The Bible Lore Podcast

Patreon subscribers get early access to this episode! This time, I'm talking about one of the most taboo and horrifying topics in the Bible: child sacrifice. This first of two episodes on the subject covers some of the biblical laws and rhetoric and folktales about child sacrifice, while the next will go over the practice in archaeology and history. Today I answer a few questions: was Isaac actually killed in his famous binding? Did Yahweh give a law commanding the sacrifice of the first born? And what does Ishtar's descent into the underworld have to do with the tragic tale of Jephthah's daughter? Join the Patreon for early access to episodes, along with bonus content:   https://patreon.com/biblelorepodcast Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haydentank/ Bibliography: Francesca Stavrakopoulou - ‘King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice’;   Heath Dewrell - ‘Child Sacrifice in Ancient Israel’;  Coogan & Smith - ‘Stories from Ancient Canaan’;  Coogan & Metzger - ‘The Oxford Companion to the Bible’;  Christian Frevel - ‘History of Ancient Israel’;   Hallo & Younger - ‘The Context of Scripture, vol. 1-3’;  Robert Alter - ‘The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary’;   Berlin, Brettler, et al - ‘The Jewish Study Bible’;   Other Bible quotations taken from the NRSVue and NJPS with adaptations https://www.thetorah.com/article/giving-your-firstborn-son-to-god https://www.thetorah.com/article/how-exodus-revises-the-laws-of-hammurabi https://www.thetorah.com/article/isaac-before-he-was-abrahams-son

This week's episode, we spend a lot of time with Assyrian king Esarhaddon, whose hellbent insistence on ensuring his own son's succession was not a repeat of his own disastrous rise to the throne that he promulgated a treaty text to the far corners of the Assyrian empire, a text that would be reworked to be a treaty between Yahweh and his people in Judah. All of this and so much more on this week's episode! Support the show on Patreon and get hours of bonus content and early access to episodes: https://www.patreon.com/biblelorepodcast Bibliography:   Stavrakopoulou - ‘King Manasseh and Child Sacrifice’;  Hayes - ‘Hidden Riches’;  Younger - ‘The Context of Scripture, Vol. 4’;  Van de Mieroop - ‘A History of the Ancient Near East’;  Liverani - ‘Israel’s History and the History of Israel’;  Frahm - ‘Assyria’;  Podany - ‘Weavers, Scribes, and Kings’;  Alter - ‘The Hebrew Bible’;  Frevel - ‘History of Ancient Israel’;  Berlin & Brettler - ‘The Jewish Study Bible, 2nd Ed.’;  Radner, Moeller, and Potts - ‘The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Vol. IV’ Neujahr - ‘Predicting the Past in the Ancient Near East’;  Adams and Goff - ‘The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Wisdom Literature’;  https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/solar-eclipse-substitute-king ;

This is part 2 of the story of the prophet Isaiah, the Judahite King Hezekiah, and the Assyrian Emperor Sennacherib. We explore prophetic oracles, a tortured cultural pizza metaphor, divine snakes, and more on purity and sacrifice from scholar Eve Feinstein. Support the show on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/c/BibleLorePodcast   Check out the Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/haydentank/ Bibliography: Eve Levavi Feinstein - ‘Sexual Pollution in the Hebrew Bible’;  Berlin, Brettler, et al - ‘The Jewish Study Bible (Second Edition)’;  Daniel McClellan - ‘YHWH’s Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach’;  Barton & Stavrakopoulou - ‘Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah’;  Francesca Stavrakopoulou - ‘God: An Anatomy’;  Eckart Frahmn - ‘Assyria’;  Marc van de Mieroop - ‘A History of the Ancient Near East’;  Finkelstein and Silberman - ‘The Bible Unearthed’;  Robert Alter - ‘The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary’;  Mario Liverani - ‘Israel’s History and the History of Israel’;  Van der Toorn, Becking, van der Hoorst, et al - ‘Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible’;  https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/hezekiahs-tunnel-reexamined/ https://thestateoftheology.com/data-explorer/2022/7?AGE=30&MF=14&REGION=30&DENSITY=62&EDUCATION=62&INCOME=254&MARITAL=126&ETHNICITY=62&RELTRAD=62&EVB=2&ATTENDANCE=254 https://www.thetorah.com/article/hezekiahs-reform-the-archeological-evidence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e2kuETGoOM&list=PLpQ8NT-8yU1qbtN4sHO8I-r4fJI27Adlg  

This is part 1 of the life and times of the prophet Isaiah, Judahite King Hezekiah, and Assyrian King Sennacherib. A lot of political history in this one, folks. Featuring an interview with Dr. Eve Levavi Feinstein, who provides important context on the concept of purity in the Hebrew Bible. Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/BibleLorePodcast   Check out the Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haydentank/   Bibliography: Eve Levavi Feinstein - ‘Sexual Pollution in the Hebrew Bible’;  Berlin, Brettler, et al - ‘The Jewish Study Bible (Second Edition)’;  Daniel McClellan - ‘YHWH’s Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach’;  Barton & Stavrakopoulou - ‘Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah’;  Francesca Stavrakopoulou - ‘God: An Anatomy’;  Eckart Frahmn - ‘Assyria’;  Marc van de Mieroop - ‘A History of the Ancient Near East’;  Finkelstein and Silberman - ‘The Bible Unearthed’;  Robert Alter - ‘The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary’;  Mario Liverani - ‘Israel’s History and the History of Israel’;  Van der Toorn, Becking, van der Hoorst, et al - ‘Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible’;  https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/jerusalem/hezekiahs-tunnel-reexamined/ https://thestateoftheology.com/data-explorer/2022/7?AGE=30&MF=14&REGION=30&DENSITY=62&EDUCATION=62&INCOME=254&MARITAL=126&ETHNICITY=62&RELTRAD=62&EVB=2&ATTENDANCE=254 https://www.thetorah.com/article/hezekiahs-reform-the-archeological-evidence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e2kuETGoOM&list=PLpQ8NT-8yU1qbtN4sHO8I-r4fJI27Adlg  

Welcome to the Rapture, which doesn't seem too bad, all things considered. Thanks to Tom Sexton and Tarence Ray! Check out the Trillbillies: https://www.patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty And to support this show, become a member of the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BibleLorePodcast  

This time on the Bible Lore Podcast, we bring our kingdom of Samaria to an end. Along the way I talk about an important baby whose mother saves him from certain death by secreting him away in a basket on a river: Sargon. And scholar Seth Sanders returns to the show to talk about the prophetic critique, Israelization, and much more. Outro music: Mustafa - Gaza is Calling Check out Seth's work:   https://sethlsanders.wordpress.com/ Subscribe to the Patreon:   https://www.patreon.com/BibleLorePodcast Bibliography: Christopher Hayes - ‘Hidden Riches’;   Irving Finkel - 'The Ark Before Noah'; Thomas L. Thompson - ‘The Mythic Past’;   Christian Frevel - ‘History of Ancient Israel’;   Marc van de Mieroop - ‘A History of the Ancient Near East’;   Eckart Frahm - ‘Assyria’;   Mario Liverani - ‘Israel’s History and the History of Israel’;   Robert Alter - ‘The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary’;   Berlin, Brettler, et al - ‘The Jewish Study Bible’;   Other Bible quotations taken from the NRSVue with adaptations  

This week we're taking the Bible into the unholiest of unholies: the cinema! Join me and Radio WFYM's Alex Nichols as we venture into Darren Aronofsky's biblical fantasy epic and talk about God's hog. Go see WFYM live in Beacon NY on June 7: https://www.theyardbeacon.com/upcoming-events/toy-pizza-expo-five-points-fest-present-wfym-world-tour For more Good Content: https://www.patreon.com/BibleLorePodcast    

This episode I explore the emergence of Assyria as the world's first proper empire, with all of the impressive achievements and horrifying consequences this implies, as Israel descends into the chaos of a series of coups. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/BibleLorePodcast Bibliography:  Finkelstein & Silberman - ‘The Bible Unearthed’;  Mario Liverani - ‘Israel’s History and the History of Israel’;  Amanda Podany - ‘Weavers, Scribes, and Kings’;  Eckart Frahm - ‘Assyria’;  Christian Frevel - ‘History of Ancient Israel’;  Mario Liverani - ‘Israel’s History and the History of Israel’;  Robert Alter - ‘The Hebrew Bible: A Translation With Commentary’;  Berlin, Brettler, Fishbane, et al - ‘The Jewish Study Bible’;  

This time, I cover a couple of forgotten queens of history, Dido and Shammu-Ramat, the reign of GOAT Israelite King Jeroboam II, and the prophet Amos, whose book is a social justice screed against the rich and powerful.  Join the Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/BibleLorePodcast Check out my Instagram account:  https://www.instagram.com/haydentank/ Check out Dig's video on Ramath's Yahwistic kings:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzRnnLVVIzc  Bibliography:  Hallo and Younger - ‘The Context of Scripture’;  Shuichi Hasegawa - ‘Aram and Israel during the Jehuite Dynasty’;  Robert Alter - ‘The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary’;  Cogan & Tadmor - ‘II Kings: A New Translation with Commentary’;  Mario Liverani - ‘Israel’s History and the History of Israel’;  Marc van de Mieroop - ‘A History of the Ancient Near East’;  Eckart Frahm - ‘Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire’;  Amanda Podany - ‘Weavers, Scribes, and Kings’;  Christian Frevel - ‘History of Ancient Israel’;  Berlin, Brettler, Fishbane, et al - ‘The Jewish Study Bible’;  Mark Fisher - ‘Capitalist Realism’;  https://armenianweekly.com/2017/06/28/my-name-is-shamiram/ Some Bible quotations taken from the NRSVue and the NJPS with adaptations  

A while back, I did an interview with scholar Dan McClellan. Since his new book, The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture's Most Controversial Issues just came out, I decided to unlock that episode from behind the paywall! Make sure to buy Dan's book: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-bible-says-so-what-we-get-right-and-wrong-about-scripture-s-most-controversial-issues-daniel-mcclellan/21752470?ean=9781250347466&next=t And subscribe to the Patreon for more interviews like this one: https://www.patreon.com/BibleLorePodcast