A
new exhibition of ancient clay tablets discovered in modern-day Iraq is
shedding light for the first time on the daily life of Jews exiled to Babylon
some 2,500 years ago. The exhibition is based on more than 100 cuneiform
tablets, each no bigger than an adult's palm, that detail transactions and
contracts between Judeans driven from, or convinced to move from, Jerusalem by
King Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BC. Archaeologists got their first chance to see
the tablets -- acquired by a wealthy London-based Israeli collector -- barely
two years ago. They were blown away. Read complete article at -- http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-tablets-reveal-life-jews-nebuchadnezzars-babylon-174318332.html
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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