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Polytheistic Rome

Temples in Rome honored gods from places as far away as Syria and Egypt.

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Justice

The biblical vision for justice hinged on the belief that God had acted in history to liberate the people of Israel from Egypt. 

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The Jordan River

The Jordan in traditional African American religious song became a symbolic borderland between this world and the next and between the harsh realities of present injustice and the achievement of freedom and justice on earth.

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Peter and Paul

Biblical texts show Peter and Paul in conflict, yet traditions views them both favorably.

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Bible Odyssey: People, Places, and Passages

Explore the fascinating origins of the Bible and its eventful history. On Bible Odyssey, the world’s leading scholars share the latest historical and literary research on key people, places, and passages of the Bible.

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Focus On

Proverbs
Are Israel's proverbs similar to those of other nations?
Hierakonpolis
Beheading in the Ancient World

In the ancient world, decapitation was a common way to dispatch a wounded enemy, to tally the dead, and to warn against challenges to the king’s power.
Billie Jean Collins
Egyptian and Hittite Empires

Billie Jean Collins on the connections between the Egyptian and the Hittite empires.

john-jesus-ghirlandaio
John and Jesus: Mentor or Rival?

The Gospels portray John the Baptist as a mentor of Jesus, but the relationship between the two prophetic men may have changed over time.
Eric Matson/American Colony, Jerusalem, Nazareth and Mount Tabor. Photograph, early 20th century.
Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth?”

Nathanael's question "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" (John 1:46) is used by the Gospel of John to make a contrasting point about Jesus’ divinity.

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Bible Odyssey has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.