Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 Interesting but lacking in useful details November 20, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I looked forward to reading this book but am left with the feeling its more of a sophomoric essay than a useful guide to interpretation of the gospels. Its repetitive in its statements of evidence that the scriptures were of Hebrew origin, using the tried-and-true 'and this fellow said it was and so did that fellow...'. It has only a few examples that it repeats across several chapters. The whole concept that understanding idioms will help in scriptural analysis is certainly significant but this book lacks the depth required for it to be useful. I am hoping the author someday uses this tool in a serious manner and publishes his work.
 Insightfully clarifying! September 7, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found this perspective to be solid and sensible. I am blessed by it.
 It was in Hebrew not Aramaic, stupid. August 27, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The book is based on the premise that Jesus spoke in Hebrew, not Aramaic, and that his words had been first recorded in Hebrew before they were translated into Greek. The authors justify their position by pointing to many expressions in the gospels, which don't make sense either in English or in the original Greek, but which make perfect sense when they are traced back to idiomatic Hebrew. They argue that their translation into Greek, and later into other languages, caused them to lose their original meaning and to become incomprehensible.
They explain away the famous Aramaic "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani," that Jesus supposedly uttered from the cross in Mark's Gospel as having been misheard or misquoted. It should have been "Eli, Eli..." they insist, which is Hebrew for "God, God..." but could also have been understood as a diminutive for Elija. Their opinions are in some agreement with the more recent belief that in Jesus' day Judeans spoke in Hebrew to each other, in Aramaic to people in more distant parts of the Middle East, and in Greek to gentiles in general. On the other hand, each gospel places different words in Jesus' mouth while on the cross, from which we can conclude that all these words are creations of the evangelists, not history. So why did Mark think that Jesus would have spoken in Aramaic? The authors neither ask nor answer this question. In any case, according to them, the strange syntax of the gospels resulted from the translations of earlier Hebrew writings into Greek. But again the authors miss the point that the syntax would have been no different had the gospels been written directly in Greek by people whose mother tongue was Hebrew.
Perhaps a third of this short book is directed to proving the Hebrew origin of the gospels. The rest, and far more interesting part, examines some of the more difficult-to-explain sayings of Jesus, and how they make sense when translated back into the alleged original idiomatic Hebrew.
This short book should be read by all who are interested in what Jesus may have actually said and meant. It could also form the basis of short Bible Study group discussions.
(The writer is the author of "Christianity Without Fairy Tales: When Science And Religion Merge," and of the forthcoming "The Way of the Butterfly: A Scientific Speculation on God and the Hereafter.")
Good Start July 20, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a good start for those just learning that Jesus needs to be seen as a Jew and Hebrew. Bivin's other book on Jesus's Words is better because it goes into fuirther detail regarding what is in this book.
Eye-Opener March 8, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Truely a work based on historic facts that opens your eyes to understanding who Jesus is.
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