Biblical Time Machine

By Dave Roos

History Religion & Spirituality Christianity

What's Biblical Time Machine about?

Join Dave and Helen as they travel back in time (metaphorically… it’s a podcast) to explore the real history of the people, places and events of the Old Testament, New Testament and everything in between.

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Biblical Time Machine episodes:

06.17.2024
A Crash Course in Biblical History with Dan McClellan
Join Helen and Dave as they attempt the impossible — to cover the entirety of biblical history in one fact-packed episode! To help us, we recruited Dan McClellan from the Data Over Dogma podcast to walk us century by century,...
06.10.2024
The History of Prayer from Ancient Judaism to Early Christianity
The "Song of Miriam" is one of the oldest verses in the Hebrew Bible and it's a prayer. What was the nature and role of prayer in ancient Israelite religion? And how can we trace the evolution of prayer into...
06.03.2024
Food: What Did They Eat in Ancient Israel?
Finally, Helen and Dave turn to the most important topic of any time period — food! What the heck did regular folks in the Levant eat back in the 12th and 11th centuries BCE? The Hebrew Bible is a lousy...
05.27.2024
A Face-Melting Look at the Ark of the Covenant
If Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is accurate, peering inside the fabled Ark of the Covenant will result in mild to severe face-melting and occasional head exploding. In the Hebrew Bible, the Ark doesn't melt any...
05.20.2024
The Case for Q, the 'Lost Gospel'
One of the longest-running debates among biblical scholars is over the existence of a hypothetical "lost gospel" called Q. If you compare the synoptic gospels — Mark, Matthew and Luke — there are similarities and differences that can't easily be...
05.13.2024
Samson: Hero or Psychopath?
Of all the problematic heroes in the Hebrew Bible, Samson takes first prize. Samson is hailed as a hero of the Israelites — a "Nazirite" consecrated to God with superhuman strength — but he's also a mass murderer, womanizer and...
05.06.2024
Gnosticism and the Nag Hammadi Library Explained
In 1945, dozens of previously unknown Christian texts were discovered near the Egyptian desert town of Nag Hammadi. Some texts were closely tied to the New Testament, like the Gospel of Thomas, but others were pretty wild, portraying the God...
04.29.2024
Surgery or Spit? Healthcare in the Ancient World
Countless things could sicken or injure you in the ancient world, so where did people turn for help? Much like today, there were no shortage of healthcare options: herbs, drugs, surgery, saliva — even a literal hole in the head!...
04.22.2024
Passover: Did the Exodus Really Happen?
Every Passover, Jewish families gather to recount the miraculous story of Moses leading the Hebrews out of captivity in Egypt. But how much of this age-old tale is true? Helen and Dave welcome Carol Meyers back to the podcast to...
04.15.2024
How Horrible Were Ancient Prisons? LIVE from SBL
If you thought everyday life in the 1st century was disgusting, wait until you step inside a Roman prison. In our very first LIVE episode, we talk with Matthew Larsen, historian of ancient incarceration, about the conditions Paul and other...
04.08.2024
Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible
In the 1st-century Roman world where Christianity was born, 20% of the population was enslaved. Enslaved people were laborers, farmers, artisans, scribes, teachers, servants and sex workers. And as our guest Candida Moss explains, enslaved people also played a critical...
04.01.2024
Easter: Behind the Scenes of "The Chosen"
"The Chosen" is a global phenomenon. The streaming series about the life of Jesus is now in its 4th season, which is building toward Jesus's final week in Jerusalem. Helen and Dave were thrilled to chat with actor Richard Fancy,...
03.25.2024
Easter: A Closer Look at the Resurrection
The Resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity, but the reality of the empty tomb is largely a matter of faith, not history. All of the evidence pertaining to the Resurrection is found within the New Testament. So how...
03.18.2024
Easter: Crucifixion in the Roman Empire
Jesus's mortal life ended on a Roman cross, one of the cruellest execution methods known to man. But how common was crucifixion in the Roman world and how accurate was the New Testament's portrayal of Jesus's agonizing end? In this...
03.11.2024
Capernaum: the Archeology of a Jewish and Christian Village
Capernaum is known as "the Town of Jesus," since so many of Jesus's miracles and preaching happened in this small town on the Sea of Galilee. In the centuries after Jesus's death, Capernaum transformed from a Jewish fishing village into...
03.04.2024
Leprosy in the Bible — What Was It?
The history doctor is in! Helen and Dave welcome Dr. Ricky Shinall — an MD with a PhD in biblical studies — to help us diagnose leprosy in the ancient world. Did biblical leprosy have anything to do with modern...
02.26.2024
The Ancient Jews (and Temple) of Elephantine Island
In the 6th Century BCE, on a tiny island in the Nile River, once stood a Temple to Yahweh. Far from Jerusalem, the ancient Jews of Egypt's Elephantine Island worshipped a mighty god they called "Yaho" in one of the...
02.19.2024
Who Wrote the King James Bible?
"Thou shalt not" miss this episode about the King James Bible, the most-read literary work in the English language! But who was King James? Why did he order a new English translation of the Bible (there were plenty out there...
02.12.2024
Did Jesus Bless a Same-Sex Relationship?
The New Testament story known as the "Healing of the Centurion's Slave" has been the subject of some intriguing scholarship in recent years. In the Greco-Roman world, the Greek word translated as "slave" or "servant" in the Bible also meant...
02.05.2024
David & Goliath Like You've Never Read It Before
Heroic stories like David and Goliath were told for centuries before they were written down. But the creative storytelling process didn't end there. Written texts were "performed" and improvised upon, creating new variations that made it into later texts. The...
01.29.2024
Parables: Jesus's Shocking Short Stories
In the New Testament, Jesus often teaches through parables — short stories rich in symbolism and ethical dilemmas. "The Good Samaritan." "The Prodigal Son." We've heard these stories so many times it's easy to overlook how challenging and even shocking...
01.22.2024
Pseudepigraphy: Forgery or Fan Fiction?
Ancient authors had no problem writing texts in other people's names, and that includes plenty of biblical writers. If Paul only wrote 7 of the 13 Pauline epistles, for example, who wrote the other 6, and why did they stamp...
01.15.2024
Why the Bible Was Written
The Hebrew Bible wasn't created by one of the mighty empires of the ancient world — Egypt, Assyria or Babylon — but written in the rubble of a small, conquered kingdom. So how has this "epic monument to defeat" not...
01.08.2024
What Would Jesus Wear?
There's so much we get wrong about clothing and dress in the 1st Century. Did Jewish people dress differently than gentiles? No. Did most men have long hair and beards? No. Did Jesus and the disciples rock sandals with socks?...
01.01.2024
Animals in the Ancient World
The Bible is literally crawling with animals — from the crafty serpent of Genesis to Jesus's parable of the lost sheep. That's because animals (both wild and domesticated) were an integral part of life in the ancient world. In today's...
12.18.2023
A Cultural History of Christmas
Try as you might, you won't find Santa Claus in the Bible. Or Christmas trees, or camel-riding Magi, or even December 25th! In the first centuries of Christianity, Christmas wasn't really a "thing." The birth of Jesus was far less...
12.11.2023
A Second Look at Mary, Mother of Jesus
In the first of two Christmas episodes, Helen and Dave take another look at arguably the "best-known and least-known" woman in history: Mary, the mother of Jesus. Our guest, the fantastic James Tabor, collects the few breadcrumbs of information about...
12.04.2023
Hanukkah History: The Maccabean Revolt
The Jewish festival of Hanukkah is based on real historical events — the Maccabean Revolt of 167-160 BCE. In today's episode, Helen and Dave travel back to a time when Judaea was ruled by the Hellenized (Greek) Seleucid Empire. When...
11.27.2023
Biblical Blackness: Cush, the "Curse of Ham" and the Queen of Sheba
The Bible is largely silent about race. People are identified by their lands of origin and beliefs, not their skin color. Yet centuries of biblical interpreters have read race into the Bible, for good and for ill. As our guest...
11.20.2023
Who Chose the Books of the New Testament?
Starting in the 1st century CE, there was an explosion of Christian literature — dozens of gospels, letters, apocalypses and more — but only a fraction of those texts made it into the New Testament canon. Who decided which books...
11.13.2023
What Ancient Coins Can Teach Us About the Bible
When we recognize the Bible as a product of the ancient world, we can look for subtle ways that biblical authors incorporated elements of everyday life — including coins! We spoke with historian Michael Theophilos about everything we can learn...
11.06.2023
Everything We Get Wrong About Jesus and Jewish Impurity Laws
It's easy to read the New Testament and come away with the idea that Jesus was in opposition to the Jewish ritual impurity laws. In fact, that's what most Christian theologians have taught for the past 2,000 years. Is it...
10.30.2023
Halloween Special: God's Monsters
There aren't any werewolves or vampires in the Bible, but God deploys his own terrifying army of monsters. Have you heard of cherubs? Not what you think! Even angels have some less-than-angelic duties. It turns out that the shepherds abiding...
10.23.2023
Did the Author of John Know the Other Gospels?
At first reading, the Gospel of John feels a world apart from the other gospels. The language is different, there are new stories (see our episode on "the woman taken in adultery") and Jesus speaks about himself in bolder terms...
10.16.2023
Is Jonah the Weirdest Book in the Bible?
Jonah and the whale (fish, technically) is one of the best-known Bible stories, but it's also completely bonkers. It stars Jonah—the worst/best prophet ever—and reads more like a fable or satire than a serious biblical treatise. Were the authors of...
10.09.2023
Childhood in Ancient Israel—What Can We Know?
Pop quiz—name a famous kid from the Hebrew Bible. Baby Moses? Teenage David? That's about it. The Bible may be largely silent about childhood, but we can gather clues from archeology and ethnography to piece together a picture of what...
10.02.2023
Mysterious Origins of a Bible Story: Casting the First Stone
For the first four centuries of Christianity, the famous story of the "woman taken in adultery" was nowhere to be found in the New Testament. In this moving tale, Jesus forgives a woman condemned for committing adultery and admonishes her...
09.25.2023
When Christians Were Jewish
It's easy to read the New Testament and come away thinking that Jesus and his disciples were in opposition to "the Jews." But the first followers of Jesus were all fellow Jews and the early Jesus movement was very much...
09.18.2023
The Legendary John Cleese on "Monty Python's Life of Brian"
Comedy royalty John Cleese stopped by the podcast to chat with Helen and Dave about Monty Python's inspiration for making Life of Brian, what fascinates and frustrates him about the Bible, and so much more. Members of the Time Travelers...
09.11.2023
The Nasty, Yucky, Funky World of the 1st Century
Face it — you wouldn't survive two days back in the first century. If the food-borne bacteria didn't kill you, you might keel over from the odors alone! In this episode, Helen and Dave welcome Jodi Magness, biblical archeologist extraordinaire,...
09.04.2023
How Yahweh Became God
How did a (lowercase) god named Yahweh from the pantheon of the ancient Edomites become the one and only (uppercase) God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam? It's a fascinating story that calls into question just how monotheistic the ancient Israelites...
08.25.2023
Season 2 Teaser and Some Big Announcements
Season 2 of Biblical Time Machine is coming soon! We've already recorded a slate of terrific episodes that will be dropping in the next few weeks. Until then, check out the Time Travelers Club, a new way to get involved...
07.18.2023
Season 1 Celebration!
Thank you loyal listeners for making Season 1 of Biblical Time Machine such a success! In this short recap, Helen and Dave look back on the first 30 episodes and drop some hints about what's to come in Season 2....
07.07.2023
Are the 12 Tribes of Israel a Myth?
The existence of the 12 tribes of Israel is central to the narrative of the Hebrew Bible. The tribes were named after the 12 sons of the patriarch Jacob and believed to be their direct descendants. As the Israelites escaped...
06.26.2023
The Evolution of Satan
Learn how a humdrum Hebrew word for "obstacle/adversary" morphed over the centuries into the goat-hoofed, pitchfork-wielding embodiment of all evil. Our guest TJ Wray traces the biblical and historical evolution of Satan from a side character in the book of...
06.14.2023
Biblical Archeology: What It Can (and Can't) Tell Us
For more than 100 years, archeologists have been scouring the Holy Land for tangible proof that the Bible and its accounts are historically true, but they've largely come up empty handed. Still, modern archeology is one of our greatest resources...
06.05.2023
All About Our Pal Josephus
Finally, an episode about Josephus! Josephus is not only our best source for life in Roman-ruled Judaea, but also our only source. (Much like Dave is his parents' favorite, and only, son.) Josephus wrote A LOT about the Jewish wars...
05.25.2023
Music in Ancient Israel
The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament lists dozens of musical instruments, and we know that the Song of Songs was... well... a song, so what role did music play in Ancient Israel? A big one! Special guest Jonathan Friedmann joins Helen and...
05.15.2023
How the Babylonian Exile Changed EVERYTHING
As much as 80% of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament was written during and immediately after the Babylonian Exile in the 6th century BC. As our guest Anja Klein explains in this fascinating episode, the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in...
05.08.2023
Was Early Christianity a "Cult of the Dead"?
Stephen was stoned to death. Peter was crucified (upside down). For early Christians, the highest form of devotion was to suffer and die like Jesus. Those martyrs became the first saints, and their bones and other "relics" were venerated throughout...

What's Biblical Time Machine about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Biblical Time Machine episodes:

A Crash Course in Biblical History with Dan McClellan

The History of Prayer from Ancient Judaism to Early Christianity

Food: What Did They Eat in Ancient Israel?

A Face-Melting Look at the Ark of the Covenant

The Case for Q, the 'Lost Gospel'

Samson: Hero or Psychopath?

Gnosticism and the Nag Hammadi Library Explained

Surgery or Spit? Healthcare in the Ancient World

Passover: Did the Exodus Really Happen?

How Horrible Were Ancient Prisons? LIVE from SBL

Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible

Easter: Behind the Scenes of "The Chosen"

Easter: A Closer Look at the Resurrection

Easter: Crucifixion in the Roman Empire

Capernaum: the Archeology of a Jewish and Christian Village

Leprosy in the Bible — What Was It?

The Ancient Jews (and Temple) of Elephantine Island

Who Wrote the King James Bible?

Did Jesus Bless a Same-Sex Relationship?

David & Goliath Like You've Never Read It Before

Parables: Jesus's Shocking Short Stories

Pseudepigraphy: Forgery or Fan Fiction?

Why the Bible Was Written

What Would Jesus Wear?

Animals in the Ancient World

A Cultural History of Christmas

A Second Look at Mary, Mother of Jesus

Hanukkah History: The Maccabean Revolt

Biblical Blackness: Cush, the "Curse of Ham" and the Queen of Sheba

Who Chose the Books of the New Testament?

What Ancient Coins Can Teach Us About the Bible

Everything We Get Wrong About Jesus and Jewish Impurity Laws

Halloween Special: God's Monsters

Did the Author of John Know the Other Gospels?

Is Jonah the Weirdest Book in the Bible?

Childhood in Ancient Israel—What Can We Know?

Mysterious Origins of a Bible Story: Casting the First Stone

When Christians Were Jewish

The Legendary John Cleese on "Monty Python's Life of Brian"

The Nasty, Yucky, Funky World of the 1st Century

How Yahweh Became God

Season 2 Teaser and Some Big Announcements

Season 1 Celebration!

Are the 12 Tribes of Israel a Myth?

The Evolution of Satan

Biblical Archeology: What It Can (and Can't) Tell Us

All About Our Pal Josephus

Music in Ancient Israel

How the Babylonian Exile Changed EVERYTHING

Was Early Christianity a "Cult of the Dead"?

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