This episode of the podcast covers two chapter of Exodus. Aside from some comments that relate to items in previous episodes, our discussion focuses on the biblical motif of the “hand of the Lord” and “outstretched arm” of the Lord. Both expressions are part of the confrontation between Moses and Aaron and Egypt’s pharaoh. Both are also importa ...…

The second half of Exodus 4 presents a series of chronological problems in relation to Moses’ movements to and from Sinai and Jethro’s home and, ultimately, the journey to Egypt. The section includes the bizarre episode in verses 24-26 where God sought to kill Moses. Why was God angry? How does the circumcision of Moses’ son fix the problem? Wh ...…

Exodus 4:1-17 continues Moses’ conversation with God at the burning bush after the revelation of the divine name. It is marked by Moses’ unwillingness to do what God has tasked him to do. This episode covers God’s compassionate responses to Moses and also his anger when Moses refuses the job. The conversation takes us into supernatural sign act ...…

Exodus 3:13-14 are two of the most familiar verses in the Old Testament: “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I ...…

This episode builds off Part 2a and our discussion of the Kenite Hypothesis. The episode essentially asks this question: How would a literate ancient Jew, with knowledge of 1 Enoch and the Hebrew Bible, understand the biblical writer’s linkage of the Kenites (relatives of Abraham and Moses) to Cain the murderer, whom the writer of Enoch associa ...…

Exodus 3:1 puts Moses in Midian, a land that, as we saw in Part 1, is closely tied to occupants known as Kenites. The Kenites, in fact, overlap in biblical thought with the Midianites (Judg 1:16; 4:11). Midian is also connected with the idea that Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to his land “from the South,” where “South” is defined as Edom, Tem ...…

This episode focuses on Exod 3:1 (“Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God”) and how the place names (Horeb, Midian, “mountain of God”) might possibly dovetail with traditions about Yahweh “coming from the S ...…

Exodus 2:11-25 is the story of Moses’ capital offense in Egypt and his subsequent escape to the land of Midian. The story includes several textual and interpretive difficulties, leading to important questions. Where is the land of Midian? What is its relationship to Horeb? Is Horeb Sinai and, if it is, why do other passages distinguish the two? ...…

In this episode we chat with Dr. Tim Mackie and Jon Collins about their amazingly successful and eminently useful ministry, The Bible Project. We learn a bit about their backgrounds, individually and as friends, how the Bible Project was born, and plans for the future.

Exodus 2:1-10 is the familiar story of the birth of Moses in Egypt. Lurking behind the familiar story is a point of controversy and misunderstanding: its presumed relationship to ancient stories of the “abandoned child,” most specifically the legend of Sargon the Great’s birth. This episode asks the question of whether the biblical writer stole ...…

This is the second of two episodes on Exodus 1. This episode focuses entirely on how the name “Raamses” in Exod 1:11 can potentially be accommodated by either the early (1446 BC) or late (1250 BC) date of the exodus from Egypt. We explore how the name is used in Egyptian texts, why it’s spelling makes a difference, and why its presence in Exod ...…

Exodus 1 is short in terms of verse count, but there are a surprising number of items in the text that need some comment—so many that we need two episodes! In this episode we look at the language describing Israel’s condition under bondage in Egypt long after the time of Joseph. We talk about the reasons the biblical author links his descriptio ...…

This episode launches our new book study series on the book of Exodus! As we do with every book study, this initial episode overviews the sorts of things to expect as we progress through Exodus: difficulties, controversies, and other points of interest relevant to understanding the book in its own context. Specifically, Dr. Heiser talks about h ...…

In this episode we interview “Theo,” an American living in Nepal who teaches students full time. Theo has been a long-time listener to the podcast. Theo found the divine council context put forth in Dr. Heiser’s books to be paradigm changing, and now uses that content to teach his students in Nepal. Unfortunately, there are serious obstacles, a ...…

What is the Day of the Lord? Most Bible students would associate it with a time of judgment. The reality, however, is that judgment is only one aspect. The Day of the Lord concept concerns things like the reclaiming of the nations, the general resurrection, and the “fullness of the Gentiles.” And since Jesus is Lord in the New Testament, the Ol ...…

Craig Allert is a scholar specializing in Patristic Fathers, those early Christian thinkers who lived and wrote just after the end of the apostolic age to (roughly 451 AD). On today’s episode we talk with Craig about his work in analyzing how the early church fathers understood and interpreted Genesis One. We talk about the ways they approached ...…

Rick Brannan plays a lead role in the production of ancient language resources for Logos Bible Software. He has also published several books on apocryphal gospels, the apostolic fathers, and the Pastoral Epistles. In this episode our focus is Pauline authorship studies relative to the Pastoral Epistles and analyzing the vocabulary of those epis ...…

The word elohim frequently speaks of a single deity, most notably the God of Israel, in the Hebrew Bible. Exceptions include Psalm 82:1, 6, where plural elohim refers to the members of God’s heavenly host (his council or assembly; cp. Psa 89:5-7). Dr. Heiser has devoted a great deal of attention to how such passages and such thinking should not ...…

Dr. Heiser and special guest answer questions from a live audience. Thank you to everyone who came and joined us in Denver, Colorado.

In our second set of SBL interviews we talk to Dr. David DeSilva about his revised New Testament Introduction, Dr. Mike Grisanti about his books and ministry as a tour guide to Israel for Masters Seminary, Dr. David Goh about his pastoral ministry and his thoughts on The Unseen Realm, Dr. Rick Hess about his co-edited volume (with Bill Arnold) ...…

In our first of two installments of interviews at the annual meeting of the SBL (Society of Biblical Literature) we talk to Dr. Bill Arnold about a new book on the History of Israel that he co-edited (with Rick Hess), Dr. Dan Wallace about his work at CSNTM (The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts), Dr. John Hilber about his work ...…

In this episode we sit down first with Dr. Carl Sanders and Dr. Ronn Johnson to talk about rejected ETS papers (!) and the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament; next we chat with Dr. Karl Kutz and Dr. Rebekah Josberger, authors of an important new first-year Hebrew grammar.

In this episode we chat with Doug van Dorn, a pastor in the Denver area who authored the Lexham Press handbook on Mike’s book, The Unseen Realm; Dr. Gary Yates, OT professor at liberty University, who uses Unseen Realm in one of his courses; Jesse Myers, about the publishing philosophy of Lexham Press, and Dr. Sam Lamerson, President and Profes ...…

This episode features conversations with Dr. David Capes of Wheaton, Dr. Gerry Breshears of Western Seminary, and Dr. Mark Futato of Reformed Theological Seminary. We talk about a new book for the non-specialist on earl high Christology / Jewish binitarianism; uses of, and responses to, Mike’s book, The Unseen Realm; Hebrew, and a forthcoming b ...…

In this set of interviews we talk to Dr. Peter Gurry of the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog; Henry Smith of ABR (Associates for Biblical Research); Dr. Mark Ward of Lexham Press/Faithlife/Logos, and Mike’s original pastor after he came to the Lord, Dr. Dave Burggraff. Subjects range from new books of interest to our audience, archaeology, te ...…

The psalms are often thought of as purely devotional. They of course have that value, but they also contain significant theological statements, especially to ancient Israelites whose ears were tuned to specific points of their content. We often miss such things since we are not part of the ancient Israelite world, particularly in terms of the r ...…

Dr. Heiser answers your questions about the book of Colossians.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

This episode of the podcast concludes the series on Colossians. While the last chapter of Colossians contains mostly personal references to traveling companions and greetings from Paul, there are several items of interest. Does the chapter refer to a house church led by a woman (Nympha)? Is the “letter to the Laodiceans” a lost letter of Paul—a ...…

Paul continues his teaching on how gratitude toward Jesus, the author of salvation who is supreme over all other powers, ought to influence the believer’s conduct. In this Colossians 3:18-25, Paul focuses on commands about household management. The “household” relationships in view are husbands and wives, fathers and children, and household ser ...…

Colossians 3 is the pivot point for the epistle. Having tracked through a number of significant theological points relating to Christ’s supremacy to the law and angels, Paul turns to practical ramifications. This episode of the podcast focuses on two: (1) the “already but not yet” aspects of the Christian’s status and how discipleship is rooted ...…

Part 1: Johnny Cisneros – Bible Study Apps for Word Studies in Colossians What are some of the best Bible study apps today? And how can you use those study apps to gain meaningful insights into the key words in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians? In this episode, Dr. Heiser interviews his long-time friend and colleague, Johnny Cisneros. With his t ...…

The subject of honor and shame-based cultures is familiar to anthropologists, but a foreign topic to most people interested in biblical studies. Nevertheless, it is an important aspect of New Testament interpretation. In this episode we chat with Dr. David de Silva, a recognized expert in this area of Second Temple period / New Testament study. ...…

Our preceding three episodes in large part set the table for the remainder of Colossians 2. Paul revisits some familiar themes: the superiority of Jesus to Jewish mystical teachings about angels (stoicheia), food laws, and the Sabbath. The new element here, and focus of this episode, is Paul’s link between the cross event (in particular the res ...…

These two verses are (in)famous in New Testament study. Paul’s comments about baptism and circumcision, and a “circumcision made without hands” have been an interpretive battle ground every since they were written down. How does baptism relate to our receiving and being rooted in Christ (Col 2:6-7)? Does baptism complement salvation? Does it pr ...…

As we saw in our previous episode, a lot of theology can be packed into just a handful of verses. Colossians 2:6-8 leads to the focus of this episode, Colossians 2:9-10. These two verses are the pivotal content for Paul’s response to the Colossian heresy, the Jewish-mystical elevation of supernatural beings (“angels”) as spiritual authorities a ...…

Two of the things we talk about most on the podcast pop up in this episode: the importance of deriving what you believe from the text of Scripture itself and the importance of reading the text in its original context. Regarding the first, we’ll explore some of the grammar Paul uses in Col 2:6-7 to talk about God’s role and our role in sanctific ...…

This episode continues our discussion of the epistle to the Colossians. Colossians 1:21-2:5 touch on some theological themes familiar from previous episodes of the podcast: the relationship of Israel and the Church, the need to keep believing the gospel for salvation, reconciliation, and Paul’s “mystery” teaching. There are also some surprises.…

Colossians 1:13-20 contains some of the most important Christological content in the New Testament. It is also home to some of the most misunderstood. For example, does referring to Jesus as “firstborn” suggest that he was created? Does it point to chronology—that Jesus was the first created thing? How is that reconcilable with the “fullness of ...…

We begin our study in the first chapter of Colossians with an eye toward some of Paul’s more important vocabulary. Why does he refer to the Colossian believers as “holy ones” (1:2)? What sort of “knowledge” (1:9) is he talking about? What do the phrases “inheritance of the holy ones” and “domain of darkness” (1:12-13) mean in the context of Old ...…

This episode opens our new book study on Colossians. Disputes over the book’s authorship and date contribute directly to the major content issue of the book—the nature of the “Colossian heresy.” The so-called “Colossian heresy” is the label used by scholars to describe Paul’s theological opposition in the city and church of Colossae. Elements o ...…

2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 contains two enigmatic features. In the first four verses Paul takes on the false teaching, circulating in the Thessalonian church, that the Day of the Lord had already come to pass. In the process Paul tells the believers “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the apostasia comes first, and ...…

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

How ancient Israelites thought about the institution of kingship is deeply rooted in the ancient Near Eastern ideology of kingship. Kings were viewed as extensions of the rule of deities, the providers of life and welfare and order. Kings ensured that life for the people under his (and the deity’s) rule went along as it was intended. Trees were ...…

1 Corinthians 15:29 is one of the more enigmatic verses in the Bible. Scholars have long struggled with the meaning of Paul’s questions: “. . . What do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?” Just what was going on at Corinth that involved baptism for the ...…

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Dr. Heiser answers your questions.

Many Christians believe the book of Job is the earliest book of the Bible, written sometime before Moses in the patriarchal era. Few Old Testament scholars assign any merit to this idea. Why the disagreement? Is there any basis for thinking Job is earlier than the time of Moses? Is there any way to know when Job was written and who might have w ...…

When it comes to debates over biblical inspiration, the authorship and the book of Isaiah is one of the more contentious topics. Traditionally, the book in its entirety (66 chapters) was considered to have been entirely written by the prophet Isaiah, who lived in the late 8th century – early 7th century BC. From the 19th century onward, modern ...…