I'm a current student at HDS. I wanted to talk a bit because my personal focus is in Hebrew Bible Scriptural studies. Of course, I am taking this focus through an MTS, which is a bit different in terms of what I produce in class.
Honestly, Duke could be a very good fit for you because it is more conservative and offers more Christian theology courses. HOWEVER, HDS has a strong program in scriptural studies and offers a plethora of languages for instruction that many schools do not (e.g. Syriac, Akkadian, Sumerian etc). Plus, we have many, many courses on Jewish/Christian scripture. Further, all scripture studies AND other classes have both an MTS and an MDiv focus. HDS strives to produce MDivs that are well educated in both the arts of ministry and the socio-historical heritage of the tradition being studied.
For example, I am taking a class on Job and the problem of suffering. For me, I spend my time doing translations and socio-historical analysis. My friend, who I will call J, is doing the same class but for a Christian Theological requirement in his MDiv. He does the socio-historical work, but is also writing a sermon on Job to fulfill the arts of ministry component of the course. As an MTS I do not have to do this part but J does. (And he doesn't have to translate, so maybe he made a better choice than myself! )
HDS is not wholly known for its theological studies, but in all honesty it is an excellent education and there are several classes for Christian Theology, New Testament studies, and Hebrew Bible; all of these would be beneficial for your desired career. It's often useful to find a balance between the theological skills and socio-historical studies. We have several "big names" in Christian studies specifically, but obviously just having big names isn't a good enough reason to go to a school. I'm just throwing that in there.
From my perspective, both schools would be a good fit for you, as long as you don't mind that HDS is a quite liberal school. That being said, I was raised in a conservative family and I am thriving just fine here.
If I have any advice to you, I would say you should go on the course websites and look at the course offerings based on MDiv areas of concentration and see if courses for the next few years "jive" with your interests. Do the same for Duke. You don't want to go some place thinking that you are going to get more scriptural studies and find out that all of the scripture courses are things you are not interested in. I hope this helps, and if you have any specific questions on what it's like to do a scriptural program at HDS feel free to message me.
Peace.
