The King James Version translates Genesis 29:17 as follows: “Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.” The New International Version has, “Leah had weak eyes,” while the New American Bible reads, “Leah had lovely eyes.” What did the Hebrew original mean to say?
Deliver Us From Evil
Just as good poetry can convey multiple allusions, so “Deliver us from evil” can carry a variety of notions of protection from doing and experiencing evil.
The “Desert” of Bethsaida
By analyzing the meaning of the word translated “desert,” the topography at the Feeding of the Five Thousand can be clarified.
One Torah Reader, Not Seven!
Only around 100 A.D. did it become the custom to have the weekly Torah portion read by seven persons.
Gergesa: Site of the Demoniac’s Healing
The recent discovery of many of the ancient harbors that ringed the Sea of Galilee is an exciting chapter in Sea of Galilee research. One of these harbors is located at Kursi, ancient Gergesa. In this article, Mendel Nun contends that the demoniac’s healing and the miracle of the swine took place at Gergesa, not Gadara or Gerasa.
Matthew 16:18: The Petros-petra Wordplay—Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew?
The pinnacle of the Gospel story may be Jesus’ dramatic statement, “You are Petros and on this petra I will build my Church.” The saying seems to contain an obvious Greek wordplay, indicating that Jesus spoke in Greek. However, it is possible that “Petros…petra” is a Hebrew wordplay.
That Small-fry Herod Antipas, or When a Fox Is Not a Fox
We need to start translating “fox” with its proper Hebraic cultural meaning.
Pieces to the Synoptic Puzzle: Papias and Luke 1:1-4
Despite a rather turbulent transmission process, the Synoptic Gospels retain an astonishing amount of authentic and reliable material.
Inspiration, History and Bible Translation
To believe in the Christian Bible is also to believe in God’s working through the church, and to believe in the church is also to believe in its constitutional documents, the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.
Pursuing Righteousness
A reconstruction can only be adopted by a theologian or a historian. A Bible translator must translate what the text of Scripture actually says.