When  Charles III is anointed with Holy Oil and enthroned as the God-appointed King of the UK, he'll take part of a tradition that dates back to Old Testament times. Ancient Israelite kings weren't gods like their neighbors in the ancient Near East and the prophets  blamed them for the Babylonian invasion and exile. But as our guest Madhavi Nevader explains, the Hebrew Bible presents many competing versions of Israelite kingship, some that are downright anti-monarchy and others that present the king as a shadow of a future messiah. 

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

Ancient harems were about much more than sex. They were the powerful realms of royal women — wives, consorts and concubines — where favored sons were positioned as future kings. What can the biblical account of David and Bathsheba tell us about the reality of ancient harems? A lot! says  return guest Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. 

Bathsheba, a victim of King David's lust, rises to become "queen mother," the most powerful position in the royal courts of the ancient Near East. Lloyd explains how David and Bathsheba's famous story is at once the product of ancient literary motifs and the real-life exploits of harem life. 

• Attention British listeners (and world travelers)! Visit the British Museum in London from May 4 - August 13 to see an amazing exhibit that Lloyd helped curate called Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece
• Read Lloyd's latest book, Persians: The Age of the Great Kings
• Email us with your episode suggestions

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

For our final Easter episode, Helen and Dave tackle the biggest Easter "baddie" of them all, Judas Iscariot. Everyone knows that Judas betrayed Jesus, but... did he? The gospels, as usual, each put their own twist on Judas, and there's compelling evidence that the character of Judas may have been borrowed from an earlier betrayal tradition involving King David. To clear it all up, we welcome special guest Paul Middleton, professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Chester. 

• Keep emailing us your episode ideas. We are using them and will give you a shout out on air!
• Find us on Twitter @BibleTimeMach
• Please rate and review Biblical Time Machine on your podcast app — it helps more listeners find us

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

For centuries, historians have been trying to pinpoint the exact date of the Crucifixion, but biblical math is tricky! As Helen and Dave explain in today's third Easter episode, the gospels aren't in agreement on when Jesus died. Did different  traditions about Jesus's death and resurrection exist in the ancient world? Or do the different dates reflect different theological messages that the gospel authors were trying to send? As usual, we get to the bottom of it (or at least come to some moderately satisfying conclusions). 

• Read Helen's great article: "Dating the Death of Jesus"
• Keep emailing us your episode ideas. We are using them and will give you a shout out on air!
• Find us on Twitter @BibleTimeMach
• Please rate and review Biblical Time Machine on your podcast app — it helps more listeners find us

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

In the second of four Easter episodes, Helen and Dave investigate the historical Pontius Pilate (or "Ponty P" as Helen calls him). What was Pilate's job in Roman-ruled Judaea? Was Jesus the only controversial messiah figure that Pilate had to contend with? And most importantly, how did Pilate end up buried at the bottom of a lake in Switzerland? 

• Read Helen's excellent book: Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation 
• See if you can catch the BTM debut of Helen's dog, Tessa, who briefly barks her approval in the background. Thanks, Tessa...
• Keep emailing us your episode ideas. We are using them and will give you a shout out on air!
• Find us on Twitter @BibleTimeMach
  
  
  
  
  

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

This Easter season, Helen and Dave are doing a series of episodes on the fascinating figures that appear in the Passion narratives of Jesus's trial, crucifixion and resurrection.  First up is Joseph Caiaphas, the High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple who — according to two of the gospels, at least — presided over the Jewish council that handed Jesus over to Pontius Pilate.

What was the role of the High Priest in the 1st century? Why would Caiaphas have perceived Jesus as a threat, religiously or politically? Helen will explain it all! To learn even more, read Helen's excellent book, Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus?

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

The modern Bible on your bookshelf is the product of centuries of human engagement with really (really!) old texts. Some of the oldest Greek manuscripts of individual books of the New Testament contain "scribbles" in the margins — commentaries, corrections and the occasional doodle.  Garrick Allen is fascinated by these "paratexts," all of the extra stuff in  manuscripts that show how ancient readers have shaped the scriptures we have today. We're thrilled to have Garrick as our special guest for this installment of Biblical Time Machine. 

• Read Garrick's book: Manuscripts of the Book of Revelation: New Philology, Paratexts, Reception
• Follow Garrick on Twitter
• Email us with your episode suggestions. (We've already received some great ones!)

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

The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament is nearly silent on the lives of ordinary women in the ancient world. Thankfully, we have intriguing clues from archeology and ethnography that help piece together  women's lives more than 3,000 years ago.  Special guest Carol Meyers doesn't think that Ancient Israelite society was a strict patriarchy — despite troublesome verses like the so-called "curse of Eve" — but that women exercised important economic, social, and ritual functions in home and village life. 

• Read Carol's book: Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context
• Enjoying Biblical Time Machine? Rate and review us on your favorite podcast app
• Email us with episode suggestions!

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

Return guest Matthew Novenson drops some absolute bombs in this eye-opening episode about messiahs.  Pretty much everything you've been told about ancient beliefs about the messiah is wrong (in varying degrees). As Matt patiently explains, many things got lost in translation (and transliteration) from the Hebrew mashiach to the Greek khristos to the English messiah/Christ. But a close reading of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament in their original languages reveals some stunning insights. Don't miss it!

While you're here, check out Matt's two excellent books about messiahs:

• Christ Among the Messiahs:  Christ Language in Paul and Messiah Language in Ancient Judaism
• The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users

Hey loyal listeners! If you like the podcast, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. It will help other people find us. Also, we'd love to hear your ideas for future episodes. Send us an email or reach out to us on Twitter @BibleTimeMach

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

It's easy to read the New Testament and think that Jesus's ministry and message ("grace, forgiveness, love") was somehow in stark opposition to Judaism ("the law, justice, purity"). In today's episode, guest Amy-Jill Levine explains how Jesus's teachings, actions and miracles fit squarely within 1st-century Jewish beliefs and practice, and why understanding Jesus's Jewishness is imperative for healing the centuries-old rift between Jews and Christians. 

Excellent books by Amy-Jill Levine:

• The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus
• The Jewish Annotated New Testament
• Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi

Support the show

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