An Archaeological Discovery Sheds Light on Luke
The Humble Skeptic with Shane Rosenthal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0pjddWhjEk
@yehudahrapuano572
Congratulations on an excellent and truly exciting video! I am an
Israeli archaeologist working with the IAA for over 35 years in Jeusalem. Your proposal that the Joanna and Theophilus of the ossuary are the same as those in Luke is more than reasonable. If indeed it turns out that they are, then here is yet another amazing witness to the intimate connection that Jesus had to His Land and with His People.
@YeshuaAdon
Amen. I have subscribed to your channel. I serve as a biblical apologist and engage in polemical theology, but my approach is fundamentally interdisciplinary and investigative in nature. I examine the totality of the available data rather than limiting the discussion to a single field. This includes numismatic evidence, archaeological discoveries, primary historical sources, and relevant scientific findings. I also consider medical and forensic analyses where applicable, along with studies in
archaeobotany such as ancient spores and plant remains. Textual criticism, manuscript traditions, and comparative linguistics likewise form an essential part of my methodology. My aim is to evaluate the evidence comprehensively, synthesizing insights across disciplines in order to pursue historical and theological truth with intellectual rigor.
Although I have done every job there is in archaeology from swinging a pickaxe to directing my own excavations, most of my colleagues think of me as the pottery guy. No matter how hard I try, I can't keep my nose out of the pottery bucket. It tells you everything you need to know about who lived there and when For the last 3 years I have been the pottery expert at the excavations of the Pool of Siloam where, Jesus sent the man born blind to wash and be healed (Gospel of John, chapter 9). Every week, I go throgh thousands and thousands of pottery sherds. It still inrigues me to hold n my hand something that I know without any doubt was made in the time of the Crusaders or the time of Jesus or the time of the kings of Israel.
@rockofalethia9387
Very cool. This is my first hearing of any of this. I didn’t even know there was a Joanna ossuary! Thank you so much for digging this all out so thoroughly. Great work! I offer that the image is not a series of arches but three palm trees. I have to speculate but it looks like the details of the palm fronds exactly touching tip to tip is very important to the “artist.” It seems it was not done by a professional but by family or friends. I suspect the image is a depiction of the wall of the temple inside the holy of holies where the wall was covered with a series of palm trees and dual faced angels (Ezekiel 41:18-19 & 1 Kings
6:29 . Each wall cherubim had two faces, a lion and a man. I find evidence that these were not just artistic decorations but represented the host of heaven surrounding Yahweh’s inner tabernacle ( I know that is different from how tradition has come to believe it is). That most inner space is where the two Great Cherubim stood over shadowing the arc of the covenant and it’s two seated Angels. The Great Cherubim stood wing tip to wing tip and the pair, spanned wall to wall. I offer that the motif of wing tip to wing tip may have been duplicated around the room in the palm fronds being tip to tip. Now, this will be hard for many moderns to hear but it seems (I didn’t accept it for quite a while myself) that the images around the room, at least the “man” part were representations of the godly men of scripture. (Yea, this opens the whole iconophile /iconoclast thing:-\ Each being depicted as standing in the great assembly. And if you can hear it, it is what Peter, is talking about in 1 Peter 2:5 where he says “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house(hold) to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (the co-Lion in the wall images). Here is the point. If Joanna’s faith was to stand *in Christ*, in the assembly before her God in the kingdom to come, it could be artistically depicted as being under and between the palm trees that line the temple walls. If that is what the art work depicts we can see that no pro artist of that culture and time would be willing to carve such a work even if there was money to commission it. It might even have been carved in secret, after it was in the tomb - while the "artist" was lying on his side in a narrow side niche, with a depack (clay oil lamp) during a storm using one of the nails from the cross .. Well, ya got to admit it's a better story that three arches ;-)
@craigfairweather3401
Thankyou. Theophilus, High Priest from 37 to 41 CE was one of the five sons of ‘Annas’ the former High Priest who conducts the first interrogation of Jesus in ‘John’. Each son became High Priest, and one, Ananas executed ‘James the Lord’s brother’ in 62 CE. Sometimes the High Priests selected by the Romans was quite young as Annas is believed to have been only about 26 years old. If Theophilus was 30 years old in in 37 CE he could be 60 years lold in 67 CE. Joanna of ‘Luke’ doesn’t have to be his granddaughter. even if the Joanna of the ossuary is a granddaughter, as names were frequently repeated in families, sometimes even with siblings having the same name! Interestingly,
some have argued both that Matthias son of Theophilus High Priest assasinated in 66 CE is this Theophilus’s son also, and that Josephus son of Matthias, the historian, is this Matthias’s son (making him a grandson of Theophilus. As for the poverty of the Joanna ossuary, the Talmud mentioned that Martha daughter of one of the richest men in Judea, Nicodemus, was eventually reduced to picking wheat seeds out of the dirt.
7 hours ago
Amazing and exciting discoveries. This is very credible and puts the gospel of Luke VERY early.
2
more evidence of early dating, thanks. But more particularly the personal connections are a welcome contrast from some scholars (and clergy) that Theophilus is a 'generic' name, no one in particular, written by committee, etc., etc. How appropriate that you have Thomas Schmidt there as well.
15 hours ago
Joanna may have died after the fall of Jerusalem, times would have been hard and perhaps the resources for producing an ossuary at the quality expected for a family of the elite were no longer available.
@craigfairweather3401
As for the poverty of the Joanna ossuary, the Talmud mentioned that Martha daughter of one of the richest men in Judea, Nicodemus, was eventually reduced to picking wheat seeds out of the dirt.
I think Mary was one of them he interviewed, how else would he know what she "held in her heart"?
@ShaneRosenthal-HumbleSkeptic
Even if he never met Mary, according to the "we passage" in Acts 21:17, he was in Jerusalem before 62 AD, meaning he had the opportunity to meet James (the brother of Jesus). In other words, James could have related Mary's language to Luke. I also argue that Luke's language in 1:3 (παρηκολουθηκότι ἄνωθεν) indicates that he was not claiming to have investigated things seen by other witnesses. Rather, he was himself claiming to have been an "eyewitness from the beginning," which is why Theophilus can have certainty. I'll make a video about this sometime this year.
@michaeldooley4251
This is great. I have heard this theory before, but this video brings it to life. Thank you so much Shane! Another interesting point is that in the intro to the Book of Acts the Luke calls him "O Theophilus" (no "most excellent") which might indicate tha
t at that later time Theophilus was no longer the high priest, therefore didn't warrant the honorific title. Theophilus was apparently High priest between about 37 and 41. That also fits with the chronology of when Acts would have been written, ie in the early 60s, when Paul was a prisoner in Rome. That also could mean tha
t Luke might have been written very early, before 41.
@supremevegetable9452
The fact that Luke addresses Theophilus as 'most excellent' in his gospel, but leaves out the title in the book of Acts, makes me wonder if the gospel was written while Theophilus was high priest.
@ScreenshotTrivia
That’s an interesting point! It would help to further narrow down the dates for both books by giving a maxima for Luke and a minima for Acts.
@Eisenhammer78
Halfway through, the question came up why she wasn’t buried in the family’s grave. Well multiple reasons I can come up with instantly. She was young at the time of Jesus and may have died after AD70, when Rome destroyed everything and they were on the run. For those circumstances it’s still astonishing that they had somewhat of a proper burial. Also, she was married into another family and may have been buried with them. At the time of her death there most likely have been no more high priests, as I said, due to Rome and the destruction of the Temple. What I mainly think is that there are no coincidences with God. This was meant to be found at the time of the end. The Person inscribing the bonebox may not have realized at that time just how important this puzzlepiece would become one day
@awdat
Love it ! This is even better then the
Alexander son of Simon of Cyrene ossuary
@Jesusteama6439
The design on the ossuary could be a depiction of the Huldah Gate or Triple Gate on the South side. Both the Double Gate and Triple Gate were sealed in later periods, but the outlines of both are still visible in the southern wall of the ancient Temple Mount. The two Huldah gates are at the south, used for entry and exit.
@ShaneRosenthal-HumbleSkeptic
In first-century Jewish culture, girls were typically betrothed by age 12 and married by 13. Even today, the Jewish Bar Mitzvah celebrates the arrival of manhood at age 13. Josephus says in one place that before Herod became the king of Judea, he was appointed by his father as the governor of Galilee at age 15 (Ant 14:158). Now, supposing an 18-year average between the generations. IfJoanna was 18 in Jesus' first year of ministry (28 AD), her father would be 36, and her grandfather would be 54. Theophilus would then be 63 when he became high priest 9 years later, and age 88 in 62 AD (which is the date I believe Acts was written). This is all very plausible, and the ages would come down if we suggest something like a 15-year gap between generations, etc
@johnwall3935
It is likely that the peace the church experienced after Saul’s conversion, mentioned in
Acts 9:31, took place during Theophilus’ time as high priest before persecution under Herod Agrippa started again.
@kevandthings
Notice the knowing and slightly sheepish smiles on the two experts when asked the pertinent question regarding Theophilos? Very cool, that academics, non-Christian ones now feel they cam amswer honestly, even when supports a Christian view. Things are a changing
@christian11111
Luke also calls Theophilus in his gospel, most excellent, which is actually a title that was used for the high priest. Additionally, Theophilus later stopped being the high priest, and in Acts Luke does not address him as, most excellent. What this suggests to me is that
Luke's gospel was written while Theophilus was high priest, between 37 and 41 ad, and acts was written sometime after that. That would mean Luke was probably written in 40 AD, less then 10.years after the resurrection, and that acts was written post 41 AD.
@ShaneRosenthal-HumbleSkeptic
There are a lot of possibilities with the ages of all the individual family members. According to my calculations, Theophilus was probably somewhere between 54-63 when he became high priest in 37 AD.
@worshipfulchords
This is very fascinating. After watching on the chosen Joanna appears to be a notable figure indeed!
@ShaneRosenthal-HumbleSkeptic
It should be pointed out that
Theophilus was an uncommon name among Jews of that period. And in his prologue, Luke writes to a "most excellent" Theophilus about the things "fulfilled among us" (1:1), and acknowledges that this high official has already been "informed" about these things. In my thinking, this pushes me in the direction of identifying Theophilus, not as some unknown Gentile official in another country, but rather, a Judean official who was aware of Jesus, but who needed "certainty" about some of the key claims, such as his resurrection, etc.''
@bibilar48
What a significant archaeological artifact! So many so-called theologians have post-dated the gospels (with little to no proof). This presentation provides compelling evidence for dating Luke’s letter to Theophilus to the time soon after Jesus’ crucifixion. I do have one suggestion, however: Please define the terms “chiasm” and “chiastic”. Most listeners, I assume, are not biblical scholars, so they are unfamiliar with these terms, used often in the presentation. My dictionary gives an inscrutable definition, so I had no idea what you were talking about. That bugs me!
@leericmarvin
Cool stuff. As much as it would be cool for Joanna granddaughter of Theophilus to be the same as Joanna wife of Chuza, it doesn't really fit chronologically. For a wealthy Joanna to fund Jesus's mission in 30 AD, would require someone perhaps at least age 30? ie born about 1AD. For someone born that early, it would be hard to fit them in as the granddaughter of Theophilus who would be older then age 30 to serve as High Priest in 37-41AD. You'd need to add 15 years for her father to be born say 15BC, and then 15 more years to grandfather to be born about 30BC. This would have Theophilus age 67-71 in 37-41AD? Also, Joanna's husband's name
, Chuza, is Nabatean, which clan a Levite granddaughter is very unlikely to marry into.
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