Show Notes
This week, it's a double-feature! Two totally different topics, both coming from the same chapter in Acts. So open your Bibles to Acts chapter 7, and let's dive in.
First, we're looking at a fascinating little twist of linguistics that gives us insight into who the author of acts was. Or more accurately, who he wasn't. It's a mystery that can only be puzzled out by comparing ancient versions of the Hebrew Bible in semitic languages (Hebrew or Aramaic) and the septuagint in Greek. What does all this tell us about who wrote this book? And was that author present for the events he's describing?
Then, we're looking to the heavens, and divining what we can about biblical astrology. But we're not the first to do it. A bunch of creators online have been using lines from Acts 7 as an antisemitic bludgeon, and we're going to look at their claim.
What is "the tent of Moloch"? Who is the god Rephan? And what does any of this have to do with the star of David???
----
For early access to an ad-free version of every episode of Data Over Dogma, exclusive content, and the opportunity to support our work, please consider becoming a monthly patron at:
https://www.patreon.com/DataOverDogma
Follow us on the various social media places:
https://www.facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod
https://www.twitter.com/data_over_dogma
Have you ordered Dan McClellan's New York Times bestselling book The Bible Says So yet??? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Data Over Dogma
In the beginning was the Word, but what if the Word was Wisdom all along?
It's the most spookiest time of the year, so we're debuting a brand-new segment: Hexegesis!
The Daily Mail says the resting place of Noah's Ark has been "100% confirmed" on a hillside in Turkey, so we're lacing up our hiking boots to check the radar scans, the fundraising pitch, and what happened the last time someone drilled into this very same formation (spoiler: bedrock).
Open an English Bible and you'll mostly see "God" and "Lord," but underneath is a whole divine vocabulary: El, Eloah, Elohim, the tetragrammaton, and a few choice insults, including gillulim, which likely comes from a word for dung (shit gods, basically). First, we sort out which plural belongs to which singular (spoiler: Elohim isn't the plural of El), why Deuteronomy uses Elohim more than any other book, and how the Shema's "your God" quietly assumes other gods are out there.
This week, Paul finally gets his day in court — several of them, actually, and he spends nearly all of them in custody.