The Bible Lore Podcast

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

Today we say farewell to one last Omride queen while watching the brief fall of Assyria and the brief rise of Aram-Damascus. Along the way I talk about another two identically-named kings who might be the same guy, as well as a lot of lists! Tap in, gang, it's Bible Lore Day once again! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/BibleLorePodcast Bibliography: Marc van de Mieroop - 'A History of the Ancient Near East'; Shuichi Hasegawa - 'Aram and Israel During the Jehuite Dynasty'; 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'; David Carr - 'The Formation of Genesis 1-11'; Berlin, Brettler, Fishbane, et al - 'The Jewish Study Bible'; Liane Feldman - 'The Consuming Fire'; Cogan & Tadmor - 'II Kings: A New Translation with Commentary'; James Charlesworth - 'The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha'; Some bible quotations taken from the NRSVue with adaptations

This week, we're going Rashomon mode as I examine the end of the Omrides and the rise of Jehu from several different angles, bringing in contemporary inscriptions and conflicting biblical narratives on the same events - one author considers Jehu's rise as direct divine providence, while another calls it a blood-soaked coup and the first domino that would lead to the Israelite kingdom's eventual collapse. Come along for a wild ride as I try to figure out just what happened at Jezreel in 841 BCE. https://patreon.com/biblelorepodcast https://www.instagram.com/haydentank/ Bibliography: Van Der Toorn, Becking, et al - 'Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible'; Berlin, Brettler, Fishbane, et al - 'The Jewish Study Bible'; Coogan, Smith, et al - 'The Oxford Companion to the Bible'; Shuichi Hasegawa - 'Aram and Israel During the Jehuite Dynasty' Robert Alter - 'The Hebrew Bible: A Translation With Commentary'; David J. A. Clines - 'Psalm 2 and the MLF (Moabite Liberation Front)'; https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/what-does-the-mesha-stele-say/

Apologies for the reupload, ran into a Spotify issue. This time, I bring Jezebel's story to a close and inch us closer to the end of the Omride Dynasty, with special guest scholar Dr. Jonathan Stökl giving context to just what prophecy was in Biblical times. Check out Dr. Stökl's work here: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/jonathan-stokl#tab-1 Support the show by becoming a Patreon member: https://patreon.com/biblelorepodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haydentank/ Bibliography: Jennifer Knust - 'Unprotected Texts'; John Day - 'Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan'; Marc van de Mieroop - 'A History of the Near East'; Robert Alter - 'The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary'; Jonathan Stökl - 'Prophecy in the Ancient Near East'; Mordechai Cogan - 'I Kings: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary'; Cogan & Tadmor - 'II Kings: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary'; Christian Frevel - 'History of Ancient Israel'; Christian Frevel - 'Recent Issues in History: Can We Speak of a United Monarchy or an Independent Judah?' (Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings) Coogan & Smith - 'Stories from Ancient Canaan'; Berlin, Brettler, Fishbane, et al - 'The Jewish Study Bible'; Marsha C. White - 'The Elijah Legends and Jehu's Coup'; Christian E. Hauer - AJS Review of Marsha C. White. 'The Elijah Legends and Jehu's Coup'; Theodore Lewis - 'The Origin and Character of God'; The Inquisitive Bible Reader - 'Did Jezebel Murder Naboth? A 3,000-Year-Old Murder Mystery': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqWFuRpI_1w

Before we get to the end of Ahab and Jezebel, let's finally introduce Yahweh, the god of Israel, and compare him to Ba'al and El, his predecessors. RIP Ka - check out his album Descendants of Cain. Bibliography: Coogan, Smith, et al - 'The Oxford Companion to the Bible'; Theodore J. Lewis - 'The Origin and Character of God'; John Barton - 'A History of the Bible'; Daniel McClellan - 'YHWH's Divine Images'; Annette Yoshiko Reed - 'Demons, Angels, and Writing in Ancient Judaism'; Francesca Stavrakopoulou - 'God: An Anatomy'; Andrew George - 'The Epic of Gilgamesh'; John Day - 'Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan'; Christian Frevel - 'History of Ancient Israel'; Robert Alter - 'The Hebrew Bible: A Translation With Commentary'; Mario Liverani - 'Israel's History and the History of Israel'; Marc van de Mieroop - 'A History of the Ancient Near East'; Christian Frevel - 'When and from Where did YHWH Emerge?'; Van Der Toorn, Becking, et al - 'Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible'; Berlin, Brettler, Fishbane, et al - 'The Jewish Study Bible'; Nissim Amzallag - 'YHWH: The Kenite God of Metallurgy'; https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/sidebar/does-the-bible-disapprove-of-masseboth/ Chrissy Hansen - 'Why You're Incorrect About "Yahweh and His Asherah"' https://isthatinthebible.wordpress.com/2018/07/10/bethel-the-forgotten-god-of-israel/ https://x.com/shutupmikeginn/status/403359911481839617?lang=en

We made it to ten, gang! And we've mostly made it out of the Bronze Age Collapse. In this, my first completely solo episode, the Bible gets its earliest confirmed real characters who existed outside of legend, but it's not all sunshine and roses as we immediately confront three women who get a pretty unfair rap in the book of Kings: Ma'acah, Asherah, and Jezebel. Check out my Instagram account for this week's accompanying post, which includes archaeological images and a map of West Asia in the early Iron Age. Support the show, subscribe on Patreon: https://patreon.com/biblelorepodcast https://www.instagram.com/haydentank/ Bibliography: Christian Frevel - 'History of Ancient Israel'; Mario Liverani - 'Israel's History and the History of Israel'; Finkelstein & Silberman - 'The Bible Unearthed'; Israel Finkelstein - 'The Forgotten Kingdom'; Theodore J. Lewis - 'The Origin and Character of God'; Marc van de Mieroop - 'A History of the Ancient Near East'; Francesca Stavrakopoulou - 'God: An Anatomy'; Robert Alter - 'The Hebrew Bible: A Translation With Commentary'; Emanuel Pfoh - 'The Emergence of Israel in Ancient Palestine'; Benjamin Sommer - 'The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel' Andrew Tobolowsky - 'The Sons of Jacob and the Sons of Herakles'; William Dever - 'Did God Have A Wife?'; Susan Ackerman - 'Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen'; Susan Ackerman - 'Gods, Goddesses, and the Women Who Serve Them'; Coogan & Smith - 'Stories from Ancient Canaan'; Rashid Khalidi - 'The 100 Years' War on Palestine'; Raanan Eichler - 'Aaron's Flowering Staff: A Priestly Asherah?'; John Day - 'The Table of Nations: The Geography of the World in Genesis 10'; Other Bible quotations taken from the NRSVue and the NJPS with adaptations

In this bonus episode, Dr. Moudhy Al-Rashid takes us on a deep dive into the material culture and cuneiform writing of Mesopotamia, as detailed in her wonderful book 'Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History'. Pre-order Moudhy's book (available now globally, releases in August in the US): https://bookshop.org/p/books/between-two-rivers-ancient-mesopotamia-and-the-birth-of-history/e5c3d4bc2810d13d?ean=9781324036425&next=t& Follow her on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/moudhy.bsky.social

This time we pick back up on the history of the emergence of Israel and the Hebrew language before diving deep into the complicated lore that connects Jeroboam I, Jeroboam II, Moses, Aaron, and Jacob/Israel. Along the way we look at early Hebrew and West Semitic alphabetic inscriptions with the brilliant Seth Sanders here to guide us. Check out Seth's blog here: https://sethlsanders.wordpress.com/ Bibliography: Christian Frevel - 'History of Ancient Israel'; Mario Liverani - 'Israel's History and the History of Israel'; Shinan & Zakovitch - 'From Gods to God'; Finkelstein & Silberman - 'The Bible Unearthed'; Theodore J. Lewis - 'The Origin and Character of God'; Van der Toorn et al - 'Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible'; Esther Hamori - 'God's Monsters'; David Wright - 'Inventing God's Law'; Robert Alter - 'The Hebrew Bible: A Translation With Commentary'; Youn Ho Chung - 'The Sin of the Calf'; Coogan & Metzger - 'The Oxford Companion to the Bible'; John E. Anderson - 'Jacob and the Divine Trickster'; Seth L. Sanders - 'The Invention of Hebrew'; Other Bible quotations taken from the NRSVue and the JPS Jewish Study Bible with adaptations https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-depiction-of-jeroboam-and-hadad-as-moses-like-saviors https://www.abibledarkly.com/2021/06/golden-calves-israels-origins.html

This week, we're talking about the historical Solomon, the city of Jerusalem, and the practice of slavery as described in the Bible and practiced in Ancient West Asia. Special guest Dr. Josh Bowen stops by to talk about all things slavery, debt servitude, and corvee labor. Digital Hammurabi website: https://www.digitalhammurabi.com/ Digital Hammurabi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digital_hammurabi/ Digital Hammurabi Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/digitalhammurabi/ Bibliography: Joshua Bowen - 'Did the Old Testament Endorse Slavery?'; Drescher & Engerman - 'A Historical Guide to World Slavery'; Christian Frevel - 'History of Ancient Israel'; Joel Baden - 'The Historical David'; Finkelstein & Silbermann - 'The Bible Unearthed'; Coogan & Smith - 'Stories From Ancient Canaan'; Metzger & Coogan - 'The Oxford Companion to the Bible'; Van der Toorn et al - 'Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible'; 'The SBL Study Bible' https://www.mems-usa.org/blog/2020/11/19/a-deeper-take-on-labor-trafficking https://www.aclu.org/news/prisoners-rights/prisoners-are-getting-paid-145-day-fight-california-wildfires https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-theft-2021-23/

Chris Wade, co-host and producer of "Chapo Trap House" and "And Introducing," joins to unravel King David's ascent from soldier to monarch. They explore the clash of history and legend surrounding David, including his rivalry with Saul and the complexities of his relationships. Insightful discussions touch on the evolution of Hebrew narratives, the political dynamics of ancient Israel, and how modern interpretations shape our understanding of biblical texts. Wade also shares personal reflections on religion and the significance of preserving historical narratives.