Tyndale House Podcast

In this episode, Peter Williams, Principal of Tyndale House, explains how names can help us to assess the historical reliability of the Gospels. By looking at name records we can see what the most popular names were outside of the Gospels at the same time and place. Peter then compares these with the names we see in the Gospels to see whether they line up. He and Tony also discuss Jesus calling hi...

In this episode, Tony chats to James Bejon and Josh Meynell about strange or animal-related names that we find in the Bible. Some of the names in the Bible strike us as having curious meanings. For example, Caleb means ‘dog’, Nun means ‘fish’, and Abel means ‘vapour’. What are we to make of these names? James, Josh, and Tony work through some of these examples and some from the wider ancient Near...

In this episode, Tony asks Caleb Howard and James Bejon why we have genealogies in the Bible and how we should make sense of them. They discuss how the Old Testament is unique in ancient literature in the way it lays out genealogies. They also explore how it can give us a clear account of the people of Israel from Adam through to the exile, by looking at some genealogies in the book of 1 Chronicle...

In this episode, George Heath-Whyte and James Bejon chat with Tony about the use of divine names in the ancient world and in the Bible.  What did the Babylonians call their gods? What did the names of the Babylonian gods mean? Why did the Israelites go from calling God 'El-Shaddai' to 'Yahweh'? How did the worship of Yahweh in the Old Testament compare to idol worship in the an...

In this episode, George Heath-Whyte and James Bejon chat with Tony about a range of difficult questions surrounding the book of Daniel:  What is the significance of Daniel and his friends having their names changed in Daniel 1?  What do their new Babylonian names mean?  Why is there no mention of Belshazzar as king of Babylon in the official records?  Who was Darius the Mede? Hear answers to these...

In this episode Tony sits down with David Tsumura, who is a professor emeritus in Old Testament studies at Japan Bible Seminary.   David is a familiar face at Tyndale House having visited several times over nearly 40 years. He lived on site for two years from 1986 while working on a Tyndale House research project on Genesis 1–11. In this interview he shares how he went from studying economics to t...

In this episode, Tony continues his conversation with writer-in-residence, Christopher Ash, on his new four-volume commentary on the Psalms. They discuss how Christ would have prayed the Psalms during his earthly life, the structure of the 5 books of the Psalms, and how we approach different genres of psalms such as imprecatory psalms.  This is part 2 of the interview and you can catch up on part...

In this episode, Tony interviews our writer-in-residence, Christopher Ash, on his new 4 volume commentary on the Psalms. Christopher shares how he came to write the commentary, the importance of the psalms, and why he thinks that the Psalms are inseparable from Christ. This is part 1 of the interview and part 2 will be released next week. The Commentary is available to order now: The Psalms: A Chr...

In this episode Tony Watkins sits down with biblical scholar, Ahreum Kim, who has been a reader at Tyndale House on and off since 2019 when she came here during her MPhil. She has since completed her PhD which focused on the letter of 1 John and the Greco-Roman context it was written in. She and Tony discuss her PhD, why it’s so important to understand the context of New Testament letters, and wha...

In this episode, Tony, James, and Caleb continue discussing name changes in the Bible, but this time with a focus on throne names. They look first at how kings in the ancient world often changed their name when they became king, before then focusing on Old Testament kings and the significance of their throne names. Edited by Tyndale House  Music – Acoustic Happy Background used with a standard lic...

Please note: This episode contains a mention of birth trauma within the biblical narrative In this episode, Tony, James, and Caleb discuss name changes in the patriarchal narratives. They look at how common it was for names to be changed in the ancient world, as well as the significance of the name changes within the biblical narrative.  Edited by Tyndale House  Music – Acoustic Happy Background u...

In this episode, Tony sits down with James and Caleb again to look at the names of the foreign kings mentioned in Genesis 14 and to see how they fit in with what we know of those places from extra-biblical sources.  At 10:44 Caleb says Southeastern Iran but he meant Southwestern Iran. At 19:06 Tony meant Genesis 9 but he meant Genesis 11. Edited by Tyndale House  Music – Acoustic Happy Background...

Content warning: please note this episode contains a brief mention of rape within the biblical narrative, as well as a comment about birth trauma in the Ancient World.  In this episode, Tony Watkins continues working through the biblical narrative of Jacob's sons being born, with Caleb Howard and James Bejon. They discuss what the sons' names mean and how they relate to their birth conte...

In this episode, Tony Watkins digs into the names of Jacob’s sons with Caleb Howard and James Bejon, who are both working on the Tyndale House Old Testament project. Starting at Genesis 29 they work through the biblical narrative of the sons being born and discuss the meaning of their names. In this episode, they cover the first four sons, and in the following episode they will cover the next seve...

Episode 2 of our podcast series on Ancient Names. In this episode, Tony, George, and Caleb discuss naming practices from the Bible and the ancient world and compare them with practices today. Please note: at 17:34 Tony Watkins says 'one of Aaron's children is Eliezer'. This is incorrect, Aaron has a son called Eleazar, and Moses has a son named Eliezer (see Exodus 18:1-4).  Edited b...

This new series takes a deep dive into names in the Bible with the help of members of our Old Testament team.  In this first episode, Tony Watkins speaks to Dr Caleb Howard and Dr George Heath-Whyte, both members of our Old Testament team.  They explain what the decade-long project on Old Testament names is seeking to do at Tyndale House, and they also give a taste of some of the ways we can have...

In this interview Tony Watkins, Fellow for Public Engagement at Tyndale House, interviews Barry Danylak, Executive Director of SEE Global, about his new book, Paul and Secular Singleness in 1 Corinthians 7 .  Barry shares about the research he has done looking at extra-biblical sources from around the time Paul wrote to the Corinthians. He describes what family structures would have been like, bas...

In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton is joined by Dr Ros Clarke to talk about how we read poetry and allegory in the Old Testament. We focus in on Chapter 5 of the Song of Songs as Ros helps us to unpack some of the richness and beauty of Old Testament poetry.  Please note that this episode does include discussion of sexual violence.  Reading list: Forty Women: Unseen women of the Bible from Eden to...

In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton is joined by Dr Daniel Block to look at Old Testament law and instruction. This episode’s text is Deuteronomy Chapter 27 and the instruction to set up the stones on Mount Ebal, as Daniel demonstrates how even after 50 years of study the biblical text might still have surprises for us. Dr Daniel Block is Gunther Knoedler Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Wheato...

In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton is joined by the Revd Dr Helen Paynter to look at horror and violence in the Old Testament. Helen walks us through one of the Old Testament’s “Texts of Terror”—the notorious 19th chapter of the book of Judges and explores how we can bring humility and empathy to the way we read the Bible.  Content note: Please note this episode contains extended discussion about...

In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton is joined by James Bejon to talk about lists, names and genealogies in the Old Testament. Andrew and James take a look at Judges chapters 10 and 12 to talk about messy families, the significance of Biblical names, and to ask: How do we make sense of the Old Testament, particularly in the more unexciting moments? James Bejon is a PhD candidate at the University of...

In this second series Dr Andrew Ollerton meets with academics and researchers from the Tyndale House network to discuss how they approach the Old Testament and wrestle with its trickier passages. Each episode focuses in on a different text from the Old Testament, as we explore the reading processes and practices that researchers bring to their own Bible reading. In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton...

This episode is one of a number of standalone episodes we will be doing where we will interview readers, staff and visiting scholars at Tyndale House as well as scholars who we have links with. We will hear about the research they are doing and its relevance for the wider Church. In this episode, Tony Watkins, Fellow for Public Engagement at Tyndale House, sits down with Peter Williams, Principal...

In this final episode Dr Peter J Williams, Dr Dirk Jongkind and Dr Chee-Chiew Lee join us again for a final roundtable discussion with Dr Andrew Ollerton to discuss together how they each read the gospels and how academic scholarship can raise confidence in the gospel accounts. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the series so please do get in touch either on Twitter or email us communications@tynd...

In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton and Dr Peter J Williams discuss how we gauge trustworthiness in everyday life and how we approach the question of the credibility of the four Gospels. Dr Peter J Williams is Principal of Tyndale House. He received his PhD in the study of ancient languages related to the Bible from Cambridge University. His 2018 book, Can We Trust the Gospels? , examines evidence...