READING THE BIBLE WITH RABBI JESUS by Lois Tverberg is another addition to her fine series on using insights from Jewish and 1st Century AD Middle Eastern life for modern readers to better understand the Bible. This particular book focuses on the Old Testament --- which, of course, was the Bible for all Jews in the time of Jesus --- and how Jesus would have read and interpreted what was written in those texts that were already over 1000 years old by the time He arrived on the scene.

As in other books she has written, Tverberg first helps the reader to understand that the Greco-Roman culture that gave rise to European and then North American culture and soceity is really very different from the worldview of the ancient Israelites, as well as Jesus and His disciples. She shows how this is important in examples like the word "walk." In Greek and English, it simply means to travel by foot, but in Hebrew the way one "walks" reflects your moral character. Then, Part Three, the author uses the foundation built up by the previous sections to bring greater clarity and insight to various familiar passages and parts of the Old Testament.

Since very few believers will ever travel to Israel or learn biblical Hebrew, Tverberg provides an invaluable service to Christian readers who want to better appreciate the Old Testament, so that it truly is the source of information about God's holiness, grace and love that it is meant to be. Highly recommended!

I learned so much! Digging deeper into the culture and customs gives a much greater understanding. I will continue to refer to this treasure for many years to come.

This is an excellent, readable book that focuses on life and culture during Biblical times. My understanding of some familiar Bible passages was illuminated by Lois Tververg’s excellent commentary. Although it’s not really a reference book, this will be a book to which I’ll keep returning to remind me of the differences in Biblical times and our present culture.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Tverberg has other books out explaining the Jewish culture Jesus would have known, and how we can better understand our Bible and Christ by learning about it. These books are FULL of great insight and I got a ton out of reading this one. Highly recommend as a box set with the author's other books on this topic.

If you want the Bible to make more sense to you, this book by Lois Tverberg can help. It helps bridge the gap between ancient Middle Eastern culture and modern Western culture.

“I don’t think a day has gone by that some insight from the biblical world hasn’t made my reading more flavorful. Studying this way takes more time, of course. Not everyone has time to learn ancient languages, historical details, and cultural ideas, but you’ll be surprised how every little bit of learning is helpful.”

This excellent book breaks down many of the cultural issues that hinder our understanding of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

“My goal is not to make you feel you need to adopt the lifestyle of the biblical world but to help you be willing to view life through its lens for just a little while.”

The three parts of the book are:
1. Repacking Our Mental Bags: Tools for the Journey
2. How the Bible Thinks: Big Picture Ideas that You Need to Understand
3. Reading about the Messiah: Seeing Him through Hebrew Eyes

Each main section is broken down into small sections with a focus on one particular aspect, such as the broad color and brushstrokes of the Hebrew language, insights from a communal perspective, and learning to “think small.”

At the end of each chapter, Lois includes a section called, “Tools and Reflection.” Here she gives us additional Bible texts to read and questions to ponder, as well as thoughts and resources for going deeper. Put together, this information helps us know God more clearly.

I also enjoyed Appendix B in this book: Thirty Useful Hebrew Words for Bible Study.

My thanks to NetGalley for the review copy of this book.

I've read various books looking at Jesus and His Times through the eyes of a Rabbi. They've all been fascinating but none have argued so persuasively why Westerners need to make a paradigm shift to see the world through the eyes of the readers of the original texts. It makes a lot of sense that our individualistic, democratic and industrialised culture is the ODD one out - most of the rest of the world lives closer to the way the people in Jesus' time lived: in community, in countries where justice is not upheld and in need of a saviour. The amount of persuasion that the author feels he has to do is also worrying because it's obvious he feels that Westerners (and I presume he means Americans specifically) are extremely unwilling to adopt world views or values that contradict the Way, the Truth and the Life (i.e. American values!) However, he does an amazing job of explaining why they should and what the benefits are. There are also links to external sources-for example, did you know the Emmaeus road is still there and known about by locals? There is a link to a modern newspaper - the Jerusalem Perspective with an utterly fascinating article on it. The nearest book to this I have read is Hebrew vs Greek thought (which is now out of print) which is much more academic and harder to understand than this. My only complaint is that this book is not long enough - I could read more of what the author has achieved. Essential reading for all Christians.

Lois Tverberg is no stranger to a faithful reading of scripture, and there is much to learn from her in this book. I have followed her blog for years, and it is consistently a wealth of information. This book is certainly not an exception. Tverberg focuses on historical and cultural context, bringing difficult passages to life and explaining contemporary misunderstandings. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a meaningful glimpse into scripture.

First sentence: Years ago, I signed up for a summer Hebrew course in Israel. That way, I’d be able to absorb the sights and sounds of the land as I studied. The class was held at a retreat center a few miles outside Jerusalem, and everywhere you looked you could see evidence of the ancient Israelites.

Do you do your Bible study microwave-style? Do you "gulp down a prepackaged, presweetened devotion with a few slurps of coffee before heading off to work"? Or are you into artisanal Bible study? Are you willing to to slow down, change focus, and be there?

By "being there" Tverberg means two things really: a) being there with the original audience, taking the time to place the text of what we're reading into its original, natural context and b) being there with Jesus, having him as our guide and teacher.

She writes, "The Scriptures are meant for us to read but they were not written to our modern world. God spoke so that the ancient world would understand, as they looked at life through different lenses. If we want to empathize with how they thought and approached life, we need to know more about their culture."

The book is divided into three sections: "Repacking Our Mental Bags: Tools for the Journey," "How the Bible Thinks: Big Picture Ideas That You Need to Understand," and "Reading about the Messiah: Seeing Him Through Hebrew Eyes."

She asserts that Westerners have a more difficult time reading and understanding the Bible. In part, because we're so WEIRD. "We are Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic (in voting countries)."

The book focuses on the clash between modern and ancient, western and eastern. The chapters focus on getting us ready to read the Bible with "fresh," "new" eyes. Tverberg gives readers a few practical tips on how to do so. For example, in chapter four, "Painting in Hebrew" she suggests doing key word studies of Hebrew words. Or if that seems a bit too extreme for you, read from multiple Bible translations.

Many chapters focus on thinking, conceptions of thought, use of and meaning of language. She illustrates how Hebrews thought, how Hebrew thought is very, very different from Greek thought, how the New Testament though written in Greek still uses Hebrew Thought as its base, and why understanding these cultural differences helps explain the Bible.

Favorite quotes:

"Much of the reason we’ve found Jesus’ words so hard to grasp is because we are so unfamiliar with the Scriptures he loved—the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings."

"How can we regain a sense of awe for God? We can certainly read the psalms and meditate on this biblical way of looking at the world. The next thing we can do is pray, which at its heart is an admission of our smallness. Indeed, praying is an enactment of smallness, of assuming that we are not sufficient in ourselves and that a loving God is present and listening to our worries and concerns."

"If you want to “be there” alongside Jesus’ Jewish disciples, in some sense you need to care about Israel as your family, whom you hold precious and dear. Just imagine, by some amazing grace, your relatives were the ones whom the true God covenanted with to proclaim himself to the world. When your family prospered, it showed God’s power, and when they were oppressed, God looked like a loser too. God’s fate is tied up with your fate. It’s galling and shocking to you how the world sees the God of Israel as a wimpy, pathetic deity when he’s the true Creator of the world. When is he going to be rightly acknowledged as the world’s true King? Every day it pains you to see your family languishing, oppressed by rock-worshiping idolaters. Not just for your own sake, but because God’s reputation is being dragged through the mud. "

Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus
How a Jewish Perspective Can Transform Your Understanding
by Lois Tverberg
Baker Books

Christian
Pub Date 02 Jan 2018


I am reviewing a copy of Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus Through Baker Books and Netgalley:


What if we could sit down today and listen to the teaching of Jesus? How would our lives change if we were able to do just that? Would we live our lives differently?


In Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus the author encourages us to read the Bible Through Jewish Eyes.

In this well researched book we are taken back to the first century Biblical understandings of the Bible.

I give Reading the Bible With Rabbi Jesus five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

In the book Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus, author Lois Tverberg, takes us on a journey into the culture of the Israel and the Bible. If we will take some time to understand the culture, the Bible will come alive in news ways to our lives. Tverberg writes about viewing Jesus as King: “We live in an egalitarian society that emphasizes personal autonomy, freedom, and individual rights. We expect to have a vote in every decision that affects us. So we bristle at submitting to any kind of authority, to the point where central biblical metaphors like God establishing his “kingdom” on earth and the Messiah as God’s anointed “king” simply do not resonate. To the contrary, this imagery may actually offend us.”
I would highly recommend this thought provoking book to anyone for a fresh point of view of world of the Bible. I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus" looks at the differences between modern American and first century Jewish cultural perspectives in order to provide insights into the Bible. The author talked about why Jews expected the Messiah to be a king and how this assumption is woven into several New Testament events and conversations. She also explained why a just king would have been a desirable thing. She talked about differences between Greek (logical, theoretical) and Eastern thinking patterns. She explored how the Hebrew language reflects this different way of thinking (which sometimes makes translation difficult).

She talked about the cultural perspective that family and community are more important than the individual, thus making the begats sections and a person's family name (reputation) important to them. She talked about how they didn't question the existence of God, but that a god that cared about humans was unique. She talked about how people learned Scripture at the time of Jesus, and how they linked similar memorized verses to study and better understand the point being made. She showed how Jesus made Messianic claims, just in a very Jewish way that isn't obvious to Westerners. Finally, she applied some of her previous points to Isaiah 53 to illuminate things that Westerners might miss.

She sometimes discussed information that she talked about in her other books or that can be found in other Eastern versus Western perspective books, but she also explored aspects that I hadn't previously heard or discussed them in a slightly different way so it wasn't just repetition. I found her explanations easy to follow, which I haven't always found true with these Eastern/Western perspective books. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book (and her previous Rabbi Jesus books).