Jason Staples: a new paradigm for understanding Israelite identity in Second Temple Judaism
Jason Staples
59.24
6 February 2023
8 January 2026
After a decade of research, Jason Staples challenges the surface level assumptions of scholarship from decades ago that is pervasive to this day about Israelite identity in Second Temple Judaism. The implications of the results of his work are vast. Most notably this groundbreaking research adds great depth to the great commission of Jesus. Jason presents a new paradigm for how the words Hebrew, Israelite, Jew, and related terms are used in a key period of the formation of Scripture.
Our podcast conversation covers a number of topics: critical thinking, constructing ideas from looking at vast amounts of texts, implementing data driven research in humanities and biblical fields, interpreting Second Temple Jewish Texts, understanding the Jewish eschatological vision and hope, the faithfulness of God to the 12 tribes of Israel, and more.
0:00-3:17 Intro to Jason
3:18-6:41 TikTok Version of Jason’s Research
6:42-13:07 Scholarly Consensus before Jason’s Research
13:07-19:28 Defining Israel in the pre-exilic era
19:29-24:08 What Using Original Sources Looks Like
24:09-36:08 The Surprising Role of Tobit in the Research
36:09-44:18 John 4 and the Samaritans
44:19-52:28 The Vision of Reunification of Israel
52:29-59:18 Response from Scholars to Jason’s Research
Jason’s website: https://www.jasonstaples.com
WHERE TO FIND US
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