What Were the Words of God? (In-Person)
Thursday, November 6 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
In Partnership with BASONOVA*
Featuring Donald Kane, BASONOVA President
Moses wrote down everything the Lord had said (Exodus 24:4)
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9)
Does the Hebrew Bible contain the immutable words of God? Did the prophets speak the words of God? Might there be older versions of our sacred writings we can point to that add or subtract from the text or, in some cases, demonstrate different theological meanings?
This illustrated lecture will highlight differences between what is called the “Masoretic” Bible Jews use today, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint, sacred texts recovered from among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Pentateuch used by Israel’s Samaritans. The presentation will also put into context how the ancestors of today’s Jews apprehended the sacred writings that were pluriform in their time, as well as examine the role scribes played in reproducing, harmonizing and changing these texts, and preserving Revelation.
Speaker Bio: Donald Kane is one of the well-known faces of biblical archaeology in the Washington, D.C. area. He is President of *BASONOVA, the Biblical Archaeology Society of Northern Virginia, and Chair of the Rockville-based Biblical Archaeology Forum (BAF). Both these charitable organizations hold in-person and Zoom presentations on the worlds of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean.
Donald is a veteran of many excavation seasons in Israel, sits on the Executive Committee of the Jerusalem-based W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, and is a trustee of CAORC (Council of Overseas Research Centers).
Fee: $15 members; $20 Non-members
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