Bible Talk — A podcast by 9Marks

The biblical storyline takes a leap forward when the LORD’s glory fills the Temple. While this moment is significant, it also becomes clear that the Temple isn’t the end goal.

Listen to Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss 1 Kings 8:1–30.

The Lord's presence has more or less been a nomad since Genesis 3. But with the temple, he's about to have a permanent address (kind of). In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about 1 Kings 6–7.

 So . . . Jim Hamilton had a wild idea: let's do a whole episode on 1 Kings 6:1. Alex Duke was dubious, even aghast. But he and Sam Emadi obliged. This conversation is the result.

 In this episode of Bible Talk, they talk about burn layers and interpretive priority and Indiana Jones.

The story of the Old Testament is the story of God's people returning to God's presence. The building of the temple significantly advances that story. In 1 Kings 5, we get Phase 1 of Solomon's construction project. Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss.

Solomon is wise. Solomon is wealthy. Solomon is worth listening to. This is his Platinum Age, better than anything that came with his father David. Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about 1 Kings 3:16–4:34.

We all know the story about Solomon pleading with the Lord for wisdom. But do you remember how it begins? It’s surprising.

Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about 1 Kings 2:12–3:15, which highlights Solomon’s shrewdness and his sinfulness.

King David is on his deathbed. What does he say to his son? “Be strong. Follow the Lord and all his ways. If you don’t . . .”

Jim Hamilton, Alex Duke, and Sam Emadi chat about 1 Kings 2:1–12.

Bible Talk begins a new book! In this episode, Alex chats with Jim and Sam about 1 Kings 1.

The end of 2 Samuel is odd: it portrays the king at cruising altitude and then describes his bumpy descent. What's going on here? Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about the messianic finale of 2 Samuel 23–24. 

We've entered 1–2 Samuel's epilogue, which rewinds the clock to mighty deeds of mighty men and gives us a chiastic cheat code that reveals some fascinating connections between King David and all that's gone before.

By now, David’s reign is beginning to unravel. In fact, these chapters are beginning to remind us not of 1–2 Samuel, but of the book of Judges. Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about 2 Samuel 19–20.

A father should never have to mourn the death of his son. But that's precisely what happens here. In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about 2 Samuel 17–18.

A messenger comes to David and gives him bad news: "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom." Then David flees—and in doing so he fails as both father and king.

Absalom is a smarmy guy who makes himself seem powerful and compassionate. King David, meanwhile, stays quiet while his kingdom nears collapse.

The story of Amnon, Tamar, and the subsequent terrible fallout is ultimately a story about two fake loves. In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi talk through 2 Samuel 13.

At the beginning of 2 Samuel 12, King David is in a dark place. Even worse, he doesn't seem to know it. By the end of 2 Samuel 12, he's back where he belongs and he's writing Psalm 51. Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss.

For a while now, we've been tracking the avalanche in the distance. Now, with the story of David and Bathsheba, it's finally here.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi chat about 2 Samuel 11.

After the mountain top of 2 Samuel 7, we get David’s Golden Age. He’s successful, he’s subduing the LORD’s enemies, and he’s showing surprising mercy to helpless people like Mephibosheth.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss 2 Samuel 8–10.

To celebrate our 100th episode, we did something a little different. But the conversation—on perhaps the mountain-peak of the whole OT—ended up at the same place: the Bible is amazing.

Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi chat about 2 Samuel 7.

After the squelching of Ish-bosheth's insurrection, David is anointed king over a united kingdom and the nations are streaming to the city of Zion. And yet . . . the author wants us to know that something's not quite right in the state of Israel. Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss 2 Samuel 4–6.

In 2 Samuel 1–3, the inaugural moments of King David's reign are full of stomach-stabbings, failed coups, and heartfelt laments. And through it all, King David remains upright and unscathed. Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss.

When you get to the end of 1 Samuel, you realize how Hannah's prayer (1 Samuel 2:1–10) really does frame everything that's to come.

Alex chats with Jim and Sam about the witch of Endor and the rest of 1 Samuel 26-28.

In 1 Samuel 25, David is face-to-face with a foolish man who thinks he’s a king. As readers, we’re face-to-face with a vital question: What kind of king will David be?
Alex, Jim, and Sam discuss (and have their biggest argument yet!).

The cat-and-mouse game between David and Saul continues and, in the quiet darkness of a cave in the wilderness, it reaches a shocking climax. We don't get revenge. We get . . . a reunion?

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about 1 Samuel 23–24.

David's now a fugitive on the run. But he's not alone. He's got the support of his best friend Jonathan. He's gathered to himself Israel's strugglers and stragglers. Oh, and he's also got Goliath's sword.

Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss 1 Samuel 20–22.

The second David kills Goliath, Saul wants to kill David. Why? Because he's a puny, self-righteous man. Thankfully, David has Jonathan on his side to slow down his father's murderous rampages.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Eamdi about 1 Samuel 18–19.

The story of David and Goliath is not giving us a strategy for how we can fight our everyday battles. It's giving us an evangelistic beheading.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about 1 Samuel 17.

In 1 Samuel 16, we finally meet David. He's an afterthought to his father, a caretaker to his father's sheep, and a comforter to the demon-addled king Saul. But to the Lord? He's the King. Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss.

In Samuel 15, the Lord "regrets" and Saul "repents." Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi discuss.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex, Jim and Sam talk about 1 Samuel 13–14.

Some people would look at this passage as Saul's "Golden Age." But when you look closer, clearly something else is going on. In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about 1 Samuel 11–12.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi on 1 Samuel 8–10.

From Dagon’s decapitation to Eli’s death, from Ichabod to Ebenezer, 2 Samuel 4–7 has a lot going on. What’s it all mean?

This passage in 1 Samuel is a yo-yo—or, as Sam likes to call it, a chiasm. It bounces up and down between the unfaithful priests (Eli’s sons) and the faithful prophet Samuel. Listen to the latest episode of Bible Talk with Alex, Jim, and Sam.

Bible Talk is back!
In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim and Sam about the strange opening of 1 Samuel.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about canonical order.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Judges 19–21.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Judges 17–18.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Judges 15–16.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Judges 13–14. They discuss Samson, Israel's surprising, set-apart, and sinful savior.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Judges 11–12.

As we near the midpoint of Judges, the wheels are starting to fall off. Israel has long wanted a king. In Abimelech, they finally get what they want—and the results are disastrous.

The story of Balaam and Balak raises an all-important question: “What will win out—the might of Moab or the promises of God?”

Miriam and Aaron die, the people complain (again!), and Moses makes a grave error with even graver consequences. Oh, and there are also a fiery snakes.

Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Numbers 15–16. They cover Korah’s Rebellion, the absurdity of theonomy, and . . . more laws about purification and the priesthood? Why!?

There’s no way around it: these chapters are grim. Moses’ siblings turn on him, the Israelites want to stone him, and the Lord seems ready to end the covenant.

How did we get here? Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Numbers 12–14.

Finally, Israel leaves Mount Sinai. They march toward the Promised Land and, for a while, things go well! They take the Passover, the LORD dwells among them, and the people are marching according to the word of the Lord.

And then . . . the people start to grumble.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Sam Emadi and Jim Hamilton about Numbers 9–11.

As Israel prepares to enter the Promised Land, we discover a strange test for adultery, the genesis of the Nazirite vow, and one of the most well-known passages in the whole Bible.

By the time we get to the beginning of Numbers, Israel is poised to take the Promised Land. But first, they need to receive their marching orders.

Leviticus ends with a speech from the Lord that sounds like a warning. But in reality, it’s a prophecy of what’s to come for Israel—in all its high highs and low lows. In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex chats about Leviticus 26–27.

In the Old Testament, the Lord wants his people to be holy as he is holy (Lev. 20:26). That means sacred lives, but it also means he them to be marked of by sacred times and sacred places.

Alex chats with Jim and Sam about Leviticus 21–25.

Leviticus 17–20 covers a lot: goat demons, the meaning of blood, Molech, the holiness of God, and loving your neighbor as yourself. How does it all fit together?

For a while now, Jim and Sam have been saying that Leviticus 16—the Day of the Atonement—is the theological center of the Torah. In this episode, they finally defend their case.

In Leviticus, uncleanness results from death. That’s the big idea of Leviticus 11–15 and its discussion of chewing the cud, leprosy, and bodily discharges.

Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about the next section of Leviticus.

At the end of Leviticus 9, it’s almost as if we’ve fixed the problem of sin. But in the very next chapter, the Lord strikes down two priests—Nadab and Abihu—for offering “strange fire.”

In this episode of Bible Talk, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi chat about Leviticus 8–10.

The book of Leviticus isn’t just a bunch of random rules. It provides an answer to the problem that’s been swirling over God’s people since Genesis 3: How can a sinful people dwell in the midst of a holy God?

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duck talks with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Leviticus 1–7.

By the end of Exodus, our story has come full circle. Humanity has been exiled since the Garden. But now, God will dwell amidst his people and they will have access to his presence.

Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Exodus 35–40.

In Exodus 34, Moses learns that the God who has saved and revealed himself to Israel is a God who has established his justice so that he can display the wonders of his mercy. This becomes the center of biblical theology.

In Exodus 26–31, Moses is on the mountain talking with God. While that was happening, what were God’s people up to?

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Exodus 32–33, in which God’s people “worship” God in terribly destructive ways.

When we get to Exodus 26–31, we’re tempted to let our eyes glaze over what seems to be an overly long list of the Tabernacle furniture and its accompanying details. In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi what these chapters tell us and why we as Christians should care about them.

In Exodus 24–25, the summit of Sinai becomes the floor of heaven. Through Israel, God is once again establishing a connection between heaven and earth. In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about what all this means.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke, Jim Hamilton, and Sam Emadi continue their conversation through Exodus. This time, they discuss all those laws in Exodus 22–23. Why are they there? Why should Christians not just let their eyes glaze over them?

When Moses refers to slavery in the Torah, how should we understand it? What about “justice”? In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about a difficult chapter of Scripture: Exodus 21.

At this point in Exodus, we have the people of God at the mountain of God to receive the Law of God in order to engage in the worship of God.

It doesn’t take long for the Israelites to go from singing by the sea to grumbling against God, begging him to take them back to Egypt.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Exodus 14–15.

Here, the people of Israel are overjoyed as they move from beheading the snake to singing by the sea.

Bible Talk’s conversations through Exodus finally arrive at the exodus.

Exodus 8 begins with a plague of frogs. By the end of Exodus 10, the whole nation of Egypt is covered in total darkness—so much so that “they did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days.” It’s as if the people of Egypt were stuck in a grave.

But the people of Israel? Moses tells us: “But all the people of Israel had light where they lived.”

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Exodus 8–10.

By the end of Exodus 7, the Lord has brought the first plague against Egypt. But before we get there, Moses makes us wait.

At the beginning of Exodus 3, Moses is just milling about in Midian. Then the LORD shows up—and everything changes.

Genesis ends with Joseph’s bones in a box in the belly of the beast. Exodus begins with Israel being fruitful and multiplying under the harsh rule of a Pharaoh who knows neither Joseph nor his God. In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Exodus 1–2.

Alex Duke hosts the “Academy Awards of Genesis,” in which he gives some superlatives and asks Jim and Sam to look back and reflect on what they’ve learned as they’ve walked slowly through Moses’ masterpiece.

In chapters 48–50, Genesis finally fades to black . . . very, very slowly.

Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Moses’ conclusion—which includes Jacob’s death, Joseph’s death, and a fascinating snapshot of “what could have been” for Egypt.

It’s been decades since Jacob found out his beloved son Joseph had been torn apart by wild animals (Gen. 33:37). But at the end of last week’s episode, he discovered he was wrong! Joseph is alive! And so he wants to go see him before he dies.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Genesis 46–47. They cover this long-awaited reunion, and the tribes of Israel settling in Goshen.

Finally, Bible Talk is back—and finally, Joseph tells his brothers who he really is. In this episode, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Genesis 44–45.

Bible Talk celebrates Christmas!

In Matthew 1–2, the Gospel writer regularly appeals to the Old Testament to show that what’s happening in the present is a fulfillment of past prophecies. But when you begin to scrutinize the texts in their original context, it’s not at clear that they point forward to the Messiah.

This raises a few questions: How does the Old Testament predict Jesus’ birth? More broadly, how do the New Testament writers understand Old Testament prophecy? Do they twist the text to make it say something the original authors never intended? More broadly, is there more than one kind of promise-and-fulfillment?

In this special Christmas episode of Bible Talk, Alex chats with Jim and Sam about Matthew 1–2 in order to find answers to these questions. Spoiler alert: they’re fascinating!

In Genesis 42–43, Joseph has a brilliant plan to see if his brothers have been humbled, or if they’re still as wicked as they were when they threw him into a well and sold him into slavery.

At the beginning of Genesis 40, Joseph is living in the belly of the beast: an Egyptian prison. By the end of Genesis 41, he’s Pharaoh‘s second-in-command. But no matter his station, God’s favor remains on Joseph.

Joseph’s story resolves every major plot-line of Genesis, proving that Moses is a “literary genius,” as Jim Hamilton puts it.

Alex Duke chats with Jim & Sam about Genesis 37–39. They cover Joseph’s brothers, Judah & Tamar, and Joseph & Potiphar’s wife.

These chapters of Genesis cover some dark terrain, things that ought not be done in Israel (34:7). Shechem violates Dinah. Two of his others sons—Simeon and Levi—commit a war crime. And Esau’s descent away from God’s people is finally codified through his genealogy (Gen. 36).

What’s God up to in Genesis 34–36? Even amidst his chosen people’s sin and wickedness, he’s still preserving and preparing them for his purposes.

In Genesis 32–33, Jacob has two life-altering confrontations—one with the angel of God & one with the adversary of his lifetime: Esau, his brother. What happens next may surprise you.

Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton & Sam Emadi about all this & more.

There’s a lot of deception and re-deception going on here. There's also some poetic justice, some pathetic names, some junk science, and a tense camel chase. In Episode 10 of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Genesis 29–31.

These chapters of Genesis continue the story of Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau. They play out like an episode of a soap opera: family member against family member; deceit on top of deceit; the promise of revenge.

In these chapters, Moses shifts his attention to the next generation of the promised line. As he does, familiar themes show up.

Moses spends so much time cultivating an expectation for Isaac’s birth. But then, out of nowhere, the Lord tests Abraham, telling him to sacrifice his son, his only son whom he loves. Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton & Sam Emadi about Genesis 21–23.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about the Genesis 18–20. These chapters cover some of the darkest episodes in all of Scripture. We see the wages of sin—death—on full display. And yet, we also see glimmers of God’s grace and mercy.

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about the Lord’s covenant ceremony (Gen. 15), Sarah’s covenant scheme (Gen. 16), and Abraham’s covenant sign (Gen. 17).

In this episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about a towering Old Testament figure: Abram of the Chaldeans. What kind of man is he?

In this third episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Noah and the flood, the genealogy of Genesis 10, the Tower of Babel, and what all of this has to do with Jesus.

In the second episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about Genesis 3:20–6:8. As man’s sinfulness grows both broader and deeper, God is still preserving a line of promise.

In this inaugural episode of Bible Talk, Alex Duke chats with Jim Hamilton and Sam Emadi about the first three chapters of Genesis. These first three chapters of the Bible are so important because they set the trajectory for everything that comes next—all the way until we get to Revelation 22.