If there is any biblical book which has something to say about wisdom, it is the Book of Proverbs. But what actually is Proverbs? Who wrote it? And what is its message about what a good life looks like? To get to the bottom of Proverbs, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Time Machine with Dr Ryan O'Dowd.

Ryan O'Dowd is Senior Academic Advisor at Chesterton House, Cornell University. He earned his PhD in Old Testament from the University of Liverpool and his many books include The Wisdom of Torah: Epistemology in Deuteronomy and the Wisdom Literature, a commentary on Proverbs, a co-authored volume, Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction, and The Preacher's Hebrew Companion to Deuteronomy. 

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

Your favourite time travelling podcast is back – for its fifth season!  

Join biblical scholar Helen Bond and ancient historian Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones in the Biblical Time Machine as they travel back in time (not very far... to the summer!) and forward for all that lies ahead in Season 5. 

Lloyd gives us some hints about what's in store with his upcoming book on the Hittites, and Helen discusses her work on Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

If you would like to access our bonus episodes and get 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. 

Helen and Lloyd have been on many adventures in the Biblical Time Machine this academic year. Season 4 has taken them across the ancient world – from the great Empires of Babylon and Persia to the early Church and beyond. They’ve explored what daily life was really like in biblical times, and waded into some of the biggest debates in cutting-edge scholarship with the help of leading academics. 

In this special episode, Helen and Lloyd look back on the highlights of the season, revisit some of their favourite conversations – and give a sneak-peak into Season 5! As we take a summer break and prepare for the next season, listen back and share with us your favourite moments from our conversations this year! 

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

Colossians is chock-full of historical and theological mysteries. Did the apostle Paul really write it? Who were the false teaches troubling the church at Colossae? And was is the meaning of its famous Christological ‘hymn’ – was it truly sung? To get to the bottom of all things Colossians, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Paul Foster.  

Paul Foster is Professor in New Testament Language and Literature at the University of Edinburgh. He has specialised on a range of writings in the New Testament and beyond, in particular the pre-gospel source ‘Q’, the Gospel of Matthew, Thessalonians, the Gospel of Peter and the Apostolic Fathers. His 2016 commentary on Colossoians is part of Black’s New Testament Commentary Series. 

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

Babylon is one of the most famous cities and empires in human history. To many people, it conjures images of Hanging Gardens, the Tower of Babel, Nebuchadnezzar, and the exile of the Jewish people. But how much of this is historical fact, and how much of it is later mythology? 

To get to the bottom of Babylon, Helen takes a trip in the time machine with our resident ancient historian, Professor Lloyd Lewellyn-Jones.

Helen asks Lloyd about his highly acclaimed new book, Babylon: The Mother of All Cities(2026), and discuss the theology, law codes, great texts and daily life of the Bible's most famous – or infamous – city. 

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

The Pharisees are among the most villainised groups in Jewish history. For centuries, Christians read them as legalists, religious hypocrites and bitter opponents of Jesus. But have we got the Pharisees all wrong? 

To find out, Lloyd takes a trip in the Time Machine with our resident expert, Helen Bond, Professor of Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. 

Drawing on a range of sources – from Josephus to the Dead Sea Scrolls – they construct a picture of the Pharisees beyond the stereotypes. Where did they come from? What did they believe? And how reliably do the gospels portray them. 

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

Imitation is a huge part of the human experience, as we imitate role models and loved ones. Oscar Wilde called it the 'highest form of flattery'. But what did imitation – or mimesis – look like in early Christianity? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the time machine with Professor Cornelis Bennema. They discuss what imitation meant in the ancient world, how the New Testament writers adapted the concept, and why Paul instructs his listeners to 'imitate me'. 

Dr Cornelis (‘Cor’) Bennema is Head of Research and Professor of New Testament Studies at the London School of Theology. His main research interests include the Johannine literature, character studies in biblical narrative and early Christian ethics. He is the author of a number of works on mimesis, most recently Imitation in Early Christianity: Mimesis and Religious-Ethical Formation (Eerdmans, 2025). 

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

Many of us think of the Bible as a book written in Hebrew and Greek, overlooking the important role of Aramaic—the lingua franca of much of the ancient Near East. In this episode, Helen and Lloyd climb into the Time Machine with Tawny Holm, one of the world's leading experts on Aramaic, to explore the language's history, literature, and cultural significance. Who spoke and wrote Aramaic? What kinds of texts were composed in it? And how can Aramaic literature beyond the Bible help us better understand the Aramaic passages within it?

Tawny M. Holm is Professor of Hebrew and Aramaic Studies at Penn State University. Her main research areas are the Hebrew Bible in its Ancient Near Eastern context, early Judaism and Aramaic studies. She is the author of Of Courtiers and Kings: The Biblical Daniel Narratives and Ancient-Story Collections (Eisenbrauns, 2013), and, most recently, Aramaic Literature from Egypt and the Levant, published in May 2026 in SBL’s series, Writings from the Ancient World (Volume 30). 

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

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).

Support the show

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.