What is the longest book in the Bible? And the shortest?
Questions about which book of the Bible is the longest or the shortest are a little misleading because the answers depend entirely how you count. The first issue is that there isn’t a single canon of scripture. The older canon ...
Barachiel and Baraqiel: Angels named outside Scripture
Investigating angel lore is a tricky subject. There are a lot of false leads and made-up information, as well as careful distinctions that need to be considered. One issue is that angel names tend to derive from Hebrew, and the...
Was Luluwa the wife of Cain?
The Bible does not identify Cain’s wife, and while some traditional, extra-Biblical sources attempt to explain where Cain and Abel acquired wives, most of these sources are of dubious authority. Many ancient sources indicate th...
Is Gadreel a real angel?
The name “Gadreel” is not found in the Bible. It comes from another highly influential ancient text called the Book of Enoch. In that book, Gadreel is listed as one of the mighty angelic beings called “Watchers,” many of whom f...
The Best Order to Read the Bible for the First Time?
The Bible is not a single book. It’s a collection of books by many different authors across thousands of years. Where to begin reading, therefore, depends on your goals. If you’re a new reader of the Bible, I would suggest a re...
Samyaza and the fall of the angels
Samyaza (also spelled Shemyaza or Semjaza) was the leader of a group of angelic beings described in the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish text that influenced early Christians. The text tells the story of a group of beings calle...
Why stay away from the Book of Enoch
If you’ve heard of the Book of Enoch, you probably know it’s very weird. It’s an ancient document that claims to be written by the great-grandfather of Noah, a mysterious man who is mentioned in the Bible as being “taken away” ...