The Bible in Its Own Words

In 50 years of speaking in a variety of churches and synagogues, I have discovered that most people don't read the Bible.

Many can't read the Bible because they don't know Biblical Hebrew. Hebrew is, after all, the language in which the Bible is actually written. Of those that do have some Hebrew, many can't understand what they read. They don't know the relevant history. Many can't understand what they read because they don't know the relevant sociology.

Worst of all, many can't understand what they read because they don't think about what they read. They are completely captivated by the standard interpretations they received from their religious leaders or, even, popular culture.

These essays combine analysis of the plain ("originalist") meaning of individual texts with hints at what those texts might mean for us today.