The Judges of Ancient Israel

About this episode

Helen and Lloyd explore the role of judges in ancient Israel with Dr Brandon Hurlbert.

The book of Judges gives us some of the most intriguing and tragic characters in all of the Hebrew Bible: Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson. But what did it mean to be a 'judge' in ancient Israel? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Dr Brandon Hurlbert. Dr Brandon Hurlbert (PhD, Durham University) is a teaching fellow in Hebrew Bible and Ethics at Durham University. His thesis explored the possibilities of reading the book of Judges as Christian Scrip...

People in this episode

Hosts: Helen Bond, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Guest: Dr Brandon Hurlbert

Topics covered

• Judges of Ancient Israel
• Hebrew Bible
• Christianity
• Ethics
• Ancient Israel

Keywords

• Judges
• Deborah
• Gideon
• Jephthah
• Samson
• Hebrew Bible
• Christian Scripture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Durham University

Books & works: the book of Judges

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• Erotica... In the Bible? · May 4, 2026 · 39 min
• Signs in the Gospel of John · April 27, 2026 · 37 min