A Biblical Miracle Could Have a Celestial Explanation
A Biblical Miracle Could Have a Celestial Explanation
January 20, 2017
The Times of Israel — According to the biblical story, Joshua got help from the sun to earn the Israelites one of their most epic victories. Now, three BGU scientists say they’ve figured out how: The battle of Jericho coincided with a solar eclipse.
Chapter 10 of the Book of Joshua states that soon after Joshua and the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they waged battle against five armies. According to the story, Joshua prayed that God help the Israelites by “stopping the sun.”
Using NASA data, the research team found that there was a total solar eclipse that occurred in the region between the years 1500-1000 B.C.E., when the Israelites are believed to have entered the land. The date of the eclipse was precisely October 30, 1207 B.C.E.
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still Upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816
Led by Dr. Hezi Yizhaq of the Alexandre Yersin Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, the team also pinpointed the precise location of the battle: Gibeon, north of Jerusalem on the eastern edge of Jericho. The exact time they say the eclipse took place was 4:28 p.m.
“We do not claim that everything written in the Bible is true or took place…but there is also a grain of historical truth that has archaeological evidence behind it,” says Dr. Yizhaq.
The team’s findings were published in the Hebrew-language journal Beit Mikra: Journal for the Study of the Bible and its World.
Read more on The Times of Israel website >>
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