Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

Notes from Ezra. 7:1-10: After these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, the son of Zerahiah, the son ...

Josephus on Ezra, Ant. 11.5.1-5 (based on 1 Esdras): Moreover, there was now in Babylon a righteous man, and one that enjoyed a great reputation among the multitude. He was the principal priest of the people, and his name was Esdras. He was very skillful in the laws of Moses, and was well acquainted...

I've yet to find a translation for all of the Song of Songs Rabbah, but a partial one mentions a tradition about the Psalms that I was unaware of: The Psalms were composed by ten individuals: Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, Korah's three sons (taken as one of the compos...

Thanks for the chart, Ben. What I've read about Ezra's (and Nehemiah's) hodgepodge nature so far made my head spin (and I was surprised to see that Ezra is not mentioned until chapter seven of his book when I re-read it the other day). And I wasn't looking forward to trying to track down the referen...

I'm revisiting Ezra now, and of what I can see on Google books, Fried's Ezra and the Law in History and Tradition looks interesting and I'm linking to it here so I can read more of it later. https://books.google.com/books?id=tQHQBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT13&dq=ezra+scribe&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahU...

Ancient Babylonian Jewish Wedding Song - "Ashir Shirim":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUV196lCN28

The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center was established in 1973 to preserve the history of the Jewish community in Iraq and to ensure that it remains part of the future narrative of the Jewish nation. To this end, the Center fosters research, preservation and publication of the culture and folklore of...

Interesting article in today's Yediot Aharonot: Once one of the Middle East's most vibrant, ancient communities, Iraq's Jewish population now numbers in the single digits, as most of its members came to Israel; 'We kept our tradition, but it's not the joy you feel in Israel,' says one Iraq Jew; Iraq...

It looks like the Kingdom of Heaven and the New Jerusalem are on a changed earth in Rev. 21:1-8: Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven fro...

Something else Paul says about the changing nature of the earth is coming to mind, 1 Cor. 7:29-31: What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not ; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were ...