Practical Bible Studies

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Biblical Archaeology

     While you can't convert someone based on evidence, there are a lot of discoveries that may help to strengthen and encourage someone's faith. On this page, we will be curating some of the most interesting and compelling archaeological discoveries that support the Bible's claims.

Tel Dan Stele (Inscription)

Fragment A (Tel Dan Excavations, Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem; photograph: Z.Radovan).

     It probably doesn't look like much to most people, but this piece of stone contains pretty solid (no pun intended) evidence of the House of David.


Fragment A: Translation
    (Al)      [............] you will rule ov[er ....................................................................]
    (A2)      [and because of the p]iou[s act] s of my father, may [?] go up [.................]
    (A3)      and my father will repose. May he go to [.....................................at every]
    (A4)      ancient [h]earth on ground of El-Bay[tel...............................................am]
    (A5)      I, so Hadad would go before me [................................................the day-]
    (A6)      -s of my reign, and I would slay a kin[g] and [.................thousands of cha-]
    (A7)      -riots and thousands of horsemen[.............................................................]
    (A8)      the king of Israel, and [I] killed [him....................................................kin-]
    (A9)      -g of Bayt-Dawid. And [the] name of [.....................................................]
    (A10)      their land to[.............................................................................................]
    (A11)      another and to [........................................................................Jehoash r-]
    (A12)      -eigned over ls[rael...........................................................................I laid]
    (A13)      siege to [Samaria.....................................................................................]

Athas, G. (2003). The Tel Dan inscription: a reappraisal and a new interpretation (Vol. 360, p. 193). Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.

Codex Sinaiticus

Codex Vaticanus

        Both Sinaiticus and Vaticanus date to the fourth century AD. Prior to their discovery, modern textual criticism was based on manuscripts that were written in the neighborhood of a thousand years after the events of the New Testament. Remarkably, there aren't that many differences between these texts and the Textus Receptus translation by Erasmus. The most notable would be verses like Mark 16:9-20, John 7:53-8:11, Acts 8:37, and 1 John 5:7 to name a few. The longer ending of Mark may be the reason for many cult denominations like Church of Christ and snake-handling congregations. In any case, these two codices don't stand alone. Many ancient papyri have been discovered since then that agree, and sometimes disagree, with these two manuscripts. Either way, they are a fascinating discovery.