Biblical Time Machine

The book of Judges gives us some of the most intriguing and tragic characters in all of the Hebrew Bible: Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson. But what did it mean to be a 'judge' in ancient Israel? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Dr Brandon Hurlbert.
Dr Brandon Hurlbert (PhD, Durham University) is a teaching fellow in Hebrew Bible and Ethics at Durham University. His thesis explored the possibilities of reading the book of Judges as Christian Scripture. He is a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Biblical Violence and co-host of The Two Cities Podcast, and his other research interests include the Bible and Film and biblical reception history. 
If you would like access to our bonus episode and the chance to be a backstage guest, consider joining our Time Traveller's Club at patreon.com/biblicaltimemachine for just $5 a month (think of it as $1.25 per episode).
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Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

King David is one of the most familiar figures in the Bible. Most people know him as the shepherd boy, the Psalmist and the underdog who steps up to defeat Goliath. But is this only one side to a much darker story? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Professor David Shepherd, who argues that David is not only a man of war, but a 'man of blood.' 
David J. Shepherd is Professor in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Trinity College Dublin and founding director of the Trinity Centre for Biblical Studies. Among his many academic monographs, he is the author of King David, Innocent Blood, and Bloodguilt (OUP, 2023). 
If you would like access to our bonus David episode and the chance to be a backstage guest, consider joining our Time Traveller's Club at patreon.com/biblicaltimemachine for just $5 a month (think of it as $1.25 per episode). 
Support the show
Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

We tend to imagine that the gospels were written by Christians for other Christians. But this week, Helen and Lloyd take a trip with Dr Daniel Glover, who has argued that the figure we now call Luke was writing for a cadre of well-educated, cultural elites. This in turn shapes the way that he presents Jesus, conforming to a range philosophical and mythological tropes. 
Daniel B. Glover is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Lee University. His research focuses on early Christianity within its broader Greco-Roman and ancient Mediterranean context, especially Luke–Acts, early Christology, deification, and ancient religion. Glover is the author of Patterns of Deification in the Acts of the Apostles (2022) and Jesus and Other Sons of God ( 2025), where he explores how Luke presents Jesus in dialogue with ancient Mediterranean ideas about divinity. 
In this's week bonus episode, Dr Glover discusses the dating of Luke-Acts. 
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Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

When we think of the Bible in the ancient world, we tend to think of bishops, priests and monks. But what did 'ordinary' people make of the Bible – and how did they engage with it? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Prof Lucy Grigg, an expert on ancient popular culture. 
Lucy Grig is Professor of the History of Late Antiquity at the University of Edinburgh. Among her many publications, she is the editor of ‘Popular Culture in the Ancient World’ (CUP, 2017) and has written on ‘The Bible in popular and non-literary culture’ as part of The New Cambridge History of the Bible (2013). 
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Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.

The Song of Songs might be considered the Bible's steamiest book. But where would it sit on an ancient book shelf? Should we call it 'erotica'? And how did the book come to be associated with Solomon? To get to the bottom of this peculiar book, Helen and Lloyd are joined in the Biblical Time Machine by Professor Adele Berlin. 
Adele Berlin is the Robin H. Smith Professor of Biblical Studies (Emerita) at the University of Maryland. She is the author of Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, and the co-editor of The Jewish Study Bible with Marc Brettler. She has also written the Song of Songs commentary in the Hermeneia series. 

 
Support the show
Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.