This episode was originally published on October, 2020. We thought it was worth a reissue for our newer listeners.
The poetry in Scripture can be hard to understand. And, especially when it is embedded within a story, such as the Song of Deborah, we might be tempted to skip over it. It uses a lot of allusion and metaphor and is pregnant with imagery and historical detail. We would rather the author just "get to the point" and give us a bullet-point summary. However, to ignore the stylistic force of biblical poetry (or any biblical genre) is to miss out on some of the deep theological underpinnings of the text.
In this episode, Dr. Michelle Knight, Assistant Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, discusses biblical poetry and literary sensitivity to the genres of Scripture. She and Dr. Dru Johnson zoom in on the Song of Deborah in Judges and the violence it seems to celebrate, then expand to discuss Joshua and Judges more broadly. They cover biblical characterization, how the New Testament authors draw on motifs in Judges, and even compare Joshua to a Marvel movie. In the end, they aim to encourage us toward both theological understanding and literary prowess when we read the Bible.
Show notes:
Read more about Michelle Knight.
Show notes by Micah Long.
Is God Perfect? Does That Matter? [Revisited] (Peter Leithart)
Lament, Moral Injury, and the Dark Parts of Scripture (Dr. Jill Firth)
Until All the Psalms Are Sung Again (Poor Bishop Hooper)
Listen to an Article: Recovering the Political Teachings of the Hebrew Bible
If Christians Read Scripture Like Jews Do (Ari Lamm)
The Church's Alarming Neglect of the Old Testament (Brent Strawn)
On Whether There Is Sacred Music (Delvyn Case)
How to Enjoy Reading the Bible (Matthew Mullins)
Behind the Scenes: CHT Staff Tells All! (Dru, Amy, Celina)
The Biblical Authors vs. Greek Philosophy (Joseph Dodson)
Understanding Slavery in the Old Testament—and Today (Myrto Theocharous)
You Mean Jesus Isn't Literally a Vine? (Beth Stovell)
American Christians' Peculiar View of Inerrancy—and Other Oddities (Mike Bird)
Listen to an Article: Neither Work nor Leisure Provides 'Our Daily Bread'
Ancient Israelite Government in Modern Republics (Kyle Swan)
Don't Drop the Body of Christ (Janelle Peters)
Why We Should Still Keep the Sabbath (Mark Scarlata)
Reading Exodus: When Does a Multitude Become a People? (Leon Kass)
Listen to This before Writing That Book (Michael Thomson)
But Really, What's Up with Abraham Almost Sacrificing Isaac? (Aaron Koller)
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
강유원의 책담화冊談話
The Art of Manliness
The Gray Area with Sean Illing
Dear Hank & John
Overthink