Hanukkah celebrates a miraculous event, when the eternal light of the temple burned for 8 days without being extinguished. In this special holiday episode, scholar Gregg Gardner tells Helen and Dave all about ancient oil lamps, including the magnificent and mysterious 7-branched menorah of the Second Temple.

If you'd like to make your own potato latkes for Hanukkah, try this recipe. Don't forget the apple sauce and sour cream (and crack a window).

GIVE (& RECEIVE) THE GIFT OF BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE

Dave's mom has a Hanukkah gift for all of our listeners! The first 5 people to email us will receive a free, 2-month subscription to the Time Travelers Club. And if you're looking for the perfect gift for a Bible history nerd, you can buy them a membership with a Biblical Time Machine Gift Card.

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

Most biblical scholars — including us! — are quick to dismiss the Nativity stories in Matthew and Luke as later theological additions. But what if there are important cultural and even historical memories handed down through these well-worn Christmas stories? According to our guest Joan Taylor, there may be much more to the Nativity stories than we ever thought.

Joan's new book, Boy Jesus: Growing Up Judaean in Turbulent Times,  will hit the shelves in February 2025, but you can pre-order your copy now. It's a fascinating read and an important addition to historical Jesus studies.

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December!

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

Every good churchgoer knows that after we die the faithful will be welcomed into a heavenly paradise and the baddies will be consigned to eternal damnation. But don't go looking for any of that stuff in the Bible! As our guest James Tabor explains, ancient people had very different conceptions of the afterlife, including the authors of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.

For more great stuff from James, check out his blog, JamesTabor.com and his YouTube channel. Here are some articles and books mentioned in today's episode:

• What The Bible Really Says About Death, Afterlife, and the Future (Part 1)
• What the Bible Really Says about Death, Afterlife, and the Future (Part 2)
• The Book of Genesis: A New Translation from the Transparent English Bible

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December!

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

Mary Magdalene is one of the most intriguing figures in the New Testament. She clearly held a special place in Jesus's heart and in his ministry, but that popularity also made her controversial. In today's episode, scholar Elizabeth Schrader Polczer presents compelling evidence that someone in the early Church tried to erase (and replace) Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John.

Check out Elizabeth's eye-opening journal article, "Was Martha of Bethany Added to the Fourth Gospel in the Second Century?"

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE!

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December!

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

Scholars have been searching for the Historical Jesus for centuries, but have they been looking in the wrong places? Chris Keith and James Crossley think it's high time to reimagine and reinvigorate the "quest" for the Historical Jesus, opening up the field to entirely new and exciting lines of inquiry.

Check out their new edited volume (featuring a chapter by Helen) The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus.

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE!

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December!

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

You're in for a treat. Israeli archeologist Oded Lipschits knows more than anyone about the archeology of the ancient Kingdom of Judah. In this episode, Dave and Helen travel back to the 8th century BCE and learn how the biblical authors interpreted (and reinterpreted) historical events to fit their changing theological and political realities.

If you like what you hear, check out Oded's podcast The Untold Story of the Kingdom of Judah. 

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE!

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December!

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

Marriage is between one man and one woman. Adultery is bad. (Prostitution is worse.) And divorce should be avoided at all costs. The Bible is perfectly clear on these and other moral topics, right? Ha! As our guest Jennifer Knust explains, the Bible is a product of the ancient world, where laws about sex, marriage, adultery and divorce had more to do with property than morality.

Check out Jennifer's terrific book, Unprotected Texts: The Bible's Surprising Contradictions About Sex and Desire. 

NEW COLLEGE FESTIVAL

If you're anywhere near Scotland from November 7-9, you're invited to attend the New College Festival "Books and Belief" at the University of Edinburgh. Come say Hi to Helen!

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE!

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December!

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

Just in time for Halloween, we're talking magic, incantation bowls and a pinch of necromancy with Gideon Bohak, author of Ancient Jewish Magic: A History.

NEW COLLEGE FESTIVAL

If you're anywhere near Scotland from November 7-9, you're invited to attend the New College Festival "Books and Belief" at the University of Edinburgh. Come say Hi to Helen!

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE!

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December!

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

Across the Ancient Near East, it was common to offer food and sacrifices to appease dead ancestors and "hangry" ghosts, but the Hebrew Bible is largely silent on interactions between the living and the dead. Our guest Kerry Sonia pieces together archeological evidence with clues from the Bible to paint a picture of what she calls the "cult of dead kin" in Ancient Israel.

If you like today's episode, check out Kerry's book Caring for the Dead in Ancient Israel.

NEW COLLEGE FESTIVAL

If you're anywhere near Scotland from November 7-9, you're invited to attend the New College Festival "Books and Belief" at the University of Edinburgh. Come say Hi to Helen! 

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE!

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The second meeting of the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK! Members of the Time Travelers Club are invited for a live Zoom discussion of James McGrath's book, Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist. Grab a copy of the book and we'll see you in December!

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle.

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos

In the 1st century, very few people "read" the Hebrew scriptures. Instead, they were "heard" — read aloud (or performed) in the synagogue and other spaces. In this episode, Catrin Williams joins Helen and Dave to discuss "ancient media culture," the different ways that people consumed biblical texts in the time of Jesus, and how literacy, orality and "aurality" were in constant conversation.

If you're curious, here's the mysterious Greek/Hebrew amulet that was found near Caernarvon fort in Wales. Catrin will get to the bottom of it.

SUPPORT BIBLICAL TIME MACHINE!

If you like the podcast, please consider supporting the show through the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon. We love making the show, but since we don't run ads we rely on listener contributions to cover our costs. Please help us continue to showcase high-quality biblical scholarship with a $5/month subscription.

BTM BOOK CLUB

The next book in the Biblical Time Machine Book Club will be Christmaker: A Life of John the Baptist by James McGrath. James will join the members of the Time Travelers Club for a live Zoom discussion in December. Date TBD! 

DOWNLOAD OUR STUDY GUIDE: MARK AS ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY

Check out our 4-part audio study guide called "The Gospel of Mark as an Ancient Biography." While you're there, get yourself a handsome Biblical Time Machine mug or a cool sticker for your water bottle. 

Support the show

Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos