Jerusalem’s wealthiest families in the early Roman period built monumental tombs along the roads approaching the city, placing their wealth and status on display. Yet pilgrims heading to the Temple had to avoid entering or coming into contact with these tombs, lest they become impure and be barred from the very Temple they came to visit.
Prof.
Boaz Zissu
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Dr.
Omri Yitzhak Abadi
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Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones did not assume personal resurrection, a belief that entered Judaism in a later period. In its original context, the imagery of bones rearticulating and coming back to life draws upon the ancient burial practices of Judahite family tombs, offering a message of hope to the exiles in Babylon that YHWH will return them to their land.
Prof.
Matthew J. Suriano
,
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Egyptian sources shed light on the nature of the work described in the Torah.
Dr.
David A. Falk
,
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