The Mattanyahu Seal

The Israel Antiquities Authority has announced that a Hebrew seal bearing the name “Mattanyahu” has been discovered in Jerusalem in a site adjacent to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.  According to archaeologists, the site where the seal was found is the closest structure to the First Temple found to date in archaeological excavations.

Read my post today.  Here is the link: The Mattanyahu Seal


My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Archaeology, Mattanyahu Seal, Mattaniah

Scot McKnight Joins Northern Seminary

Photo:  Scot McKnight

Northern Baptist Seminary has released a news release announcing the appointment of Scott McKnight as Professor of New Testament at Northern Baptist Seminary.

Read the news release about Scot McKnight.  Here is the link:

Scot McKnight Joins Northern Seminary



My blog has moved to WordPress.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Azazel

In today’s post, I will not discuss all the events that occurred on the Day of Atonement.  I will return to this topic at a later time. Rather, I discuss the selection of the two goats to be used on the Day of Atonement. This post deals with Azazel, the goat that carried away the sins of the people.

Here is the link: Azazel

Topics: Leviticus 16, Azazel, Day of Atonement, Scapegoat

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Next Year in Jerusalem

In December I am planning to take a group of people to Israel. This will be my fourth time visiting the land of the Bible, and this time, it will be as exciting as it was the first time I visited the land flowing with milk and honey.

Visiting Israel is always a trip of a lifetime. This trip is a joint venture of ClaudeMariottini.com and Northern Baptist Seminary. However, this trip to Israel is open to everyone. You do not have to be a seminary student to participate. Our trip to the Holy Land will be from December 27, 2012 to January 5, 2013.

During this trip, we will be visiting the most important sites in Israel. Among the Old Testament sites, we will be visiting Jericho, Dan, Hazor, Megiddo, Plains of Jezreel, Bet Shean, Joppa (The City of Jonah), Mt. Gilboa, the Valley of Aijalon, Jerusalem, Masada, Qumran, and Mount Hermon.

Among the New Testament sites we will be visiting are Tiberias, Galilee, Sea of Galilee, Caesarea Philippi, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Mount of Olives, and Bethany.

In addition, we will be visiting several other sites of interest. Among them are the Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum), the Western Wall, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts are kept, the Temple Institute (the place where they are making instruments for the new Temple), the Church of the Nativity, Mount of the Beatitudes, the Old City (Jerusalem), the Via Dolorosa, the Dome of the Rock, concluding with a celebration of the Lord’s Supper at the Garden Tomb.

I am planning to write a book, The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey, which I will make available to everyone going on the trip. The book will discuss the sites we will be visiting and some other interesting things about Israel and the people of the Bible.

The trip is available to every reader of my blog. The flight will leave from Chicago, but one can make connections from anywhere in the United States.  Since the group will spend the New Year in Israel, the popular saying will become a reality for all those who travel with us: “Next Year in Jerusalem.”

If you want to receive more information about the tour, send me an email to DrMariottini@Gmail.com.  I will send you a brochure with all the information you need to plan your trip

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Theodore Beza on Psalm 121

Psalm 121 is a beautiful song of trust and confidence in which the psalmist expresses his joy that he is safe and secure under the watchful eyes of God, the creator of heavens and earth and the keeper of Israel.  He who delivers Israel from its enemy and keeps the nation secure is also the deliverer of the person who trusts in him.

The post today studies how Theodore Beza, one of the Reformers, translated Psalm 121.

Here is the link: Theodore Beza on Psalm 121

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.


Topics: Theodore Beza, Psalm 121, High Places

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The Trial of Oded Golan: Not Guilty of Forgery

In a legal case that lasted 7 years, Oded Golan, an Israeli antiquity dealer who was accused of making fake biblical artifacts, was acquitted by a judge in Jerusalem today.  Golan was accused of forging the James Ossuary, a stone box containing the bones of James, the brother of Jesus. Golan was also accused of faking the Jehoash inscription, an inscription that was considered to be the only surviving royal inscription from ancient Israel.

Read about the court’s decision.

Here is the link: The Case Against Oded Golan: Acquitted

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The Beautiful People of the Bible

A brief survey of the beautiful people of the Bible will reveal that out of the twenty-one people mentioned in this list, fifteen of them are either directly or indirectly associated with the royal household.  They are either kings or queens, or wives, sons, or daughters of kings.

Read my post about beauty in the Bible.

Here is the link: The Beautiful People of the Bible

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Simcha Jacobovic and the Burial Site of Jesus’ Disciples

An report in the Ottawa Citizen is claiming that Simcha Jacobovic, “the naked archaeologist,” has discovered the burial site of some of Jesus’ disciples.

Read the report by visiting my blog today.  Here is the link: The Burial Site of Jesus’ Disciples

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.

Topics: Archaeology, Simcha Jacobovic, James Tabor

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

A Greek Bronze Helmet

Archaeologists have found a The Greek bronze helmet covered with gold leaf that is 2,600-year-old. The bronze helmet probably belonged to a Greek mercenary who fought with Neco, a pharaoh of Egypt.  The helmet was discovered in the waters of Haifa Bay, in Israel.

Here is the link to my post today:  A Bronze Helmet from the Time of Neco

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.

Topics: Archaeology, Neco, Josiah, Assyria, Babylon, Bronze Helmet

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The Character of the God

God’s love and wrath are never more visible than at the cross.[8] God’s redemptive purposes for his creation will continue through history until consummation when heaven and earth come together as a new creation. Both Testaments offer an enthralling vision of the new creation, one to which we may look forward with glorious hope. A superficial look may make the Old Testament God out to be a moral monster or a merciless judge who exhibits disturbing behavior. However, a closer study of his word establishes his character as a holy, loving, faithful, suffering, merciful, and just God, one who yearns for an intimate reconciled relationship with us.

Read my post today: The Character of the God

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.

Topics: David, Evil, Theodicy, Divine Suffering, Hebrew God

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Violence and the Fall of the Akkadian Empire

My post today deals with the Turkish archaeologist Omur Dilek Erdal’s discovery of an Early Bronze Age site in southern Turkey that contains the remains of men, women, and children.  According to Erdal, the mass killings is associated with the fall of the Akkadian Empire.

Here is the link to my post: Violence and the Fall of the Akkadian Empire

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.

Topics: Akkandian, Omur Erdal, Titris Hoyuk, Archaeology

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Anthropomorphism in the Hebrew Bible

My post today deals with Michael B. Hundley’s review of Esther J. Hamori’s book When Gods Were Men: The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 384. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2008. The review of the book was published in the Review of Biblical Literature.

Hamori’s book is one of the many books published in the last few years Hamori’s book deals primarily with Genesis 18:1–15 and 32:23–33, two passages in which God reveals himself as a “man” in the context of divine-human interaction.

Here is the link: The Embodiment of God in the Hebrew Bible

My blog has moved to my new web page.  Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.

Topics: Jacob, Genesis 32, Michael Hundley, Esther Hamori, The Embodiment of God


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary