Hello wonderful Patreon subscribers and freeloaders (whom I also love). Today’s episode is a special one, an extended conversation with Andrew Tobolowsky about the myth of the 12 tribes of Israel in the Hebrew Bible and then later in everything from early Christianity to the Black Hebrew Israelites.

Plus, a small announcement, now in custom written form: the pace of this show has slowed down due to my gaining of employment (steel foundry maintenance helper, an insane job for the young or delusional-and-mid-30s). Because this happened nearly overnight (I applied and started working within four days), I haven’t had time to address the slowdown until now, nearly a month after my last release. My sincere apologies. Here’s the rub: for the near future, I’ll be shifting to releasing one episode per month, with occasional bonus content for Patrons only, and a move to two-week early access for all content for my Patreon subscribers, the blessed Shaddayim. If that’s not enough content for your $5, I totally get it; I’m obviously as bummed as you are that the show has slowed down. It’s no worries at all. You’ll still be able to enjoy all free scripted episodes and Bible at the Movies episodes on the free tier. My main goal, which I will not abandon despite its Quixotic nature, is to tell the entire history of the Bible and how it accrued the lore it did in a format that’s accessible to just about anyone. The breadth of this journey and the massive scope of this history is something that could keep this show going for many years, until I inevitably have to figure out how to tell the story of a quarter of the planet in a coherent way. I hope you’ll all stick with me through this slower period, cuz I’m not leaving.

Buy Andrew’s books: The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of IsraelIsrael and its Heirs in Late Antiquity

Subscribe to the Patreon to support this show: https://www.patreon.com/BibleLorePodcast