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Jehon Grist—Reading the Bible: Were the Biblical Philistines Israel’s Worst Nightmare or Something Else?
- Pacific Time Virtual Program
Become a member and pay only $57.50 for this program!
Long before modern Israel and the Palestinians, there were ancient Israel and the Philistines. The ancient Philistines appear in the Bible as an existential threat to Israel, suffering from a reputation given them by the Biblical writers as boorish pagans with superior military skills.
Our class will begin with a richly illustrated historical and archaeological introduction to the Philistines so that students can fully appreciate their complex and fascinating culture. From there we’ll dig into the Biblical text, both in the original Hebrew and in English translation so that you don’t need to know Hebrew to full enjoy the class. In the process, we’ll discover that the legendary Samson behaved more like a Philistine than an Israelite; that the future King David once served under the Philistine banner; and that recent discoveries reveal how Philistine culture mingled with early Israel’s.
All our sessions will be live online and also recorded so you can enjoy them anywhere, or anytime. Texts, notes and additional readings will be provided by the instructor.
9 Sundays: 9/22, 9/29, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27, 11/3, 11/10, 11/17, 11/24 at 5:15-6:45pm Pacific
Watch this brief video to learn more about this program:
