Discover the deeper, overlooked meaning behind the three festivals of Passover.
Most people think Passover is a single holiday—but the Bible describes three distinct feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. Together, they tell a powerful story of redemption, from deliverance out of Egypt to new life and promise.
Where was Jesus baptized by John the Baptist? Filmed at Qasr al-Yahud on the Jordan River, Ran Silberman discusses the historic and biblical debate over the exact location of Jesus’ baptism.
Pilgrims from around the world come to this site on the Israeli side of the river to be baptized, while another traditional site lies just across the water in Jordan. Using the Gospel of John, ancient traditions, and the geography of the Jordan River, Ran examines the biblical reference to “Bethany beyond the Jordan” and why scholars still debate which side of the river the event took place on.
Covering news and events impacting Israel & the Middle East for the Evangelical world.
Anyone studying biblical history or reading books about this topic, may have noticed that the common name to refer to the country of Israel in the academic literature is not “Israel”, nor “Judah”, but “Palestine”. Why is this name so commonly used? Where did it come from?
Paul Lawrence, in his “Atlas of Bible History” explains:
Before the Israelite conquest the name of the Promised Land west of the Jordan was Canaan. Its inhabitants were Canaanites.
To avoid confusing we use the term “Palestine” to designate that region after the conquest, but this should not be interpreted a modern, political sense.
“Israel” and “Judah” are used to denote the historic nation states that later emerged.
Lawrence Paul, The IVP Concise Atlas of Bible History (IVP Academic, 2013), 48
Even if we agree that the term “Palestine” does not have a political meaning, it surely has a theological meaning, as we shall explain below.
Although many biblical history scholars call the land “Palestine” in their articles and books, this term was never used in the Bible itself. The first to call the land of Israel “Palestine” were the Romans in the 2nd century AD, after they defeated the Bar-Kokhba revolt in 135 AD.
After the war against Judah ended Roman emperor Hadrian decided to officially change the name of the province “Judaea” to “Syria Palaestina”. Some scholars claim this name was already known before Hadrian. But nevertheless, the change of the name of the province came only after the Judean nation was completely destroyed and exiled.
Another proof of the Roman intention to wipe out the name Judaea and the bond of the Judeans to the land is the fact that they also changed the name of Jerusalem. The Romans exiled the Jews from Jerusalem and renamed it Aelia Capitolina.
The Romans, in the period they called “Pax Romana” – the Roman peace – wiped out Judah and made sure no remains are left of that nation. From this point in time, the name Judea was replaced on all maps by Syria-Palaestina, and all history books started to use the new name: Palaestina. Until this very day…
This name is derived from Philistia (Hebrew: פְּלֶשֶׁת), the name of the coastal area of Israel that was held in biblical times by the Philistines (Hebrew: פְּלִשְׁתִּים). Around the time the Israelites settled in Canaan, so too did the Philistines. They reached their height of power under Kings Saul and David, after which they began to diminish, ultimately being wiped out in 604 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar II.
In this small land, there were Canaanites, Philistines, Phoenicians, Edomites, Hellenists, Samaritans, and of course: Israelites and Judeans. How then, from all those nations, is it after the name of the Philistines that Hadrian called the land?
After all, the Philistines held a very small part of the southern coast of the land, and they were gone over 700 years before Hadrian time.
An act of political renaming of countries was used since ancient times. The name of the land affects how it is publicly known. Many countries changed their names after a change of regime to denote that they are a different entity. (e.g., Russia to the USSR and back to Russia, Burma to Myanmar, and many more examples).
So it makes sense that the Romans changed the name of Judaea. Did the name that they chose as the new name have any meaning for them? Was it just the most logical name to choose?
But the bigger question is, how come this name, that was invented as a “replacement” name by Rome, is still the name used today by scholars to refer to the land in the time of the Bible, when this name was not used?
An answer to the above question may be attributed to the early Church in the first centuries. The early theologians of the church had the idea that the Christian Church replaced Israel of the Bible. So, Israel is no more, and the Church is the “New Israel”. This replacement theology was the mainstream Christian perception of Israel and the Jews until the 20th century and until the new state of Israel was founded. The new state of Israel brought significant questions to the Church, and even the Catholic Church had to reconsider its approach to the Jews.
Then why is this name, “Palestine”, the name that the Arabs choose to identify with today? After all, this name has nothing to do with any Arab or Muslim legacy, and it is a memory of the Roman conquest and the Roman Catholic Church.
Do the Arabs who call themselves “Palestinians” affiliate with the Roman conquest of Judea or with the early church?
If we look at the history of the use of this name – Philistines/Palaestina/Palestine, we can see a “crimson thread” throughout time.
What is common to this name throughout history is an attempt to destroy God’s plan of salvation through Israel and the Jews! Whenever someone uses this name, they try to replace Israel’s role in God’s plan..
For thousands of years, from King Saul up to our day, trying without success to abolish the plan of God that cannot be changed.
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
Psalms 2:1-6 [NIV]
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
So next time you use the name “Palestine”, be sure you understand what you are saying.
1882 marks the inception of the Zionist movement. The first Zionist settlement was set up this year.
The village was founded in a swamp area in the Sharon and was called Petah-Tikva.
When the people of Israel entered Canaan from the east, they were not considered Zionists. Zion was a place they had not heard about yet.
God had commanded them to conquer the country from the seven Canaanite nations that inhabited the land.
The first city they conquer and destroy was Jericho. Two spies went to Rahab’s house, and she hid them. For seven days, the people of Israel marched around the city; on the seventh day, they blew trumpets, and the walls came down. God was undeniably with the people of Israel.
Joshua warned the people not to take anything from the city, as it is under a ban.
Then, they went on to conquer the second city – Ai, but they failed badly… Something went wrong. Joshua cried to the Lord and asked – Why is that, Lord? and the answer came clearly:
Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction (Joshua 7:11-12)
The Lord instructed Joshua on how to find the person who did wrong. It came out that it was Achan from the tribe of Judah.
Interestingly, in Chronicles, the name changes from Achan to Achar:
The son of Carmi was Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the accursed thing (1 Chronicles 2:7)
This is interesting, because the Hebrew word for “trouler” in the Bible is “Ocher“, which is from the same root as the name “Achar” and literally means “bring trouble or darkness“.
Achan, with all his family, was sentenced to be stoned. Where did that happen? let’s read:
Then they raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day (Joshua 7:26)
The Hebrew root A.Ch.R. appears three times in our story:
Let’s move to another book in the Bible. Hosea.
Hosea speaks about the restoration of Israel.
In the second chapter of the book, he compares Israel to a treacherous wife. He describes all her harlotry and unfaithful ways.
But then the Lord takes her to the desert, and there, after all her lovers have left her, the Lord restores Israel. Then Hosea prophesies:
Then I will give her her vineyards from there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of hope (Hosea 2:15)
This verse takes us back to the story of Achan in the valley of Achor.
In the year 1872, a few families from Jerusalem tried to buy land in Jericho and build a new agricultural village. The name they wanted to give to the village was Petah-Tikva, which means “Entrance of Hope” to fulfill the prophecy of Hosea.
They were not successful in buying the land in Jericho, but ended up buying a swamp area in the Sharon from an Arab family in Jaffa.
Life was too hard in the swamp, and after three years, the village was abandoned.
Seven years later, in 1882, the village was restored by new settlers. This year marks the beginning of the first wave of Zionists moving to Israel and building new settlements.
The location of Petah Tikva in the Sharon instead of Jericho is a fulfillment of another prophecy:
Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds (Isaiah 65:10)
The Zionist movement, just like Joshua, brought the people of Israel back to their land.
And the city of Petah Tikva is a symbol for the restoration of Israel.
Today my son found an exhausted quail in the schoolyard. He took the bird in his hand. The bird was calm, then it spread its wings and flew away.
The quail is a bird from the family of the pheasants. It is wild migratory bird in our area. They migrate in the autumn from Africa to Europe, and the other way around in the spring. They fly at night, and because their wings are relatively small to carry their weight, they are very exhausted in the morning and are very easy to catch.
When the sons of Israel were in the desert, around 3200 years ago, a big flock of quails stopped near them and provided them some good meat.
Now a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground. (Numbers 11, 31)
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.” (Jeremiah 1, 11-12)
In the first chapter of Jeremiah, Jeremiah tells us about a vision in which he sees a branch of almond tree.
In Hebrew, the word is not just a ‘branch‘ (Anaf – עָנָף) as translated here, but a ‘dry branch’ (Makel -מַקֵּל).
The almond tree, during fall, has no leaves. In this season it is difficult to distinguish between a dry branch of an almond tree and a dry branch of any other tree.
Jeremiah can make the distinction. And therefore the Lord compliments him and says: “You have seen well”!
And the Lord continues: “for I am ready to perform My word”.
If you read it in Hebrew, there is a special meaning: “ready to perform my Word” or in better translation: be diligent to perform my Word.
Be diligent is: “shoqed” – שֹׁקֵד.
Almond in Hebrew is “shaqed” – שָׁקֵד.
So the vision of the almond – “shaqed” tells Jeremiah that the Lord is being diligent “shoqed” to perform his Word.
There are other verses in which the Lord uses the word “shoqed” with the same meaning. For example:
28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. (Jeremiah 31, 28)
Here again, the expression “watch over” that is used twice, is derived from the word “shoqed” in Hebrew.
In the story of the rod of Aaron in the desert, the rod becomes a branch of an almond tree:
8 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. (Numbers 17, 8)
The Menorah (lamp) in the tabernacle has also almond shapes in it:
33 Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower—and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. (Exodus 25, 33)
Why is the almond tree called ‘shaqed’? is it related to the verb ‘shoqed’?
A common explanation for the connection between almond (shaqed) and ‘being diligent’ (shoqed) is the special way that the almond tree blossoms.
During February, when most trees in the mountains of Israel are without leaves, the almond tree blossoms with beautiful white flowers. This is the first sign for the coming spring.
This magnificent blossom in the middle of the winter might have brought our fathers to call the tree ‘shaqed’ for its hard and diligent work.
In February, we celebrate in Israel the feast of “Tu-Bishvat”. This is also known as the “New year of the trees”. This feast is not mentioned in the Bible. Jews started to celebrate it not before 200 hundred years ago.
In the modern state of Israel, this is the day that is dedicated to planting new trees in the land. And the symbol of this day is the almond tree that blossoms in this time of the year.
Throughout history, Bible scholars were looking for evidence of the Bible stories in the land of Israel. Many were looking for names of places that appear in the Bible and trying to identify where they are.
The modern archaeology in Israel and modern Bible research are very serious in the way they examine the evidences. In very few places there were findings that had the name of the city written on a piece of clay. One famous example is the city of Gezer: Close to the site that is known as Tel Gezer, was found a stone on which it was engraved in ancient Hebrew: “Boundary of Gezer”:
So in all other archaeological sites, how can we be sure whether the site represents an ancient Biblical site?
The answer is not so simple. In many cases there is a context of the findings that resembles the site. For example a palace or administrative building. Sometimes the geographical description in the bible appears the same as we see the place today.
But in the land of Israel, there is a spacial aid that comes from an unexpected source.
In Israel there are many Arab towns and villages that preserve the names of cities from the time of the Bible. This is a phenomenon that is very unique to Israel: Although this land was conquered so many times during history, and each conqueror wanted to leave his mark on the land, miraculously, many of the Biblical names still exist today. And they were preserved by the Arabs!
In the modern Biblical geography research, the Arab names play a crucial role as an evidence for the correctness of the Bible. There are hundreds of them and we will bring just a few examples.
1 The lot fell to the children of Joseph from the Jordan(1), by Jericho(2), to the waters of Jericho(2) on the east, to the wilderness that goes up from Jericho(2) through the mountains to Bethel(3), 2 then went out from Bethel(3) to Luz(4), passed along to the border of the Archites at Ataroth(5), 3 and went down westward to the boundary of the Japhletites, as far as the boundary of Lower Beth Horon(6) to Gezer(7); and it ended at the sea. (Joshua 16, 1-3)
The verses above describe the southern border of Ephraim (referred here as Joseph). Let’s look at each of the places marked with numbers 1 to 7 and see what is the Arab parallel:
Based on the above we can now draw the border of Ephraim. Similarly we can draw most of the borders between the tribes.
The Beloved Friend and the Judge
Even more fascinating than the above example, is the fact that some names were preserved not by their phonetic sound but by their meaning.
For example, the city of Jerusalem is called by the Arabs “Al-Quds” (القدس) which means “The Holy”. In the Arab books from the Middle Ages the city is often called “bayt almuqaddas” (بيت المقدس) which is translated to “The Temple”.
So Arabs in the Middle Ages acknowledged that Jerusalem is the place of the Jewish Temple!
But there was never any doubt about the identification of Jerusalem, as this is a city that Jews almost always inhabited.
Another one is Hebron. The Arabs calls it Al-Khalil (الْخَلِيل). And its meaning is “The beloved friend”. The beloved friend refers to Abraham as he is a friend of God and is buried in Hebron. It is interesting in this regard, that the word Hebron comes from the Hebrew root H.B.R. which means “friend”.
But the most surprising one is the city of Dan. Let’s read from the Bible:
And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born to Israel. However, the name of the city formerly was Laish (Judges 18, 29)
The archaeological site of Tel Dan is a hill (Tel) near the spring of Dan which is the biggest spring in Israel. very interesting stuff was found in the excavations there. The most important findings are the Canaanite gate, The massive Israelite wall and the Tel Dan Stele on which the House of David the king is mentioned.
But the name of the Tel in Arabic does not sound like Dan. It is “tal alqadi” ( تل القاضي).
Tal alqadi in Arabic means: The hill of the Judge. And who is the Judge? “Dan” is the name of the son of Jacob, and the tribe. But the meaning of the word Dan in Hebrew is “Judge”.
So we see here that the meaning of the name was translated to Arabic and this is the new name of the place.
Tel Dan Stele
There are many more examples that include names of cities or mountains and valleys. Not all the examples are from the Bible. There are Arab names that preserve more recent names that appear first in the New Testament or in the Talmud.
What is important is that the local Arabs of Israel help us a lot in the research of Biblical Geography.
“…The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.“
(Mathew 13, 31-32)
Seeds of mustard and a mustard flower: 
Many people that read the verse above from Mathew, tend to think that the mustard is a big tree.
Well, this is not the case. In Israel the mustard is a very common wild weed that grows almost everywhere except for the desert. It has yellow flowers and a strong odor of mustard. During the spring it paints the fields with a strong color.
Wild Mustard field in Golan heights:
The mustard is very known in Israel as a herb and a medicine. People used in the time of Yeshua, and until today it is used by the local people as a vegetable and as a medicine.
Mustard condiment is made from the seeds. 
So why does Yeshua uses the mustard in his parable?
The reason is that the mustard weed grows very fast: It sprouts in the beginning of the winter, and by the end of the spring it gets to be higher than the height of a person. In the summer the weed dries and becomes a thorn bush.
Small birds use the mustard weed to build their nests.
A bird (bunting) on a dry mustard in Golan Heights in the autumn: 
A mustard stem is used for a crown:
“You shall also make a lampstand (menorah) of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece…”
(Exodus 25, 31)
The description of the Menorah in Exodus 25 is very detailed. but try now the following exercise: read the description – Exodus 25, 31-40. Now try to draw the Menorah in your mind just from the writing. You will very soon see that the written description is not enough. The many details that we see in the Menorah as we know it from eye sight is not completely covered in this description.
But we know that Bezalel the son of Uri made the Menorah after Moses’s instructions (Exodus 38,22).
The original Menorah from the second temple was lost in Rome after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.
People in modern Israel tried to draw and remake the Menorah from the model that they had in mind. What was the model that they used?
The most common and famous model is on the arch of Titus in ancient Rome.
The interesting part of it is the base. In the arch of Titus, there is a base that looks like an hexagonal box of two parts – a smaller part on top of a bigger part, and is decorated with drawings.
The Menorah was found in some mosaics on floors of several ancient synagogues.
Synagogue of Maon: 
Synagogue in Hamat Tiberias: 
Note that those Menoras have three lion legs and not the hexagonal boxes!
A coin from the time of the Maccabee kings, 37 BC, show a different base. A round wide base.
This image also appears on the 10 Agorot of modern Israel today.
The Maccabees coin:
The 10 Agorot: 
A few years ago, an important stone was found in the synagogue of Magdala near the Sea of Galilee.
On that stone, there is a carving of the Menorah:
This carving is not very sophisticated, but resembles the base that is seen on the coin from the Maccabees. A round wide base. No lion legs and no hexagon boxes.
The importance of this stone, is that it was made in the first century A.D. in the time of Yeshua and of Mary Magdalene who came from the village of Magdala.
So this carving was done by an artist that saw the Menorah in the Temple before it was destructed.
We can be quite sure that this is how the Menorah looked like.
The bases that look like lion legs are all from mosaics in synagogues from the Byzantine period. They are dated to the third to sixth centuries. The artists that made them did not see the original Menorah and therefore they are not authentic.
It is possible that this is the idea that the people had about the Menorah in the Byzantine time, as they could not see it.
And what about the base seen in the arch in Rome?
The carving on the arch of Titus if very precise. But there is a real problem about it. There are drawings on the base that look like pagan drawings.
Some researchers suggest that the base that appears in this image was made by the Romans when they took it to Rome. The original base is either hidden inside this box or was broken and replaced by the box.
“Speak to the children of Israel, and bid them make fringes in the corners of their garments throughout their generations, putting upon the fringe of each corner a thread of blue. And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them.”
(Numbers 15, 38-39)
Orthodox Jews, use Talit – prayer shawl – in their prayer, that has fringes – tsitsit.
They also wear Talit Katan – small prayer shawl below their shirts. this Talit Katan also has four fringes – tsitsit.
Those two customs are taken from the law as appears in Numbers 15, 38-39. See above.
In the English translation we read that there is supposed to be a thread of blue in the tsitsit. Is this right?
The translation of the word blue comes from the Hebrew word “Tekhelet” (תְכֵלֶת). This word appears in the bible 48 times. Most of the times in the description of the tabernacle as given by Moses.
In 26 of those cases we see three colors mentioned together: blue, purple and scarlet. In Hebrew: Tekhelet, Argaman and Tola’at-Shani (וּתְכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי)
“Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them”
(Exodus 26,1)
In other 6 occasions, only blue and purple without scarlet:
“Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.”
(Jeremiah 10, 9)
But according to bible scholars, those blue, purple and scarlet are not colors, but rather materials.
In fact, the words blue, purple and scarlet never appear in the bible as a colors, but always as a materials that are used in cloths.
Because blue and purple appear so many times together, we may get to the conclusion that they are in fact the same material or two variants of one material.
But what is this material and what was its color? And why do we translate it to what we know today as blue, purple and scarlet?
As mentioned above, the bible does not give a hint to what the color of the material “Tekhelet” is.
In the Talmud, that was written between the third and fifth centuries AD, we read that there are white and blue (Tekhelet) threads in the tsitsit. It tells us that the “Tekhelet is like the sea, and the sea is like the skies, and the skies are like the Throne” (Masekhet Minkhot 43, Beit)
We can conclude then, that the color is really blue.
Can we? not really…
In another place in the Talmud it is written that the “Tekhelet is like the sea, and the sea is like the grass, and the grass is like the Throne”. (Berakhot 7, Beit)
So according to this quote, the Tekhelet is green!
Fortunately, we got another quote from the Talmud that teaches us some more facts about the Tekhelet:
“This snale, its body is like the ocean …. and with its blood the Tekelet is dyed, and therefore its blood is very expensive” (Menakhot 44, Alef)
So the Tekhelet is a pigment that was created from a snail!
And indeed, we know that the Phoenicians had an industry of manufacturing dye color from marine snails. Evidences for that industry were found in some of the antique Phoenician cities in Israel.
There are two species of marine snails from which the dye was produced:
Hexaplex trunculus 
Murex brandaris
The colors produced from those snails were dark blue or scarlet.
The knowledge of how to produce the color from snails disappeared in the seventh century after the Muslim conquest of the Middle East.
It is written in the Talmud:
“Tekhelet is not Kosher unless from the snail. If not from the snail it is disallowed” (Menakhot, 89)
Therefore, until today, Haredi orthodox Jews do not use the Tekhelet in the tsitsit but only white threads.
However, in Israel today, the production of Tekhelet from the marine snails was renewed and you can get real “Kosher” Tekhelet threads. Many religious Jews these days are starting to wear Talit with Tsitsit that has blue threads in it.
More information about the production of the Tekhelet in this site.
