Shows / A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
You can learn a lot about authors from the stories they write. Even biblical authors. Biblical authors were regular people, like you and I, even though their stories, poems and laws have gone on to shape our world. They lived in very dramatic times, which is why their texts are so dramatic. Join Hebrew-speaking writer and editor Gil Kidron on a journey of biblical proportions, going over the biblical books in order, and leaving no stone unturned
Episodes
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
Collab: The Tsadokite Gene
Scientists have found that people with the last name Cohen (priest, in Hebrew) disproportionally share a common gene, which scientists named the "Aaron gene."…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
54 - The King Did It, part 2
After learning that a Hebrew king was to blame for the elimination of the fictional Tsadok from Exodus, we resume our investigation by interrogating our four…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
Collab: The Tsadokites vs The World
In the 100s BCE, a popular Hebrew revolt ended up with an independent Hebrew state. Garry Stevens from History in the Bible Podcast joins Gil to discuss the…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
53 - The King Did It, part 1
Someone ordered massive editing of Exodus and a massive marginalizing of Aharon. Who would have the motive to do that? The answer: the king did it. To support…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
52 - The Very Suspicious Wingman
Aharon is suddenly and suspiciously introduced into the narrative of Exodus, and everything about him seems like an editing job. Someone was the victim of an…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
Collab: New Archeological Research Validates my Theories
A new archeological study proves that the Maccabees shaped the worship related to Exodus, which proves what we have been talking about on this podcast - that…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
51 - FYI, I Saved You
In Exodus chapter 6, we have another version of the first meeting between Moses and Yahweh, as the latter gives the former his mission. Even though they are in…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
50 - The Egyptian Dystopia
In Exodus chapter 5, Moses meets the Pharaoh for the first time and demands that he let the Hebrews worship Yahweh in the desert, or else! Or else Yahweh will…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
49 - Upgrading Exodus
How do you take four different Exodus stories with four different Moseses, and turn them into one coherent narrative? Let's admire the editing that turned…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
48 - The Babylonian Writer
Let's get to know the original writer of Exodus, and his very insecure and delicate-hearted Moses. Join the tribe on Patreon to support the podcast Join our…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
47 - A God by Any Other Name
When Moses meets God for the first time on his mountain, he asks for clarity about God's name. Which God is He? The answers are more surprising than you think…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
46 - Proving You're on a Mission From God
In Exodus chapters3 and 4, Moses and God workshop together six ways that Moses could convince the Hebrews he's not lying to the Hebrews when he says God sent…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
45 - Creating the Pact
After learning that Ezra the scribe priest was the one who wrote in Exodus about God remembering his pact with Abraham, we go back to see what is this pact all…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
44 - Renewing the Ancient Pact
When we read in sequence the Exodus story written by a priestly scribe, a completely new version of the well-known story immerges. A vague story about a pact…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
43 - King Baby Moses
Before we go back to the narrative of Exodus, we still have one great mystery to uncover about the stories we went over so far: how did the Baby Moses story…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
Clash of Civilizations: Hebrews vs Hellenists
When the Hebrew Maccabees clash with the Hellenistic Seleucides, they don't realize that they hail from cultures that have been evolving separately for 3500…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
42 - The Maccabean Coincidence
Gil takes on the evidence that shows that the Maccabees added their own stories to Exodus. Join the tribe! Read Exodus according to the different sources. Our…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
41 - Schrödinger's Moses
The first time we meet grown-up Moses face to face, he bashes someone's face in. This weird opening to this episode's story, Exodus chapter 2, verses 11 to 15…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
Collab: Retelling the Bible
In this special collaboration with Scott McAndless, a presbyterian minister and podcaster on Retelling the Bible, Scott dramatized the feud between Jeremiah…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
40 - Baby Moses, the Rapper and the Nehelamite
The baby Moses story might be incredibly famous today, but it has somehow disappeared and reappeared in the time of the writing and compiling of the Bible…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
39 - The Evil Loser Egyptian King
The first chapter of Exodus contains three different stories written by three different people who lived at different times. Two of them were editors, and one…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
38 - What is Exodus
What is most important for us to understand Exodus? This is a collection of stories about a crisis of leadership, a crisis of faith, and the harsh life under…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
Big Changes to the Podcast
Omri has left the building, and Gil will hold the fort. Is it a building or a fort? Future generations will be puzzled. Support our podcast on Patreon! Join…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
Bonus: Genesis and the Sistine Chapel
How did the Genesis story painted in the Sistine Chapel by Michaelangelo come to be? Idan Ben Simon joins Gil to discuss. Join our tribe on Patreon! To give…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
37 - Genesis vs Exodus
As Gil says goodbye to the book of Genesis and looks ahead to the next book, Exodus, it is already clear that there is a lot to learn from the radical…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
36 - The Biblical Authors of Genesis
In Gil's second summary episode of Genesis, there is a mountain of evidence to suggest that Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch Ben Neriah are the Biblical authors…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
35 - Genesis: Inspired by Assyrian Events
How did the Assyrian dominance over the Ancient Near East put in motion a series of events that led to the writing of the stories of Genesis? Mass…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
34 - Happily Ever After in Egypt
In the conclusion of Genesis, emotions run high as the family forgives and forgets, celebrating the reconciliation between former feuding Hebrew factions…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
Special: Samson is A SATIRE IN THE BIBLE!
It turns out that if you read the Samson story (Judges 13-16) in Hebrew with comedic glasses - you realize it is an outrageously funny Greek satire that…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
33 - Joseph Walking Like an Egyptian
When reading Joseph's story in context and compiling the myriad Egyptian cultural appropriations and seamless incorporations of Egyptian motifs, it seems clear…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
32 - Here Comes Joseph
The final hero of the bible has an origin story that explains how he got to Egypt. Let's first focus on his humble beginnings, as a special boy who is…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
31 - Here Come the Tribes
We have arrived to an entirely new part of the book: a battle of narratives. Gone is the point of view of a single ancestor at a time, and gone is the pretense…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
30 - Rachel & Leah in Their Handmaid's Tale
Jacob has two wives and two concubines who produce the children who will grow up to be tribes. What made the stories of Jacob's four women so impactful that we…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
29 - Labor Disputes of Biblical Proportions
Genesis looks at two distinct classes: the boss and employee, the owner of the cattle, and the herder who tends to it. Jacob might be family, but he still…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
28 - Imagining the Writers of Jacob
The tales of Jacob out east with his uncle and family reveal more than any of the previous chapters how the minds, fears, wishes, and life experiences of…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
27 - Rebekah: Why You Can't Trust Women
Rivkah, Rebecca, or Rebekah is the most prominent female character in Genesis. She has her own motivations and desires, fears and insecurities. On the other…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
26 - Esau and the Edomites
The biblical authors portrayed the patriarch of the neighboring Edomites as an archetypical hunter-barbarian, in contrast to the more refined sedentary Jacob…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
25 - Jacob and the Supernatural
Jacob's interactions with his deity are very different from those of his forefathers - he dreams of angels, of ziggurats, and fights with a person, who might…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
24 - Jacob vs Jacob
The first two Jacob stories have a similar theme: Jacob outsmarts and out-maneuvers his twin brother Esau to get ahead. But the differences between the two…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
23 - Jacob: He's a Real Character
Jacob is nothing like his ancestors. He's not meek - he's a trickster, a liar, and a thief. What can we learn from the differences between his character and…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
22 - Isaac vs the Philistines
Even though they lost to the Babylonians, they managed to tell their own version of events.The Philistines lost too but their stories got lost because they did…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
21 - Call Me Ishmael
Abraham's firstborn was Ishmael, but according to the Hebrew story, he was the lesser son because his mom was an Egyptian slave. There are indications that…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
20 - They Call Me Isaac
You would think that the son of the first Hebrew patriarch, who was born out of a divine miracle, would be a substantial character. Well, he's mostly a pale…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
19 - The Death of Abraham
Abraham lived a full life. He traveled across the known world, pretended that his wife is his sister (she's his half-sister, so joke's on who?), built shrines…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
18 - The Super Important Marriage Deal
To fulfill the divine promise for Abraham to have his seed become a great people, his son Isaac needs a wife, so Abraham sends his top slave back home to the…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
17 - The War of the Nine Kings
The only honest-to-god heroics in the story of Abraham is the small part he played in a regional war between four Mesopotamian kings and five local Canaanite…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
16 - The Binding of Isaac
Yahweh and Abraham had a deal. But the god keeps demanding more and more and testing and prototypical follower. This is his toughest test yet, in a riveting…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
15 - Operation Sodom and Gomorrah
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah has remained iconic for thousands of years, incorporated enthusiastically by later "Abrahamic" religions. But looking at it in…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
14 - The Life and Death of Sarah
Sarah is Abraham's loyal wife, who up till the age of 90 has not "given him" a son. God/Yahweh solves this problem with some magic in a story that reveals much…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
13 - Abraham and Yahweh Strike a Deal
Abraham needs to leave his family and place of birth and show fielty to his deity, in return for protection. Abraham will need to prove his loyalty over and…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
12 - Abraham vs Other Founding Fathers
What kind of character is Abraham? What are his traits? What makes him so special that Yahweh chooses him? What does their partnership look like? There's so…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
11 - The Tower of Babbling
The Tower of Babel is another all-time famous story. Humans across the globe came to similar explanations for similar burning questions about why we people…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
10 - The Bible's First Cities
After learning about biblical physics, the natural world, and first professions, we now get to the biblical perspective on the most ancient cities of their…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
9 - Noah and the Flood: The Non-Hero
The epic story of Noah and the Flood has the two deities, Elohim and Yahweh, driving the plot. Noah is an extra in his story, his only role is following…
A Podcast of Biblical Proportions8 - Noah and the Flood: Historical Context
It is surprising how many cultures and religions in Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia, and the Americas have flood myths. Gil and Omri discuss…
A Podcast of Biblical Proportions7 - The Adam Family
What happened to the first human family? Who were they? How did they impact the world? Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon! Our GDPR privacy…
A Podcast of Biblical Proportions6 - Cain and Abel: The Oldest Conflict in the Book
Cain and Abel is an iconic story about competition between brothers for their father's attention, and also about the primordial conflict between nomadic and…
A Podcast of Biblical Proportions5 - The Garden of Eden Investigation
The story of Garden of Eden is a coming-of-age story, nostalgic to the days of hunter-gatherers. It is also a story about the legal right of men, women, and…
- A Podcast of Biblical Proportions
4 - Creation IV: Location, Location, Location
The second creation story has a very clear connection to the local geography and geopolitics: specifying rivers and kingdoms. It's anything but universal. We…
A Podcast of Biblical Proportions3 - Creation III: Say Hello to Yahweh
Yahweh joins our story. He creates the world in one day after God(s) created it in six days in the preceding chapter. That's weird. Who's this guy? Gil and…