Author: Alastair Roberts

Alastair Roberts (PhD, Durham University) writes in the areas of biblical theology and ethics, but frequently trespasses beyond these bounds. He participates in the weekly Mere Fidelity podcast, blogs at Alastair’s Adversaria, and tweets at @zugzwanged.

Transcript for the Eleventh Day of Christmas: Angels and Shepherds

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

This, the eleventh in my series for the twelve days of Christmas, was transcribed by Lorraine O’Neal. If you would be interested in her transcription services—for sermons, lectures, talks, or something else—you can contact her here.

I would very much like to provide transcripts for all of my videos, but I will require more support for this to be affordable. If you would like to help to make this possible, please consider supporting or donating using my Patreon or PayPal accounts. New sponsorship and donations are being earmarked for this specific purpose.

If you would like to volunteer to transcribe some videos yourself, please contact me using the page above.

You can see a complete list of my videos and transcripts here.

Continue reading “Transcript for the Eleventh Day of Christmas: Angels and Shepherds” →

Transcript for the Tenth Day of Christmas: Balaam and the Magi

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

This, the tenth in my series for the twelve days of Christmas, was transcribed by Lorraine O’Neal. If you would be interested in her transcription services—for sermons, lectures, talks, or something else—you can contact her here.

I would very much like to provide transcripts for all of my videos, but I will require more support for this to be affordable. If you would like to help to make this possible, please consider supporting or donating using my Patreon or PayPal accounts. New sponsorship and donations are being earmarked for this specific purpose.

If you would like to volunteer to transcribe some videos yourself, please contact me using the page above.

You can see a complete list of my videos and transcripts here.

Continue reading “Transcript for the Tenth Day of Christmas: Balaam and the Magi” →

Theopolis Podcast: Seeking the Beloved (Song of Songs 5-6)

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In this episode of the Theopolis Podcast, Peter Leithart and I continue our discussion of the Song of Songs, discussing chapters five and six of the book.

You can follow the Theopolis podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, and on most podcast apps. You can read show notes over on the Theopolis podcast website. You can also see past episodes I have contributed to by clicking the ‘Theopolis Podcast’ link in the bar above.

Why Doesn’t Eleazar Die in the Wilderness?

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What does the entrance of Aaron’s son Eleazar into the promised land say about the curse upon the generation which rebelled at the edge of the promised land? We see him in Numbers 3, Numbers 4 (apparently as an adult), Numbers 16, in Numbers 19, and we see him taking over Aaron’s office in Numbers 20. Unless another Eleazar is meant, he doesn’t die until Joshua chapter 24. Based on the curse in Numbers 14 “your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward” are we to conclude that Numbers had described Eleazar as assisting with priestly service at some age younger than twenty, or is this an indication that the curse isn’t to be taken literally, and that some men from that generation other than Joshua and Caleb survived?

Continue reading “Why Doesn’t Eleazar Die in the Wilderness?” →

Transcriptions

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

One of my longer term goals is to provide well-edited transcriptions for every podcast or video that I produce (I’ve listed all my videos/podcasts and which have been transcribed here). Transcription takes a great deal of time—far more time than I have to spare—but it can save a lot of time for the many people for whom watching through an entire video is very inconvenient, but who would like to read my thoughts on a particular question.

A few of my listeners and supporters have volunteered to transcribe videos for me, which has been a real blessing and help. Recently, a professional transcriber contacted me and offered her services on a trial basis. I have been very impressed with the quality and consistency of her work and would like to be able to pay her appropriately in the future.

If you are at all interested in making this possible, please consider supporting or donating using my Patreon or PayPal accounts. New sponsorship and donations are being earmarked for this specific purpose.

New and existing Patreon supporters also get to suggest which videos they would most like to see transcribed, which will be prioritized accordingly.

Transcript for the Ninth Day of Christmas: Foreigners in Search of Wisdom

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

One of my supporters has very kindly transcribed this video, the ninth of my series for the twelve days of Christmas. I don’t have time to transcribe my videos myself, so anyone willing to volunteer to transcribe one video every week or fortnight would be greatly appreciated! The transcript is very lightly edited at a few points for the purpose of comprehension.

Continue reading “Transcript for the Ninth Day of Christmas: Foreigners in Search of Wisdom” →

Levirate Marriage

~ Alastair Roberts ~ Leave a comment

What were the purposes of levirate marriage? I can see that it would help to provide for widows, but its described purposes appear to go beyond that. In our culture, if a brother dies, he and his brother already share a name and his nieces and nephews by a brother will carry on the family name. My understanding is that the Israelites did not have family names in the same manner as modern English-speaking cultures. What was different about Israelite culture that causes the first child born of a levirate marriage being described in Deuteronomy 25 as assuming the name of the dead brother (and what does such a taking of the brother’s name mean, in cultural context)? Also, does levirate marriage imply polygamy because of how, with regard to the levirate marriage, it apparently contains an increased risk that the surviving brother will not have a child from that marriage to succeed him (if, for instance, he only has one son by that wife)?

Continue reading “Levirate Marriage” →