Bible – Page 5 – Interesting Literature

A Summary and Analysis of the Samson and Delilah Story

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Who is being described here, in this Bible verse?

For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb

This is from the Book of Judges 13:5, in which the birth of Samson is foretold. ‘Nazarite’ (sometimes Nazirite) refers to a group of nomads who followed Yahweh, the Old Testament God, and adhered to a strict ritual involving no wine, no unclean food, and no shaving of the head. It is this last feature which has become inextricably linked with Samson.

A Summary and Analysis of the Biblical Story of Balaam’s Ass

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Balaam’s ass is part of an exclusive club in the Bible: animals that can talk. The only other creature gifted with the power of speech is the serpent from the Garden of Eden story, which we have analysed here. But what’s the meaning of the story of Balaam and his talking ass? Who was Balaam, and why did his animal speak to him?

A Summary and Analysis of Aaron and the Golden Calf

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The story of Aaron building a golden calf for the Israelites to worship may strike us a strange episode in the history of the people of Israel, as that story is told in the Old Testament. But there are some interesting reasons why the ‘golden calf’ makes more sense when placed in its historical context.

Let’s take a closer look at the golden calf story, which can be found in the Book of Exodus (chapter 34).

A Summary and Analysis of the Book of Daniel

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

If it had been composed a little bit later, the Book of Daniel may have been consigned to the pile of texts labelled the ‘Apocrypha’, and the stories of Daniel in the lions’ den, the writing on the wall at Belshazzar’s feast, and Nebuchadnezzar throwing Shadrach and his fellow Jews into the fiery furnace would not have become the well-known tales they are.

A Summary and Analysis of the Book of Ruth

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The Book of Ruth is one of the shorter books of the Bible, but the story it tells is one of the most movingly ‘human’ in all of the Old Testament. However, how the story of Ruth should be interpreted is not an easy question to answer. Let’s delve deeper into the Biblical Book of Ruth to discover a world of outsiders, love, law, and mysterious customs involving shoes.