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What’s So Sinful About a Census and Why Was Israel Punished for Something David Did? Msgr. Charles Pope • February 4, 2018 • Today I want to return to a reading from last week’s Mass. In that reading (from 2 Samuel 24) we hear the story of how King David ordered a census to be taken. Joab, David’s general, strongly cautioned the King against it, but David insisted. When the census had been completed, the Prophet Gad informed David of God’s anger and of His intention to punish David and all Israel. God offered David his choice of punishments:...

Kingdom of David and Solomon Supported by Growing Evidence The evidence is coming together to support the Biblical record of David and Solomon. An Israeli publication updates the latest finds.In Haaretz, an Israeli news site, you can watch Bible stories rise from the dust. For decades, liberals critics have said that Biblical kings David and Solomon were mythical heroes invented by later Bible writers. It’s hard to say that any more. Philippe Bohstrom has done a service to those who prefer to trust the Bible over man’s changing opinions, pulling together in one place the latest findings that support...

Hardly had the minimalist argument been developed than it was profoundly undermined by an archaeological discovery. In 1993 and 1994, several fragments of an Aramaic stela were found at the long-running excavation of Tel Dan led by Avraham Biran of Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. The historical references in the inscription and the paleography of the writing make it clear that it dates to the ninth century B.C.E. Moreover, the text specifically mentions a king of Israel and a king of the "House of David" (Hebrew, bytdwd ), that is, a king of the dynasty of David. This discovery led...

Living According to God's Word You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word. (Psalm 119:65) David was a man who basically lived by grace (that is, by depending on the Lord to work in his life). Consequently, he trusted in the word of God ("the word of His grace"- Acts 20:32). David lived according to God's word. Psalm 119 bears substantial testimony of what can happen when one lives in this manner. "You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word." The strategic phrase ("according to Your word") has two implications:...

A rare 3,000-year-old seal, from the time of King David in the 10th century BCE, was recently discovered by a 10-year-old Russian volunteer at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount Sifting Project. Dr. Gabriel Barkay, co-founder and director of the project – which sifts through thousands of tons of illegally removed earth from the contested holy site in 1999 by the Wakf religious trust to build a mosque – said that the finding is unprecedented. “The seal is the first of its kind to be found in Jerusalem,” said Barkay, a world-renowned archaeologist and Israel Prize laureate, who has led the project for...

A rare 3,000 year-old seal dating to the period of kings David and Solomon of the 10th century BCE was recently discovered at the Temple Mount Sifting Project in Jerusalem. According to Dr. Gabriel Barkay, co-founder and director of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, the seal is the first of its kind to be found in the Israeli capital. “The dating of the seal corresponds to the historical period of the Jebusites and the conquest of Jerusalem by King David, as well as the construction of the Temple and the royal official compound by his son, King Solomon… What makes...

Science continues to prove the Bible on a regular basis. This time, archaeologists from Bar-Ilan University in Israel have uncovered what appears to be the hometown of the giant Goliath. The town, called Gath, was occupied until the ninth century B.C. In biblical accounts, the Philistines — the mortal enemies of the Israelites — ruled the city. The Old Testament also describes Gath as the home of Goliath, the giant warrior whom the Israelite King David felled with a slingshot.The new findings reveal just how impressive the ancient Philistine city once was, said lead archaeologist of the current excavation,...

Six official clay seals found by an archaeological team at a small site in Israel offer evidence that supports the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon. Many modern scholars dismiss David and Solomon as mythological figures and believe no kingdom could have existed in the region at the time the Bible recounted their activities. The new finds provide evidence that some type of government activity was conducted there in that period.A Mississippi State University team found this bulla, or ancient clay seal, on a dig site in southern Israel last summer. It offers evidence of government activity in the...

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli archaeologist says he has found the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to identifying ancient ruins. The claim by Eli Shukron, like many such claims in the field of biblical archaeology, has run into criticism. It joins a string of announcements by Israeli archaeologists saying they have unearthed palaces of the legendary biblical king, who is revered in Jewish religious tradition for establishing Jerusalem as its central holy city — but who has long eluded historians looking for...

An Israeli archaeologist says he has found the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to identifying ancient ruins. The claim by Eli Shukron, like many such claims in the field of biblical archaeology, has run into criticism. It joins a string of announcements by Israeli archaeologists saying they have unearthed palaces of the legendary biblical king, who is revered in Jewish religious tradition for establishing Jerusalem as its central holy city—but who has long eluded historians looking for clear-cut evidence of his existence...

A massive 3,800-year-old fortress that protected the Gihon Spring was uncovered in the City of David. Photo: Eli Mandelbaum, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.Excavations around the Gihon Spring in the City of David have uncovered a massive 3,800-year-old fortress. Called the “Spring Citadel” by archaeologists, the discovery is part of a 15-year excavation led by Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa and Eli Shukrun of the Israel Antiquities Authority. This enormous 18th-century B.C.E. structure that isolates and protects the Gihon Spring is believed to be the fortress described in the Book of Samuel that King David...

A small fragment of ancient pottery researchers believe shows the first wine label could prove that the reigns of King Solomon and King David actually occurred. The 10th century BC 'Ophel Inscription' was unearthed last year, and scientists were initially baffled by the bizarre language that was inscribed on the remains of a jug. A new translation reveals the contents of a jar was 'lousy' plonk intended for slaves - and sheds new light on society at the time. The label dates from second half of the 10th Century BC and was discovered in the Ophel area of Jerusalem, south...

First discovered near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem last year, the 10th century B.C. fragment has been labeled the Ophel Inscription. It likely bears the name of the jug's owners and its contents. If Petrovich's analysis proves true, it would be evidence of the accuracy of Old Testament tales. If Hebrew as a written language existed in the 10th century, as he says, the ancient Israelites were recording their history in real time as opposed to writing it down several hundred years later.

Archaeologists in Jerusalem claim to have uncovered two large buildings fit for a king -- Biblical King David, that is. But not all historians agree; one group even argues that King David was no king at all. Over the past year, archaeologists have excavated a site that they believe to be the fortified Judean city of Shaarayim, where David smote Goliath as described in the Bible. "The ruins are the best example to date of the uncovered fortress city of King David," said professors Yossi Garfinkel of Hebrew University and Saar Ganor, who led the excavations. "This is indisputable proof...

A Hebrew University archeologist says finds at a new dig site near Jerusalem are backing up the biblical narrative of an Israelite kingdom centered on Jerusalem in 1000 BC, around the time of King David and his son, King Solomon. Professor Yosef Garfinkel has been digging at Khirbet Qeiyafa near the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh since 2007. Carbon dating of unearthed olive pits has put the period of activity at Khirbet Qeiyafa at 1020 BC - 980 BC, almost exactly the period of time the Bible says David and Solomon were active in the region. The dating, together with...

Obama is outclassed and outsmarted by retiring Gen. PetraeusGen. David H. Petraeus closed his phenomenal 37-year Army career this week with a joint review at Fort Myer in Arlington. Service members from every branch were present, and flags of all 50 states fluttered in the breeze. A substantial crowd had come to hear the general’s farewell address. Many were classmates from the West Point Class of 1974, smartly attired but enthusiastic and occasionally whooping like they were cadets. Others were people with whom he had served over his storied career, whom he recognized from the dais during his speech. The...

One of the most prominent Israeli archaeologists declared today that remains from the First and Second Jewish Temple period -- including the Second Temple itself -- lie underneath the Temple Mount surface, just waiting to be excavated... Mazar said she is "absolutely sure" remains from the First and Second Temple periods, including "the Second Temple itself," as well as later remains from the Byzantine and early Islamic periods, are just under the surface of the Temple Mount... Mazar has led digs that discovered multiple Temple-era remains, including a tunnel used by the Israelites to conquer Jerusalem, as well as the...

(IsraelNN.com) A breakthrough in the research of the Hebrew Scriptures has shed new light on the period in which the Bible books of the Prophets were written. Professor Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa has deciphered an inscription dating from the 10th century BCE (the period of King David’s reign) and has proven the inscription to be ancient Hebrew, thus making it the earliest known example of Hebrew writing. The significance of this breakthrough relates to the fact that at least some of the Biblical scriptures are now proven to have been composed...

A modern-day retelling of the biblical story of King David will be premiering on NBC next month as a network television series. “Kings,” created by Michael Green (“Heroes,” “Everwood”), centers on the drama surrounding David Shepherd, a young soldier in the war-torn country of Gilboa, who will rise to fame after inspiring the nation through his fearless rescue of the king’s son. Amid Shepherd's thrust toward destiny and peace for the kingdom, however, the country's power players will go to great lengths to see him fall, blurring the line between his allies and enemies. It’s “the new coming from the...

(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, the Number Four man on the National Union's Knesset list, thinks the leaders of Israel should follow King David's advice from the Eighteenth Psalm regarding Gaza: "I will chase my enemies and catch up to them and I shall not return until I annihilate them." "This should be the slogan of every leader and IDF commander," he said. "The enemy must know that whoever raises his hand on Israel, we will teach him a lesson and annihilate him as well as all his helpers and supporters, and only thus will we take out their will...