…”Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle [is] the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.”  2 Samuel 17:45-47

Yoram’s Slingshot Demonstration: A lighthearted, but very seriously realistic view of using a slingshot from GodTube at the Valley of Elah

“… Recorded on an overlook of the Valley of Elah, tour guide Yoram Mor is three strikes and out when he demonstrates how to take down Goliath with a slingshot!”

TheBookAndTheSpade announces “An incredible week for archaeology” – so true!  Several important archaeological finds were announced this week that in many ways bring extra evidence to the truth of Biblical scripture.

David Hocking’s - Hope For Today blog carried a report written by Ethan Bronner “AMAZING DISCOVERIES – KING DAVID’S TIME!” about the Khirbet Qeiyafa Archaeological Project near the Elah Valley which unearthed a nearly 3,000 year old city and five lines of early Hebrew writing!

…”For many Jews and Christians, even those who do not take Scripture literally, the Bible is a vital historical source. And for the state of Israel, which considers itself to be a reclamation of the state begun by David, evidence of the biblical account has huge symbolic value. The Foreign Ministry’s Web site, for example, presents the kingdom of David and Solomon along with a map of it as a matter of fact.
   But the archaeological record of that kingdom is exceedingly sparse – in fact almost nonexistent – and a number of scholars today argue that the kingdom was largely a myth created some centuries later. A great power, they note, would have left traces of cities and activity, and been mentioned by those around it. Yet in this area nothing like that has turned up – at least until now.”… Read the whole thing. 

UPDATE: Israel National News also reports about the find, written by Gil Ronen:  OLDEST HEBREW TEXT DISCOVERED AT KING DAVID’S BORDER FORTRESS, and BiblePlaces Blog has four posts with links and photos which discusses deeper background about the site: “The Identity of Khirbet Qeiyafa“, “Khirbet Qeiyafa in the NY Times“, “Khirbet Qeiyafa Inscription“, and “Khirbet Qeiyafa Inscription Update“, which includes an interview link. Update: And Jacob Richman has on his website a link to a YouTube video about the ancient text.

The video below is from the archaeological project promoting next year’s dig:

Also this week the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced that “A Rare Hebrew Seal from the First Temple Period was Discovered in Archaeological Excavations in the Western Wall Plaza“. The article includes photos of the site and an image of the seal.

..’According to the excavation director, archaeologist Shlomit Wexler-Bdolah of the IAA, “The seal, which apparently belonged to a private individual, is made of black stone, is elliptical in shape and measures 1.2 x 1.4 cm. It is adorned with an engraved decoration of an archer shooting a bow and arrow. The name of the archer is engraved in ancient Hebrew script next to him and reads LHGB (meaning: for Hagab). The name Hagab is mentioned in the Bible in Ezra 2:46, as well as in the Lachish Letters, which also date to the time of the First Temple”.’..

Another interesting announcement posted at Ritmeyer’s Archaeological Design’s blog was a report about an excavation in Jordan that may have located “King Solomon’s Copper Mines“, saying

“Excavations in Jordan have revealed copper mines that were in use during the 10th Century B.C., i.e. the time of King David and Solomon. The site is called Khirbat en-Nahas, which means ‘the ruins of copper’. The massive smelting plant was probably operated by King Solomon, who may have derived part of his wealth from this site, just a King Herod the Great amassed huge wealth from the mining of copper in Cyprus. The site has also revealed some Egyptian artifacts, which may be related to the invasion of the Egyptian Pharaoh Sheshonq (Shishak of the Bible), soon after Solomon’s death. You can watch an interesting video here about these excavations, which were led by Thomas Levy of the University of California in San Diego.” Read more of Ritmeyer’s comments HERE.

An article about “King Solomon’s (Copper) Mines? Digital Archaeology Tools and Deep Dig Find Confluence of Science and the Bible“ by the CISA3 (Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture, and Archaeology) discusses this find in Jordan’s Khirbat en-Nahas (meaning ‘ruins of copper” in Arabic), which had “more than 20 feet of industrial smelting debris, or slag”! (UPDATE: See also BiblePlaces Blog post, ”Copper Mines from Time of Solomon“, which gives further background, photos, and links.

View a video about Shishak’s campaign [as noted in 1Ki 14:25, 2 Chronicles 12, etc], against Israel, the control of the copper trade, & Khirbat en-Nahas: http://video-jsoe.ucsd.edu/asx/LevyShishakPNAS.asx.  A 15 page report including diagrams and photos may be viewed at Russell B. Adams’ website: “Reassessing the chronology of Biblical Edom: new excavations and 14C dates from Khirbat en-Nahas (Jordan)“, written by Thomas E. Levy, Russell B. Adams, Mohammad Najjar, Andreas Hauptmann, James D. Anderson, Baruch Brandl, Mark A. Robinson & Thomas Higham.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were again in the news: First, at Archaeology.org “The Dead Sea Scrolls: Fragments from the Qumran Caves” by Malin Grunberg Banyasz, Oct 14, 2008 including a few photos of artifacts found. Another article discusses the use of imaging technology to reveal previously unseen text: via streetinsider.com  Boston-Area Firm’s Multispectral Life Science Imaging Technology Used in Latest Dead Sea Scrolls Imaging Project linked to a (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081024/NEF070 ). 

And lastly, the amazing reality of the Dead Sea Scroll’s accuracy as exampled in the Biblical Book of Isaiah as one listens to this week’s study at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge (October 29th).  Message Title: A Middle East Crisis Update in Light of Bible Prophecy  Scripture: Isaiah 46:9-10.  Listen to the message in their player, about 55 minutes long.

Bible verses with thanks to Blue Letter Bible and Hebrew Bible in English (Mechon-Mamre)