The Bible Doesn't Say That: 40 Biblical Mistranslations, Misconceptions, and Other Misunderstandings

Joel M. Hoffman

Feb 2016 · Macmillan

About this ebook

A “witty and accessible look at Scripture” that explores what the Bible meant before two millennia of mistranslations and misinterpretations (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In this fascinating book, acclaimed translator and biblical scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman walks the reader through dozens of mistranslations, misconceptions, and other misunderstandings about the Bible. In forty short, straightforward chapters, he covers morality, lifestyle, theology, and biblical imagery, including:

• The Bible doesn’t call homosexuality a sin, and doesn’t advocate for the one-man-one-woman model of the family that has been dubbed “biblical.”
• The Bible’s famous “beat their swords into plowshares” is matched by the militaristic “beat your plowshares into swords.”
• The often-cited New Testament quotation “God so loved the world” is a mistranslation, as are the titles “Son of Man” and “Son of God.”
• The Ten Commandments don’t prohibit killing or coveting.

What does the Bible say about violence? About the Rapture? About keeping kosher? About marriage and divorce? Hoffman provides answers to all of these and more, succinctly explaining how so many pivotal biblical answers came to be misunderstood.

Ratings and reviews

A "heavy read" but very good and informative.

About the author

JOEL M. HOFFMAN, PhD, is the author of In the Beginning, And God Said, and The Bible's Cutting Room Floor. He is the chief translator for the series My People's Prayer Book (winner of the National Jewish Book Award) and forMy People's Passover Haggadah. He is an occasional contributor to The Jerusalem Post and The Huffington Postand has held faculty appointments at Brandeis University and at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He lives in Westchester, New York.