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| The Grammar of God: A Journey into the Words and Worlds of the Bible |
This book is for the serious Bible
student. The author, Aviya Kushner, grew up in a Jewish home where every night over
dinner the family discussed the grammar and nuances of scripture as written in
Hebrew. As an adult she took a graduate course in Bible and writes, “I was lost
much of the time, and many times saddened at what had been misrepresented or
obscured in moving the words from the Hebrew to the English, from the ancient
to the more contemporary.”
At chapter beginnings,
Kushner gives the literal translation of parts of scripture according to the Hebrew
and then elaborates on liberties taken by English translators. For instance,
where an English version might read “Let us deal wisely,” the Hebrew actually
means, “Let us outsmart.” While some of her points seemed to be splitting
hairs, I appreciated her insight.
Kushner was used to reading not
only scripture but commentaries written by rabbis from around the world over
many centuries. She was taught to consider other opinions, so she found it hard
to accept English translations that came across as certain of their
interpretation. She writes, “Conversation, then, is an integral part of law,
even to Jews who believe the Bible is the word of God dictated to Moses.”
Noting the differences in
vocabulary, grammar, culture and worldview, she writes, “While some changes are
understandable, others are unbearably painful for a Hebrew reader to see.”
A pastor once told me that reading
the Bible in its original languages is like seeing television in color rather
than black and white. Kushner would agree. The
Grammar of God is a challenging but insightful read.
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