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Podcast: The Bible as Literature
Episode: The Voice of the Shepherd
Description: When studying biblical literature, it's easy to fall into the trap of attempting to lock down the meaning of the Bible's characters and symbols. For example, students of the Bible often assume that “Egypt is evil,” or, “Assyria is evil,” ignoring contradictory evidence in the text. “Egypt and Assyria,” proclaims Isaiah, will be “a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, 'Blessed is Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.'” (Isaiah 19:24-25) It's not that any of these nations are good or evil—in the Bible, no o...