ABRAHAM'S ANGELS. The Promise of the Three Angels to Abraham by Lodovico Buti.

It is no secret to students of the Bible that the ancient Hebrews loved plays on words. And nowhere in the Hebrew Bible are there more plays on words in relation to names than in the Book of Genesis.

Let's start with the name Abraham. Abraham starts life as Abram, a name with parallels in ancient sources. Abram's name means “high [...]

“But with full knowledge and understanding [the Carthaginians] offered up their own children, and those who had no children would buy little ones from poor people and cut their throats as if they were so many lambs or young birds.”

—Plutarch, Moralia II.171C

The excavated Tophet of Sulcis at Sant'Antioco in Sardinia. Photo: Josephine Quinn.

One of the most debated questions in the study of the ancient world is whether or not the Carthaginians practiced human sacrifice—more [...]

In the first-century Jewish revolt against Rome, Josephus failed to honor the suicide pact he made with his soldiers. When he was later captured and taken to Rome, he predicted that the Roman commander Vespasian would become emperor. When the prediction proved accurate, Josephus was taken into the imperial family and became known as Flavius Josephus.

Titus Flavius Josephus is best remembered as an unparalleled chronicler of first-century C.E. Jewish history. [...]

One of the most significant changes in the religious life of ancient Israel occurred during the reign of the Judahite king Hezekiah, in the late eighth century B.C.E. The Hebrew Bible provides us with this image: “He removed the high places, broke down the pillars, and cut down the sacred pole (asherah). He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that [...]