New Books in Biblical Studies

By Marshall PoeReligion & Spirituality Christianity

New Books in Biblical Studies episodes

August 10 Eckart Otto, "Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch and the Hexateuch: Studies of the Literary History of the Pentateuch and the Hexateuch within the Framework of Deuteronomy" (Mohr Siebeck, 2000)
In Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch and the Hexateuch: Studies of the Literary History of the Pentateuch and the Hexateuch within the Framework of Deuteronomy (Mohr Siebeck, 2000; unrevised e-book edition, 2019), Eckart Otto contributes to the study of Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch, the Hexateuch. The book argues that both the Hexateuch and the Pentateuch developed ideas already articulated in the Deuteronomistic form of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy therefore appears not simply as one component of the Pentateuch, but as a central point of departure for understanding the formation of larger compositions.
Otto places Deuteronomy at the centre of the literary history of ancient Israel. Rather than treating Deuteronomy, the Priestly Writing, Joshua, and Pentateuchal traditions as isolated units, he reconstructs the processes through which these texts were connected, revised, and reinterpreted. The combination of the Priestly Writing with Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic Book of Joshua produced a Hexateuchal composition extending from Genesis through Joshua. A later Pentateuchal redaction separated the Torah from Joshua and placed Deuteronomy’s covenant at Horeb at its centre.
The Hexateuch reaches its narrative conclusion with Israel’s arrival in the promised land, while the Pentateuch ends with Moses and Israel still outside the land. This makes Torah and covenant, rather than possession of the land, central to Israel’s identity. Otto also argues that Hexateuchal and Pentateuchal redactors did not merely use a completed Deuteronomy; they reshaped Deuteronomy itself to serve their conceptions of covenant, law, land, and Israel’s relationship with God.
Deuteronomy contributed to the emergence of the Hexateuch and Pentateuch, but the later redactions of these larger works also transformed Deuteronomy. Otto connects these literary developments with conflicts among priestly groups in the Persian period and with debates over priesthood, law, authority, identity, and inherited traditions.
Through this approach, Otto challenges the traditional separation between Pentateuchal and Deuteronomic research. His study also has implications for the hypothesis of a “Deuteronomistic History,” inviting scholars to reconsider the relationship between Deuteronomy, Joshua, the historical books, the Priestly Writing, and the final form of the Torah. It also contributes to discussions of biblical historiography, authoritative scripture, law and narrative, and the Torah’s emergence as Judaism’s foundational text.
In this New Books Network interview, Professor Otto explains the book’s central arguments in his own words. The conversation addresses the relationship between Pentateuch and Hexateuch, the integration of Priestly and Deuteronomistic traditions, the role of Joshua, the covenant at Horeb, and the priestly conflicts that shaped the Torah in the Persian period.
This conversation is a companion to Željko Stanojević’s interview with Eckart Otto about Max Weber’s Studies of Ancient Judaism: The Historical Foundation for a Theory of the Modern Age.
Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Eckart Otto is a distinguished German theologian and biblical scholar, known for his work on Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch, biblical law, the Hebrew Bible, and ancient Near Eastern legal traditions. He is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Hebrew Bible at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and a member of the Editorial Board of the European Hebrew Journal.
This interview is hosted by Professor Željko Stanojević, a Serbian-Israeli Hebraist, biblical philologist, lexicographer, translator, and Semitic-language researcher. He is President of the Institute for Hebrew Language and Literature, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the European Hebrew Journal, and a host on the New Books Network.
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39 min
August 02 Onyekachi Ugwu, "The Woman Caught in Adultery and the Gospel of John" (Mohr Siebeck, 2026)
The story of the woman caught in adultery in John’s Gospel has long stirred controversy. Given its checkered manuscript witness, many scholars don’t believe it belongs in John’s Gospel or even in the Scriptures at all, while others think it is Scripture but belongs in a different canonical setting, and still others, like our guest today, believe it is indeed authentically Johannine, foreshadowing Jesus’ own trial and his final victory over darkness.
Tune in as we speak with Onyekachi Ugwu about his recent monograph The Woman Caught in Adultery and the Gospel of John (Mohr Siebeck, 2026).
Onyekachi Ugwu earned his PhD at the Catholic University of Paris in 2024, and is a lecturer in New Testament studies.
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25 min
July 29George Savran, "Jacob: Conflicted Twin, Aggrieved Patriarch" (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2025)
In Jacob: Conflicted Twin, Aggrieved Patriarch (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2025), George Savran brings his narrative interpretive approach to look closely at Jacob's shifting identity. Jacob is indelibly linked to his brother Esau in the Genesis narrative, and their complex relationship as twins foregrounds this problematic connection. Jacob's lineage is examined-he differs noticeably from his ancestors and his offspring in the complexity of his changing character. At times he is a "simple man" at the mercy of the demands of others; elsewhere he is a devious trickster eager to use his wits to achieve personal success. His search for a coherent identity, as it unfolds in this study, leads to his emergence as the patriarch of his family, compelled to make peace with his brother and his sons in the midst of ongoing conflict.
This study brings out how Jacob's mature identity is clarified further by his reactions to three unusual and unexpected encounters which shed light on his ability to recalibrate his self-understanding.
The first is his struggle with the man/angel at the Jabbok, where he receives a blessing with the name Israel, and comes to realize that his relationship to God is more complicated (and less predictable) than he had previously thought.

An additional insight comes the following day during his reunion with Esau, as he learns to appreciate him in a new way and compares beholding his face to "seeing the face of God". This is a remarkable admission by a brother who thought only the worst of his twin.

Jacob's rethinking his own self-importance emerges later in the Joseph story, when he is compelled to realizes that his insistence on his personal concerns will lead to the dissolution of his family.
Savran's interpretation of these reactions underscores their significance in Jacob's development, revealing a character of depth and resilience and giving new meaning to his role as the avatar of Israel.
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1 hr 8 min
July 28 Jenny R. Labendz, "Beyond Hope: Rabbinic Eschatology of Late Antiquity in Comparative Perspective" (Oxford UP, 2026)
In Beyond Hope: Rabbinic Eschatology of Late Antiquity in Comparative Perspective (Oxford UP, 2026) Jenny Labendz addresses distinct patterns within rabbinic eschatology that have been overlooked in scholarship and in Jewish thought. Contrary to what is usually expected of eschatology, this book demonstrates that the rabbis held a sustained eschatology of irresolution. While the rabbis occasionally waxed poetic along the lines of a perfected new world in the eschaton, a vast store of rabbinic texts depicts a deeply imperfect eschaton. This is the profound difference between rabbinic and early Christian eschatology.
Despite its differences from the Christian doctrine of perfection, rabbinic eschatology aligns neatly with a different Christian concept, namely inaugurated eschatology. The eschaton is not only be hoped for in the future, but can be attained in the present. The best of all possible worlds has not yet been entirely actualized, but it has been inaugurated, in the rabbinic view by the exodus from slavery in Egypt, the revelation of the Torah at Sinai, and the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. This is a paradigm shift for thinking about rabbinic eschatology, which rejects the dogmas and binaries that generations of scholars have taken for granted.
In this new book, Jenny Labendz explores the relationship between this world and the best possible world, the limits of that best possible world, and asks a crucially grounding question--what are we talking about when we're talking about the end of the world?
Interviewee: Jenny R. Labendz received her PhD from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2010 and was Associate Professor of Religious Studies at St. Francis College until 2025. She is also the author of Socratic Torah: Non-Jews in Rabbinic Intellectual Culture, published by Oxford University Press in 2013.
Host: Schneur Zalman Newfield is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the author of Brooklyn Odyssey: My Journey out of Hasidism and Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Visit him online at ZalmanNewfield.com.
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52 min
July 20 Emanuel Tov, "Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert, Revised Second Edition" (Brill, 2025)
Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert, Revised Second Edition (Brill, 2025) revises the first edition of this book (2004) which is long overdue. Many segments needed revision due in large part to the veritable flood of studies published in the wake of the first edition. In other cases, the author changed his mind in his continued study of the scrolls improved by the new images of the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library. Hyperlinks to this library are now added to most references to the scrolls. This book covers many aspects of a handbook for those who study the scrolls, material culture, and edit scroll fragments.
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28 min
July 14 Sarah Rosenson, "Fan Fiction on the Book of Genesis: A Guide to Close Reading of and Creative Writing on the Bible" (Cherry Orchard Books, 2026)
Can creative writing become a form of biblical interpretation?
That is the provocative question at the heart of my conversation with Sarah Rosenson about her new book, Fan Fiction on the Book of Genesis: A Guide to Close Reading of and Creative Writing on the Bible (Cherry Orchard Books, 2026).
The modern phenomenon of fan fiction involves readers writing
creative pieces that answer questions left open in favorite works of
literature. This also describes the ancient tradition of midrash, where
readers write stories filling in gaps in the Bible. In Fan Fiction on the Book of Genesis
Sarah Rosenson discusses the questions left open in the first book of
the Bible, and every chapter includes questions for the characters in
the stories, which can serve as prompts for conversations or creative
writing.
Rosenson argues that careful reading reveals narrative gaps:
characters whose motivations remain unexplained, conversations that
never occur, ethical dilemmas left unresolved, and emotions that are
only implied. Drawing on the long tradition of Jewish midrash, she
proposes that readers can engage these silences through disciplined
creative writing, using imagination not as a substitute for close
reading but as an extension of it.
In our conversation, we
discussed some of Genesis's most familiar stories from unexpected
angles. What if Eve's pursuit of knowledge is more complex than simple
disobedience? Why does Noah never challenge God's decision to destroy
the world? What happens when Hagar's perspective becomes central rather
than peripheral? Why does Abraham argue for the people of Sodom but
remain silent when Isaac is placed on the altar? And how does the Joseph
narrative negotiate the relationship between divine providence and
human responsibility?
We also explore the broader methodological
questions raised by the book. Does describing midrash as "fan fiction"
make an ancient interpretive tradition more accessible, or does it risk
misunderstanding it? How far can readers imaginatively expand biblical
narratives while remaining faithful to the text? And what safeguards
distinguish responsible interpretation from speculation?
Whether
you are interested in biblical studies, literary criticism, Jewish
interpretation, or creative writing, our conversation offers a
thoughtful discussion of how ancient texts continue to invite new
readings. More than providing answers, Rosenson's book encourages
readers to ask better questions and, in doing so, to discover that
Genesis remains as intellectually and ethically challenging today as it
has been for centuries.
You can find more about Sarah and her work here.
Amisah Bakuri (PhD) is
an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her work explores the intersections of
religion, sexuality, gender, and migration, especially within African
diasporic communities in the Netherlands.
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54 min
June 19 Colin R. McCulloch, "Sanctified by the Spirit: John Owen, Habits of Grace, and Biblical Counseling" (Reformation Heritage Books, 2024)
In Sanctified by the Spirit: John Owen, Habits of Grace, and Biblical Counseling (Reformation Heritage Books, 2024) Dr. Colin McCulloch examines how approaches to biblical counseling have diverged over the last generations, proposing John Owen's emphasis on Spirit-infused habitual grace as a helpful corrective and as a richer understanding of the dynamics of sanctification.
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55 min
June 12 Stephen Spector, "God and the First Families: Parenting, Trauma, and Healing in the Book of Genesis" (Jewish Publication Society, 2026)
What if the book of Genesis is not only the story of humanity’s first
family, but also the story of God learning how to parent? In this
episode, Rabbi Marc Katz sits down with Stephen Spector to discuss his
book God and the First Families: Parenting, Trauma, and Healing in the Book of Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 2026), a provocative reexamination of the Bible’s foundational stories through the lens of parenting.
Drawing on both biblical interpretation and contemporary psychology,
Spector explores how God’s relationship with the patriarchs and
matriarchs evolves throughout Genesis. God begins as a demanding
authority figure, shifts toward a more nurturing presence, returns
briefly to authoritarianism in the binding of Isaac, and ultimately
develops a style focused on fostering moral and emotional growth.
Remarkably, Spector argues, Genesis anticipates parenting insights that
psychologists would not articulate for thousands of years.
Along the way, familiar stories take on new meaning. Cain and Abel,
Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers—each
narrative becomes a window into questions of favoritism, resilience,
forgiveness, family conflict, and healing after trauma. By reading
Genesis as a story about parenting and human development, Spector
uncovers enduring wisdom about how families flourish, fracture, and find
their way back to one another.
Together, Spector and Katz explore what the Bible can teach about
raising children, repairing relationships, and understanding the complex
bond between love, authority, and growth.
Stephen Spector is a professor of English emeritus at Stony Brook University. He is the author of Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews and Evangelicals and Israel: The Story of American Christian Zionism,
among other volumes. Spector has taught the Bible to undergraduate and
graduate students for fifty years. He has been a visiting scholar at
Hebrew University and a senior research fellow at the National
Humanities Center and the Wesleyan Center for Humanities.
Rabbi Marc Katz is the senior rabbi at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He is the author of The Heart of Loneliness: How Jewish Wisdom Can Help You Cope and Find Comfort, a National Jewish Book Award finalist and Yochanan’s Gamble: Judaism's Pragmatic Approach to Life.
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39 min
June 09 Christopher D. Stanley, "A Ram for Mars" (NFB Publishing, 2026)
What would you do if you were pressured to support a rebellion that
you believed was misguided and doomed to failure? What if the safety of
your family and business depended on your answer? In A Ram for Mars (NFB Publishing, 2026), Marcus
and Miriam, recently freed slaves from Asia Minor, arrive in Israel
buoyed by hopes of finding Marcus's long-lost mother and starting a new
life together. They discover that the land is seething with social and
political unrest, with anti-Roman parties in the ascendancy. Marcus,
who grew up in a Roman colony and owes his present prosperity to a Roman
master, finds these anti-Roman sentiments perplexing. His uncertainty
increases when war breaks out and he's asked to ship supplies to the
rebel army, including a newfound cousin who protects the northern
front. As his entanglement with the rebellion deepens, Marcus is torn
between loyalty to the world in which he was nurtured and the need to
secure his family's safety. Then his adopted son runs off to join the
rebels. What is he to do? Fans of Conn Iggulden, Ken Follett, and Robert
Graves will be captivated by this richly detailed and compelling
exploration of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 AD/CE) through the
lens of a pro-Roman Jew in the rural district of Galilee.
More about A Ram for Mars, as well as the trilogy, “A Slave’s Story,” can be found here.
Christopher D. Stanley is a social and religious historian who writes
about early Christianity and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world. He
served for over twenty years as a professor at St. Bonaventure
University in western New York, where he holds the title of Professor
Emeritus.
Dr. Stanley has written or edited ten books and dozens of
professional articles on early Christian texts and history and presents
papers at academic conferences around the world. The “A Slave’s Story”
trilogy, which grew out of his historical research on first-century Asia
Minor, is his first foray into fiction. He continues to write for the
academic world as well, including a recently finished book on sickness
and healing in the Greco-Roman world that explores some of the history
behind this trilogy, Paul and Asklepios: The Greco-Roman Quest for Healing and the Apostolic Mission (T&T Clark, 2023).
Jonathon Lookadoo is Associate Professor at the Presbyterian
University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea. While his
interests range widely over the world of early Christianity, he is the
author of books on the Epistle of Barnabas, Ignatius of Antioch, and the
Shepherd of Hermas, including The Christology of Ignatius of Antioch (Cascade, 2023).
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54 min
June 08 Stephen C.E. Hopkins, "⁠Translating hell: Vernacular theology and apocrypha in the medieval North Sea"⁠ (Manchester UP, 2026)
In the Middle Ages, hell was useful because it was vaguely defined.
Canonical scriptures scarcely mention hell, leaving much to the imaginations of early Christians, who used it to sort out who belonged within the faith. Translating hell: Vernacular theology and apocrypha in the medieval North Sea (Manchester University Press, 2026) by Dr. Stephen C. E. Hopkins explores how hell became a place for literary experiments with local challenges in theology and identity. Following the reception and transformations of two popular hell apocrypha, it argues that they served as this role because of their liminal textual authority. As noncanonical scriptures, apocrypha afforded medieval writers space to revise their hells (since they were not actually scripture), while also encouraging readers to revere those experiments as valid (since they seemed like scripture). The book brings together adaptations from early medieval England, Iceland, Ireland, and Wales, placing the early vernacular theologies of the North Sea in comparative conversation.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
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59 min

About New Books in Biblical Studies

From the publisher's feed

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field.