A Podcast of Biblical Proportions

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, is only the opening act of a very frustrating story. The only people who can fix it are Hollywood screenwriters. To join the tribe > https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon!   Join our tribe on Patreon! To...

In this special collaboration with Scott McAndless, a presbyterian minister and podcaster on Retelling the Bible, Scott dramatized the feud between Jeremiah and Shemaya, based on episode 41 - Baby Moses, the Rapper, and the Nehelamite. Very cool! To join the tribe > https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions To listen to Scott's episode about baby Moses > https://bit.ly/3ze50b9 Support our podcas...

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. Follow the incredible story of how it all (probably) went down. To support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is writte...

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 was a very talented and funny writer. Support the podcast on https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced b...

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 Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon. Support the podcast https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kidron

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 our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kidron

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 Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kidron

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 differences between those two books. Support the podcast https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kidron

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 of the book of Genesis. Their personal lives and their relationship is part of the first Biblical book. Support the podcast https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a...

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 deportations, the Library of Ashurbanipal, the rise of scribes - all these lead to Genesis in Gil's first summary episode for the book. Support the podcast https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon!   Join our tribe on P...

In the conclusion of Genesis, emotions run high as the family forgives and forgets, celebrating the reconciliation between former feuding Hebrew factions escaping Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem. Gil and Omri discuss. Support the podcast on https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is...

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 parodies biblical heroes and tropes, most likely written by Alexandrian Hellenistic Hebrews around the 200s BCE as a Hebrew version of Greek satire. No joke. Gil and Omri discuss. Support the podcast on https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions...

When reading Joseph's story in context and compiling the myriad Egyptian cultural appropriations and seamless incorporations of Egyptian motifs, it seems clear that this was written by and for an exiled Israelite elite that has been thoroughly and happily Egyptianized. Gil and Omri discuss. Support the podcast on https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our...

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 oblivious to his surroundings while dreaming of magical megalomaniac prophecies. Gil and Omri discuss. Support the podcast on https://www.patreon.com/biblicalproportions Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-ti...

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 of unity, gravitas, and wholeness. In comes mean Biblical tweets about how horrible the ancestors really are. Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is wr...

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 still see the same archetypes in stories today? Gil and Omri dive in to find out. Support our podcast on Patreon!     Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kidron

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 needs to work for food and shelter and for his uncle's daughters, and then for a percentage of the herd. On the open market - labor disputes are inevitable. Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon!     Join our tribe on Patreon! To...

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 biblical authors affect their writing. The bosses wanted Jacob to be in certain spots and get the lineages straight, and the writers filled the spaces with their own artistic and emotional world. Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patre...

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 hand, she's also hormonal and manipulative, so buyer beware! Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon!     Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kidron

The biblical authors portrayed the patriarch of the neighboring Edomites as an archetypical hunter-barbarian, in contrast to the more refined sedentary Jacob. Were they actually describing the desert and caravan Edomite culture? Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon!     Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kid...

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 himself be an angel or god himself. The editing job on this part to make it a coherent narrative is clearly visible. Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast...

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 versions are even more interesting and reveal two story-telling traditions that are ages apart. Support our podcast on Patreon! Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The podcast is written, edited and produced by Gil Kidron

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 that of his ancestors? Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon! Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information. Join our tribe on Patreon! To give Gil a one-time donation The po...

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 not have a book read by billions. From everything we know about the Philistines, how would they tell their own story? Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon! Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast....

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 Ishmael was a prominent character in the ancient world, even if he had to wait 1000 years to get his due when the Muslims officially adopted him into Arabdom. Gil and Omri discuss. Support our podcast on Patreon! Our GDPR privacy policy was upd...