Hebrew Bible Insights

Jacob has a mysterious encounter with a figure in the middle of the night that is a key event in his life. The story is ambiguous about who he wrestles. Dr. Daniel Bunn did his PhD Dissertation on the topic and shared his research with us in this episode. Prefer YouTube? Check out the YouTube version here: https://youtu.be/mf9manVkMuY  Daniel Bunn's "The Good Book Podcast" WHERE TO...

Dr. Pete Myers talks about his most recent project: A Hebrew Reader for the Psalms: 40 Beloved Texts. Pete read 40 of the Psalms comparing every word between two manuscripts, analyzing every word down to not just to the vowels but also the diacritical marks. This kind of research leads to excellent insights that he shares with us in this episode. Pete approaches his scholarship and teaching with p...

Lenore Mullican grew up in Israel from the mid 40s to the mid 50s as a missionary kid. She was a nurse in Gaza during the 70s before moving to the US to teach modern and Biblical Hebrew for over 30 years. Matthew and Nathan both learned Hebrew from Lenore who they call "Morah" (the Hebrew word for teacher). She has been a mentor to countless students about how to walk faithfully with God...

I introduce our new permanent Cohost, Dr. Nathan French. We discuss the heart and vision of where we are going. We have a website! Check it out here to learn more about us and a “one stop shop” that makes sharing our content easy. We have links to all of our content platforms there. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.--- Support this podca...

See below for info about how to get Netanel’s Hebrew Alphabet course for free! Netanel Barak is an Israeli who has been teaching Biblical Hebrew to people all over the world for well over a decade. Netanel has an infectious joy for life and Scripture that pours into everything he does. In addition to teaching Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, Netanel is a husband, father of 6 children, the cantor at hi...

What are the rewards of learning Biblical Hebrew? Catherine McDowell gives substantive, meaningful answers and examples. Some responses to this question can unfortunately become technical, vague, or shallow. McDowell’s book gives real examples from a depth of academic knowledge, but delivers the information in an engaging and clear way. If you are studying or teaching Biblical Hebrew, this is a mu...

I interview Nathan French (Ph. D. Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East) about his Ph. D. Dissertation on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He shares the history of how the tree has been interpreted, walks us through his research strategy, and then shares his unique contribution to this area of research. He traces the phrase "knowledge of good and evil" throughout the Hebrew B...

In this episode I read Genesis 12 in Hebrew and in English. Instead of just listening to your "chapter of the day" in English, you can listen to it in Hebrew and in English along with some thoughts that I have on the chapter. Whether you just enjoy hearing the sound of the Hebrew language, are learning Hebrew, or are excellent at Hebrew, this is an episode that you will enjoy. In this ch...

We take a short break from focusing on the Hebrew Bible to have a great conversation with Dr. Jeff Voth about his new book about one of the greatest influencers of the last century: C.S. Lewis!"Why Lewis?: Seven Reasons Why C. S. Lewis is the Second Most Influential Author in Modern Christian History" by Dr. Jeff Voth. Dr. Voth is a Professor of Practical Ministry at Oral Roberts Univers...

Dr. Chris Dost is a biblical scholar, language expert, and pastor. He has a gift for discussing incredibly complicated (but important!) topics in Biblical scholarship in a clear way without sacrificing depth. Our conversation covers a number of topics: languages, Targums, BHQ (the newest immense project of comparing Hebrew and translation language manuscripts of the Old Testament), and more. If yo...

Dr. Nathan French has a PhD in Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East from the University of Aberdeen. He has spent his entire academic career studying or teaching on these subjects. Dr. French is passionate about guiding his students through the geographical, cultural, and historical context of the Hebrew Bible. A fun fact that might make you feel jealous: he received his masters degree from Hebr...

Dr. Sonya Cronin has a PhD in Religions of Western Antiquity, focusing on Biblical Studies. She is also a huge fan of fantasy literature. Sonya taught one of the most popular courses at Florida State University: Religion and 20th Century Fantasy Literature. A truer lover of stories, Sonya brings everything from Tolkien to the Bible to life. In our conversation Sonya talks about: How she grew up as...

Josh is back for part 2! Josh did his undergraduate degree in Ministry. He is currently the Director of Education at a church in Tulsa and is working on a masters degree in Biblical Literature. Josh and I continue our conversation from last time about Psalm 42-43. We pick up where we left off at 42:5 and finish all the way through Psalm 43. In this episode, we discuss the structure of the poem, th...

I bring in a new co-host for this episode! Josh did his undergraduate degree in Ministry. He is currently the Director of Education at a church in Tulsa and is working on a masters degree in Biblical Literature.0:00-16:59 Intro, Proverbs glitch on tablet, Apocalyptic literature, Josh’s love of Abraham Heschel, and a tease for my masters thesis that I’m writing.17:00-End Psalm 42-43--- Support this...

Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith has a fantastic scene with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker that powerfully illustrates how heroes in the Hebrew Bible work, especially the first hope figure of the Bible: Cain.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matthew9793/support Join our Bible Study: https://www.patreon.com/hebrewbibleinsights WHERE TO FIND US Support us...

I interview Chad Bird about his new book “Unveiling Mercy: 365 Daily Devotions Based on Insights from Old Testament Hebrew.” Chad is a Scholar in Residence at 1517. He has served as a pastor, professor, and guest lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew. He holds master’s degrees from Concordia Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College. He has contributed articles to Christianity Today, The Gospel...

Why is Jesus’ name “Jesus”? The meaning of His name leads us straight to the heart of the Gospel.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matthew9793/support Join our Bible Study: https://www.patreon.com/hebrewbibleinsights WHERE TO FIND US Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hebrewbibleinsights YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLRSNQ7xVw7PjQ5FnqYmSDA W...

If Exodus was a 2 hour movie, most Christians only watch the first 45 minutes. As you can imagine, that creates some problems for learning what this story is all about. In this episode, I talk about three ideas that are important for understanding the big picture story of Exodus and how it impacts our lives. HBI Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hebrewbibleinsightsHBI Facebook: https://www.facebook...

Psalm 113 is one of my new favorite Psalms! This Psalm takes us on a tour of the universe to show us how awesome God is, but then it takes an unexpected turn to highlight one of the most important character traits of God: loving the people in the lowest places of society. This poem leads to me awe of God, inspires me to love like never before, and fills me with God's love for us. HBI Patreon:...

I talk with New Testament and Judaic Origins of Christianity scholar, Katia Motzeva-Gutierrez, about the parable of the Good Samaritan. The only thing better than a story that you don't know is a story that you think you know. That's how I felt when I first heard Katia talk about the Good Samaritan. I knew in that moment that I had to have her on the show. We only scratch the surface in...

I talk with guest, Jonathan Finley, who is passionate about showing how the Old and New Testament is a unified story. We talk about some fascinating research that he has done about how the resurrection story of Jesus is connected to the Garden of Eden. If you love an in depth Bible study, this is for you! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matthew9793/support Join ou...

One of the benefits of understanding the Hebrew Bible is that we are able to see more depth and meaning in New Testament stories. Peter’s “Food Nightmare” is one of those stories! We talk about Peter’s famous vision, food laws, and its connection to outreach. In the end I talk about how we can use our gifts to create a better community. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/...

Ruth is one of the more popular stories in the Hebrew Bible. It’s one of the few narratives where a woman is one of the main characters. Yet there is something about this story that modern readers almost always miss that keeps us from seeing how shocking and inspiring this story really is. Once we learn about some of the “bad guys” of the Hebrew, this story will leap off of the first page, changin...

America is in one of the worst racial tensions in many generations. Racism and mistreating minorities has unfortunately been a constant problem in the history of humanity. Sin truly pervades all parts of society. How do we as Christians respond to everything that is going on and think about this perennial problem? Does the Bible have anything to say about this important subject? In this series, we...

In today’s episode we continue our conversation from last episode. So if you haven’t listened to that, you’ll want to do that before listening to this one. In this conversation, we take a look at one of the most powerful rulers of the ancient world. Before Greece and Persia, Babylon was the powerhouse of the Middle East. It’s ruler in the 6th century BC was Nebuchadnezzar (the guy responsible for...