1.25 Joshua Conquers Canaan
The book of Joshua recounts the conquest of Canaan, the land promised to Abraham. For a few short years, the Israelites achieve a perfect relationship with their god.
28 Feb 201628min
1.24 Modern Debates: Disappearing the Patriarchs
In 1970 most scholars thought that Genesis and Exodus were reliable guides to the history of the Israelites. Today, even the most traditionalist of archaeologists agree that the narratives of the Isra...
14 Feb 201627min
1.23 God's Historian: The Deuteronomist
Modern scholars have identified a single school behind all the books from Deuteronomy to Kings. This school wrote the histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, putting its own theological slant o...
31 Jan 201625min
Bonus 6: Priest-King Melchizedek, International Man of Mystery
In this co-released episode, Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I discuss the mysterious figure of Melchizedek, and try to work out how he figures in the Jewish and Christian priest...
24 Jan 201652min
Bonus 5: James the Just in the Late Second Temple Period (Part 3)
In this co-released episode, Steve Guerra of the History of the Papacy podcast and I conclude our three-part discussion of James the Just. Steve is launching a bunch of new podcasts. Check him out at ...
23 Jan 201613min
1.22 Deuteronomy II: The Death of Moses
In the last half of Deuteronomy, Moses lays out laws on family matters. I compare these to the Mesopotamian law codes. He sets out a splendid set of curses on those would disobey, modeled on Assyrian ...
17 Jan 201629min
1.21 Deuteronomy I: Moses Farewells His people
Deuteronomy is the last book of the Torah, the Pentateuch, the books holiest to Jews. To many Jewish scholars, the Torah is where study of the bible stops. I discuss how Deuteronomy was modeled on Ass...
3 Jan 201630min
1.20 Numbers II: Out of the Wilderness
While the Israelites are stuck in the wilderness they meet Balam and his talking donkey. They defeat King Og and the Midianites, and will never stop talking about it. Moses' siblings Aaron and Miriam ...
20 Dec 201527min
