Throughout the Old Testament the term Aram is used to reference various people groups inhabiting the Levant, and their political power and loyalties changed frequently over the centuries. The Bible first mentions the people of Aram in the Table of Nations and designates them as descendants of Shem (Genesis 10:22-23). Later Abraham traveled with his […]
Category Archives: Persian Period
Tarshish
Much like the garden of Eden, the location of the place called Tarshish in the Bible has become shrouded in mystery over time. The word Tarshish is mentioned over 25 times in Scripture, yet few geographical clues are found in these references to help pinpoint the location, and some of them actually seem to contradict […]
The Empire of Alexander the Great
Though the conquests of Alexander the Great are barely mentioned in the Old Testament and never mentioned in the New Testament, the eventual impact of his accomplishments upon the world of the New Testament can hardly be overstated. Alexander was born in 356 B.C. in Macedonia, a region in northern Greece that had formerly been […]
Coastal Lands of the Black Sea
Because the coastal lands of the Black Sea are mentioned infrequently and mostly indirectly in the Bible, they are often overlooked as significant contributors to the context of biblical events and passages, but careful study of Scripture reveals that the biblical writers were very aware of these people groups throughout the entire span of ancient […]
Jews Return from Exile
After many Judeans (now called Jews) had been living in exile in Babylonia for several decades, the Persian king Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., and a year later he decreed that all exiled Jews in his kingdom could return to their homeland (Ezra 1:1-4; 2 Chronicles 36:22-23). A short time after this […]