It was my senior year of college, and I had room for one elective. As a dedicated Bible Christian, I had a strong desire to learn the original languages of the Scriptures, and I jumped at the chance ...

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The difficultiesof translating the Hebrew Bible begin with the first word of Genesis. The King James Bible of 1611 translates Genesis 1:1 as “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” ...

Let’s talk about cannabis! No, not the actual plant. I’m far more interested in its cool etymology. Do you know that “cannabis” comes from the Hebrew word “קנבוס” (“KaNaBoS”)? And קנבוס actually comes ...

For word nerds, the Book of Esther contains a special treat — the longest word in the Tanakh. Technically, v’ha’achshadrapanim and its eleven letters makes it the length champion of the entire Hebrew ...

Robert Alter has accomplished the monumental feat, 22 years in the making, of single-handedly translating the Hebrew Bible into English. Since he began, Alter’s translation has been published in ...

What is love? It’s a simple question that writers and artists have asked repeatedly through the centuries, from Bernard of Clairvaux and Mildred Bangs Wynkoop to Tina Turner and Haddaway. It’s also ...