Zipf's Law

Students of the Hebrew Bible are familiar with hapax legomena. A hapax legomenon is a word that appears only once in the Bible.  These words are difficult to translate into English because, in most cases, their meanings are unknown.  And there are many hapax legomena in the Hebrew Bible.

Recently, Samuel Arbesman, a senior scholar at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, wrote an article in which he said that the occurrences of hapax legomena can be explained by Zipf’s Law. 

Read more about Zipf’s Law.  Here is the link:  Zipf's Law

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Topics: Samuel Arbesman, Zipf’s Law, George Kingsley Zipf, Hapax Legomena

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The Mention of Israel in an Egyptian Monument

The earliest reference to Israel outside the Bible is found in the Merneptah Stele, an ancient inscription in which Merneptah, an Egyptian pharaoh, describes his conquests of Canaan.  Merneptah said that Israel was one of the people he conquered.  Merneptah’s Stele is dated to c. 1210 B.C.

Not anymore. Read my post today.

Here is the link:  The Mention of Israel in an Egyptian Monument

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, Merneptah Stele, Conquest, Exodus

 Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The New Moses

Steven Spielberg, the famous Hollywood director, has agreed to direct a remake of “The Ten Commandments” for Warner Bros.  But his version of Moses will be different from the Moses presented in Cecille B. DeMille’s version of the Ten Commandments.

Read my post today.  Here is the link: The New Moses

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

What the Bible Teaches About Capitalism

Rabbi Aryeh Spero has written an excellent article on what the Bible teaches about capitalism. The article was published in The Wall Street Journal. Rabbi Spero writes that the Ten Commandments teaches that “envy is corrosive to the individual and to those societies that embrace it.”

Read my post.  Here is the link: What the Bible Teaches About Capitalism

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

Sex and Beer in Mesopotamia

According to a report published by LiveScience.com, Nathan Wasserman, Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology, and Michael Streck, Professor at the Altorientalisches Institut at Universität Leipzig, have translated a 3,500-year-old clay tablet from southern Mesopotamia that contains political riddles and crude language dealing with sex, beer, and politics.

Read my post today.  Here is the link: Sex and Beer in Mesopotamia

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, Sex, Beer, Politics, Mesopotamia, Nathan Wasserman, Michael Streck


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tanak: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible

Today’s post is a review pf Marvin Sweeney’s new book Tanak: A Theological and Critical Introduction to the Jewish Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012) Sweeney says that Old Testament theology provides “a model of systematic interpretation of the Bible from which Jewish biblical interpretation may benefit” (p. 5).

In his book, Sweeney offers a theological interpretation of each section of the Tanak. His interpretation of the Torah follows the ten toledoth found in the book of Genesis. In addition, Sweeney uses the toledoth of Jacob that appears in Genesis 37:2 to discuss the history of the twelve tribes of Israel and the toledoth of Aaron and Moses in Numbers 3:1 to discuss the history of Israel under the Levites.

Sweeney provides a theological introduction of each book of the Tanak by emphasizing each book’s historical and literary background as well as its message.

Read my review.  Here is the link: Tanak: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible

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Topics:  Marvin Sweeney, John D. Levenson, Tanak, Toledoth, Hebrew Bible

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The Cities Where Abraham Lived

My post today deals with the cities of Ur and Haran, cities where Abraham lived. Below is an excerpt from my article

The migration of Abraham and his family from Mesopotamia to Canaan probably is related to the vast migration of nomadic and semi-nomadic people that occurred in the Fertile Crescent in the first half of the second millennium B.C. To the writers of the Old Testament, who understood the events of history from the perspective of divine sovereignty, the migration of Abraham and his family was portrayed as a response of faith to God’s call. This call involved God’s promise that Abraham would become a great nation, that he would receive the land of Canaan as his own inheritance, and that he would become a blessing to the nations.

Here is the link to my article: Ur and Haran: Abraham’s Background


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: Abraham, Ur, Haran, Genesis, Canaan, Mesopotamia

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The Ten Commandments in Jewish Tradition

The article deals with the role the Decalogue played in Jewish worship and the synagogue.
At issue are the questions of whether the Ten Commandments should be read during public prayers and whether the congregation should stand for the reading of the Ten Commandments.

Read the post. Here is the link: The Ten Commandments in Jewish Tradition

Topics: Decalogue, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Ten Commandments, Maimonides

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

Divine Warfare

My post today deals with divine warfare.

In the biblical concept of holy war, it was important for Israel to remember that it was Yahweh who fought the battle for his people. Those fighting Yahweh’s war had to have faith and trust in him and not succumb to fear. Over and over, Yahweh repeats the formulaic battle cry, “Do not be afraid or dismayed.” Variations of this battle cry is found all over the Old Testament.

Read my post today. Here is the link: The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament: Divine Warfare

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: Holy War, Divine Warfare, Joshua, Gideon, Parousia, Herem, Jesus

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament – Part 2

Today’s post was written by Vanu Kantayya, one of my students at Northern Baptist Seminary. Vanu wrote a research paper for the course “Old Testament Theology: The God of the Old Testament,” in which she seeks to demonstrate that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. Her paper is titled: “The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament.

Here is the link: The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament – Part 2


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 Names of God

Harry Butler, a correspondent for the Gadsden Times of Alabama, has published an interesting article on the names of God. In his article, Butler says that “the names of God are a fascinating study.” However, he says that many people cannot name some of God’s name in the Old Testament.

An article mentioning some of God’s name using the generic term Elohim which is then combined with other Hebrew words that describe certain characteristics of God.

Hare is the link: The Names of 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: Divine Names, Elohim, God's Name, Harry Butler, Hebrew God, Yahweh

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament - Part 1

Many people, Christians and non-Christians, have a distorted view of the God of the Old Testament. The reasons for this view of God are many, but primarily it focuses on the way people selectively read the biblical text.

People who love the God of the Old Testament and understand the character of the God of the Bible have little problem dealing with controversial passages. Today’s post is an attempt at demonstrating that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament.

Here is the link: The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament

Topics: Yahweh, Suffering, Evil, Theodicy, Genocide

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 Anakim and the Nephilim

An excerpt from my article: The Anakim and the Nephilim:

After the people of Israel left Egypt, they came to the borders of Canaan, the land that Yahweh their God had promised to them. Before they entered the land, Moses sent 12 spies to investigate the land and its people (Num. 13). In a later passage Moses seems to place responsibility for the spies being sent on the people of Israel (Deut. 1:22). With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the spies brought back a pessimistic report of their survey of Canaan. To 10 of the spies, the fortified walls of the Canaanite cities were an overwhelming obstacle for their conquest of the land (13:28). The spies also were terrified by the size of the inhabitants of Canaan. “They said, ‘The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Num. 13:32-33 NIV). In their exaggeration of the situation, the spies spoke to the assembly of the leaders of Israel of the terrible predicament awaiting the people of Israel.

This article has been posted and can be downloaded in PDF format.

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

Sumerian Beer-brewing Technology

Today’s post is a review of Peter Damerow’s article “Sumerian Beer: The Origins of Brewing Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia.”

According to Damerow, even the "Hymn of Ninkasi", one of the most significant sources on the ancient art of brewing, does not provide any reliable information about the constituents and steps of the brewing process. This lyric text from the Old Babylonian period around 1800 B.C. is a mythological poem or song that glorifies the brewing of beer. Despite the elaborate versification, Damerow states that the procedure of brewing is not conclusively described. It merely offers an incomplete record of the individual steps. For instance, there is no clue as to how the germination of the grain was interrupted at the right time. It can only be speculated that the barley was layered and that the germination was stopped by heating and drying the grain as soon as the root embryo had the right size.

Read more about Sumerian beer. Here is the link: Beer-brewing Technologies of the Sumerians.

Topics: Max Planck Institute, Peter Damerow, Sumerian Beer, Brewing Technology, Archaeology.

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

What Happens When God Loses?

It was God in human form who appeared to Jacob. Jacob himself was a witness of that reality. Jacob said: “I have seen God face to face.” And yet, the word “man” in verse 24 and throughout the text has caused problems for many interpreters of the text. The prophet Hosea said that Jacob strove and prevailed against an angel, not God (Hos. 12:4).

Even some translators of the text have problems with the fact that God appeared as a human being and lost the struggle to Jacob.

Read more about God’s struggle with Jacob. Here is the link: What Happens When God Loses?

Topics: Genesis 32, Jacob, Peniel, Walter Brueggemann, Yochanan Muffs, Arthur Pink, Gerhard von Rad, Karl Barth

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

Coincidences in the Bible

Haim Shore, a Professor of Engineering at Ben Gurion University, in Israel., in his book Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew demonstrates how the ancient Jewish wise men possessed a great knowledge about the nature of reality, a knowledge which is revealed in the writings they produced over many centuries.

In his article, Jacobs asked the following question: “How could human beings living hundreds or thousands of years ago have known about matters which they could not have verified through experimentation or that would have required knowledge of parts of the world that had not yet been discovered or phenomena that are fully invisible to the naked eye?”

Read the answer to this question in my post today. Here is the link: Coincidences in 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

Tebowing

Michael Medved, the host of a daily, nationally syndicated radio show and the author of The 5 Big Lies About American Business (Crown Forum, 2009), has an excellent article in which he discusses how “a clean-living quarterback with deep commitments to charitable service and miraculous last-minute victories became the most controversial player in the league.”

Read my post today. Here is the link: Tebowing

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 God Who Loses.

In God's struggle with Jacob, the Bible says that God lost the struggle. This article says what happens when God loses.

Read my post today. Here is the link: The God Who Loses

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

Who Is a Minister?

In a previous post, I mentioned that the Obama administration had taken the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church to court in order to defend the case of Cheryl Perich, a minister of the church, who was dismissed by the church. The suit was brought against the church under the Americans With Disabilities Act for its decision not to reinstate Perich to her job as a minister of the church. The Supreme Court has decided. Read my post today.

Here is the link: Who Is a Minister? The Answer to an Important Question

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Topics: Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church, Cheryl Perich, Supreme Court, Religion Clauses of the Constitution


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Fear

Fear is a broad range of emotions that embrace both the secular and the religious worlds. Secular fear is the natural feeling of alarm caused by the expectation of imminent danger, pain, or disaster. Religious fear appears as the result of awe and reverence toward a supreme power.

Terminology. The English word “fear” is used to translate several Hebrew and Greek words. In the Old Testament, the most common word used to express fear is yir’ah, which means “fear, “terror” (Isaiah 7:25; Jonah 1:10,16). In the New Testament, the word used most often to express fear is phobos which means “fear,” “dread,” “terror” (Matthew 28:4; Luke 21:26).

My article on “Fear,” published in the Holman Bible Dictionary, is available online.

Here is the link: Fear in 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

Child Sacrifice

People today consider child sacrifice to be a primitive and barbaric ritual. However, it is a fact that child sacrifice was a common practice in the ancient world. It was even practiced by some people in Israel (Judg. 11:30-31, 39; 1 Kings 16:34).

In the ancient world, child sacrifice was a ritual in which the worshiper offered to the gods a most precious gift, one’s own child. Read my post today about the sacrifice of a girl in India.

Here is the link: Child Sacrifice: More Violence Against Women

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: Chemosh, Child Sacrifice, Lalita Tati, Mesha, Violence, Women

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

A Tax Receipt from Jerusalem?

Another remarkable artifact has been discovered in Jerusalem. Archaeologists have recovered a bulla (seal) with Hebrew inscriptions in a refuse pit.

This seal was found in an ancient rubbish pit of the First Temple period. Gabriel Barkay from Bar Ilan University believes that the inscription reads: , meaning “Gibeon, to the king.”

Visit my blog and read more about this amazing discovery.

Here is the link: A Tax Receipt from Jerusalem?

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

Ointment in the Old Testament

Perfumed unguents or salves of various kinds used as cosmetics, medicine, and in religious ceremonies. The use of ointments and perfumes appears to have been a common practice in the Ancient Near East, including the Hebrews.

Terminology. The Old Testament uses various words to describe ointment. The most common, shemen, simply means oil (Genesis 28:28; Hosea 2:8). The Old Testament does not distinguish between oil and ointment. In the New Testament, muron, “ointment” (Matthew 26:7; Mark 14:3-4; Luke 7:37-38) was a perfumed ointment.

Read more about ointments in the Old Testament by visiting my blog today.

Here is the link: Ointment in the Old Testament


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

Violence Against Women

My post today has nothing to do with the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible. It is only a story about a young woman who was brutally tortured and beaten because she refused to become a prostitute. When I read this story I thought about the plight of other women who suffer similar indignities just because they are women.

Here is the link to my post: Violence Against Women

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: Sahar Gul, Women, Violence, Rape, Prostitution


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary