Obviously there are foods to avoid. Actually real fig pudding is quite nice and a regular feature of the Christmas season in the U.K.– its sweet and tasty. If you ever wondered what could go wrong with Santa once a year trying to fly a bunch of reindeer to locations all over the world, let me tell you its not just about getting stuck in someone’s chimney, as the picture above shows. Wind turbines are dangerous to anything flying. Rumor... Read more
While Robert Alter recognizes the traditional source criticism (JEDP) applied to Genesis, he also believes that one can take the final edited form of Genesis as a coherent whole, indeed as a ‘sefer’ the Hebrew word for ‘scroll’, or later for ‘book’. His translation is based on the latter assumption. He draws an analogy with medieval cathedral to which bits and parts was added over the course of many years and even centuries to create a composite whole. ‘What seems... Read more
The Biblical writers of the OT prose revel in repetition, and are not much given to using synonyms, when one particular word will do the job wherever it needs to be used. It is in poetry that you will find them using synonyms from time to time. “The translator’s task, then is to mirror the repetitions as much as is feasible.” (p.xxvii). Yet surprisingly, even with this deliberately limited vocabulary the terms used can convey nuance for instance ‘the man... Read more
Long before there was a Chris Tomlin, terrific contemporary Christmas music was being made by Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant. Here’s a nice sample of three of the best songs on Smith’s Christmas lp. I hope you will check out the whole thing. Christmas is coming! Read more
Reading an expert in ancient Hebrew is refreshing compared to reading the notes of a modern translation team, which confuses what the words say, with an explanation of their meaning. Robert Alter points out that in the dialogue in the OT all the characters speak proper literary Hebrew, without any slang, but also without any stilted language either— but in Genesis there is one exception. In order to represent the crudeness of the character of Esau in Gen. 25 he... Read more
It is always difficult to make a sequel to a great movie like Gladiator, which amazingly came out 24 years ago, and was highly rated and reviewed. This movie is more of a spectacle than the first one, and it includes a sea battle in the Roman colosseum. Yes, there is a good deal of gore in this R rated film but there is also a lot of story and intrigue in this movie. It is set during the reign... Read more
One thing you notice right away from Alter’s various translation volumes, is they all have not only textual notes, but also commentary, on page after page. Not a full fledged commentary like in a study Bible, but if one follows the advice of Alter to let the translation simply tell us what the original language text actually says, and leave the explaining of the meaning to commentary, then I suppose ever Bible would need to become a study Bible of... Read more
In my earlier book entitled The Living Word of God, (Baylor Press) I spent time talking about how to choose a translation, based on part on who the audience is that will be using it, and what the function of the translation is. Is it for reading from the pulpit or lectern, is it for private devotion, is it for serious study of the Bible, or just an ordinary Bible study with laity (e.g. BSF)? Those are proper questions, but... Read more
Here’s a meaningful discussion on Jesus and politics. It is based on the book he did recently with Mike Bird entitled Jesus and the Powers, which we have reviewed and is a brief but helpful read. ‘Jesus is Lord’, and Caesar is Not, a famous quote from Wright. John 19, Jesus says to Pilate, you would have no power over me unless One from above had given it to you. But what would Jesus say about democracies? There is some... Read more
Paul Doherty (pronounced Dokerty) is nothing if not prolific. This is the 24th volume in his series of novels featuring King Edward’s clerk Hugh Corbett, and he has two other long running series going at the same time. And yet somehow he is also headmaster at a parochial school at the edge of London. I guess sleep is optional. This volume just emerged last month, and is 368 pages long. It is top drawer historical fiction dealing with the chaos... Read more
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