Exploring the Bible

  In the geography of the Nativity, few locations are as prophetically charged yet archaeologically elusive as Migdal Eder ("The Tower of the Flock"). While often overlooked in casual readings of the Christmas story, this specific tower serves as a crucial link between the Old Testament patriarchs, the sacrificial system of the Temple, and the birth of Jesus. The prophet Micah predicted that the "dominion" of the daughter of Jerusalem would return to this specific watchtower (Micah 4:8), leading ancient Jewish commentators to identify it as the place where the Messiah would be revealed. But does Migdal Eder exist outside of prophecy? Can we find its stones in the ground? The archaeological search for the Tower of the Flock is complicated by centuries of war and construction, yet excavations in the suburbs of Bethlehem have yielded significant evidence pointing to its likely location and function. To find the tower, archaeologists first look to the text of G...

  The Nativity story usually ends with the Magi returning to the East and the shepherds returning to their fields. But for the Holy Family, the arrival of the Wise Men signaled the beginning of a terrifying ordeal. Warned by an angel that King Herod was seeking to kill the child, Joseph took Mary and the infant Jesus by night and fled. They did not go north to Syria or east to Babylon; they went southwest, into the ancient land of the Pharaohs. For the Western Church, the Flight into Egypt is a brief interlude—a few verses in the Gospel of Matthew (2:13–23). But for the Coptic Orthodox Church , it is a foundational epic. It is the moment when the Creator of the Universe physically entered their country, drank from their river, and walked their dust, transforming Egypt from a land of exile into a Holy Land. The Gospel of Matthew is sparse on details. It tells us the why (Herod’s massacre of the innocents) and the where (Egypt), but not the specifics of the journey. "Rise,...