Buried Bible Podcast

What if the “laws” in the Bible weren’t meant to function like modern legal systems at all? This episode launches a brand new series diving into ancient Near Eastern law—and why understanding this world is essential to understanding Scripture. Instead of jumping straight into the Bible, we step back into history to explore how law actually worked in the ancient world. Dr. Mark Chavalas breaks down...

Is the Book of Daniel really about predicting the future… or is it revealing something even bigger? Daniel Commentary: https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Chapters-International-Commentary-Testament/dp/0802875998 The conversation dives deep into one of the most debated books in the Bible—Daniel. With Dr. Aubrey Buster joining Dr. Mark Chavalas, the discussion explores authorship, prophecy, and how ancie...

What if you’ve been reading the Bible the wrong way your entire life? Rico Cortes joins us to share his journey from traditional teaching into his deep study of ancient cultures, covenants, and biblical backgrounds — and how that shift completely transformed his understanding and appreciation of Scripture. Together we explore how Western assumptions often distort the Bible's meaning, leading t...

Why didn’t God just abolish slavery? This episode tackles one of the hardest and most uncomfortable questions in the Bible—why slavery continues to appear in the New Testament without being directly abolished. Dr. Mark Chavalas explores key passages from Paul and Peter, examining how early Christians understood slavery within the Greco-Roman world and what the biblical authors were actually trying...

What was slavery in the New Testament world? This episode shifts the conversation onto the Greco-Roman world and New Testament slavery, examining how slavery actually functioned in that cultural context. Dr. Mark Chavalas critiques modern claims—like those in God's Ghostwriters by Candida Moss—that enslaved individuals played a major role in writing the New Testament, arguing that these ideas...

Does Exodus 21 really give permission to beat a slave—as long as they survive? One of the most controversial texts in the Old Testament is Exodus 21—but does it actually say what many people claim it says? In this episode, Dr. Mark Chavalas examines how Exodus 21 functions in context, why biblical law may work more like case verdicts than a modern code, and how the passage fits into the Bible’s la...

When the Old Testament talks about slavery, is the Bible approving it—or addressing a broken reality with legal remedies? This episode continues our series on slavery in the Old Testament by turning to some of the Bible’s hardest passages in Genesis, Deuteronomy, and Exodus 21. Dr. Mark Chavalas explores the world behind these laws, asking whether the “if…then” structure of biblical case law shoul...

What did slavery actually mean in the Old Testament world? Dr. Mark Chavalas turns to the Old Testament—especially Leviticus 25—to show that Israel’s slavery laws exist in the same broader ancient system, but with important theological differences tied to Genesis 1–2, the Exodus, and God’s concern for the vulnerable. The episode wrestles honestly with the hardest tensions in the text, especially t...

Dr. Mark Chavalas continues the slavery series by reading ancient Near Eastern legal texts and contracts to show that “slavery” wasn’t one simple category—it was fluid, layered, and often temporary, tied to debt, restraint, famine survival, marriage arrangements, and social rank. Then the real question comes into focus: if the biblical world shares the same environment, does Israel respond the sam...

What was slavery in the Ancient Near East & how does that differ from our modern understanding? Slavery is one of the most emotionally charged and morally difficult topics in Scripture. Dr. Mark Chavalas begins a new mini-series by starting with the Ancient Near Eastern world first, showing that “slavery” wasn’t one simple category but a wide spectrum (debt servitude, famine survival, war capt...

Did Genesis copy Gilgamesh — or is that the wrong question entirely? What if the Epic of Gilgamesh isn’t proof that Genesis copied — but proof that Genesis was responding? In this episode we are joined by Assyriologist & Biblical Scholar Adam Miglio (Wheaton College) to explore one of the most misunderstood relationships in the ancient world: Genesis 1–11 and the Epic of Gilgamesh. While most...

How did later Jewish tradition transform Melchizedek from a seemingly minor character into a cosmic figure? This wrap-up episode closes our Melchizedek mini-series by tracing how a brief priest-king character in Genesis 14 becomes a cosmic figure in later Jewish tradition—especially in Second Temple / Intertestamental Jewish writings and the Dead Sea Scrolls. We also look at how Hebrews 5 & 7...

When Genesis calls Melchizedek a priest of “El Elyon,” what is the text actually claiming? “El Elyon” (God Most High) shows up in Genesis 14 right at the center of the Melchizedek story—and it’s easy to assume that automatically equals Yahweh. The problem? That title isn’t exclusive to Yahweh—it appears in extra-biblical sources and broader ancient Near Eastern usage. In Genesis 14, Melchizedek in...

Who was Melchizedek really—and what does his name actually mean? Genesis 14 introduces Melchizedek with almost no explanation, yet later biblical writers elevate him into one of the most theologically significant figures in Scripture. This episode slows down and asks a simple question: does Melchizedek’s name tell us more about his identity than we’ve assumed? Dr. Mark Chavalas examines Melchizede...

Who was Melchizedek — a priest of Yahweh, a Canaanite king, or a Christ-like figure? This episode begins a new series on Melchizedek, one of the most confusing and debated figures in the Bible. Starting in Genesis 14, Dr. Mark Chavalas examines the ancient Near Eastern war narrative and shows that Melchizedek originally appears as a seemingly minor, historical king–priest figure, not a cosmic bein...

Was the Star of Bethlehem a miracle in the night sky—or an astrological “birth report” that only trained Magi would’ve understood? This wraps our Christmas mini-series by diving straight into the Michael Molnar hypothesis: Matthew’s “star” may function like a royal natal horoscope pointing to Judea. That one shift reframes multiple “odd” details in Matthew 2—why the Magi saw the star “in the East,...

Can astrology help us understand Matthew 2 & the star of Bethlehem? Dr. Mark Chavalas continues our Christmas series on the Star of Bethlehem, diving into a topic that might ruffle some feathers: ancient Near Eastern astrology. Far from modern horoscopes and pop mysticism, this episode explores astrology as it existed in the Mesopotamian, Jewish, and Greco-Roman worlds, and why it may be essen...

What if the “Star of Bethlehem” wasn’t what you think it was? In this Christmas-themed episode of the Buried Bible Podcast, Dr. Mark Chavalas dives into Matthew 2 and the famous story of the Magi and the Star—but through the lens of the ancient world. Who were the Magi really? Why does Matthew use language that sounds… astrological? And why would these men go to Jerusalem first instead of Bethlehe...

Did Joshua 10 really say the sun and moon literally stopped — or have we missed what an ancient reader would’ve heard immediately? We conclude our deep dive into Joshua 10:12–15, one of the most debated miracle passages in the Old Testament. The conversation centers on whether the famous line about the sun standing still over Gibeon and the moon over the Valley of Aijalon should be read as a mirac...

What did the “sun standing still” mean to an ancient audience? In Joshua 10, the Bible describes one of its most debated moments—a battle where the sun and moon appear to stop in the sky. But before asking how this happened, this episode asks a more foundational question: how would an ancient reader have understood this text? In this episode of the Buried Bible Podcast, Dr. Mark Chavalas explores...

There is so much more happening in the flood story than most readers ever realize — so what questions should we actually be asking about Noah’s flood? In this wrap-up Q&A episode, Dr. Mark Chavalas wrestles with the difficult questions left in the flood narrative — the ones most people avoid. Was the flood global or local? Who were the Nephilim, and why are they before and after the flood? Did...

What does it mean when Genesis says God “repented” for making humanity? Did God change His mind? Is this an anthropomorphism? A metaphor? A translation issue? Or something far deeper — about divine emotion, justice, and mercy? Today, Dr. Mark Chavalas takes a bunny trail in the Flood narrative by diving into one of the most difficult and most misunderstood verses in the entire Old Testament: God “...

Are the “contradictions” in the flood story proof that Genesis is sloppy—or are they actually clues to a hidden literary design? In today’s episode of the Buried Bible Podcast, Keagan Walz and Dr. Mark Chavalas explore one of the most controversial claims about the Bible: that the Genesis Flood narrative is inconsistent, repetitive, or stitched together from conflicting sources. But what if the Fl...

Did the Bible describe a global flood—or was it a local event misunderstood by moderns? In this episode of The Buried Bible Podcast, Dr. Mark Chavalas continues a deep dive into the Flood narrative of Genesis, exploring divine intent, God’s sorrow, and the striking differences between the biblical account and Mesopotamian flood stories. This episode wrestles with questions about divine justice, me...

Did the Bible Copy the Flood Story? In this episode, we continue our deep-dive into the story of the Flood—this time examining the Mesopotamian flood traditions that existed long before the Bible’s account in Genesis 6–9. Dr. Chavalas unpacks the Atrahasis Epic and Gilgamesh Tablet XI, explaining how these ancient stories describe quarrelling gods, unjust creation, and a flood brought on by divine...