Creation, Kingdom, Exile

A small, two-session seminar exploring the Hebrew Bible as both sacred text and a library shaped across centuries of historical change.

Beginning with Genesis and its ancient Near Eastern context, we’ll trace an arc through creation, kingship, exile, and hope, asking how biblical writers inherited, transformed, and argued with the traditions around them and with one another.

We’ll read these texts first in their ancient Israelite and Judean contexts, while occasionally noticing how particular passages were later reread in Jewish and Christian traditions. No previous knowledge of the Bible is required.

I’ll send a short selection of readings in advance. Reading beforehand is welcome but entirely optional; we’ll spend time with the central passages together during the seminar. You are welcome to use any Bible translation you prefer.

Each session will combine lecture, close reading, and conversation, with a short break midway through. Because the group will be small, there will be plenty of room to linger with the texts and follow the questions that emerge.

This seminar is designed to stand on its own. I’m also considering a longer Bible course and future short seminars that would allow us to spend more time with texts such as Job, the Psalms, and the Bible’s later interpretive traditions.