[Bible] Episode 308: Bill Schniedewind - The Scribes Who Wrote the Bible

The Bible For Normal People

The Bible for Normal People

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.7 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 September 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of The Bible for Normal People, Pete and Nerd-in-Residence Cynthia are joined by Bill Schniedewind to discuss who really wrote the Bible. Bill explains how different scribal communities each left their own mark on the texts they were writing, and how the diversity of the Bible’s human authors reflects the beauty and richness of the text itself. Show Notes → https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/episode-308-bill-schniedewind-the-scribes-who-wrote-the-bible/ Watch this episode on YouTube → https://youtu.be/nqmbvERPVD8 ********** This episode is sponsored by Greenlight. Greenlight is a debit card and money app made for families: parents can send money to their kids and keep an eye on kids’ spending and saving, while kids and teens build money confidence and lifelong financial literacy skills. Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com/normalpeople. ********** This episode is brought to you by Skylight. The Skylight Calendar is here to keep your family organized! This beautifully designed digital display syncs with your existing calendars, making it effortless to track events, appointments, and reminders in one easy-to-see place. Right now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to SkylightCal.com/BIBLE. ********** This episode is brought to you by Brooklyn Bedding. Brooklyn Bedding knows sleep isn’t one-size-fits-all. That’s why they offer mattresses for every body, every sleep style – even in hard-to-find sizes. Not sure which mattress is right for you? Just take the Brooklyn Bedding Sleep Quiz and find your perfect match in under 2 minutes. Go to brooklynbedding.com and use our promo code BIBLE at checkout to get 30% off sitewide. This offer is not available anywhere else. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the Bible for Normal People, the only God ordained podcast on the internet.
0:05.0	I'm Pete N's.
0:05.7	And I'm Jared Baez.
0:10.7	Hey, everybody.
0:14.0	Welcome to this episode of the Bible for Normal People.
0:16.8	And today it's me, joined by my wonderful co-host, Cynthia Schaefer, Ellie. Hey, everyone. Isn't it great to be here, Cynthia? I mean, really. It's wonderful. It is. I'm always happy to be here. Such fun talking with Bill Schneiderwin today. And the topic was, you know, a lot of people think the Bible was written by, like, individual authors, but that's probably not the case.
0:38.2	It was written by communities of scribes, and that's what we're talking about today.
0:42.0	So Bill is professor of biblical studies and Northwest Semitic languages, as well as Sadie and Lugwood-Con director at the UCLA L.
0:53.1	L.N. D. Levy Center for Jewish Studies. Wow, that is a job description.
0:57.4	Yes, it is.
0:58.0	His books and articles cover a wide range of topics relating to biblical studies, Dead Sea Scrolls, and ancient languages and inscriptions.
1:08.4	And his most recent book is called Who Really Wrote the Bible, The Story of the Scribes.
1:14.4	Right. And that's the big topic of the conversation today. So folks, as always, thanks for
1:19.1	tuning in and listening. And we hope you enjoy this conversation as much as Cynthia and I did.
1:24.7	There's a tendency to think of scripture as only a divine work and kind of marginalize the human work.
1:31.3	You know, the incarnation is the same kind of problem.
1:33.3	We like the divine Jesus, but, you know, we have really hard time coming to grips with the human Jesus, right?
1:39.3	I think the same thing is true of Scripture.
1:41.3	You know, we like the divine-inspired book, but we don't like the human side of
1:44.9	it. But to me, that's the best part.
1:51.0	All right, Bill, it's great to have you back on our podcast. It's great to be back.
2:00.6	We talk about scribal culture and where,
	...

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