Biblical Times Podcast
The Bible isn’t just a religious text - it’s a time machine that transports us to the day-to-day lives of ordinary people who married, had kids, toiled the land, experienced seasons of bounty and hunger, and withstood years of warfare. Much like you and I, these biblical heroes loved, loathed, coveted, and knew the gut-wrenching pangs of heartbreak. The ”Biblical Times Podcast,” is your portal into the past. We aim to guide listeners on a journey back thousands of years, right into the era of biblical heroes. Our mission is to contextualize their actions against the backdrop of their realities, societal norms, and legal structures. Written and edited by Dr. Liora Ravid, who holds a PhD in Biblical Studies and is the author of the book, “Daily Life in Biblical Times.”
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Episodes
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
When Sarah lost all hope of having her own child, she gave Abraham her servant Hagar, so that Abraham would have a son through her.
Sarah intended to recognize Hagar's son Ishmael as her own son, and to give him the special status that ancient society reserved for the oldest son. She intended for him to be Abraham’s successor, the one who would continue his lineage.
For example, what right did Sarah have to give her maidservant to Abraham so that she would have a child for her? What were the legal relationships between her and Hagar? What status did Ishmael, the son born to Hagar, have?
Hagar exploited the fact that she gave birth to Abraham’s firstborn son to mock and humiliate Sarah. She felt that the pregnancy had turned the hierarchy of Abraham’s household upside down. Hagar was now in the superior position, able to mock Sarah for her barrenness.
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
According to the biblical story, God gave Abraham the mission to go on the journey, and so Abraham is the hero of the journey. God didn’t give Sarah any mission, so she was relegated to the sidelines. The main thing we remember about her is that she was barren. Abraham was righteous, and Sarah was barren!
But although God didn’t give Sarah any mission, she walked beside Abraham throughout the entire journey. She climbed mountains with him. She walked with him over the razor-sharp stones on the days they crossed the Sinai Desert. She survived snowstorms and sandstorms at his side, and together with him, she suffered from the very limited food supply.
Sarah lived in a world in which a woman’s sole role was to bear children for her husband.
Sarah did not fulfill this role. She did not give Abraham a son, and her social status in Abraham’s household fell to the lowest of the low.
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Twenty years is a very long time to be on the roads – but they fit into one lifetime, just as the Bible says.
As soon as we’ve proved that the journey passes the feasibility test, we can rule out the argument that it’s an unfounded myth. A myth can’t pass the feasibility test that we specified as a condition for the solution to our biblical riddle.
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Our goal in episode 2 is to understand what hides behind the names of settlements through which Abraham and Sarah and their family traveled?
In order to answer these questions, we opened atlases and calculated the distance between the places that Abraham and Sarah, passed through on the journey, from beginning to end. According to our calculations, the three walked some 2175 miles or 3500 kilometers. We also checked the topography and the climate conditions they faced at each of the stops along the way.
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
According to the book of Genesis, the journey was divided into two parts. The first part was led by Terach, Abraham's father, but he died in Haran. After his death, Abraham, Sarah, and Lot, continued their journey to the Land of Israel, which in 1800 BCE was called Canaan.In Episode 1, we ask what might have motivated Terach to leave Ur of the Chaldees and begin the journey to the land of Canaan?Because God never appeared to Terach and never commanded him to do anything, the journey began for a mundane reason and not as a The answer we give to this question lies in the economic life of the ancient world. These were poor immigrants who left their land, hoping to go to a new place where they would find new economic opportunities. For thousands of years, immigrants have left their lands for economic reasons. Thus we may assume that this was the case here as well.
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Monday Dec 18, 2023
Welcome to the Biblical Times Podcast!
In the enthralling world of the Biblical Times Podcast, listeners embark on a journey through the rich tapestry of biblical history and its profound impact on contemporary faith and society. At the helm of this enlightening series is Dr. Liora Ravid, a distinguished scholar with a Ph.D. in biblical studies. Dr. Ravid stands out in the academic field for her specialized knowledge in the historical, societal, and legal customs of the era chronicled in the Old Testament.