Was Haman Hanged or Impaled in the Book of Esther?
Was Haman hanged or impaled in the Book of Esther? And was the instrument of his death a gallows or a stake?
The Joy of Reading the Bible’s Ancient Texts
Again a little off topic, from my work on The Unabridged Bible, but probably of interest to readers here, especially if you know a little Greek. From The Joy of Reading the Text for Yourself: There’s something inexplicably exhilarating — at least for me — about reading actual ancient texts. I don’t mean transcriptions, but…
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Translating an Ancient Hebrew Prayer of Thanks from the Dead Sea Scrolls
As I’ve said, I’m devoting most of my energy for the next little while to “The Unabridged Bible,” which will gradually start officially rolling out soon. In the meantime, readers here may enjoy my translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls on that site because of my copious translation notes, and because the passages frequently quote…
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Sneak-Peek of “The Unabridged Bible”
A bit off-topic, but still certainly Bible related: Though my newest project, “The Unabridged Bible,” won’t roll out until a couple of months into 2014, a sneak-peek is available now, with two four lots of sample pages, including: The Life of Adam and Eve (which I mentioned on the History Channel’s Bible Secrets Revealed: The…
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The History Channel’s Bible Secrets Revealed
I’m excited and a little nervous to announce that I’m appearing in two episodes of the History Channel’s upcoming Bible Secrets Revealed, which starts airing nationwide this Wednesday, November 13, at 10:00pm EST. Read the whole story — including air times, links to more information, and video trailers from the series — in my latest…
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Q&A: Is the Virgin Birth a Mistranslation?
Is the virgin birth a mistranslation, as a promo for the History Channel’s “Bible Secrets Revealed” suggests? Yes and no…
Translation Challenge on Men, Women, and People: Who is an anthropos?
In light of my last post, I thought it might be helpful to move beyond theory to actual translation. How would you translate the Hebrew ish and the Greek anthropos in the following passages? Genesis 2:24 [Hebrew]: “Therefore an ish leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife.” Genesis 2;24 [LXX]: “Therefore…
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More on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
What do we learn about men, women, and Jesus in the Bible from the Greek word anthropos?
On Biblical Masculinity and Femininity
What do the Hebrew words for “male” and “female” in the Bible really teach us about gender roles?
Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives
Recent posts from my Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives:
Interest Rates Old and New: How High is Too High? A short history of ancient interest rates, in light of a 10% cap on credit-card interest rates proposed in the US Senate by Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley
Happy Year of the Snake Why is there a year for such a despicable animal as the snake? There might be a very good reason...
The Surprising Connection Between Hanukkah and Christmas Hanukkah and Christmas, which happen to coincide this year, happen to have a surprising shared history. Here it is.
Positivity Is Poisoning the Holidays (but It Doesn't Have To) Here is an antidote the poisonous pressure to be happy, especially during the holidays.
