Schools
“The Bible Doesn’t Say That" - Free Author Talk and Book Signing by Bible Scholar Joel Hoffman
On Tuesday, June 12 at 7:00 P.M., the Falmouth Jewish Congregation will host a free, public talk and book signing by Bible scholar and author Joel Hoffman entitled “The Bible Doesn’t Say That.” The talk addresses the topic of Mr. Hoffman’s most recently book, “And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible’s Original Meaning,” signed copies of which will be for sale.
Hoffman contends that for centuries, translations of the Bible have obscured our understanding and appreciation of the original text. His new book identifies and corrects those significant mistranslations. And God Said uncovers the often inaccurate or misleading English translations of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that quotes from it. Sometimes the familiar English is just misleading. Other times, the mistakes are more substantial. But the errors are widespread. The book tackles such issues as what's wrong with the Ten Commandments (starting with the word "commandments"), the correct description of the "virgin" birth and the surprisingly modern message in the Song of Solomon.
Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, calls And God Said "[a] wise and important book, and a lot of fun to read." The Very Rev. Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York, says the book "retrieves what the Bible really was and what it can be for us now."
Find out what's happening in Falmouthfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Dr. Hoffman is a scholar of in translation, Hebrew and the Bible. A frequent and popular lecturer in a variety of adult learning venues, from synagogues to churches, he holds a doctorate in linguistics and has served on the faculties of Brandeis University and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. He is the chief translator for the 10-volume series My People's Prayer Book (winner of the National Jewish Book Award) and My People's Passover Haggadah and is the author of the critically acclaimed In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language.
