Did you know?

Men with infertile wives were allowed to have sex with servants their wives provided “to bear children,” (Law 146, Hammurabi Code, 1700s BC). That’s how Abraham (2100s BC) got his first son, Ishmael, born of Hagar—the Egyptian servant of Abraham’s …

“Burning sulfur…came down like rain on Sodom and Gomorrah,” and Lot’s wife “became a pillar made out of salt,” (Genesis 19:24, 26 NIRV). The area, in the south part of the Dead Sea, is rich in sulfur, salt, and natural gas. One theory, an earthquake …

When animals died to atone for the sins of humans, all five senses reminded worshipers that sin was deadly serious. Sight: cutting the animal’s throat. Sound: death squeal. Touch: warm blood. Smell: burning meat. Taste: worshipers ate some …

Christians didn’t start teaching that God expected a 10% tithe of income until the mid-1800s; there are no sermons on tithing before then. Tithing became a fundraising technique after the American government stopped supporting churches with tax …

At God’s command, the prophet Isaiah named one of his sons Maher-shalal-hash-baz. That’s Hebrew for “swift to plunder and quick to spoil,” prediction of what invaders would do to the Jews of Samaria. We can only hope they gave the boy a nickname. …

Pharisees weren’t talking about Judas when they asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” (Matthew 9:10-11 NLT). They were talking about Matthew, the tax collector. Jews considered them collaborators with Rome since taxmen …

When Jews of the Exodus returned to their homeland, they didn’t all live in what is now Israel. Three groups lived in what are now parts of the Arab countries of Jordan and Syria. They owned not only the West Bank, which is disputed today by Jordan …

The Bible writer said the love of Jacob’s life, Rachel, “was beautiful and had a good figure,” (Genesis 29:17 CEV). But her older sis Leah, whom Jacob got tricked into marrying, had something going on with her eyes. Scholars can only guess what. But …

When Jesus left, it wasn’t Peter—the leading disciple—who got the job of pastoring the first church, in Jerusalem. That job went to James, one of Jesus’ brothers. It was customary for kingship to past along family lines. First-century Jewish history, …

When Jesus’ family first heard about him preaching and exorcizing demons, “they thought he was crazy and went to get him under control” (Mark 3:20-21 CEV). Strange and Mysterious Stuff in the Bible, p. 151.

Rachel made an odd trade with her sister, Leah—they were both married to Jacob. Rachel was having trouble getting pregnant, so she traded Leah for some “mandrakes” (Genesis 30:15), a root that the ancients said was a baby-maker. What Leah got: (1) an …

Surrogate mothers helped produce the 12 tribes of Israel. Jacob had children by both of his sister wives, Rachel (2 sons) and Leah (6). At their request, he also had sex with their two slave girls —all for the purpose of trying to give him as many …