries just before the birth of Jesus.

The destination is found not only in Latin, but in Hebrew and Greek as well beatus (Latin) = ashre (Hebrew) = makarios (Greek) = happy (English); benedictus (Latin) = baruch (Hebrew) = eulogetos (Greek) = blessed (English).

In the catechetical tradition, there are eight Matthean beatitudes. Modern literary analysis separates Matthew’s ninth beatitude from his first eight, putting it off into a new literary unit.

See Emile Puech, “4Q525 et les péricopes des Béatitudes en Ben Shira et Matthieu,” Revue Biblique 138 (1991), pp. 80–106.

An ostracon (plural, ostraca) is a potsherd with writing on it.

B.C.E. (Before the Common Era), used by this author, is the alternate designation corresponding to B.C. often used in scholarly literature.

To give just one example (see Anson F. Rainey, “Rainey’s Challenge,” BAR 17:06) In the famous Israel Stela we find that “Ashkelon has been overcome. Gezer has been captured. Yano’am was made nonexistent.” No one would take these diverse statements to indicate any difference between the fate of the three Canaanite cities.