Tanach Thoughts

One of my interests is researching idolatrous practices mentioned in Tanach and later Jewish sources. For the last three years or so, I've been conducting an on-and-off search for the possible identity of a deity hinted at in this section of the Talmud, tractate  Bava Metzia 86b : "The Gemara continues its analysis of the verse: “Let now a little water be fetched and wash your feet” ( Genesis 18:4 ). Rabbi Yannai, son of Rabbi Yishmael, said that the guests said to Abraham: Are you suspicious that we are  Arabs who bow to the dust of their feet ?" It is reasonable to conclude that the sages were aware of an Arabian pagan cult that practiced some form of dust worship. Last year I discovered that one of my professors shares this interest in researching idolatry and even wrote his doctorate on idol worship mentioned in Talmudic literature, although he was focused on particular pagan religions (Greece, Rome, and a couple of others) and didn't analyze this quote. But I did...

Just a quick tidbit I came across now: A Late Antiquity silver lamella (an amulet text inscribed on a sheet of metal, often silver or gold) in Hebrew, Wolfe NA 3, includes the following quote: "ועמהם שבעת המלאכים שיאצאו עם יהושע בנון מחוץ למחנה..." "And with them the seven angels that exited with Yehoshua Binun the encampment..." According to Ohad Abudraham, who published the lamella in the essay ''Joshua Son of Nun and the Seven Angels': a Hebrew lamella from the Wolfe Collection', Journal of Jewish Studies  72 (2021), pp. 45-58, this type of spelling may be the rationale behind Ramban's explanation for why Yehoshua was called b i n Nun instead of b e n Nun. Ramban wrote that it was because the word "binun" (בינון) was a nickname, referring to his tevunah (תבונה), his wisdom. So, we have here evidence of Jews of Antiquity seemingly agreeing with Ramban's idea. Perhaps they did not think up of an explanation themselves but simply c...

I was going to post this yesterday, but I'm swamped with work...let's just call this the Shushan Purim Isru Chag post...😁 For those who don't know, Dura Europos, a city in eastern Syria, was excavated in the 1930's. One of the most incredible discoveries made there was a well-preserved shul . The shul's walls were decorated with beautiful paintings of scenes from Tanach, such as Eliyahu at Mt. Carmel, the Plishtim being punished for taking the Ark, King David, the First Temple and so forth. One of the most fascinating things about these paintings - which are dated to the years 244-245 CE - is that some of them are based on midrashim. For example, the Eliyahu at Mt. Carmel painting clearly shows Chiel Beit Ha'eli hiding in the Baalic altar and being killed by a snake (alluded to in  Shemot Rabbah 15:16  and  Pesikta Rabbati 4 ; stated explicitly in  Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 214 ). With regards to Purim, there's an honest-to-goodness Purim panel at that shul: ...