The Bible Doesn't Say That: 40 Biblical Mistranslations, Misconceptions, And Other Misunderstandings

Description

"The Bible Doesn't Say That" explores what the Bible meant before it was misinterpreted over the past 2,000 years.Acclaimed translator and biblical scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman walks the reader through dozens of mistranslations, misconceptions, and other misunderstandings about the Bible. In forty short, straightforward chapters, he covers morality, lifestyle, theology, and biblical imagery, including: *The Bible doesn't call homosexuality a sin, and it doesn't advocate for the one-man-one-woman model of the family that has been dubbed "biblical" *The Bible's famous "beat their swords into plowshares" is matched by the militaristic, "beat your plowshares into swords" *The often-cited New Testament quotation "God so loved the world" is a mistranslation, as are the titles "Son of Man" and "Son of God" *The Ten Commandments don't prohibit killing or coveting.What does the Bible say about violence? About the Rapture? About keeping kosher? About marriage and divorce? Hoffman provides answers to all of these, and more, succinctly explaining how so many pivotal biblical answers came to be misunderstood.

Promotion info

A biblical scholar shows how many of the lessons and stories that people think are in the Bible really aren't, and why.

Reviews

Praise for "The Bible's Cutting Room Floor"" "" ""A wonderful book to confirm the beliefs of the faithful, to strengthen those whose faith begs for more information and to enlighten those who reject the stories of the Bible as mere fiction. " -"Kirkus Reviews"" "" ""An engrossing gift for amateur bible students." -"Booklist" Praise for "And God Said" Deeply welcome as a valuable tool for teaching . . . well-worth acquiring. "Jewish Book World" A sensitive . . . discussion of the structure of languages in general and of Biblical Hebrew in particular. "The Jerusalem Post" A lively tour of the difficulties besetting the Bible's translators, their successes and (more frequent) failures. "Jewish Ideas Daily" Praise for "In the Beginning" Hoffman has a flair for explaining how languages work. "The Times Literary Supplement "(London) Written in an energetic style with a commitment to exploring the evolution of Hebrew from ancient times to the present in ways that a broad audience can comprehend. "Religious Studies Review ""

Author description

JOEL M. HOFFMAN, PhD, is the author of "In the Beginning," "And God Said, "and "The Bible's Cutting Room Floor." He is the chief translator for the series "My People's Prayer Book" (winner of the National Jewish Book Award) and for "My People's Passover Haggadah." He is an occasional contributor to "The Jerusalem Post" and "The Huffington Post" and has held faculty appointments at Brandeis University and at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He lives in Westchester, New York.