Roger D. Isaacs
Researcher and author specialising in Hebrew Bible studies. Member of the Advisory Council - Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, University of Chicago
Learn more about my work at talkingwithgod.net
- Even if you know the Babylonian flood stories that predate Genesis, the differences matter more than the similarities. Those shifts reveal how ancient Israel saw itself, God, and its place in the world. #AncientTexts #BiblicalStudies #History www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archae...
- Passover recalls lamb’s blood on doorposts, a onetime act never repeated. Yet later, blood was used for protection in the Wilderness. Why the change? Talking With God explores the deeper meaning. #Passover #Exodus #BibleStudy
- Chicago, once the humanities’ stronghold, froze PhD admissions across every department. If the “scholars’ scholars” cave to market logic, the endgame isn’t underfunding: it’s erasure. #Humanities #Academia #PhD
- Why does “the anger of the Lord” spark so much interest? Are we drawn to divine wrath—or to our own struggles with anger? From Cain to Moses, anger fuels both destruction & justice. What does it mean for us today? #Anger #BibleStudy #Faith talkingwithgod.net/2011/05/25/m...
- Your favorite artifact might be rotting because of its display case. New research: the Conservation Soft Box seals artifacts in pollutant-free, customizable micro-environments. A quiet revolution in heritage care. #Museums #Preservation #Innovation www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Exod. 28 & Num. 27: urim & thummim appear rarely, yet always in contexts of divine inquiry. Linguistic links (Hebrew zawchar, Akkadian zakaru, Ugaritic zg) suggest “stones of communication” rather than mere memorials. #BiblicalStudies #Philology #AncientNearEast talkingwithgod.net/2012/04/20/u...
- In the Song of Songs, the pomegranate marks love & enticement. Exodus & Kings place it on priestly garments & temple capitals. By the 13th c., de León cast it as Shekhinah itself, its seeds embodying the commandments. #BiblicalStudies #Mysticism #Symbolism
- Did God step back after Sinai? The laws were given, the covenant made—but communication grew rare. God’s role was legislative, leaving people to live by the rules. Beyond that, a personal God, not a national one. #Theology #BibleStudy #God
- Archaeologists in Türkiye found a 3,500-year-old dining set 🍷🍽️—jug, pot, and plate—still together after millennia! Toys, goddess figurines, and merchant silver nearby show daily life & belief in ancient Anatolia. #Archaeology #Anatolia #History
- The Ophel Inscription remains contested: Proto-Canaanite? Early Alphabetic? Hebrew? Galil’s reading = low-quality wine marked in a king’s regnal year. Minimalists & sensationalists clash; nuance is needed. #Epigraphy #Archaeology #BiblicalStudies
- New excavations at Çatalhöyük reveal sacred spaces: a “House of the Dead,” ritual platforms, & painted walls. Early urban life blended domestic and spiritual worlds. #Neolithic #Çatalhöyük #WorldHeritage #AncientRitual
- Why was Moses barred from Canaan? At Meribah (Num 20), the issue wasn’t striking a rock, it was forgetting to protect Israel when God’s glory appeared. A lapse in sacred duty, not mere temper. 📜⛅️ #BibleStudy #Numbers #Moses #Canaan #BiblicalInsight
- Plutarch’s De Facie may hint at Greek voyages to N. America in the 1st century. Using eclipse data & Saturn’s alignment, Dr. Liritzis dates such a journey to 56–58. Some scholars see possibility; many remain skeptical. #Archaeology #AncientHistory #GreekStudies greekreporter.com/2025/08/29/a...
- What was the Ark of the Testimony for? ⚡ In Talking With God, Roger Isaacs redefines words like holy, sin & glory, uncovering meanings lost in translation. A mind-expanding look at ancient Israelite practice. #BibleStudy #Theology #AncientHistory talkingwithgod.net/why-read-tal...
- Reposted by Roger D. IsaacsI am amazed and delighted to announce that my book 'The Road to Mons Graupius' has been longlisted for the Saltires, Scotland's National Book Awards! www.thesaltires.org.uk #RomanSiteSaturday
- Deciphering lost scripts takes brilliance—and a touch of madness. 🌀 From Champollion to Ventris, each breakthrough unlocked voices long silent. Now Linear Elamite may have joined the list. Could we be hearing Elam again after 4,000 years? #Archaeology #AncientScripts #History
- Isaacs traces the semantic shift from edut (communication) in Exodus–Numbers to b’rith (covenant) in Deuteronomy. The ark’s function changed from technical to theological—a shift mirrored in modern search patterns. #BiblicalStudies #Hebrew #Theology
- Ancient recycling? 🧵 Bronze Age wicks from Newe Efrayim were made from old textiles, reused to light oil lamps. Early innovation or necessity—or both? #AncientTech #Archaeology #SustainabilityHistory
- Why a whole book on a gold-covered box? 🗝️ The Ark of the Covenant has inspired awe, fear, wars, films, and endless questions. Roger D. Isaacs reveals the one correct, text-based purpose. #TheGoldenArk #BibleStudy #AncientHistory
- A 2,200-year-old gold coin of Queen Berenice II has been unearthed in Jerusalem’s City of David, making it the first ever found in a controlled dig. It’ll be on display this September. Would you go see it? #Archaeology #AncientHistory #Jerusalem
- Archaeologists dated Jerusalem’s Siloam Dam to 800 BCE ⛲. Built amid droughts & floods, it redirected spring waters into a massive reservoir. A bold response to crisis—or a display of power? #Archaeology #Jerusalem #AncientHistory
- Ever noticed the palmette motif 🌿 in ancient art? In Iron Age Judah, it wasn’t decoration, it symbolised divinity & royal authority. New research shows Assyrian influence reshaped its meaning. What do you think symbols can reveal? #Archaeology #AncientHistory
- The Hebrew kodesh, often rendered “holy,” may be a mistranslation. Alternative readings suggest a different nuance, reshaping our understanding of ancient practices. How should we translate it today? #BiblicalStudies #Hebrew #Theology talkingwithgod.net/2010/08/22/h...
- Ancient Egyptians worshipped crocodiles then sacrificed and mummified them. 🐊 A new study of a 2.2m mummy reveals a fish hook still inside. What do you make of this ritual devotion? #Archaeology #AncientEgypt
- Roger D. Isaacs, in Talking With God & The Golden Ark, argues that familiar biblical terms have been mistranslated. Their original meanings reshape how we view ancient rituals. Do new translations unlock new truths? #BiblicalStudies #History talkingwithgod.net/2010/08/17/1...
- Beneath the waves of Abu Qir Bay, ruins of ancient Canopus emerge. Egypt’s shifting landscape reminds us that the Hebrew Bible’s Egypt was never static: a land of empire, migration, and memory, whose traces still surface in unexpected places. #Archaeology #History
- At Karnak, archaeologists have uncovered a Middle Kingdom settlement and restored Thutmose III’s Southern Chapels. For scholars of the Hebrew Bible, such finds illuminate the Egyptian religious and political world that forms the backdrop to Israel’s own narratives.
- 🦴 Fossils from Ethiopia reveal Homo and Australopithecus coexisted 3 million years ago—evidence of a tangled evolutionary web, not a simple ladder. #Anthropology #BiblicalStudies #Evolution
- 🚤 Piracy, intrigue, prophecy—The Story of Wenamun has it all. In Wenamun’s Prophetic Mission, Christopher B. Hays argues that Egyptian theology shaped Iron Age Yahwism. A bold reimagining of the ancient Mediterranean. #Bible #Egyptology
- From dozens of countries to one stage: Jewish teens gathered in Tel Aviv for the International Youth Bible Contest, hosted for the first time at @ANUmuseum. The competition coincides with the debut of the Codex Sassoon—the world’s oldest complete Hebrew Bible. #Bible #JewishYouth buff.ly/1Yws06w
- 🔥 Out now: Jack M. Sasson’s Judges 13–21—the second volume of his magisterial commentary. Samson, Laish, dismemberment, civil war—this is Israel “when there was no king.” Sasson unpacks the Hebrew, the translations, and the ancient echoes that shaped these haunting tales. #Bible
- 🔥 Moses: lawgiver, prophet… and human. A new essay by Dr. Amanda Mbuvi explores the flawed, multifaceted man behind the legend: one unlike any other hero of antiquity. Read more in Biblical Archaeology Review: ✍️ #BibleHistory #Archaeology #Moses
- 🌍 Even ancient Troy faced the hidden costs of prosperity. Mass production transformed it into a Bronze Age powerhouse while straining its environment. A 4,500-year-old warning about unchecked ambition still echoes today. 🏺⚔️ #Archaeology #ClimateHistory
- Got thoughts on Ark? Reach out! Whether you’re intrigued, curious, or have feedback, we want to hear from you! 📬 info@TalkingWithGod.net | #BiblicalMystery #AskAuthors talkingwithgod.net/contact-us/
- 🚨 Archaeologists in Türkiye’s Van province are unearthing an Urartian necropolis that may rewrite history, with finds suggest women held high status in the Iron Age kingdom. 🏺👑 #Archaeology #History
- A 1,000-year-old seed sprouted in the Judean Desert… 🌱✨ Named “Sheba,” this ancient Commiphora plant wasn’t fragrant like frankincense: it was medicinal, with compounds for healing, anti-inflammation, and even anti-tumor effects. Ancient remedies could shape modern medicine:
- A humble mound on Israel’s Carmel coast hides a royal secret… 👑💜 Tel Shiqmona wasn’t a town, it was a bustling Iron Age purple dye “factory”, producing the prized colour of kings. Discover the full story of this Phoenician powerhouse:
- Ever wondered what makes biblical linen biblical? 🧵✨ The rare terms shesh & shazar reveal Egyptian roots, craftsmanship, and the secret role of linen as “a separator” in the Tabernacle. Dive into the linguistic & cultural mystery:
- What if a biblical family tree isn’t a family tree? 🌍✨ Genesis 10’s “Table of Nations” lists Noah’s descendants—but why, and where did it come from? Explore the geographic & historical mystery with Guy Darshan:
- Moses: a leader who gave everything, yet died alone outside the Promised Land. His story isn’t triumph, it’s sacrifice, anguish, and an ending that makes the Bible’s greatest prophet feel all too human. ✨📖 #Moses #Bible
- From a quiet mound to a royal hub: new research at Tel Shiqmona (Haifa, Israel) reveals an Iron Age purple dye “factory”, the most complete evidence of its kind in the Mediterranean. 🟣🏺 #Archaeology #Phoenicians
- Researchers germinate a 1,000-year-old Commiphora seed (‘Sheba’) from the Judean Desert, which is the first of its kind recovered. Study reveals medicinal compounds, linking ancient biblical plants to potential modern therapies. 🌿📜 #Archaeobotany #BiblicalPlants #AncientMedicine
- “Race against time in the Negev: Israeli authorities work to save a 6th-century Byzantine church and rare mosaic at Horvat Grarit, threatened by riverbank collapse. #Archaeology #Byzantine #Israel
- Roger D. Isaacs, biblical scholar, devoted decades to Hebrew Bible studies, combining philology, archaeology, and comparative Semitic research, culminating in ‘Talking With God’. #BiblicalScholarship #AncientStudies
- Israel Antiquities Authority seizes a rare 2,100-year-old Hellenistic lead weight in Jerusalem, inscribed ‘Heliodorus, son of Apollonius, agoranomos’, a market official ensuring fair trade. ☀️⚖️ #Archaeology #HellenisticIsrael #IAA
- ‘Talking With God’ explores the Ark of the Testimony, biblical mysteries, and the true meanings of Hebrew words, linking ancient texts with modern science. Called a ‘modern midrash’ by Rabbi Jacob Milgrom. #BibleStudy #AncientScience #RogerIsaacs
- Archaeologists in Israel uncover what may be the world’s oldest home for the elderly, with 1,600-year-old mosaics near the Sea of Galilee bearing the Greek inscription ‘Peace be with the elders.’ 🏺👵👴 #Archaeology #AncientHistory #Israel
- ‘Shesh’ & ‘shazar’ in the Bible reveal deep Egyptian influence: shesh = brilliant linen/alabaster, shazar = twisted or woven, highlighting the craftsmanship and purpose of Tabernacle materials. #BiblicalHebrew #AncientCrafts #Linguistics talkingwithgod.net/2024/12/07/t...
- A rare 2,200-year-old gold coin of Queen Berenice II, from Jerusalem’s Hellenistic era, was unearthed in the City of David. Its first discovery outside Egypt. #Archaeology #AncientHistory #Israel
- ‘An enormous, imaginative work. I think I would call it a modern midrash.’ —Late Rabbi Jacob Milgrom, Biblical scholar, UC Berkeley talkingwithgod.net
- Archaeology reveals silver was used as currency in ancient Israel 3,600 years ago, long before coins existed. Hoards from the 17th century BCE show silver traded by weight. #History #AncientIsrael
