Joshua walks Abigael through the early stages of the creation of the Bible, from its earliest stages to the beginning of the Roman conquest of Judea. Although we grew up learning about the Bible as being created straightforward, the history that Josh has learned in his doctoral program is one of political intrigue, with priests betraying one another, empires fighting for land, and the Judean people caught in the middle. 

Sources for this episode include, but are not limited to When God Spoke Greek, Ancient Laws and Contemporary Controversies, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, Judaism in Persia's Shadow, They Were All Together in One Place?, Stony the Road We Trod, and Womanist Midrash, among others. Also, several of Joshua's classes.