Joel Baden
@joelbaden.bsky.social
Professor of Hebrew Bible, Yale University.
For Halloween, a bunch of students in my intro Bible class dressed up… as me. Evidence below.
November 12, 2025 at 2:22 PM
For Halloween, a bunch of students in my intro Bible class dressed up… as me. Evidence below.
For no reason at all, a late night picture of Mylo.
October 29, 2025 at 5:20 AM
For no reason at all, a late night picture of Mylo.
Reposted by Joel Baden
@joelbaden.bsky.social just finished this excellent book. As great as it is, the conclusion and introspection at the end was even better and the most impactful to me.
October 23, 2025 at 5:51 PM
@joelbaden.bsky.social just finished this excellent book. As great as it is, the conclusion and introspection at the end was even better and the most impactful to me.
It’s still basically the “debate me, bro” mindset. We shouldn’t play that game.
Or showing that they're cherry picking just as hard.
October 21, 2025 at 3:59 PM
It’s still basically the “debate me, bro” mindset. We shouldn’t play that game.
How do we choose one “theme” over another? Great: kindness to immigrants is definitely a consistent biblical theme. So is slavery. So is religious intolerance. Thematic thinking doesn’t make the Bible more liberal.
I’m wondering whether this would be considered a prooftext or an example of a theme that runs through the Bible? The poster is framing it prooftext-wise, and I totally see your point, but I am wondering how can we communicate biblical themes in social media posts other than through biblical quotes?
October 21, 2025 at 3:58 PM
How do we choose one “theme” over another? Great: kindness to immigrants is definitely a consistent biblical theme. So is slavery. So is religious intolerance. Thematic thinking doesn’t make the Bible more liberal.
Just to make this point again, since it becomes relevant occasionally: if you use Bible verses as prooftexts like this, then you’re also saying that we should have the death penalty, forbid gay male sex, and allow chattel slavery of foreigners. Because the Bible is unambiguous about that, too.
Again, the Bible is unambiguous about it.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.
Zechariah 7:9-10
Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.
Zechariah 7:9-10
October 21, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Just to make this point again, since it becomes relevant occasionally: if you use Bible verses as prooftexts like this, then you’re also saying that we should have the death penalty, forbid gay male sex, and allow chattel slavery of foreigners. Because the Bible is unambiguous about that, too.
Reposted by Joel Baden
Been reading @joelbaden.bsky.social 's book while my car is getting new tires. The essays on נפש and רוח were insightful. Been a great read so far, even if you're familiar with the Hebrew it gives you moments of pause you didn't consider.
August 22, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Been reading @joelbaden.bsky.social 's book while my car is getting new tires. The essays on נפש and רוח were insightful. Been a great read so far, even if you're familiar with the Hebrew it gives you moments of pause you didn't consider.
Reposted by Joel Baden
First copies of the latest book:
August 11, 2025 at 1:09 PM
First copies of the latest book:
First copies of the latest book:
August 11, 2025 at 1:09 PM
First copies of the latest book:
Ah - there’s no difference. I don’t have any way of knowing *who* inserted this (or any other later insertion) or *when* it was inserted. I care that it’s not from any of the sources and has to have been done in light of their combination. So anyone from the redactor to Augustine is fine by me.
How did you rule out Gen 10:24 being inserted by the redactor versus a post-compilation editor?
July 31, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Ah - there’s no difference. I don’t have any way of knowing *who* inserted this (or any other later insertion) or *when* it was inserted. I care that it’s not from any of the sources and has to have been done in light of their combination. So anyone from the redactor to Augustine is fine by me.
Sure! The crucial point is that there are two interwoven genealogies here: one from P, which is identifiable because every verse begins with either “these” or “the descendants of x,” and one from J (non-P for the haters), which is everything else. The P genealogy of Shem begins in 10:22-23.
Gen 10 “23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was [i]Peleg”
I’d like to hear more re who and why v24 was inserted later pls.
I’d like to hear more re who and why v24 was inserted later pls.
July 28, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Sure! The crucial point is that there are two interwoven genealogies here: one from P, which is identifiable because every verse begins with either “these” or “the descendants of x,” and one from J (non-P for the haters), which is everything else. The P genealogy of Shem begins in 10:22-23.
Okay, why not: one like, one verse from the Pentateuch that I think is a post-compilation secondary addition. Let’s get NUTS.
July 27, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Okay, why not: one like, one verse from the Pentateuch that I think is a post-compilation secondary addition. Let’s get NUTS.
Just received the first printing of my new volume of collected essays:
June 26, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Just received the first printing of my new volume of collected essays:
The whole “AI uses em-dashes so don’t use them if you don’t want it to look like you’re writing with AI” thing is pissing me off. Like - Nazis wore belts, but I still have to keep my damn pants up. If you can only tell the difference between real writing and AI because of an em-dash, try harder.
June 25, 2025 at 4:42 PM
The whole “AI uses em-dashes so don’t use them if you don’t want it to look like you’re writing with AI” thing is pissing me off. Like - Nazis wore belts, but I still have to keep my damn pants up. If you can only tell the difference between real writing and AI because of an em-dash, try harder.
Reposted by Joel Baden
@joelbaden.bsky.social just binged the rise and fall of ancient Israel course. Outstanding job and I did order that book. Quite eager to dive in to that.
June 21, 2025 at 6:53 PM
@joelbaden.bsky.social just binged the rise and fall of ancient Israel course. Outstanding job and I did order that book. Quite eager to dive in to that.
Had the opportunity to speak yesterday with a lovely group of students at Oxford, hosted by the wonderful @katherinesouthwood.bsky.social. Grateful to her and to them. First time in Oxford too, somehow. Looking forward to returning.
June 21, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Had the opportunity to speak yesterday with a lovely group of students at Oxford, hosted by the wonderful @katherinesouthwood.bsky.social. Grateful to her and to them. First time in Oxford too, somehow. Looking forward to returning.
Mine has long been “To the best friends money can buy.”
For me, it’s Mister Black’s toast to the thugs at Kamp Krusty.
“Gentlemen! To evil!”
“Gentlemen! To evil!”
Everyone should have an all-purpose public toast that you’re ready to deploy at a moments notice, you never know when you might need it. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or profound but it has to be easy to amusing
June 13, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Mine has long been “To the best friends money can buy.”
Ives is closer.
As theorists of biblical composition, these scholars are profoundly aware of how the many disagreements in the Biblical text work, where a line is followed by one that tells the story differently. None of this is remotely like Bach.
Is Christian harmony the only compositional language we have?
Is Christian harmony the only compositional language we have?
June 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Ives is closer.
What if one doesn’t agree with the source assignment of the base texts on which the model was built?
A fascinating study using statistical analysis to identify authorship in the Hebrew Bible. It confirms some long-held theories and opens new ways to explore ancient texts. Amazing intersection of tech and biblical studies! #DigitalHumanities #BiblicalStudies journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Critical biblical studies via word frequency analysis: Unveiling text authorship
The Bible is the product of a complex process of oral and written transmissions that stretched across centuries and traditions. This implies ongoing revision of the “original” or oldest textual layers...
journals.plos.org
June 10, 2025 at 10:59 AM
What if one doesn’t agree with the source assignment of the base texts on which the model was built?
In case anyone wanted a copy of my book but balked at the sticker price…
Tomorrow marks the start of our May Savings event! All books published before April 30th are 50% with free shipping with code MAY25.
Check out the full list of terms here: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2025-may-sale/
Check out the full list of terms here: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2025-may-sale/
May 1, 2025 at 3:27 AM
In case anyone wanted a copy of my book but balked at the sticker price…
Call back to this moment I experienced a few years ago:
April 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Call back to this moment I experienced a few years ago:
The Doodle in New Haven. If you know, you know.
I don't want to hear about your lost loves, tell me about the restaurant food that haunts you because you'll never be able to taste it again
April 24, 2025 at 1:38 AM
The Doodle in New Haven. If you know, you know.
Definitely right, and the common view for a very long time indeed.
@joelbaden.bsky.social Read this article www.thetorah.com/article/the-... by one Dr. Guy Darshan arguing Noah's raven is P, doves J. Very persuasive to a layman…do you think this is right? (And regardless, common or minority view?)
The Motif of Releasing Birds in ANE Flood Stories - TheTorah.com
The ancient Near East had many versions of the flood story, such as Atrahasis, Ziusudra, Utnapishtim, etc., most of which predate the Torah’s account of Noah’s flood. But what is the earliest extant v...
www.thetorah.com
April 19, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Definitely right, and the common view for a very long time indeed.
As the kids say, it’s proofs day around here. Looking forward to seeing this in the world (acknowledging that it will be too expensive for most normal humans to purchase, especially in this economy):
April 4, 2025 at 4:08 PM
As the kids say, it’s proofs day around here. Looking forward to seeing this in the world (acknowledging that it will be too expensive for most normal humans to purchase, especially in this economy):