Month: May 2012

Bible Translations and Mistranslations

Q&A: What color is the “blue” of the Bible?

From the About page comes this interesting pair of questions: 1. Is it true that there was no blue in the Bible, and that the word “blue” in our modern versions is a mistranslation? and 2. How do we know what the Hebrew names of the colors represent? The first question was prompted by a…
Read more


May 29, 2012 25

The Well-Dressed Babylonian

Theophrastus has an interesting post — “Men without hats: Anachronism in Daniel 3:21” — about the Aramaic word kar’b’la in Daniel 3:21. He notes that many translations use the word “hats,” even though “we can be sure that the headgear worn in the Babylonian Captivity most certainly was not a hat.” Take a look. It’s…
Read more


May 24, 2012 0

An Open Letter to CNN’s Piers Morgan

Again, slightly off topic, but I think important for those of us who take the Bible and these issues seriously: Dear Mr. Morgan: I believe you have been promoting bigotry and helping to perpetrate a fraud. During both of your interviews with Pastor Joel Osteen on your CNN broadcast, you let the religious leader tell…
Read more


May 23, 2012 9

The Hidden Message of Redemption in Hosea

In English, Hosea 2:23 (also numbered 2:25) seems bland: “And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah, and I will say to Lo-ammi, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God’” (NRSV). But as I just pointed out, the names “Lo-ruhamah” and “Lo-ammi,” Hosea’s children, mean “unloved” and “not my people,” respectively.…
Read more


May 17, 2012 5

On the Historical Adam

I’ve posted some thoughts about how modernity and science interact with the historical Adam: “The Apostle Paul did not Believe in the Historical Adam” A debate has been raging about whether Adam was an historical figure. I think it’s important, because it represents a more general debate about how to live a modern religious life.…
Read more


May 11, 2012 1

Disaster, Unloved, and Unwanted: Hosea’s Children

The prophet Hosea, we read, has three children, named yizrael, lo-ruchama, and lo-ammi in Hebrew, but in Greek their names are Yezrael, Ouk-Ileimeni, and Ou-Laos-Mou. What’s going on? Normally Greek names are simple transliterations of the Hebrew sounds. The answer is that the second two Hebrew names are actually phrases that mean “not loved” and…
Read more


May 9, 2012 16

I’m Back, for a Bit

A while ago my laptop crashed, the result of a virus. My first repair attempt went like this: Boot Windows XP from the Installation CD. Windows: “Windows is examining your hardware … Press ‘R’ to repair Windows.” Me: “R” Windows: “Insert repair disk into floppy drive.” I don’t have a floppy drive. Good job examining…
Read more


May 9, 2012 5