Author’s Blog
The Shema and the Shapira MSS – A Linguistic Look for English Readers
Deuteronomy 6:4 is arguably the most well-known verse in the Torah. It is recited and has been recited by millions upon millions since Moses first presented these timeless words in the Plains of Moab. Traditionally observant Jews and other biblically oriented people...
Rightly Dividing Words – The Shapira Manuscripts as the Earliest Witness to Word Separation in a Biblical Text
According to Nachmanides, the “writing of the Torah was contiguous, without break of words …”[1] but “it seems likely that word division of some kind was also used in the first biblical texts.”[2] The Shapira Manuscripts seem to represent an intermediary stage between...
Professor James Charlesworth on Shapira and The Moses Scroll
In February of 2020, just before the world shut down in response to Covid, Dr. James Tabor and I were in Israel together. Our schedule included an archaeological project at Biblical Tamar Park and a tour that we were co-leading. We also were researching Moses Shapira,...
To a Place That I will Show You – Moses Shapira’s Account of His Return to the Land of His Fathers
The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1, Jewish Publication Society So begins the bible’s narrative of a journey by Abram (later Abraham). In some ways, the story of...
For Scholars To Decide – A Review of The Valediction of Moses
When I decided to write my book, it was because I felt that the story needed a fair hearing – that the Shapira manuscripts demanded a reassessment. Specifically, I wanted to answer the call from those who had gone before, who had suggested that the entire case...
The Moses Scroll – Go Ahead, Judge a Book by its Cover
Everyone has heard the adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover," but in the case of The Moses Scroll, I hope that people do just that. Daniel M. Wright applied his immense talents to design the cover as well as the illustrations within the book. We frequently talked...