hebrew bible
In the Bible, gender is not binary
The Bible employs many merisms, in which two contrasting words stand in for a whole spectrum. “Male and female” is one of them.
Ten Commandments, zero context
Many lawmakers want to see the commandments displayed in public schools. Are they also interested in the Hebrew Bible’s ethical demands?
A Hebrew scholar rekindles her love for classic Bible stories
Julie Faith Parker reads the Bible without guilt or shame, leading readers toward a healthier way of relating to scripture.
The roots of Hebrew Roots
A small but growing movement of Christians believes fervently that Torah observance is for everyone.
In the Hebrew Bible, love is complex
Song-Mi Suzie Park shows that ahav is dense, powerful, political, and divine.
What if we treated all of creation—plants and stars, soil and rivers—as our kin?
Biblical scholar Mari Joerstad and indigenous activist Nick Estes challenge our human-centered worldview.
Chosen? by Walter Brueggemann
Are the people of 21st-century Israel the chosen ones of Genesis to whom Yahweh promised the land in eternal covenant? Walter Brueggemann gives a nuanced answer.
The Love of God, by Jon D. Levenson
Jon Levenson's new book reflects on the theme of the love of God in the Hebrew Bible. The three components of his subtitle suggest the range and depth of his exposition.
Found in translation
George Steiner said that "the translator invades, extracts, and brings home." In this remarkable volume, Everett Fox does all of this.
What the Prodigal Son story doesn't mean
The Prodigal Son is often read to mean that God loves sinners, whereas the Jews thought God only loved the righteous. This makes no sense.
The Nonviolent God, by J. Denny Weaver
J. Denny Weaver is steadfast in his conviction that any conception of God found in the Bible must first be compared to the person of Christ himself.
The Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur’an, by Anton Wessels
Anton Wessels emphasizes points of convergence among the Abrahamic religions, even assimilating their scriptural perspectives into a single story. It's an audacious wager, and not without dangers.
Subversion and hope
In two pages, you go from a simple devotional habit to being sucked into the vortex of global power plays. You must be reading Brueggemann.
Guns as the price for freedom?
President Obama’s speech in Newtown on December 17 included this pivotal question: “Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?” The president is bristling here at the way our political discourse reflexively leaps to claims about individual rights and freedoms.