The Oldest Bible Verse Ever Found in Jerusalem!

Hey everyone, Zahi Shaked here, your licensed tour guide in Israel! Today, I’m taking you to a spot in Jerusalem that literally gives me goosebumps every single time I visit. We are standing right here at Ketef Hinnom, just a stone's throw away from the beautiful Scottish Church. Looking around, you can see these ancient rock-cut burial caves, dating all the way back to the First Temple period—the time of King Hezekiah and the Prophet Isaiah. For a tour guide, walking through these tombs is like walking through the pages of the Bible. But what makes this specific hill a holy grail for biblical archaeology isn't just the caves themselves. It’s what was hidden beneath the dirt for thousands of years, waiting to be found. Back in 1979, during excavations led by Professor Gabriel Barkay, a young boy helping out stumbled upon a hidden repository in "Cave 24." Underneath the collapsed ceiling, they discovered hundreds of artifacts. But the absolute crown jewels of this discovery were two tiny, rolled-up silver scrolls. When scientists finally unrolled them in a lab, they were stunned. Etched into the silver in ancient Paleo-Hebrew script was the Priestly Blessing (Birkat Kohanim) from the Book of Numbers 6:24-26: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you..." Think about this for a second: these scrolls date back to the late 7th century BCE. That means this text is older than the Dead Sea Scrolls by more than 300 years! It is the oldest fragment of a Biblical text ever discovered. For my Jewish friends, this is the exact blessing spoken in synagogues around the world today, connecting us in an unbroken chain to our ancestors in Jerusalem. For my Christian friends, this is a tangible touchpoint to the deeply rooted spiritual history of this land, centuries before Jesus walked these same hills. Walking around Ketef Hinnom today, looking at the tombs, and realizing that the words we still use to bless our children were written right here 2,700 years ago... it’s just mind-blowing. Next time you come to Israel, you have to let me show you this place in person. Until then, may the Lord bless you and keep you! #KetefHinnom #PriestlyBlessing #BiblicalArchaeology #Jerusalem #ZahiShaked #AncientJerusalem #HolyLandTour #israel