Jeremy Schipper – Black Samson

Episode: Biblical Samson offered a powerful way of focusing and communicating the struggle, opportunities, and challenge of life for African Americans throughout U.S. history. From the prophesies of his parents concerning the deliverance he’d begin, to the enslaved man who ground at the Philistine mill, to the final moments when he toppled the Philistine temple, Samson was a prominent point of reference for abolitionists, activists, and, oddly enough, some white supremacists. Jeremy Schipper and Nyasha Junior trace the life of Black Samson and tell his wild and wonderful story.

Guest: Dr. Jeremy Schipper is Professor of Religion at Temple University in Philadelphia. In addition to Black Samson, he’s published the Ruth Anchor Bible commentary, Disability and Isaiah’s Suffering Servant (OUP, 2011), Parables and Conflict in the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge, 2009), Disability Studies and the Hebrew Bible (T&T Clark, 2006), and has co-authored Black Samson (OUP 2020) with Nyasha Junior. He’s also co-edited several volumes.

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