Features

The Abisha Scroll—3,000 Years Old?
Does the Samaritan community in Nablus have a Torah Scroll written by Aaron’s great-grandson? By Alan D. Crown

A small group of Samaritans—they now number fewer than 300—continues to live in ancient Shechem (modern Nablus on the West Bank) at the foot of their holy mountain, Mt. Gerizim. They claim to have the oldest Torah (the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses) in existence. It was written, they say, by Abisha,a the […]

The Samaritans
A Jewish offshoot or a pagan cult? By Reinhard Pummer

The best-known incident in the Bible regarding the Samaritans is of course the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25–37: A priest and a Levite both pass by a man who has been robbed and beaten. The Samaritan, however, stops and takes care of him. Then, as now, Samaritans were not at the […]

The Bible in the Funny Papers

Adam and Eve discussing women’s liberation, Methuselah happily listening to Golden Oldies, metal detectors for animals entering Noah’s ark, Moses with the tablets of the law being questioned by civil libertarians, King David increasingly exaggerating Goliath’s proportions with each re-telling of the story. The names are familiar, but their activities are not. At least […]

How Early Christians Viewed the Birth of Jesus

“Can Scholars Take the Virgin Birth Seriously?” BR 04:05, by J. Edward Barrett, produced more letters to the editor than any other article ever published in this magazine. Of the 27 letters printed, only two suggested that Barrett’s exploration of the subject had any merit whatever. Such a response leads me to believe that […]

Departments

Hebrew for Bible Readers
Honing your pronunciation By Keith N. Schoville
Greek for Bible Readers
Getting at the meaning of words By David Alan Black