Translators and poets, get ready! Now that I’ve submitted my second book manuscript to St. Martin’s Press, I’m looking forward to spending more time here. As part of my return, in the next little while I’m going to announce a project to translate Isaiah 54 collectively. Some of the most moving words ever penned, in…
Read more
Was Haman hanged or impaled in the Book of Esther? And was the instrument of his death a gallows or a stake?
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
Is the virgin birth a mistranslation, as a promo for the History Channel’s “Bible Secrets Revealed” suggests? Yes and no…
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…
Read more
What do we learn about men, women, and Jesus in the Bible from the Greek word anthropos?
What do the Hebrew words for “male” and “female” in the Bible really teach us about gender roles?
It’s well known that the Greek word for “honor” (timi, often spelled timē) also means “price.” This is why timi is used to translate both the Hebrew kavod (“honor”) and the Hebrew m’chir (“price”). It’s also why timi in Matthew 27:6 is translated as “price,” while in Hebrews 2:7, it’s “honor.” Indeed, lexicons often have…
Read more
Earlier this week I posted a piece on the Huffington Post about different biblical writing styles. In particular, I claim that the exaggerated ages in Genesis served to notify the ancient reader that the stories weren’t meant to be taken literally. In other words, there are at least two different kinds of stories in the…
Read more
Recent posts from my Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives:
