Join us on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 6 p.m. at the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem for a lecture in the series “Les Jeudis de l’ÉBAF” entitled “Jesus and the Dogs: Echoes of Ugarit in the Gospels?” by Fr Jorge-Francisco Vargas, OP.
Fr Jorge-Francisco, assistant professor of Semitic languages and biblical theology at the ÉBAF, will offer an in-depth reinterpretation of the Gospel passage in which Jesus evokes the image of “dogs” in dialogue with a woman.
Drawing on linguistic, cultural, and narrative data from the Ugaritic texts, he will seek to demonstrate how these older traditions can help us understand the nuances and resonances of the Gospel passages. Examining these parallels will shed light on the Semitic background of an episode that is often commented on but rarely placed accurately in the literary culture of the ancient Levant.
A son of the Dominican Province of Mexico, Fr Jorge teaches several Semitic and ancient languages at ÉBAF, including Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Biblical Greek, and Ugaritic. He is also a member of the editorial board of the program “La Bible en ses Traditions” (The Bible in its Traditions) and the editorial board of the journal Qol – Revista Bíblica Mexicana. His work and teaching focus particularly on the literatures of the ancient Near East and how these texts illuminate and enrich our understanding of the Bible.
Free admission
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