Yigal Levin

The Precursors of the Ark

At the battle against the Philistines at Michmas, Saul asks Ahiah the priest to bring forward the ark, so that he can consult YHWH. He is not referring to the ark of Shiloh, which was safeguarded in Kiryat-yearim at the time; in the early monarchic period, each worship site had its own priestly family with its own ark.

Nimrod, Mighty Hunter and King - Who Was He?

Nimrod’s bio begins in the 23rd century B.C.E. with King Sargon of Akkad and his grandson Naram-Sin.

Dibon-Gad Between the Torah and the Mesha Stele

In the southern Transjordanian Mishor (plateau), an area that changed hands between Israelites and Moabites, there once lived two neighboring tribes, Gadites and Dibonites.

What Were Reuben and Gad’s Territories in the Transjordan?

The Bible has three different maps of Gad and Reuben’s territory all set in the conquest period: Numbers 32, Joshua 13, and Joshua 21/1 Chronicles 6. How are we to understand these shifting depictions of Israelite Transjordan?

Jehoshaphat’s Judicial Reform

The Book of Chronicles updates and reinterprets Deuteronomy’s court system.

Deuteronomy’s Justice System: Real and Ideal

The books of Samuel and Kings portray monarchs—specifically, David, Solomon, and Ahab—as Israel’s chief judicial authority, hearing cases and dispensing justice. Deuteronomy, however, leaves the king out of its justice system, assigning authority instead to local elders and judges, or else to a central court. Does this system reflect how justice actually worked in ancient Israel—or an ideal meant to replace royal justice?