Modern
readers are prone to project their beliefs and cultures on the characters and
events recorded in their Bible – and aren't even aware of it. Are you ready for a shock? The original Hebrew
Scriptures were not written to be read by the public at large. The text of the
Hebrew Bible was not part of the popular culture. To the public, the scrolls of
the Hebrew Scriptures were icons of a body of knowledge accessible only through
the oral instruction presented by religious experts – the Temple scribes. Scribes wrote for scribes and studied it in the
scribal workshop of the Temple. They used special linguistic devices and techniques
to make and highlight important points. Many of these were lost or became
unrecognizable in modern English translations. Today, we are going to attempt
to take a trip back in time to the Temple in Jerusalem and the scribal workshop
and take another look at one of the best known sections of the Hebrew text – the Garden in Eden. When the scribes
gathered to study this text they focused on what was written, how it was
written, why it was written, as well as what was not written. So, turn your BS
(belief system) off and tune in to the world of the Jewish scribes and get
ready to dig much deeper in the events in the Garden. Read the complete article
at -- http://biblicalheritage.org/DTB/1214_DTB_Digging_Deeper_In_The_Garden.pdf
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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