The Bible Bar

Guest: Prof. John Day. In this episode, we explore one of the most intriguing and often misunderstood stories in the Bible: the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). What was so wrong with humanity coming together in unity? Why does God intervene—and what does this moment reveal about human nature, ambition, and the divine plan? Joined by Old Testament scholar Professor John Day (Oxford), we dig into the d...

Guest: Dr. Yigal Levin.  Genesis 10, often called the “Table of Nations,” traces the descendants of Noah’s sons and presents a structured account of humanity’s post-flood dispersion. Far from a simple list of names, the chapter functions as a conceptual map of peoples, lands, and relationships in the ancient world. This episode examines how genealogies operate in their biblical and ancient Near Ea...

Guest: Dr. Justin Reed. This episode examines Genesis 9:20–27, focusing on the account of Noah’s drunkenness and the subsequent curse of Canaan. Though brief, the passage presents a series of interpretive and ethical challenges that have generated sustained discussion. At the center of the narrative is Ham’s act of “seeing the nakedness of his father,” a phrase whose meaning remains uncertain. Int...

Guest: Dr. Michael LeFebvre. Genesis 8 suddenly starts sounding like a calendar. Specific days. Specific months. A sequence that feels unusually precise for a biblical narrative. But what if those dates aren’t just about tracking time? In this episode, Michael LeFebvre invites us to see these details in a completely different light. The dates in the flood story may actually line up with the agricu...

Guest: Dr. Gary Rendsburg.  In this episode, we step into one of the most well-known—and most debated—stories in Scripture: the flood of Genesis 7. But we’re not reading it in isolation. Ancient Mesopotamian texts like  The Epic of Gilgamesh  and  Atrahasis  also tell flood stories… and at first glance, the similarities are hard to ignore.  So what do we do with that? Are these stories essentially...

Guest: Dr. Richard Elliott Friedman. In this episode, we begin our reading of Genesis 6 and the opening of the flood story—a key text in source-critical scholarship. In the first half, we work through Richard Elliott Friedman’s well-know approach, which divides the narrative into distinct sources. We focus especially on his claim that these strands cohere internally, each reflecting a consistent t...

Guest: Dr. Eric Lawee.  Genesis 5 is one of the most unusual chapters in the Bible. It is a genealogy stretching from Adam to Noah, and nearly every figure is said to have lived for centuries. Methuselah famously reaches 969 years, but many others live well past 900. For modern readers, the question naturally arises:  what are we supposed to do with these ages? In this episode, we explore the long...

  Why does God accept Abel’s offering but reject Cain’s—and what might the story be deliberately leaving unsaid? Guest: Dr. Karolien Vermeulen. Genesis 4 tells one of the most famous—and troubling—stories in the Bible: the rivalry between Cain and Abel that ends in the first murder. But when we read the text carefully, the story raises more questions than answers. Why does God accept Abel’s offeri...

With Dr. Carol Meyers. Genesis 3:16 is often read as a statement about childbirth and labor pains—or as a divine mandate establishing male rule. But what if that’s not what the verse is primarily about? In this episode, Dr. Carol Meyers argues that Genesis 3:16 can only be properly understood within its ancient socio-economic context. In the world of ancient Israel, survival depended on household...

With Bill Arnold, Asbury Theological Seminary - In this episode, we explore two major themes in Genesis 2:  Sabbath  and  the creation of woman . We examine the parallels between creation and the Tabernacle, how Israel’s Sabbath differs from other ancient seven-day cycles, and how Sabbath functions as liberation from the economic order — restoring people to one another in covenant. We also unpack...

Guest: K. Lawson Younger Jr., Assyriologist.  In this episode of  The Bible Bar , we read Genesis 1 alongside ancient Near Eastern creation stories with K. Lawson Younger Jr., a leading Assyriologist. Drawing on texts from Mesopotamia and the wider ancient Near East, the conversation sets Genesis 1 in its ancient world and explores what makes the biblical account distinctive.  Along the way, we ta...