Heroic stories like David and Goliath were told for centuries before they were written down. But the creative storytelling process didn't end there. Written texts were "performed" and improvised upon, creating new variations that made it into later texts. The Bible that we have today was the product of ongoing "conversations" between oral and written traditions.

Helen and Dave are thrilled to welcome Jonathan Friedmann back to the podcast to introduce the exciting field of performance criticism. Jonathan uses the example of David and Goliath to show how artifacts of oral storytelling are found throughout the Hebrew Bible, and how texts may have even been written with an eye toward improvisation and performance.

To learn more, check out Jonathan's book, Goliath as Gentle Giant: Sympathetic Portrayals in Popular Culture. 

Win an SBL Study Bible!

We're giving away 10 copies of the newly revised SBL Study Bible. This academic Bible is tailor-made for fans of Biblical Time Machine. It takes a scholarly approach to understanding the Bible — full of essays, footnotes, maps and more — and doesn't assume any past knowledge or religious background. It's the perfect companion for a fresh look at these ancient texts.

Each week we'll randomly pick a winner from the members of the Time Travelers Club, our Patreon site. Subscribe today to support the show and put your name in the running for this useful and in-depth resource.

For legal reasons, this giveaway is only available to Time Travelers Club members 18 or older and living in the continental United States.

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Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos