August 3, 2008
Steven Collins
Periodically, archaeological excavations find objects or inscriptions which affirm biblical accounts. Another such instance occurred recently when an excavation outside the walls of Jerusalem unearthed a bulla (a “seal impression” of an official’s name) of an individual mentioned in the Bible. In Jeremiah 38:1-4, the names of four top officials in the administration of King Zedekiah are named. Previously, excavation efforts had unearthed a bulla of the official named “Jucal, son of Shelemiah” in the KJV. Now, just meters away from where the previous bulla was discovered, the excavation efforts found a bulla belonged to the official named “Gedaliah, the son of Pasher” in the same account in the book of Jeremiah.
Appropriately, these bullae were unearthed mere meters from each other in a Jerusalem site. This fact strongly supports a conclusion that the two bullae had to belong to associated officials who lived in the same time period of biblical history in ancient Jerusalem. Biblical “minimalists,” who try to undermine a literal understanding of the Bible, must be displeased at this finding which affirms that biblically-named personalities were real historical figures. Those who believe the Bible are, of course, pleased, but not surprised, when archaeologists find affirmation of biblical accounts. We already know the Bible is the true and literal Word of the Creator God.
Several perspectives on the discovery are included in the links below.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331162371&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/127048
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1008048.html
