Biblical History

How was Isaiah killed? The Talmud (Yevamos 49b) tells us that King Menasheh accused Isaiah of sacrilege for claiming to have seen G-d (Is.6:1). Isaiah tried to escape by hiding inside a cedar tree, but he was detected (Yerushalmi Sanhedrin…

What is known about the prophet Micah? Micah was a (slightly later) contemporary of Isaiah. The dates of his birth and death aren’t known, but according to the Seder Olam (Ch. 20) he was the last of four prophets (Hosea,…

Why did Jacob favor Ephrayim, the younger son, over Menasheh, the younger son, when he blessed Joseph’s children? Rashi (on Gen. 48:19) explains that Jacob knew that Joshua, Moses’ successor, would be descendend from Ephrayim. It should also be pointed…

Who was Pinchas? Answer: Pinchas was the grandson of Aaron (the son of Eleazar), and became high priest in the time of Joshua; his deeds are described in Num. 25:7-13, 31:6 and Joshua Chs. 22-24. The name was used afterwards…

Was Daniel a prophet? Daniel is a borderline case. The Talmud in Megillah 15a says that he prophesied. In Sanhedrin 93b he is said to have been greater than the last prophets (Hagai, Zechariah, and Malachi) because he was able…

When were the angels created? According to the Midrash (Gen. Rabbah 11:9), the angels were created on the second day.

Were there people before Adam? The Talmud (Chagigah 14a; Avos de-Rabbi Noson 31:3) speaks about “974 generations” before the world was created, but it explains that the people who would have lived in those “generations” were in fact not physically…

Where is the Garden of Eden? Originally the Garden was “in the East” (Gen.2:8), but since Adam and Eve were expelled from it, it’s no longer accessible from this world. The Talmud says that Eden was much bigger than the…

Why did the serpent tempt Eve? The Torah tells us (Gen. 3:1) that the serpent was unusually intelligent ("cunning"); perhaps it resented the fact that Adam and Eve were appointed as rulers over all the other forms of life (Gen.…