“[L]et everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger”
– James 1:19, NRSVue
- Back in December, Marc Zvi Brettler announced his retirement, which will happen officially later this year. I’ve benefited from Brettler’s work time and again, from his contributions to volumes like The New Oxford Annotated Bible and, more importantly, The Jewish Annotated New Testament to his How to Read the Bible (Jewish Publication Society, 2005) to various pieces that have appeared over at thetorah.com. I wish him all the best!
- Steve Wiggins offers a rundown of some of what he read in 2025. On a personal note, my goal for the last few years has been to read a book or so a week and I exceeded that last year. Like Wiggins, a lot of what I read was fiction. I think I’m making up for lost time on that end because for so many years I viewed fiction as a waste of time. Now it is absolutely indispensable for my daily routine. I still watch too much TV but I’m getting better!
- John Nelson celebrates 2 years of his blog. Congrats, John!
- The Lukan nativity story is fascinating, especially in light of Luke’s overall project as it is made manifest in the entirety of Luke-Acts. And to guide us through that story, Paul Davidson has put out another excellent video that covers it.
- If you’re looking for some reading material, Michael Kok has a new article on the Gospel of John and Cerinthus that you can read for free!
- Robyn Walsh asks and answers the question of whether the letters of Paul were, in their entirety, forgeries from the second century. She thinks that it is unlikely and offers a brief argument in their defense.
- Kipp Davis talks about why some of the Dead Sea Scrolls turned out to be fakes.
- Steve Mason was interviewed by C. J. Cornthwaite on the influence of Josephus on Luke-Acts. Mason is an expert on Josephus and his book Josephus and the New Testament (Hendrickson Publishers) is a must read on the subject.
The Amateur Exegete 
Fantastic roundup to start the New Year!
In addition, the Kedem channel on YouTube has been on a roll recently. Recent interviews include Ron Hendel on the Exodus narrative as cultural memory and the geopolitical connotations of the Patriarchal stories, as well as Eric Cline on the Amarna letters.
I usually listen to this sort of stuff while doing housework, and the place probably hasn’t been this clean since we bought it.
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Excellent recommendations! Who knew YouTube videos could have such practical value 🙂
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Cool, the Weekly Roundups are back (with even more from the lovely Dr. Walsh)!
Neat to see Cornthwaite on here as well. I came across a clip of him interviewing….um Dr. Walsh…. and was impressed with the cast of scholars he chose for his video channel. He has my respect for being willing to take a “deconstructionist” approach and honestly look at the Bible.
If it’s alright, I did have a suggestion for a future round-up feature (with a caveat because of the nature of the website) a Bible studies-related question, and a more lighthearted one:
1.) After the new year began. I came across a piece on the Free of Faith site in which the site’s owner Phil was cautioning skeptics to avoid mythicism when discussing the Gospels and work from the assumption that critical study can help “weed out” their unhistorical elements. To make a long story sort, I responded with a sort of comparison I had heard from a few scholars between Jesus and Alexander the Great regarding how the legends attributed to them developed over time. After further looking into the subject, Phil posted a follow-up piece on the Alexander Romance traditiondiscussing how a historical figure can have myths develop after their life and what this might mean for the studies on the historical Jessus. The caveat is that the website general takes a highly skeptical (though respectful) approach to religious belief, which might be off-putting for more religious readers of the round-ups.
2.) One Bible topic I have been thinking about somewhat has to do with the Book of Judges, particularly the Song of Deborah. Since scholars tend to think that it is among the oldest portions of the Hebrew Bible, what seems intriguing is that the rest of the Bible seems silent about Deborah. For example, I noticed that 1 Samuel (12 or 13?) has a speech in which Samuel warns the Israelites after they asked for a king and recounts some of their past episodes of idolatry. While Sisera and Jabin are apparently mentioned, Deborah is not mentioned. There’s also the Book of Hebrews which has Barak as a hero of faith without extolling Deborah. I had a few suspicions about why this might be, but would appreciate any light you could shed on it (as always):
3.) Since you are a fan of the horror genre, could I post a short list of obscure horror films for your thoughts? (There is one sci-fi channel I sometimes watch that shows B-movies as part of after-hours programming). If not, that’s cool but thought you might find it interesting.
Thanks,
J Source
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