It's the grand finale of the first part of the history of the Bible: the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar the Second. The last king of Jerusalem, Zedekiah, repeats the same mistake made by his brother Jehoiakim and bets against Babylon. As we explore this fateful event, scholar Eric Harvey takes us through the way the elites of ancient society exploited the working class, and how some of the most famous creation stories in all of mythology act as justification for this economic arrangement.

Get Eric's book:  

https://bookshop.org/a/117081/9781009559911

And check out his website:  

https://www.blindscholar.com/

And subscribe to the Patreon:

https://patreon.com/biblelorepodcast

Bibliography:  

Eric Harvey - 'Reading Creation Myths Economically in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel'; 

Mario Liverani - 'Israel's History and the History of Israel';  

Christian Frevel - 'History of Ancient Israel';  

Marc van de Mieroop - 'A History of the Ancient Near East';  

Robert Alter - 'The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary';  

Berlin, Brettler, et al - 'The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition';  

Radner, Moeller, Potts, et al - 'The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, Volume V';