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The Dead Sea Scrolls (Part One) with Timothy Lim

To hear the podcast (18 minutes) click here.

Recently, David Capes was in Edinburgh, Scotland, and had the chance to sit down and talk with Dr. Timothy Lim about the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

This discovery was one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.

Who Is Timothy Lim?

Timothy Lim is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism at the University of Edinburgh.  Born in Canada, Timothy and his family made their home in Scotland during his illustrious career. 

He is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

He loves running, playing tennis, working out, AND he is good guitar player.

What Are the Dead Sea Scrolls?

About seventy years ago, the first of eleven caves was found containing scrolls from the first century BC to the first century AD. 

This is about the time the Jesus movement started. Today, and this is controversial, a 12th cave appears to have been found. More about this on another podcast.

These scrolls are significant in many ways because they give us a window into that period like no other. 

In all, between 800-1000 manuscripts have been discovered.  About twenty-five of those are relatively intact. 

All the rest are fragments.  Scholars have been piecing them together and exploring their significance since the 1950s.

Qumran is the area where these scrolls were found. So, they are sometimes referred to as the Qumran scrolls. 

Both biblical (Old Testament) and non-biblical manuscripts were discovered there. There are many documents we never knew existed. 

Every book of the Hebrew Bible was found except for the book of Esther. There are theories about that. 

In part two of this podcast we explore more about the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Books by Dr. Timothy Lim

Among his many books are:

The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2017)

The Formation of the Jewish Canon (Yale University Press, 2012)

The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls (with John Collins, Oxford University Press, 2012)

For a transcript of this podcast, click here.

To hear the podcast (18 minutes) click here.

More resources

Want more Stone Chapel Podcasts on some great topics. Just click here.

What’s more, you can get information on upcoming lectures at Lanier Theological Library. Just click here.

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Marriage Relations according to Aristotle and Paul with Lynn Cohick

In his teaching about family relations (e.g. Eph. 5:21–6:9), Paul is echoing descriptions of a household that had been formalized by Aristotle, but in so doing Paul turns Aristotle’s teaching on its head. Dr. Lynn Cohick is Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Director of Houston Theological Seminary at Houston Christian University. Among her many publications are The Letter to the Ephesians (NICNT) and (with Amy Brown Hughes) Christian Women in the Patristic World: Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries.

To hear the podcast (10 minutes) click here.

“Exegetically Speaking” is a weekly podcast of the friends and faculty of Wheaton College, IL and The Lanier Theological Library. Hosted by Dr. David Capes, it features language experts who discuss the importance of learning the biblical languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—and show how reading the Bible in the original languages “pays off.” Each podcast lasts between seven and eleven minutes and covers a different topic for those who want to read the Bible for all it is worth.

If you’re interested in going deeper, learn more about Wheaton’s undergraduate degree in Classical Languages (Greek, Hebrew, and Latin) and our MA in Biblical Exegesis. 

You can hear Exegetically Speaking on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. If you have questions or comments, please contact us at exegetically.speaking@wheaton.edu. And keep listening. 

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Christ among the Messiahs with Matt Novenson

Matthew Novenson joined David Capes on The Stone Chapel Podcasts to talk about his important book, Christ among the Messiahs: Christ Language in Paul and Messiah Language in Ancient Judaism (Oxford University Press).

The book has made a big contribution to the study of Christology in the earliest years of the Jesus movement.  Though it has been out ten years, it is worth sharing with a new audience. 

Who is Matthew Novenson? 

Matthew is originally from Tennessee.  He now serves as the Professor of Biblical Criticism and Biblical Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh. 

Christ among the Messiahs 

For many years some scholars have regarded the word “Christ” as just another name for Jesus in the earliest writings of the New Testament, namely, the letters of Paul.  But Matthew makes a convincing case that the word “Christ” in Paul means “Messiah.”   

This may seem to some only natural, but it is a momentous thing.  It involves a whole new reassessment of Paul’s language and his Jewishness.  

We find messiah language in various places like the Old Testament, Paul’s letters, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other second temple Jewish texts. 

Novenson often employs the word “honorific” as a noun to discuss Paul’s use of “Christ” in his letters.  It comes from the discipline of “classics,” namely, the study of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. 

Honorifics are like titles in a way but they were intended to magnify the name of the person. The most famous is Caesar “Augustus.” 

The idea that “Christos” as it referred to Jesus is not limited to name or title.  There is a third way, an honorific.

Novenson has done a great deal to shape the field of New Testament studies with this and other books.  

Other Books by Matt Novenson

Paul: Then and Now (Eerdmans)

The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users(Oxford UP)

For a transcript of this podcast, click here.

More resources

Want more Stone Chapel Podcasts on some great topics. Just click here.

To hear the podcast (22 min) click here.

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Announcing the Gospel in Fecund Language with Joseph Dodson: Col 2:15

The grammar, metaphors, background, and possible referents of the Greek wording of Colossians 2:15 make for rich challenges and possibilities for interpretation, translation, and application. As Dr. Joseph Dodson explains in this episode, choosing between options may not always be correct. Dodson is the Dr. Craig L. Blomberg Chair of New Testament at Denver Seminary. In addition to other publications, he co-edited, Paul and the Giants of Philosophy: Reading the Apostle in Greco-Roman Context, and is working on commentaries on Romans (Brill) and Colossians-Philemon (Holman).

To hear the podcast click here and scroll down to the podcast that published July 31, 2023.

“Exegetically Speaking” is a weekly podcast of the friends and faculty of Wheaton College, IL and The Lanier Theological Library. Hosted by Dr. David Capes, it features language experts who discuss the importance of learning the biblical languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—and show how reading the Bible in the original languages “pays off.” Each podcast lasts between seven and eleven minutes and covers a different topic for those who want to read the Bible for all it is worth. Click on the ⓘ symbol below for each episode to read the description.

If you’re interested in going deeper, learn more about Wheaton’s undergraduate degree in Classical Languages (Greek, Hebrew, and Latin) and our MA in Biblical Exegesis. 

You can also hear Exegetically Speaking on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. If you have questions or comments, please contact us at exegetically.speaking@wheaton.edu. And keep listening. 

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The Divine Warrior Myth and Andy Angel

Andy Angel came to the Lanier Theological Library in Houston and discussed with David Capes some ideas he had about “The Divine Warrior” in Scripture. 

Who is Andy Angel? 

Andy is the Director of Formation for Ministry in the Diocese of Oxford in the UK. 

He arranges and plans for the theological education of the clergy and the lay people in the Anglican Church. 

Andy is an Englishman and an Anglican clergy.  For a time he served as a pastor-teacher in Lima, Peru. He is a husband and father.  And he’s is also an author. 

“The Divine Warrior” What does that mean?

There are passages in the Bible that describe God as a warrior for his people.  When they are defeated, when they are down for the count, God arrives to fight for them. 

And God’s coming is described in amazing pictures and images, such as God coming on the clouds, the falling of the stars from heaven, the mountains melting beneath his feet, the valleys quaking at his presence. 

This is more than metaphor;  it is figurative language, because the truth of it cannot be captured in words. As an example, he talks at length about Psalm 18. 

Jesus as the Divine Warrior

Also in this podcast he turns his attention to an upcoming book about the Divine Warrior occurrences in the book Mark. 

He is exploring how and to what extent Jesus’s conflicts with the demonic forces, diseases, and human power structures picture Jesus as the Divine Warrior. 

If this is what Mark had in mind as he wrote his Gospel, he is operating with a very high Christology.

Andy’s Books

Here are more of Andy’s books:

Intimate Jesus: The Sexuality of God Incarnate

The Jesus You Really Didn’t Know

Playing with Dragons: Living with Suffering and God

For a transcript of this podcast, click here.

More resources

Want more Stone Chapel Podcasts on some great topics. Just click here.

What’s more, you can get information on upcoming lectures at Lanier Theological Library. Just click here.

To hear the podcast (about 20 min.) click here.