Biblical History

Who were the Samaritans? Answer: The Samaritans claimed descent from the Ten Tribes, but they were primarily descended from the people whom the Assyrians settled in the country after deporting the Ten Tribes.

What books of the Bible did the Samaritans accept? They accepted only the Five Books of Moses and the Book of Joshua.

Did Ishmael become righteous? When Abraham was buried (Gen. 25:9), Ishmael gave precedence to Isaac, so it seems that he became righteous.

What happened on the sixth day of Creation? An hour-by-hour chronology of the events on the sixth day is given in Sanhedrin 38b; it includes the creation of Adam and Eve, the births of their first two children, their sin,…

Why did G-d create only one man? Only a single man was created so no one could say “my ancestors were greater than yours” (Talmud Sanhedrin 38a).

Where did G-d get the earth from which He made Adam? The Talmud has two views about the source of the earth from which Adam was made: (1) It was taken from many places (Sanhedrin 38a-b), probably so no place…

What happened to Enoch? Answer: The Torah (Gen.5:24) says that “Enoch walked with G-d, and he was not (i.e., he vanished from this world), because G-d took him”. According to the Midrash Agadah, Enoch visited heaven and studied with the…

What is special about the number 12? 12 is a special “round number”; there are 12 hours in a day and 12 in a night, 12 months in a year and 12 signs in the Zodiac, and there were 12…

How could the Jews in the desert behave so badly after witnessing so many miracles? They may have been so negatively influenced by their Egyptian experience that they became virtually incapable of appreciating what was being shown to them and…