Archaeology is something most people think of as either Indiana Jones-like adventuring for strange artifacts in exotic settings, or as the realm of technicians using state-of-the-art equipment to almost magically analyze or date artifacts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Shroud of Turin in scientific laboratories.
The reality, of course, is usually at neither of those extremes, and many people would be surprised to learn how archaeologists must often cope with very limited data or techniques that are far from perfect. An example is carbon-14 dating which most people presume can be applied to anything made from organic material to find its age. The reality here is that carbon-14 dating is actually hampered by the fact that for the period of approximately 800-400 BC it is affected by a calibration issue (called the Hallstatt plateau) which means that material from that period cannot be dated with any certainty.
This problem is particularly significant for biblical studies, as the period 800-400 BC is a vitally important one in Near Eastern history – a period in which many important biblical events such as the destruction of Jerusalem and other Judean cities occurred. But now the application of another dating method – that of archaeomagnetism – shows great promise for biblical archaeology in general and this period of biblical history in particular. The method works on things such as pottery sherds, bricks, roof tiles and ovens (which are found on most archaeological habitation sites) that record the Earth’s magnetic field as they are burned at high temperatures. Because the direction of earth’s magnetic field has changed over history – and the dates of the changing directions can be calculated – we can look at the magnetic field “fixed” in a burnt object and tell when it was burned. This is particularly useful in situations where biblical cities were affected by Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns that left behind destruction layers.
The archaeomagnetic dating technique has actually been used by archaeologists for several decades, but is only now being used with success on archaeological sites of biblical significance. Recently, archaeologists working in Israel reconstructed the magnetic field recorded in twenty burnt destruction layers at seventeen archaeological sites. The study included the analysis of over a thousand specimens from some 144 samples, and the recovered data meshes well with what historical anchors we have for the time period.
As the Times of Israel reported: “The method utilizes excavation layers that have already been reliably dated to create baseline anchors for the archaeomagnetic data, which can then be applied to other sites that until now had been impossible to confidently date. The more anchors are created, the researchers say, the more finely calibrated the dating method will become” (25 October 2022).
This means that archaeologists working on biblically significant sites will now be able to date objects and whole archaeological layers that were previously difficult or impossible to date with accuracy – especially in the problematic period of 800-400 BC. So archaeomagnetic dating is now being used as a complementary dating tool that promises to further improve our understanding of the archaeology of biblical times – and ultimately, of the Bible itself.
We are all so familiar with the twenty-third psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd …”, that we do not tend to see the rest of the story – that the shepherd motif is only half of what this beautiful psalm is telling us. David begins the psalm “The Lord is my shepherd” and continues in verses 1-4 by developing the metaphor through the analogy of God’s looking after and providing for the needs of his followers – as a shepherd would his flock.
Those who know animals, as David did, realize that sheep are almost entirely dependent on their shepherd not only to find water and pasture for them, but also to protect them. The clear theme of the first half of the psalm, then, is that God protects his people and provides their basic needs. But the second half of the psalm, beginning in verse 5, changes the metaphor to show how much further God goes beyond this basic care for those with whom he has a closer relationship:
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
God is no longer shown as the Good Shepherd in this second half of the psalm. Nothing that is said here applies to shepherds or shepherding. Rather, in this second half of Psalm 23 the metaphor used is that of God as the divine host of a great banquet, and we see the significance of this in every detail of the latter part of the psalm.
Here, “you prepare a table before me” is synonymous with preparing a “feast” – the blessings of the divine Host being symbolized by the good things of a banquet. Even “In the presence of mine enemies” is relative to a festive meal, as ancient kings would often celebrate their victories with banquets at which captured enemies would be placed on view. In the same way, “You anoint my head with oil” is not an allusion to the anointing of kings or religious leaders to office – which always uses a different word – but to the custom of anointing the head of those attending banquets (see, for example, Psalms 45:7; Amos 6:6; and Luke 7:46).
Although in verse 6 most older Bibles say something like “your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”, many modern versions (such as the CSB, LSV, NET, etc. ) translate this more accurately as “your goodness and love will pursue me …”, and the small difference is important. God’s blessings do not so much follow – as though unable to quite catch up with us – but actively pursue us like a king actively sending servants to invite people to a great banquet (Luke 14:15-24).
The closing words of psalm 23 “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” have been used of the afterlife in countless memorial services, but their original meaning may have been somewhat different. The Hebrew Scriptures actually never use the term “house of the Lord” for God’s heavenly dwelling, only for the earthly temple. In fact, the term “forever” that closes this psalm is literally “for length of days” – and connotes an extended time. The verse signifies that David looked forward to “dwelling in” or “returning to” the house of the Lord many times – a statement found in other psalms such as Psalm 27:4.
Although the concept of the afterlife is clearly seen in other psalms, Psalm 23 focuses, in fact, on God’s care for his people expressed symbolically as the care of a shepherd and a host, and the two are different. While the shepherd cares for all his sheep and provides for their needs, the host metaphor narrows this group by implying the added blessings God bestows on those he invites to his banquet.
For example, in verse 5, “my cup overflows” not only conveys the richness of the banquet the divine Host provides, but is in strong contrast to the statement “I have what I need” (CSB and other newer translations) in the first part of the psalm. While the opening of Psalm 23 celebrates God’s care and provision for all his people, the second part of the psalm gives the rest of the story – the greater blessings and fellowship of those who walk more closely with God.
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