“Joash remained hidden for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.” The Hebrew Bible records an astonishing thing: a woman ruled the southern kingdom of Judah for six years after her husband and son died (2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22-23). Athaliah is portrayed as something of a villain in these narratives, perhaps a counterfoil to...

Last week’s blog introduced the topic of an embodied God. I noted a dichotomy between anthropomorphic descriptions of the divine, which can be found in the Talmud and the Midrash, and later interpretations that insisted that the divine was transcendent. It is precisely this tension that gives the God of the Hebrew Bible a vibrant persona,...

How did the ancient Israelites glean their understanding of the divine? How was the God of the Hebrew Bible characterized? Theologians and scholars have long interpreted the God of the Hebrew Bible as multifaceted and complex. These complexities are not mere inventions of scholars, but have their roots in the text themselves. In some instances,...

Enjoy this short clip from a recent live webinar event where Dr. Jody Washburn discusses the Hebrew midwives of Exodus 1 and interacts with the work of biblical scholars Tikva Frymer-Kensky and Kat Armas.

What is your Bible reading style? Do you skim through known stories? Focus on the Psalms? Perhaps, you feel most comfortable in the New Testament and avoid Old Testament jargon. Or, maybe the majority of your interactions with Scripture involve listening to sermons. 

It is healthy to examine our habits. Our brains are wired for repetition;...

“Wait. There were female prophets???” Her shock hung in the air, almost palpable. And her exclamation echoed the surprise and measured curiosity of countless students who, upon learning of female prophets in the Bible, aren’t sure whether to be suspicious of what they are reading or resentful that they have never heard of a...

Stinking Grapes and Unmet Expectations-Part 2

Last week we discussed Isaiah 5 and the Song of the Vineyard. We explored the vintner's response to unmet expectations. The response began with reflection, asking the questions that often accompany unmet expectations. However, a deeper reflection period is skipped over, which is met with unresolved...

Habit Formation and Unmet Expectations

There are moments in life when we get a glimpse of how our daily habits reap some benefit. A degree earned, a skill mastered, a mindset broadened. It is the little things we repeat daily that add up to exponential growth in the long-term. These moments don’t occur frequently, but they do offer some...