Vol. 37:2

A brief letter responding to the article 'Extra-Biblical Evidence of the Exodus,' arguing that the Bible intentionally portrays Israel as weak in order to magnify God's power in the Exodus narrative.

Surveys the role of the sea and seafaring in the Hebrew Bible, examining Israelite attitudes toward the sea, its creatures including Leviathan and Rahab, and ships from the Ark to Phoenician merchant fleets and the voyage of Jonah to Tarshish.

Analyzes Part II of Lord Byron's Hebrew Melodies (1815), examining how Byron drew on biblical texts and midrashic themes to portray the tragedy of Jerusalem's destruction and the promise of Jewish redemption and national restoration.

Demonstrates that four seemingly inexplicable oversized letters in the Torah—in Genesis 30:42, Numbers 13:30, Numbers 27:5, and Deuteronomy 29:27—have genuine significance and each falls within established Masoretic categories of large letters.

Analyzes the Book of Jonah focusing on why Jonah refused God's mandate to preach repentance to Nineveh and the book's central theological message, exploring Jonah as a conscientious objector caught between divine justice and divine compassion.

Compares Koheleth (Ecclesiastes) and Goethe's Faust, demonstrating that both works share the central theme of man's inability to comprehend the mystery of existence, and arguing that Goethe was likely influenced by Koheleth in composing his drama.

Argues that the Books of Chronicles, often overlooked as repetitive of Samuel and Kings, contain unique historical information and theological perspectives, and examines key differences that demonstrate the Chronicler's access to independent historical sources.

Examines three difficulties in Exodus 6:2-3 regarding God's different names as revealed to the Patriarchs versus Moses, explaining that El Shaddai represents patient sufficiency while Hashem represents the immediate fulfillment of divine will.

Examines Rashi's interpretation of the Hebrew term yatz'anit in his commentary on Genesis 34:1, arguing that it refers to a woman who goes out to the market unprotected and risks extramarital encounter, not a prostitute as some modern interpreters claim.

Explores the theological significance of biblical names through linguistic analysis, demonstrating through the thirteen sons of Yoktan (Gen. 10:26-29) how names in the Torah encode the divergent cultural and religious developments of the pre-Abrahamic world.

Presents classical Jewish sources supporting the interpretation of niflega (Gen. 10:25) as a physical geological splitting of the earth rather than merely a dispersal of peoples, finding traditional support for what modern science calls catastrophic plate tectonics.