If IS 7:14 was a message to the king, and the sign was a "young woman" shall give birth and call him "Immanuel," how historically was that a "sign" as the verse declares? What exactly was the "sign" and why was such a "sign" necessary? I ask because "young women" give births all the time and I don't see anything radical about calling a child "Immanuel." Just looking for the historical context that make this a "sign".
Peace. Respectfully, but notably. His self statement of interpretation, (EXEGESIS). A). He stated that (ISAIAH 53: 5-6), the word (HE), which is the 'SECOND WORD", beginning at verse (5), could be interpreted to mean, (THE ENTIREY OF PEOPLE OF ISRAEL)?? B). Within the Science of Text/Words, Literarily to say, one CAN NOT, use (EISEGES), on the Eytomology of ANY WORD, formed within, ANY WORLD LANGUAGE, but allow it to "Function and Mean", what it means in one's Nationality, or Culture, as how ever it's derived, to be defined in that Nationality, or culture. C). In Hebrew specifically, the word "HE", first, carries a "masculine" word identification.. Also, is DOES NOT PLURALIZE the Subject, it INDIVUALIZES , and is functioning as a PRONOUN.. So, according to Hebrew word functions, the nation of Israel, CAN NOT BE SUBSITUTED, as being spoken, or referred to in (ISAIAH 53: 5-6). Also, one can not interpret that to mean the NATION OF ISRAEL, simply due to HOW the word...HE... functions in sentence.. That is simply complying also, to (ZECHARIAH 12:8-10), where even the word............"PIERCED" is used there!!!
The one thing that is so often sorely missing from a standard university Biblical lit class is a nice bird's eye view (I guess, they just figure they can throw you into the weeds and you can construct one yourself???). This series (along with your several other videos on the Bible) is just absolutely excellent. Rock on!
Not being a believer, I get to study the bible and it's history from the outside; the bird's I view. Studying how it was constructed and how it was influenced by belief systems that developed over previous millennia is so interesting.
@@Bobbie7781 Same for me, pretty much. I lucked out and my college was nearby Princeton Theological Seminary, so our Biblical lit professor was one of their faculty, so every course he taught was excellent and ended up by far being among my favorites. Now, our courses didn't use the phrase "as literature" in their titles (it was more things like "Literature of the Old Testament," "Literature of the New Testament," etc.), but same thing really. But yeah, the one thing I would have loved was such a clear and succinct overview as these ones, either at the beginning or end of the courses, or better yet both. I feel like it would've solidified everything a lot better in my head. Definitely still my favorite courses, but yeah, that would've been nice :-)
@@jedgar63 I respect that you learn the Bible despite not being a believer. However, let this not deceive you into thinking that this process by default gives you a birds' eye view. No offense, but logically, it's equivalent to saying that a flat-earther learning the geology of the Earth has a birds' eye view of the subject. You can have a birds' eye view when you learn the subject disregarding your faith; that applies and is possible for both the believer and the non-believer.
"it's up to you how you want to interpret those scriptures, but please know that there several options available." wonderfully said. a very tricky topic to navigate but you did so very elegantly.
You're doing amazing work, Matt. Thank you so much for these looks into the past! As an ex-Christian, I still have a nagging interest in the history of the Bible and the people who wrote it, and with every video I get more bits to ponder and research further. You and Religion For Breakfast (including the Patheos channel) have almost solely opened my mind up for history and past anthropological studies. I just want to say thank you for a very scientific and broad look into these topics. Even for myself, its easy to be biased and say "Blah! This didnt happen!"; but being able to distinguish factual from folklore-ish writing while giving the benefit of the doubt in some places really helps to understand the world and people around me. Keep it up, and reach out or say if you ever need assistance or a break, I can tell some of these take a lot of time and energy!
@@realhumanist71 I am also a atheist and used to be a Christian, I do find the Bible fascinating especially looking at in this way, I just wish literalist would listen and understand their own history. It's nice to see a theist with this approach.
Hope it inspires you to take another look at the book and Jesus’ message 🙏🏾 revealed the truth behind this twisted realm, how satan operates, what’s to come... never misspoke, master of brevity and metaphor and he had the best comebacks for every hater that tried to try him.
YOOO I just rewatched part one last night, woke up and opened my sub box to see this "uploaded 48 seconds ago". LOSING IT RIGHT NOW Please keep it up, I hope you'll tackle the New Testament when the Tanakh is done with! Lord knows authorship of the Gospels alone could be its own series.
My favorite line in the bible is a fairly popular one, and it's Micah 6:8. "God has shown you, oh human, what is good. And what does the Lord ask of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." Even when I was an atheist that one made me emotional! And I knew I would love my church when I walked up the first time and that was quoted outside the building--on a rainbow flag. (I'm Episcopalian.) Anyway. I ended up finding your channel somehow a little less than a week ago, and there IS SO much good stuff to watch. I can't do podcasts because my attention span sucks, but I also hate a lot of YT videos that rely on flashy stuff. This feels like someone who is really into/knowledgeable about a topic info-dumping to me in person while showing me things. It's great. :D
Peace. Respectfully, but notably. His self statement of interpretation, (EXEGESIS). A). He stated that (ISAIAH 53: 5-6), the word (HE), which is the 'SECOND WORD", beginning at verse (5), could be interpreted to mean, (THE ENTIREY OF PEOPLE OF ISRAEL)?? B). Within the Science of Text/Words, Literarily to say, one CAN NOT, use (EISEGES), on the Eytomology of ANY WORD, formed within, ANY WORLD LANGUAGE, but allow it to "Function and Mean", what it means in one's Nationality, or Culture, as how ever it's derived, to be defined in that Nationality, or culture. C). In Hebrew specifically, the word "HE", first, carries a "masculine" word identification.. Also, is DOES NOT PLURALIZE the Subject, it INDIVUALIZES , and is functioning as a PRONOUN.. So, according to Hebrew word functions, the nation of Israel, CAN NOT BE SUBSITUTED, as being spoken, or referred to in (ISAIAH 53: 5-6). Also, one can not interpret that to mean the NATION OF ISRAEL, simply due to HOW the word...HE... functions in sentence.. That is simply complying also, to (ZECHARIAH 12:8-10), where even the word............"PIERCED" is used there!!!
Your videos are so calming to watch. Thank you for your hard work and scholarly explanations! I appreciate you looking at this from both a religious and historical standpoint
1:09 In German they're called the 1st to 5th book Moses. Those individual names also exist in the German bible but instead of "Exodus 25" we often say "2. Mose 25"
Same in Swedish (inspired by German, of course, a lot of the Swedish Biblical scholars back in the day studied in Germany, I think, and there were a lot of German traders in Sweden back in the middle ages.) Genesis= Första Mosebok (Första=First, Mose=Moses, Bok=Book),
These are 2 seperate books which, although having the same content, have different ordering and prioritizations. And you still manage to explain these two books in the same videos and still make it so understandable and structured. Job well done! I can only imagine the effort you've put into these videos and still offer this content without ads.
I love how people just having a nice discussion and conversation in your comment section even tho we're having different religion and background. Nice videos as always.
As someone who loves biblical textual criticism (yay, Ehrman!) and the historical and literary analysis of the bible, this was awesome. So incredibly well done! I love the chart, timeline, and history section around 11:28 ! MORE! MORE!
@Gary Allen Be careful with Ehrman. According to him in his book Forged the whole of the New Testament is one big forgery and he claims that many of the events in the life of Jesus did not happen. His thinking in 'How Jesus became God' is unclear and contradictory. He ignores sources that contradicts his agnostic views and places a narrow interpretation on that found in the Synoptics that indicate that from the beginning the early church believed Jesus to be God. His work has not lived up to scrutiny by other scholars who have easily pulled his thesis apart. That said his book on the growth of early church to become the dominant faith in the Roman empire and his book 'Lost Christianities' are interesting reads.
Thanks so much for this episode! I really appreciate how much time you must spend tweaking your delivery in order to not offend all the different groups watching
Wow these videos are so well made. You explain everything so well. The comparison at the beginning was really nice too. This is why you’re one of my favorite channels!
As an ex-evangelical, I am actually most excited about when you tackle revelations. As a kid, revelations always sort of frightened me. Cant wait to hear the historical approach behind who wrote it and when!
@@DouglasJenkins "the rest is drama" 😂😂 I like it but yeah I wish I could look at it that simple. Unfortunately that book is a huge part of my religious 'trauma' if I can call it that. Terrified me for years and that with other things gave me and other religious children some weird compulsive behaviours.
im muslim too and i would love for someone to make a series like this on the Quran. Dont get me wrong i believe the Quran has not been changed like every muslim but i would still like a video. ive never seen anyone talk about the Quran
@@muhammadHassan-kj1jy it wouldn't be as interesting as the Bible videos as the Quran came from one source. There are videos talking about secular theories about the origin of the Quran but none of them actually make sense.
@@theokra the Quran isn't the only literary source for the islamic faith. There are others like the Hadiths and as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah. That being said a video on them like the above video isn't actually needed at all.
I am LOVING this series. Something that would be an interesting modified chart would be one that attempted to also place the books on a timeline of the events that they describe rather than their actual dates of writings. And perhaps on a continuum ranging from "mostly historical" to "mostly myth/legend" I feel like one of your previous videos discussed that aspect a little, too. Anyway this series is AMAZING and makes me want to pick up a Bible to read critically.
@@fadadapple completely agree. As the Bible states, first God created the Universe. Then, he created the Universe again in a slightly different order, for no apparent reason.
Note that nobody claims Samuel was written by Samuel, since he dies in the middle of the part Xtians call I Samuel. The traditional view is that it was a written by The Prophet Nathan , though he was commanded to edit in sections by the Prophets Gad and Samuel. It is called Samuel because it begins with the nativity of Samuel, and everything in was set in motion by Samuel, besides the fact that Gad and Nathan were close disciples of Samuel.
Taught OT for the first time this year to 6th Graders (7th, NT; 8th Church History), and it is really helpful to teach with essentially this understanding of the history. Seeing how the history of the Jews during XYZ period really helped us understand why various books were written (for example: seeing the debate between different parties of Jews during the resettlement of Judah after the Exile: Ezra-Nehemiah being against Gentile marriage/what they saw as the corruption of the people; Malachi arguing that the people needed to stay faithful to their marriage vows [Do we not all have one Father?...I hate divorce, etc]; Tobit extolling marriage within the people/faithfulness to the Torah; Ruth and Esther showing the benefits of Gentile marriage [no Jews married to Gentiles, no David!]; and Jonah showing a Jewish prophet angry at God's mercy toward the Gentiles--all of them are wrestling with those same themes: how do we stay faithful Jews under Gentile rule? How do the Gentiles fit into the plan?) The definitely is a way to learn the critical method that is unhelpful (just figuring out when something was written to know when it was written), but knowing what the authors are really getting at based on what issues they were dealing with was an excellent way to get the kids engaged. Thanks for all the work you put into this!
Endlich mal eine saubere und vor allem ehrliche Auseinandersetzung mit den biblischen Quellen... so etwas liegt einfach viel näher an der Wahrheit... danke
Your charts actually lay out a number of things in easier to understand formats showing where things place in time and in relation to each other. I appreciate the time and work you put into these, as they're very informative and enjoyable bites of learning about a lot of different subjects!
Thank you for your honesty, graphics are the only why I have learned anything. When I was a newspaper cartoonist, my friends made a lot of charts for print publication. Now charts are animated... the most useful of all.
As a kid I brought a stack of comic books to school to show my friends. A couple handfuls got stolen. Naturally, I was irate initially. I’m over it now because I ended up on a magazine cover😁
dude i love this. something about the charts; layered on top of the timeline; with context narrated over it. you're making this easy to follow and, it's great.
I am Indonesian Christian, in our country, speaking about how scholars explained the Holy Scriptures (Bible or Koran) are very taboo. Many people will mad if their religion was critized. But I love how you explain about the Bible, very intersting and fascinating. Before i watch your videos about Bible, I have been knew several how scholars explained about Bible. Suprisingly although i watched your videos and i can accept it, but I always keep my faith. Thankyou very much for this amazing video! I hope you will make many video about Christianity. I am sory for my bad English😢
It's a shame it's taboo. Personally, as a Christian, I think we should definitely try to understand the Bible better, and understanding who wrote them when and in what context is absolutely part of that.
We should always seek to understand truth. Our human minds are insufficient vessels, so we should be humble in expressing our thoughts. Newton was right: we do stand on the shoulders of giants.
This is very interesting but also a bit challenging for me. I'm a Christian myself and from August, I'll be studying theology, so I thought I'd get a better grasp of how the Bible is viewed from a critical historical perspective. Your clarity is very helpful and makes this topic accessible. Cheers from Denmark
Please bare in mind that for most of the (critical) historical dating of Old Testament books there is next to no evidence. Some books are just assumed to be written in later periods because they contain fulfilled and documented historical prophecy. A lot of it is based on assumptions, „literary“ analysis and not on hard facts. As an example, Mike Winger has a good video with very good arguments for an early date for the book of Daniel
I love going through almost all of your well reasearched clips without being judgemental, which shows almost no baises in dealing with the subject most of the time. A subject which is made interesting, intriguing and dealt out so neat with creative approach and clarity. The most amazing feature are the depiction of respective historical time lines which opens up a world of huge window for anyone from any location in this world to connect to his own references. Thank you Matt for you wonderfully effort. Always my reference whenever I have to check on certain topics and timeline, not much with the narration though as it shifts with one's own belief and faith.
Hey Matt, amazing videos - I never new this side of scriptures. Can you make a video on how do people tell when was a book written and who wrote it? I would be very interesting to see the discovery process of all this info.
@@lsamaknight I think 1 Enoch would need a fairly lengthy video, half of that just to explain the context. For that reason, it is quite reasonable to leave it out for the time being.
That could be a good epilogue video [assuming Matt isn't already planning it]: the "apocrypha", maybe including explanations of what sects use what books, and when that decision was made.
Peace. Respectfully, but notably. His self statement of interpretation, (EXEGESIS). A). He stated that (ISAIAH 53: 5-6), the word (HE), which is the 'SECOND WORD", beginning at verse (5), could be interpreted to mean, (THE ENTIREY OF PEOPLE OF ISRAEL)?? B). Within the Science of Text/Words, Literarily to say, one CAN NOT, use (EISEGES), on the Eytomology of ANY WORD, formed within, ANY WORLD LANGUAGE, but allow it to "Function and Mean", what it means in one's Nationality, or Culture, as how ever it's derived, to be defined in that Nationality, or culture. C). In Hebrew specifically, the word "HE", first, carries a "masculine" word identification.. Also, is DOES NOT PLURALIZE the Subject, it INDIVUALIZES , and is functioning as a PRONOUN.. So, according to Hebrew word functions, the nation of Israel, CAN NOT BE SUBSITUTED, as being spoken, or referred to in (ISAIAH 53: 5-6). Also, one can not interpret that to mean the NATION OF ISRAEL, simply due to HOW the word...HE... functions in sentence.. That is simply complying also, to (ZECHARIAH 12:8-10), where even the word............"PIERCED" is used there!!!
There was an absolutely huge earthquake approximated to have been magnitude 8.2 dated to the year 759 BC. This earthquake is mentioned in the Book of Amos which was written shortly after.
I love this channel! It's great that the perspective on the Jewish Bible is coming from an actual Jew with experience of how his peers view these books. I wish you spoke more about your religious beliefs
Great video! I'd love to see a deeper dive on the prophets. I've often read that they often have a section of real history, written as though prophesied, then begin making predictions for the future as a source of hope or warning- I'd love to learn about which parts of the prophets are historical and which prophecies were predictions (and which ones the prophets got right). I'd love also to learn more about the historical context of each of the prophets.
After finishing this series, would you please consider doing a series on how muslims started dividing into different groups (shia, sunni, ahmedia etc) after prophet's death?
I think it might have something to do with the fact that you've been spending most of your life living in an Amish paradise, but that's just a working hypothesis.
And a lot of fantastical storytelling. I mean that many cant see the book of revelation with its seven headed dragon as simply ancient science fiction defies logic.
I like this series, are you going to talk about the Ethiopian canon unique books including: 4th Baruch, Jubilees, Enoch and the 3 books of Meqabyan (not be be confused with the 4 books of the Maccabees.)
Your graphics game is second to none! It makes it so much easier to parse all the information you present even for someone who isn't well versed in the topic. Keep it up! :D
Fascinating ideas and historical analysis (as far as things make possible) and SO well presented. The Charts look stunning but also the on screen graphics, highlighting and transitions are so clean and professional. A superb job!
I'm an atheist but biblical scholarship is one of my abiding interests. I've read several books on the Old Testament and history of its people but your graphic summaries stand out as one of the best ways to put all of it together. Your work is very appreciated here. Thank you.
I’m sad that you have to defend your own beliefs in the video because you know what criticisms people will make if you don’t :( Growing up Christian I worked out early on that Christians looooove catching out perceived contradictions in the beliefs of Jews, which they don’t do with members of any other faith. It’s repugnant. On a lighter note, thanks for making such a fully researched and well explained video 👍🏼
Us Muslims do the same with Christians (and a lot less with Jews). Since we all claim to be the "corrected" version of the previous religion, we need to show the contradictions to be legitimate, otherwise you start asking yourself why is there an update if everything is working fine
Growing up Eastern Orthodox Christian I never personally encountered such an obsession, though obviously the story necessitates that Judaism must be mistaken about those passages. However, I never did learn what the Jewish interpretation of those passages is, so that was super interesting to learn!
Its more repugnant when Christian Apologists would misinterpret religions and scientific methods and people say that the other religion is wrong because some religion put one man in a higher standard than their "Son of God". Like my Buddhist leaning would be very pissed because that is literally judging something they do not even understand.
You did not disappoint!! Although you didn't mention my favorite lost book The Book of the Wars of the Lord ('סֵפֶר מִלְחֲמֹת ה) mentioned in Numbers 21:14-15
When you talk about ‘most biblical scholars’ or similar phrases, who would the big names be? I would like to do some more reading on these matters but I feel a little out of my depth. Do you have any good detailed book recommendations on this topic as well?
One of the earliest proponents of the 'Documentary Hypothesis' was Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918); one of the many scholars working in this field is Richard E. Friedman (he literally authored the book "Who wrote the Bible?"). Thomas Römer is one of the names associated with the historical-critical approach. Margaret Barker is the foremost name of those tracing the ancient Hebrew believes through history. On the archaeological side, important names are Israel Finkelstein and William G. Dever.
@@UsefulCharts One of the earliest proponents of the 'Documentary Hypothesis' was Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918); one of the many scholars working in this field is Richard E. Friedman (he literally authored the book "Who wrote the Bible?"). Thomas Römer is one of the names associated with the historical-critical approach. Margaret Barker is the foremost name of those tracing the ancient Hebrew believes through history. On the archaeological side, important names are Israel Finkelstein and William G. Dever.
@@UsefulCharts Perhaps you can do an extra video on the scources and history of the science of this topic? At least the major steps? Meanwhile it is interesting itself. By the way: A great video again. Of course, in some points I disagree, but not mutch.
For those interested in the rebuttal of the Graf-Wellhausen theory, you can read the book: The inspiration of the Pentateuch or the Graf-Wellhausen Fallacy by M.W.J Phelan. ISBN 095472056-3. We live during the times where anyone can make a video without too much effort. But people should always cite their sources: that points to the emanation of the ideas presented and then people can read contradictory theories to form a better opinion...
I thought he did one already. But, definitely worth revisiting considering what was found recently in the Cave of Horrors. And, on that note I’m glad he addressed what virgin can translate as. Which, confirms several thoughts that came to mind concerning the resurrection of Israel and the subject of regenerative abilities in a Holy sense.
@@the2ndcoming135 the cave of horrors was where the 1st situation with Josephus took place then he used that story to cover up what happened at masada! I would not consider the find in the cave of horrors a Dead Sea scroll!
@@the2ndcoming135 Josephus might talk about reality but he exaggerated the truth but everything he's talked about has been verified except for a few variations and variables that might be a little different so it seems like he has some type of cover-up going on
@@YadinZedek777 sure I guess. I mean that’s probably relative to the overall encompassing point. Ultimately, this consequently puts Jesus in the room of discussion. The man’s name isn’t just resurfacing for no reason💆🏻♂️
This is brilliant content, exactly what I’ve been looking for. Wikipedia has a fair amount of information about Biblical composition, but it’s very difficult to get a general picture of how it all connects together in time and space. You do a fantastic job at both summarizing the different elements, explaining historical contexts, and noting points of scholarly disagreement/ambiguity.
It's due to the christian split, they codified bible chapters and verses, so it's easy to use. However, jewish publications (eg, the koren bible) still print the text seamlessly *as if* they're a single book...
@@HOSS257 An atheist who is culturally, ethnically, and nationally jewish. Culturally it means celebrating Jewish holidays, Jewish life-cycle rites, and studying jewish texts without connection to religion.
@Joseph Douek Very accurate. It's easy to keep feeling jewish when the society around you is already based on jewish culture. About half of Israel's jewish population is completely secular (though some believe in a god), a querter is "traditional", and the rest are religious or ultra-ortodox.
This is a great work, and the visual organization of all the information is very clear and usefull. Thank you for having put so much effort in recording this video.
Love this Matt! And I love how you started talking interpreting Isaiah at the same time. We were actually studying this during our tikkun leil shavuot at our shul. I had no idea that Christians has actually rearranged a couple verses (at the end of ch 6 & start of 7 was the example brought up) in order to drive their points across and differentiate themselves from Jews (reinterpreting differently, totally knew but this point was new to me as I never studied Isaiah closely before). I'm excited to see the rest of this series! Thanks for all your hard work.
@@RyanGenereaux I don't remember the exact quote but a verse was moved from the end of chapter six to the start of chapter seven if I remember correctly (and I think a whole extra sentence was added). And some verb tenses were changed from past to future. I don't have access to the power point that was shared otherwise I'd have exact quotes. If you're interested in more direct comparisons I'd check out sefaria.org, which has the whole Tanakh side by side in Hebrew and English and use that to compare to the Christian bible of your choice and have fun exploring the differences. ETA the point was made was by the Christian authors/translators to differentiate themselves from Jewish ones to emphasize that the text was talking about the second coming of Jesus, rather than a historical event. It can be classified as supersessionism and was/is used as a tactic to try and convert Jews (and others) to Christianity.
There's a surprising lack of Biblical scholarship available on TH-cam. I searched some of these topics to get more indepth and most of the time I just got cringey Christian videos.
@@raphchelly3413 I looked up Song of Deborah and I was looking to find some information around the archeology and linguistics around the how they determined its age. All I got was a bunch of paintings, quotes, and swelling music. Yes... so much good information.
@@raphchelly3413 ... That's my point. Surprising lack of Biblical scholarship on TH-cam. You can learn how to preform surgery on TH-cam. You can learn how to become a senior level software engineer on TH-cam. It's surprising that academics haven't uploaded their lectures onto the platform.
Incredibly smart of Jews to combine all the smaller books into one. Learning all the names of the books of the Bible was incredibly annoying in Sunday School cuz there’s so many of them that are only a few chapters long.
When I studied Bible and theology in college, one of the professors was a secular Jew (or atheist Jew? I don't recall his exact wording). When asked what this meant, he playfully answered: "I don't believe in God, but I do believe He led the Israelites out of Egypt." Not relevant, but I felt I had to share it.
Technically, you can be an atheist Jew, a Muslim Jew, or a Christian Jew (it doesn't mean it happens much). Being a Jew refers to your land of origin, Judea, like being German or English. There is also a Jewish religion, but it's not a requirement for belonging to the tribe.
16:42 I do very much like the your videos on this topic but I have to take exception to your saying that 'the virgin' in Isaiah 7:14 should be better translated as 'a young girl'. The term הָעַלְמָ֗ה hā'al māh literally means 'the hidden woman', and as the honorific titel 'The Virgin' (with capital letters & with the definitiv article THE) it was one of the honorific titles of the queen consort of Judah and the mother of the future King-Priest of Jerusalem who himself was given the titel עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל׃ 'Immanuel' ('God with us') during the First Temple Period. The whole of Isaiah 7 is a prophecy addressed to king Ahaz in the time of conflict with Syria. The term hā'al māh as 'The Virgin' was maintained as Ἡ Παρθένος in the Septuagint, i.e. the old Greek version of the Hebrew Bible made for Greek-speaking Jews in Egypt in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. The understanding of hā'al māh as 'a young woman' most likely relates to the work of the תיקוני סופרים tiqqūnēi sōferīm (the 'corrections of the scribes') during the 2nd century CE, i.e. after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Happy to discuss in more details.
I was raised with an inerrant view of scripture and only when I began studying the history behind the Bible did I understand how complex the story of the books really was. I still have faith, but no longer do I hold to the fundamentalist views that I was raised with. I don't understand how anyone can especially if they know about the history and motivations behind the creation of these stories. Again, this doesn't necessarily disqualify the idea of God or the Divine, but it does force the believer to be more humble.
I am in a similar position to you. This type of video, education and learning is really important for me personally to unpack what I had been taught and understood growing up as a Christian.
koran has more updates than Windows (it nearly updates on a weekly basis) and it's only a recent book compared to bible! Surah 37:12 Hafs بَلْ عَجِبْتَ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (But you wondered while they mocked) *عَجِبْتَ* Warsh بَلْ عَجِبْتُ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (But I wondered while they mocked) *عَجِبْتُ* Duri بَلْ عَجِبْتُ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (But I wondered while they mocked) *عَجِبْتُ* you even get goats abrogating verses in your koran too
Matt, I love your videos. I want to point out, however, that you called those books that are in the Catholic/Orthodox canon, but not the Protestant canon, the "Apocrypha." From an academic perspective, I'm sure you are aware that many prefer the term "Deuterocanon" or "Deuterocanonical books." I hope you include this other term in Part 3! And as a bonus, you can also mention that the Orthodox canon also includes books in addition to what's in the Catholic deuterocanon (and that each individual Orthodox Church has its own canon).
Yes, grouping 1. and 2. Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, Tobith, Barch and the additions to Esther and Daniel (i.e. the Deuterocanon) together with the spurious Pseudepigraphia like Enoch, Ascension of Isaiah, Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Apocalypse of Moses, and the History of Joseph the Carpenter and calling them all "Apocrypha" is Protestant polemic attempt to discredit the value of the Deuterocanonical Books.
UPDATE: A summary chart is now available: usefulcharts.com/collections/religion/products/timeline-of-the-bible
Complete Series:
1. Torah - th-cam.com/video/NY-l0X7yGY0/w-d-xo.html
2. Prophets - th-cam.com/video/IAIiLSMOg3Q/w-d-xo.html
3. Writings - th-cam.com/video/Oto0UvG6aVs/w-d-xo.html
4. Apocrypha - th-cam.com/video/HYlZk4Hv-E8/w-d-xo.html
5. Gospels & Acts - th-cam.com/video/Z6PrrnhAKFQ/w-d-xo.html
6. Epistles - th-cam.com/video/2UMlUmlmMlo/w-d-xo.html
7. Daniel & Revelation - th-cam.com/video/fTURdV0c9J0/w-d-xo.html
8: Summary Chart - th-cam.com/video/9uIXzUEwrOg/w-d-xo.html
Hey, I'm actually learning stuff on your channel.
Very interesting topic.
If IS 7:14 was a message to the king, and the sign was a "young woman" shall give birth and call him "Immanuel," how historically was that a "sign" as the verse declares? What exactly was the "sign" and why was such a "sign" necessary? I ask because "young women" give births all the time and I don't see anything radical about calling a child "Immanuel." Just looking for the historical context that make this a "sign".
@@joeboxter3635 The point was that by the time the child reached a certain age, the danger feared by the king would be gone. Therefore, don't worry.
Mate honestly how you've taken a channel about what's basically graphs and made it so bloody interesting and worth watching I'm stunned to understand.
Damn straight! Well said!! I am OBSESSED with this channel 💕💕💕
He's gonna have to make a chart on how he made charts interesting.
@@numbersdontlie5954 yhea it shouldn't be possible to do this channel and make it as great to watch as he does.
Peace. Respectfully, but notably. His self statement of interpretation, (EXEGESIS).
A). He stated that (ISAIAH 53: 5-6), the word (HE), which is the 'SECOND WORD", beginning at verse (5), could be interpreted to mean, (THE ENTIREY OF PEOPLE OF ISRAEL)??
B). Within the Science of Text/Words, Literarily to say, one CAN NOT, use (EISEGES), on the Eytomology of ANY WORD, formed within, ANY WORLD LANGUAGE, but allow it to "Function and Mean", what it means in one's Nationality, or Culture, as how ever it's derived, to be defined in that Nationality, or culture.
C). In Hebrew specifically, the word "HE", first, carries a "masculine" word identification.. Also, is DOES NOT PLURALIZE the Subject, it INDIVUALIZES , and is functioning as a PRONOUN.. So, according to Hebrew word functions, the nation of Israel, CAN NOT BE SUBSITUTED, as being spoken, or referred to in (ISAIAH 53: 5-6). Also, one can not interpret that to mean the NATION OF ISRAEL, simply due to HOW the word...HE... functions in sentence.. That is simply complying also, to (ZECHARIAH 12:8-10), where even the word............"PIERCED" is used there!!!
Yep agreed. I don’t even believe in a god and I find this channel so interesting.
The one thing that is so often sorely missing from a standard university Biblical lit class is a nice bird's eye view (I guess, they just figure they can throw you into the weeds and you can construct one yourself???). This series (along with your several other videos on the Bible) is just absolutely excellent. Rock on!
Not being a believer, I get to study the bible and it's history from the outside; the bird's I view. Studying how it was constructed and how it was influenced by belief systems that developed over previous millennia is so interesting.
One of my favorite university classes was 'Bible as Literature'. Super interesting. We covered a lot of the same subjects as these videos.
@@Bobbie7781 Same for me, pretty much. I lucked out and my college was nearby Princeton Theological Seminary, so our Biblical lit professor was one of their faculty, so every course he taught was excellent and ended up by far being among my favorites. Now, our courses didn't use the phrase "as literature" in their titles (it was more things like "Literature of the Old Testament," "Literature of the New Testament," etc.), but same thing really.
But yeah, the one thing I would have loved was such a clear and succinct overview as these ones, either at the beginning or end of the courses, or better yet both. I feel like it would've solidified everything a lot better in my head. Definitely still my favorite courses, but yeah, that would've been nice :-)
@@jedgar63 I respect that you learn the Bible despite not being a believer. However, let this not deceive you into thinking that this process by default gives you a birds' eye view. No offense, but logically, it's equivalent to saying that a flat-earther learning the geology of the Earth has a birds' eye view of the subject. You can have a birds' eye view when you learn the subject disregarding your faith; that applies and is possible for both the believer and the non-believer.
@@aaronjs99 Mirriam-Webster dictionary: 2 : an overall or cursory look at something.
You are an artist, a historian, and a scholar, yet delightful deliverer
Excellent work. Thanks for posting it.
Never been more excited for a Useful Charts video. It’s a lot easier to find information on the Torah/Pentateuch than on the Prophets
"it's up to you how you want to interpret those scriptures, but please know that there several options available."
wonderfully said. a very tricky topic to navigate but you did so very elegantly.
Usually the simplest answer is the more accurate one. To think Immanuel refers to Hezekiah makes no sense.
You're doing amazing work, Matt. Thank you so much for these looks into the past! As an ex-Christian, I still have a nagging interest in the history of the Bible and the people who wrote it, and with every video I get more bits to ponder and research further. You and Religion For Breakfast (including the Patheos channel) have almost solely opened my mind up for history and past anthropological studies. I just want to say thank you for a very scientific and broad look into these topics. Even for myself, its easy to be biased and say "Blah! This didnt happen!"; but being able to distinguish factual from folklore-ish writing while giving the benefit of the doubt in some places really helps to understand the world and people around me. Keep it up, and reach out or say if you ever need assistance or a break, I can tell some of these take a lot of time and energy!
@@realhumanist71 I am also a atheist and used to be a Christian, I do find the Bible fascinating especially looking at in this way, I just wish literalist would listen and understand their own history.
It's nice to see a theist with this approach.
I'm a catholic
💯
Hope it inspires you to take another look at the book and Jesus’ message 🙏🏾 revealed the truth behind this twisted realm, how satan operates, what’s to come... never misspoke, master of brevity and metaphor and he had the best comebacks for every hater that tried to try him.
Not Catholicism secretly led by the Jesuits, but followers of the Bible and Jesus’ message...
YOOO I just rewatched part one last night, woke up and opened my sub box to see this "uploaded 48 seconds ago". LOSING IT RIGHT NOW
Please keep it up, I hope you'll tackle the New Testament when the Tanakh is done with! Lord knows authorship of the Gospels alone could be its own series.
My favorite line in the bible is a fairly popular one, and it's Micah 6:8. "God has shown you, oh human, what is good. And what does the Lord ask of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." Even when I was an atheist that one made me emotional! And I knew I would love my church when I walked up the first time and that was quoted outside the building--on a rainbow flag. (I'm Episcopalian.)
Anyway. I ended up finding your channel somehow a little less than a week ago, and there IS SO much good stuff to watch. I can't do podcasts because my attention span sucks, but I also hate a lot of YT videos that rely on flashy stuff. This feels like someone who is really into/knowledgeable about a topic info-dumping to me in person while showing me things. It's great. :D
My favorite verse as well!
easily one of the best youtubers in education. Thank you so much for these videos Matt
Peace. Respectfully, but notably. His self statement of interpretation, (EXEGESIS).
A). He stated that (ISAIAH 53: 5-6), the word (HE), which is the 'SECOND WORD", beginning at verse (5), could be interpreted to mean, (THE ENTIREY OF PEOPLE OF ISRAEL)??
B). Within the Science of Text/Words, Literarily to say, one CAN NOT, use (EISEGES), on the Eytomology of ANY WORD, formed within, ANY WORLD LANGUAGE, but allow it to "Function and Mean", what it means in one's Nationality, or Culture, as how ever it's derived, to be defined in that Nationality, or culture.
C). In Hebrew specifically, the word "HE", first, carries a "masculine" word identification.. Also, is DOES NOT PLURALIZE the Subject, it INDIVUALIZES , and is functioning as a PRONOUN.. So, according to Hebrew word functions, the nation of Israel, CAN NOT BE SUBSITUTED, as being spoken, or referred to in (ISAIAH 53: 5-6). Also, one can not interpret that to mean the NATION OF ISRAEL, simply due to HOW the word...HE... functions in sentence.. That is simply complying also, to (ZECHARIAH 12:8-10), where even the word............"PIERCED" is used there!!!
Your videos are so calming to watch. Thank you for your hard work and scholarly explanations! I appreciate you looking at this from both a religious and historical standpoint
The bible's history is pretty interesting
Yeah, you're right, every verse is like a masterpiece!
That's a bit of an understatement, but yes. Quite interesting. Some may say the most interesting text ever compiled
mhm even for people who dont believe in Christianity aswell
@@nick.3455
Absolutely! It's correlation with secular history is unbelievable
@@JEBrink mhm
1:09 In German they're called the 1st to 5th book Moses. Those individual names also exist in the German bible but instead of "Exodus 25" we often say "2. Mose 25"
Good information.
As I am studying German, I noticed that "Tanakh" really sounds like "Tanach". Turns out that's how it's written in German.
Same in Swedish (inspired by German, of course, a lot of the Swedish Biblical scholars back in the day studied in Germany, I think, and there were a lot of German traders in Sweden back in the middle ages.)
Genesis= Första Mosebok (Första=First, Mose=Moses, Bok=Book),
When they made your grandpa get up finally and come outside to see who wanted all the smoke😆
That's just the Protestants in Germany. Catholics use Genesis, Exodus, etc.
These are 2 seperate books which, although having the same content, have different ordering and prioritizations. And you still manage to explain these two books in the same videos and still make it so understandable and structured. Job well done! I can only imagine the effort you've put into these videos and still offer this content without ads.
That timeline was absolutely fantastic! A very useful and insightful way of presenting the information that really helped put things in place.
I love how people just having a nice discussion and conversation in your comment section even tho we're having different religion and background. Nice videos as always.
As someone who loves biblical textual criticism (yay, Ehrman!) and the historical and literary analysis of the bible, this was awesome. So incredibly well done! I love the chart, timeline, and history section around 11:28 ! MORE! MORE!
Erhman would be better if he were more honest
@Gary Allen Be careful with Ehrman. According to him in his book Forged the whole of the New Testament is one big forgery and he claims that many of the events in the life of Jesus did not happen. His thinking in 'How Jesus became God' is unclear and contradictory. He ignores sources that contradicts his agnostic views and places a narrow interpretation on that found in the Synoptics that indicate that from the beginning the early church believed Jesus to be God. His work has not lived up to scrutiny by other scholars who have easily pulled his thesis apart. That said his book on the growth of early church to become the dominant faith in the Roman empire and his book 'Lost Christianities' are interesting reads.
@@philipdouglas5911 got any links to further epxlore criticisms of ehrman's theory. i'm very curious
Thanks so much for this episode! I really appreciate how much time you must spend tweaking your delivery in order to not offend all the different groups watching
Wow these videos are so well made. You explain everything so well. The comparison at the beginning was really nice too. This is why you’re one of my favorite channels!
this was absolutely fascinating. brilliant job on both parts, matt; eagerly awaiting the finale!
The moment you realize your dad blacked out and you’re all like, yeah nah I’m not touching that bruh😂
As an ex-evangelical, I am actually most excited about when you tackle revelations. As a kid, revelations always sort of frightened me. Cant wait to hear the historical approach behind who wrote it and when!
It reads like "John on Crack" to me. Perhaps Patmos has some really good mushrooms we weren't aware of?
Remember, the actual focus of Revelation is: God triumphs! The rest is drama.
@BlackEpyon you are not alone LOL
@@DouglasJenkins More like, "If you're not kissing God's ass, then you're in his path.
@@DouglasJenkins "the rest is drama" 😂😂 I like it but yeah I wish I could look at it that simple. Unfortunately that book is a huge part of my religious 'trauma' if I can call it that. Terrified me for years and that with other things gave me and other religious children some weird compulsive behaviours.
I do hope this series continues into the New Testament!
This is so cool, thank you!
as usual, I always learn something new... thumbs up again, can't wait for the Ketuvim and the Apocrypha episodes... 👍
- A Muslim
im muslim too and i would love for someone to make a series like this on the Quran. Dont get me wrong i believe the Quran has not been changed like every muslim but i would still like a video. ive never seen anyone talk about the Quran
@@muhammadHassan-kj1jy it wouldn't be as interesting as the Bible videos as the Quran came from one source. There are videos talking about secular theories about the origin of the Quran but none of them actually make sense.
@@theokra Don't judge please, I'm Muslim too
@@theokra thank u, i understand. I think i just felt that islam is always left out especially in videos like this that r about religious texts.👍
@@theokra the Quran isn't the only literary source for the islamic faith. There are others like the Hadiths and as-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah. That being said a video on them like the above video isn't actually needed at all.
I am LOVING this series. Something that would be an interesting modified chart would be one that attempted to also place the books on a timeline of the events that they describe rather than their actual dates of writings. And perhaps on a continuum ranging from "mostly historical" to "mostly myth/legend" I feel like one of your previous videos discussed that aspect a little, too. Anyway this series is AMAZING and makes me want to pick up a Bible to read critically.
they're all historical.
@@fadadapple completely agree. As the Bible states, first God created the Universe. Then, he created the Universe again in a slightly different order, for no apparent reason.
@@felipevasconcelos6736 umm no?
@@fadadapple wait, I thought everything on the Bible was 100% historical. Am I missing something?
@@felipevasconcelos6736 it is.
This channel is phenomenal not only in terms of content and clarity but also in CHARTS!
Note that nobody claims Samuel was written by Samuel, since he dies in the middle of the part Xtians call I Samuel. The traditional view is that it was a written by The Prophet Nathan , though he was commanded to edit in sections by the Prophets Gad and Samuel. It is called Samuel because it begins with the nativity of Samuel, and everything in was set in motion by Samuel, besides the fact that Gad and Nathan were close disciples of Samuel.
I've never seen a clearer more organized presentation on the Bible; this is wonderful.
Taught OT for the first time this year to 6th Graders (7th, NT; 8th Church History), and it is really helpful to teach with essentially this understanding of the history. Seeing how the history of the Jews during XYZ period really helped us understand why various books were written (for example: seeing the debate between different parties of Jews during the resettlement of Judah after the Exile: Ezra-Nehemiah being against Gentile marriage/what they saw as the corruption of the people; Malachi arguing that the people needed to stay faithful to their marriage vows [Do we not all have one Father?...I hate divorce, etc]; Tobit extolling marriage within the people/faithfulness to the Torah; Ruth and Esther showing the benefits of Gentile marriage [no Jews married to Gentiles, no David!]; and Jonah showing a Jewish prophet angry at God's mercy toward the Gentiles--all of them are wrestling with those same themes: how do we stay faithful Jews under Gentile rule? How do the Gentiles fit into the plan?)
The definitely is a way to learn the critical method that is unhelpful (just figuring out when something was written to know when it was written), but knowing what the authors are really getting at based on what issues they were dealing with was an excellent way to get the kids engaged.
Thanks for all the work you put into this!
I'm so glad you have the release dates for the future episodes in the doobly. Bless. Shalom!
I didn't expect part 2 so quickly! AWESOME!
Thanks!
Thank you for making religion finally accessible to me
Endlich mal eine saubere und vor allem ehrliche Auseinandersetzung mit den biblischen Quellen... so etwas liegt einfach viel näher an der Wahrheit... danke
Man, you're the best. This channel is awesome.
Your charts actually lay out a number of things in easier to understand formats showing where things place in time and in relation to each other. I appreciate the time and work you put into these, as they're very informative and enjoyable bites of learning about a lot of different subjects!
Thank you for your honesty, graphics are the only why I have learned anything. When I was a newspaper cartoonist, my friends made a lot of charts for print publication. Now charts are animated... the most useful of all.
Glad to have you aboard! 🙂
As a kid I brought a stack of comic books to school to show my friends. A couple handfuls got stolen. Naturally, I was irate initially. I’m over it now because I ended up on a magazine cover😁
dude i love this. something about the charts; layered on top of the timeline; with context narrated over it. you're making this easy to follow and, it's great.
I am Indonesian Christian, in our country, speaking about how scholars explained the Holy Scriptures (Bible or Koran) are very taboo. Many people will mad if their religion was critized. But I love how you explain about the Bible, very intersting and fascinating. Before i watch your videos about Bible, I have been knew several how scholars explained about Bible. Suprisingly although i watched your videos and i can accept it, but I always keep my faith.
Thankyou very much for this amazing video! I hope you will make many video about Christianity.
I am sory for my bad English😢
It's a shame it's taboo. Personally, as a Christian, I think we should definitely try to understand the Bible better, and understanding who wrote them when and in what context is absolutely part of that.
We should always seek to understand truth. Our human minds are insufficient vessels, so we should be humble in expressing our thoughts. Newton was right: we do stand on the shoulders of giants.
This series is fascinating. Worth watching several times to fully absorb. Extremely well presented. Good job, Matt!
This is very interesting but also a bit challenging for me. I'm a Christian myself and from August, I'll be studying theology, so I thought I'd get a better grasp of how the Bible is viewed from a critical historical perspective. Your clarity is very helpful and makes this topic accessible. Cheers from Denmark
Please bare in mind that for most of the (critical) historical dating of Old Testament books there is next to no evidence. Some books are just assumed to be written in later periods because they contain fulfilled and documented historical prophecy. A lot of it is based on assumptions, „literary“ analysis and not on hard facts.
As an example, Mike Winger has a good video with very good arguments for an early date for the book of Daniel
I love going through almost all of your well reasearched clips without being judgemental, which shows almost no baises in dealing with the subject most of the time. A subject which is made interesting, intriguing and dealt out so neat with creative approach and clarity. The most amazing feature are the depiction of respective historical time lines which opens up a world of huge window for anyone from any location in this world to connect to his own references. Thank you Matt for you wonderfully effort. Always my reference whenever I have to check on certain topics and timeline, not much with the narration though as it shifts with one's own belief and faith.
Hey Matt, amazing videos - I never new this side of scriptures. Can you make a video on how do people tell when was a book written and who wrote it? I would be very interesting to see the discovery process of all this info.
This series is going to devour my summer. Thank you for your efforts.
Syrain orthodox , and ethipian bible also have more books.
Yeah, would be nice to include the Book of Enoch (and the rest of the Maccabees) for completeness sake.
@@lsamaknight I think 1 Enoch would need a fairly lengthy video, half of that just to explain the context. For that reason, it is quite reasonable to leave it out for the time being.
That could be a good epilogue video [assuming Matt isn't already planning it]: the "apocrypha", maybe including explanations of what sects use what books, and when that decision was made.
Peace. Respectfully, but notably. His self statement of interpretation, (EXEGESIS).
A). He stated that (ISAIAH 53: 5-6), the word (HE), which is the 'SECOND WORD", beginning at verse (5), could be interpreted to mean, (THE ENTIREY OF PEOPLE OF ISRAEL)??
B). Within the Science of Text/Words, Literarily to say, one CAN NOT, use (EISEGES), on the Eytomology of ANY WORD, formed within, ANY WORLD LANGUAGE, but allow it to "Function and Mean", what it means in one's Nationality, or Culture, as how ever it's derived, to be defined in that Nationality, or culture.
C). In Hebrew specifically, the word "HE", first, carries a "masculine" word identification.. Also, is DOES NOT PLURALIZE the Subject, it INDIVUALIZES , and is functioning as a PRONOUN.. So, according to Hebrew word functions, the nation of Israel, CAN NOT BE SUBSITUTED, as being spoken, or referred to in (ISAIAH 53: 5-6). Also, one can not interpret that to mean the NATION OF ISRAEL, simply due to HOW the word...HE... functions in sentence.. That is simply complying also, to (ZECHARIAH 12:8-10), where even the word............"PIERCED" is used there!!!
Which one has the most books?
Great information, great explanation, right on point. Great graphics. THANK you !
There was an absolutely huge earthquake approximated to have been magnitude 8.2 dated to the year 759 BC. This earthquake is mentioned in the Book of Amos which was written shortly after.
I know very little on any of these subjects but I've spent an entire evening binging on your content.
I love this channel! It's great that the perspective on the Jewish Bible is coming from an actual Jew with experience of how his peers view these books. I wish you spoke more about your religious beliefs
The moment you realize why you didn’t know after your grandpa sipped his stiff drink after asking you where stinky was.
Wow I did not expect this to as informative or thorough. Not an easy topic especially given the sensitivities, so very well done! :D
Great video! I'd love to see a deeper dive on the prophets. I've often read that they often have a section of real history, written as though prophesied, then begin making predictions for the future as a source of hope or warning- I'd love to learn about which parts of the prophets are historical and which prophecies were predictions (and which ones the prophets got right). I'd love also to learn more about the historical context of each of the prophets.
This video series ist sooo interesting! Thank you for all the hard work that goes into it :)
After finishing this series, would you please consider doing a series on how muslims started dividing into different groups (shia, sunni, ahmedia etc) after prophet's death?
You're seriously an underrated content maker, keep up the honest work! God bless. 🙌
Even Ezekiel thinks that my mind has gone!
I think it might have something to do with the fact that you've been spending most of your life living in an Amish paradise, but that's just a working hypothesis.
Phenomenal material. I never thought that the old testament was anything less than a historical document. Now I am blown away by this analysis.
This was very interesting to watch, but you left out that Ezekial 25:17 was written by Quentin Tarantino.
💀
YIKES! Ima have to watch each of these about 500 times to get it all straight. Nice work, and thank you very much!
"If we take the world’s enduring religions at their best, we discover the distilled wisdom of the human race"
- Huston Smith
Wait... isnt that called cherry picking lol
@@koikro4410 picking corn out of shit.
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."
And a lot of fantastical storytelling.
I mean that many cant see the book of revelation with its seven headed dragon as simply ancient science fiction defies logic.
key words: "at their best"
Thank you for this wonderful work!
I like this series, are you going to talk about the Ethiopian canon unique books including: 4th Baruch, Jubilees, Enoch and the 3 books of Meqabyan (not be be confused with the 4 books of the Maccabees.)
Yes.
I imagine if he does, he'll discuss much of the Deuterocanon and Apocrypha at large.
@@UsefulCharts Yay!
Your graphics game is second to none! It makes it so much easier to parse all the information you present even for someone who isn't well versed in the topic. Keep it up! :D
Good episode!
One note though- Malachi is not in the Ketuvim part, it's in neviim- after Zechariah at the end of twelve.
Oops. Animator's mistake. I didn't notice it.
@@UsefulCharts 👍
Ok now I’m confused- what’s the 12th book if it’s not Malachi?
@@jlupus8804 Malach is the twelfth. Animator made a mistake and put it in Ketuvim/Writings at the beginning of the video, around 4min mark.
Hi Yair! If one would read all those books, in which order should one read them?
Fascinating ideas and historical analysis (as far as things make possible) and SO well presented. The Charts look stunning but also the on screen graphics, highlighting and transitions are so clean and professional. A superb job!
This is the Best Channel for History
Thank you for the great video, Dr. Baker!
This gives light on how to give a new approach on reading the Bible. I am born Catholic, became agnostic turned Protestant.
Fantastic video Matt, I can't wait until the next one!
So glad all of the videos in this series have their dates put in advance (read the description)
I'm an atheist but biblical scholarship is one of my abiding interests. I've read several books on the Old Testament and history of its people but your graphic summaries stand out as one of the best ways to put all of it together. Your work is very appreciated here. Thank you.
I’m sad that you have to defend your own beliefs in the video because you know what criticisms people will make if you don’t :( Growing up Christian I worked out early on that Christians looooove catching out perceived contradictions in the beliefs of Jews, which they don’t do with members of any other faith. It’s repugnant.
On a lighter note, thanks for making such a fully researched and well explained video 👍🏼
Us Muslims do the same with Christians (and a lot less with Jews). Since we all claim to be the "corrected" version of the previous religion, we need to show the contradictions to be legitimate, otherwise you start asking yourself why is there an update if everything is working fine
Growing up Eastern Orthodox Christian I never personally encountered such an obsession, though obviously the story necessitates that Judaism must be mistaken about those passages. However, I never did learn what the Jewish interpretation of those passages is, so that was super interesting to learn!
I've never seen this happen.
Its more repugnant when Christian Apologists would misinterpret religions and scientific methods and people say that the other religion is wrong because some religion put one man in a higher standard than their "Son of God". Like my Buddhist leaning would be very pissed because that is literally judging something they do not even understand.
@@ousamadearudesuwa What are you even talkib about? And this video isn't about Christian apologists.
YEESSS I've been checking every week for the next episode in this series!!!
You did not disappoint!! Although you didn't mention my favorite lost book The Book of the Wars of the Lord ('סֵפֶר מִלְחֲמֹת ה) mentioned in Numbers 21:14-15
Did you subscribe and check the bell icon?
When you talk about ‘most biblical scholars’ or similar phrases, who would the big names be? I would like to do some more reading on these matters but I feel a little out of my depth. Do you have any good detailed book recommendations on this topic as well?
I'll give it some thought and hopefully include a list of sources in time for episode 3.
One of the earliest proponents of the 'Documentary Hypothesis' was Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918); one of the many scholars working in this field is Richard E. Friedman (he literally authored the book "Who wrote the Bible?"). Thomas Römer is one of the names associated with the historical-critical approach. Margaret Barker is the foremost name of those tracing the ancient Hebrew believes through history. On the archaeological side, important names are Israel Finkelstein and William G. Dever.
@@UsefulCharts One of the earliest proponents of the 'Documentary Hypothesis' was Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918); one of the many scholars working in this field is Richard E. Friedman (he literally authored the book "Who wrote the Bible?"). Thomas Römer is one of the names associated with the historical-critical approach. Margaret Barker is the foremost name of those tracing the ancient Hebrew believes through history. On the archaeological side, important names are Israel Finkelstein and William G. Dever.
@@UsefulCharts Perhaps you can do an extra video on the scources and history of the science of this topic? At least the major steps? Meanwhile it is interesting itself. By the way: A great video again. Of course, in some points I disagree, but not mutch.
For those interested in the rebuttal of the Graf-Wellhausen theory, you can read the book: The inspiration of the Pentateuch or the Graf-Wellhausen Fallacy by M.W.J Phelan. ISBN 095472056-3.
We live during the times where anyone can make a video without too much effort. But people should always cite their sources: that points to the emanation of the ideas presented and then people can read contradictory theories to form a better opinion...
Thank you for this. I am thoroughly enjoying this series! Never thought bible history could be so interesting and I'm a non believer!
How about a series on the Dead Sea scrolls!?
I thought he did one already. But, definitely worth revisiting considering what was found recently in the Cave of Horrors. And, on that note I’m glad he addressed what virgin can translate as. Which, confirms several thoughts that came to mind concerning the resurrection of Israel and the subject of regenerative abilities in a Holy sense.
@@the2ndcoming135 the cave of horrors was where the 1st situation with Josephus took place then he used that story to cover up what happened at masada! I would not consider the find in the cave of horrors a Dead Sea scroll!
@@YadinZedek777 great catch, man😂
@@the2ndcoming135 Josephus might talk about reality but he exaggerated the truth but everything he's talked about has been verified except for a few variations and variables that might be a little different so it seems like he has some type of cover-up going on
@@YadinZedek777 sure I guess. I mean that’s probably relative to the overall encompassing point. Ultimately, this consequently puts Jesus in the room of discussion. The man’s name isn’t just resurfacing for no reason💆🏻♂️
This is brilliant content, exactly what I’ve been looking for. Wikipedia has a fair amount of information about Biblical composition, but it’s very difficult to get a general picture of how it all connects together in time and space. You do a fantastic job at both summarizing the different elements, explaining historical contexts, and noting points of scholarly disagreement/ambiguity.
As an atheist Jew, this is absolutely amazing, thank you!
And at least in Israel we also have שמואל א/ב and מלכים א/ב.
It's due to the christian split, they codified bible chapters and verses, so it's easy to use.
However, jewish publications (eg, the koren bible) still print the text seamlessly *as if* they're a single book...
@Joseph Douek
Yes, well done!
Excuse my ignorance but what is an atheist jew?
@@HOSS257
An atheist who is culturally, ethnically, and nationally jewish.
Culturally it means celebrating Jewish holidays, Jewish life-cycle rites, and studying jewish texts without connection to religion.
@Joseph Douek
Very accurate.
It's easy to keep feeling jewish when the society around you is already based on jewish culture.
About half of Israel's jewish population is completely secular (though some believe in a god), a querter is "traditional", and the rest are religious or ultra-ortodox.
This is a great work, and the visual organization of all the information is very clear and usefull. Thank you for having put so much effort in recording this video.
Love this Matt! And I love how you started talking interpreting Isaiah at the same time. We were actually studying this during our tikkun leil shavuot at our shul. I had no idea that Christians has actually rearranged a couple verses (at the end of ch 6 & start of 7 was the example brought up) in order to drive their points across and differentiate themselves from Jews (reinterpreting differently, totally knew but this point was new to me as I never studied Isaiah closely before). I'm excited to see the rest of this series! Thanks for all your hard work.
What did they change and what was the point they wanted to make?
@@RyanGenereaux I don't remember the exact quote but a verse was moved from the end of chapter six to the start of chapter seven if I remember correctly (and I think a whole extra sentence was added). And some verb tenses were changed from past to future. I don't have access to the power point that was shared otherwise I'd have exact quotes. If you're interested in more direct comparisons I'd check out sefaria.org, which has the whole Tanakh side by side in Hebrew and English and use that to compare to the Christian bible of your choice and have fun exploring the differences.
ETA the point was made was by the Christian authors/translators to differentiate themselves from Jewish ones to emphasize that the text was talking about the second coming of Jesus, rather than a historical event. It can be classified as supersessionism and was/is used as a tactic to try and convert Jews (and others) to Christianity.
@@RyanGenereaux They claim a verse in Isaiah foretells the coming of Jesus. They do this throughout the Hebrew Bible.
Outstanding charting! Makes the narrative easier to follow. Plus it spurs memory of the narrative.
There's a surprising lack of Biblical scholarship available on TH-cam. I searched some of these topics to get more indepth and most of the time I just got cringey Christian videos.
Have you ever considered the fact that maybe they have good informations but you simply don't want to see or believe it.
@@raphchelly3413 they usually are made of false informations, and are filled with logical fallacies
@@raphchelly3413 I looked up Song of Deborah and I was looking to find some information around the archeology and linguistics around the how they determined its age. All I got was a bunch of paintings, quotes, and swelling music. Yes... so much good information.
@@MobiusCoin then maybe you shouldn't do all your research on TH-cam
@@raphchelly3413 ... That's my point. Surprising lack of Biblical scholarship on TH-cam. You can learn how to preform surgery on TH-cam. You can learn how to become a senior level software engineer on TH-cam. It's surprising that academics haven't uploaded their lectures onto the platform.
Thanks Matt. You should produce a chart for this, I'd buy that.
I was a Hindu but now I'm Christian ☺️❤️
That's good to hear, God bless you.
AMazing..Keep up the faith...A fellow Christian from Kerala!!
Incredibly interesting and easy to understand! Well done!
Incredibly smart of Jews to combine all the smaller books into one. Learning all the names of the books of the Bible was incredibly annoying in Sunday School cuz there’s so many of them that are only a few chapters long.
Learning and remembering 12 names was that difficult?
Another great one! Learning a ton!
When I studied Bible and theology in college, one of the professors was a secular Jew (or atheist Jew? I don't recall his exact wording). When asked what this meant, he playfully answered: "I don't believe in God, but I do believe He led the Israelites out of Egypt." Not relevant, but I felt I had to share it.
Technically, you can be an atheist Jew, a Muslim Jew, or a Christian Jew (it doesn't mean it happens much). Being a Jew refers to your land of origin, Judea, like being German or English. There is also a Jewish religion, but it's not a requirement for belonging to the tribe.
16:42 I do very much like the your videos on this topic but I have to take exception to your saying that 'the virgin' in Isaiah 7:14 should be better translated as 'a young girl'. The term הָעַלְמָ֗ה hā'al māh literally means 'the hidden woman', and as the honorific titel 'The Virgin' (with capital letters & with the definitiv article THE) it was one of the honorific titles of the queen consort of Judah and the mother of the future King-Priest of Jerusalem who himself was given the titel עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל׃ 'Immanuel' ('God with us') during the First Temple Period. The whole of Isaiah 7 is a prophecy addressed to king Ahaz in the time of conflict with Syria. The term hā'al māh as 'The Virgin' was maintained as Ἡ Παρθένος in the Septuagint, i.e. the old Greek version of the Hebrew Bible made for Greek-speaking Jews in Egypt in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. The understanding of hā'al māh as 'a young woman' most likely relates to the work of the תיקוני סופרים tiqqūnēi sōferīm (the 'corrections of the scribes') during the 2nd century CE, i.e. after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Happy to discuss in more details.
Thank you for the video. Good information to study.
Hey Matt. I´ll be cool to see a video about the Book of Enoch
Splendidly clear. The charts with the explanations are perfect examples of information design.
This is the best channel I have come across in the recent years for real ❤🎉
I was raised with an inerrant view of scripture and only when I began studying the history behind the Bible did I understand how complex the story of the books really was. I still have faith, but no longer do I hold to the fundamentalist views that I was raised with. I don't understand how anyone can especially if they know about the history and motivations behind the creation of these stories. Again, this doesn't necessarily disqualify the idea of God or the Divine, but it does force the believer to be more humble.
The Bible gets more and more interesting, the more you truly learn about it!
@@UsefulCharts Very true! Quick question. Who is your favorite historian when it comes to the Bible? Is there a book or series of books you recommend?
I am in a similar position to you. This type of video, education and learning is really important for me personally to unpack what I had been taught and understood growing up as a Christian.
@@Wkumar07 Gosh, there are too many to mention! I'll give it some thought and list some recommended reading in Episode 3.
@@UsefulCharts I look forward to it!
omg omg omg thankyou so much for these videos!! they are so interesting!!!
The bible has more updates than IPhone.
So true.
Not for long. The iPhone is catching up.
With a history of 4000 years, you'd expect there to be.
koran has more updates than Windows (it nearly updates on a weekly basis) and it's only a recent book compared to bible!
Surah 37:12
Hafs بَلْ عَجِبْتَ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (But you wondered while they mocked) *عَجِبْتَ*
Warsh بَلْ عَجِبْتُ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (But I wondered while they mocked) *عَجِبْتُ*
Duri بَلْ عَجِبْتُ وَيَسْخَرُونَ (But I wondered while they mocked) *عَجِبْتُ*
you even get goats abrogating verses in your koran too
Absolutely incredible video as always!
Amazing how the word of god can be read so many different ways.
Yep. Probably God didn't know what she was doing and got befuddled.
great work man, very interesting. the context is very interesting
Matt, I love your videos. I want to point out, however, that you called those books that are in the Catholic/Orthodox canon, but not the Protestant canon, the "Apocrypha." From an academic perspective, I'm sure you are aware that many prefer the term "Deuterocanon" or "Deuterocanonical books." I hope you include this other term in Part 3! And as a bonus, you can also mention that the Orthodox canon also includes books in addition to what's in the Catholic deuterocanon (and that each individual Orthodox Church has its own canon).
Yes, grouping 1. and 2. Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, Tobith, Barch and the additions to Esther and Daniel (i.e. the Deuterocanon) together with the spurious Pseudepigraphia like Enoch, Ascension of Isaiah, Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Apocalypse of Moses, and the History of Joseph the Carpenter and calling them all "Apocrypha" is Protestant polemic attempt to discredit the value of the Deuterocanonical Books.
Good explanation by the way very nice presentation.
Keep doing the great work!