Well, the drama! What a brilliant book! I don't think I've read all of Esther in one day before. There's dunkneness (several times), a stubborn queen, a bride finding ball (to quote Slipper and the Rose), jealousy, anger, plotting, royal decrees, strong and steadfast heroes who save the day... what's not to love? Let's talk [...]
I didn't really see why this must be the case when reading Ezra, but The Bible Project says that Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book. But now, having read Nehemiah straight afterwards, I have noticed all the references to 'Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah the governor', and how they had the same goals and [...]
I have mixed feelings about the second book of Samuel. I quite enjoyed reading the first half, although it threw up some interesting questions for me. For example, in chapter 3, there's the sad little love triangle between David, Michal and her husband Paltiel. Paltiel goes along weeping after Michal as she's taken away from [...]
After the ferocity of Judges, it's lovely to have something so special to read. Why is Ruth special to me? For many reasons! It echoes the Woman of Nobel Chapacter in Proverbs (watch this space!), it is the text in the Bible most likely to have been written by a woman and it's the passage [...]
Rev Poppy 