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Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus: New Insights From a Hebrew Perspective

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"It is indeed unfortunate that of all the New Testament writings, the words and sayings of Jesus himself are the most difficult to understand." So begins this remarkable little book.

The minor premise is undisputed: Jesus was Jewish. The major premise is: the "Hebraic mindset" (-language, thought, culture, idioms) is far removed from the Greek. To understand Jesus, therefore, one must appreciate the Hebraic/Jewish background of the Greek gospels. (A growing minority of Scripture scholars consider that our present Greek gospels are translations of Hebrew or Aramaic originals and that they are best understood when read that way.

Though serious scholarship underlies the work, it aims to teach the general public what it means to think of Jesus as an observant Jew versed in and devoted to the Torah. Running just over 130 pages, it leaves the reader hungry for more examples and more detailed analysis. Yet it may come as a watershed to readers who--like me--have thought too little about how the Jewish background of Jesus influenced the way he thought and taught.

Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, no one disputes that Hebrew was still used during the time of Jesus. The book provides a good primer on this point and its importance.

The next main section concerns the implications of misunderstanding Jesus. Such misunderstandings fall into two categories. First, there are the times we think we understand Jesus perfectly but do not. For example, Bivin and Blizzard argue that by "kingdom of heaven" Jesus was not referring to a futuristic place but rather to a present reality. (The reign of God means God reigns in one's life.) Further, Jesus was not a pacifist, despite "turn the other cheek", and he did not advocate indiscriminate charity, despite "give to him who asks of you."

Then there are the things Jesus says that we know we don't understand. Such as "blessed are the poor in spirit." Shouldn't one be rich in spirit? Yes, and Jesus was cautioning against self-righteousness. Christians tend to 'get' that despite the curious wording. But what about "to bind" and "to loosen" from Matthew 16? What was Jesus giving Peter the authority to do? And over whom? During the Sermon on the Mount what did Jesus mean by 'I came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it?' Christians aren't required to follw the Law, are they? If that doesn't 'abolish' it, then what would?

My favorite example concerns a puzzling verse from Luke's account of the Passion. Jesus tells the women of Jerusalem, "For if they do these things IN a green tree, what shall be done IN the dry?" Odd as this idiom may sound, I grew up with the sense that it meant, "Listen, ladies, don't weep for me but for yourselves. If this is how they treat me, how do you think they'll treat you?" Something like that is part of what Jesus is saying here, but there's more. The use of "green tree" (rooted in Ezekiel 20:47) is a MESSIANIC claim. Many scholars nowadays argue that Jesus never thought of himself as the Messiah--if he were, they reason, why didn't he just say so? Biven and Blizard argue persuasively that, in a Jewish way, he did exactly that, time and time and time again.

This book is by no means 'the last word on the subject.' But it is an enticing intro to a subject of great consequence for all Christians who seek to understand Jesus.

Imagine what popular American sayings such as "killing time" or "He put his foot in his mouth" would sound like if translated literally into another language. The authors of Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus argue that that is why so many New Testament phrases and especially the words of Jesus sound so strange or awkward or just plain confusing. The authors make a very good case that the Gospels were originally written in Hebrew and then translated into Greek and too often the translator gave a literal translation to what was a Hebrew saying or idiom which means it doesn't make sense in English. The authors do an excellent job of placing Jesus in his proper historical context, as highly educated in both the study of the Torah and in the culture of his day. We cannot grasp His meaning without keeping in mind the Jewish roots to all His teachings. The book is too short, only 169 pages. While this makes it a quick and easy read, it also leaves the reader wishing for more and deeper exploration. This is a good book for a beginner who wishes a good tool for understanding the New Testament. The last 50 pages are an Appendix which gives examples of what the authors see as the true meaning and proper translation of some of the most obscure Biblical passages. One could wish the Appendix were twice as long, but it makes a good, sound introduction to the subject. Highly recommended.

The authors make a very convincing case that the Synoptic Gospels (Mathew, Mark and Luke) were based on a lost Hebrew text. The translation into Greek was not idiomatic but literal and that is why many of the words of Jesus do not seem to make sense. These Gospels are full of Hebrew idioms and expressions that were taken literally into the Greek and subsequent translations of other languages. Most of the idioms that Jesus used can be understood only in a Hebrew context. The assumption that the entire New Testament was originally communicated in Aramaic has led to significant misunderstandings on the part of both scholars and laypersons.

Firstly, the authors examine the Aramaic and Greek theories. Contrary to the consensus, it now appears that Hebrew was very much alive as a spoken language at the time of Jesus. The Dead Sea Scrolls also point in this direction. As proof, the authors cite scholars like M H Segal, Matthew Black and Max Wilcox. Many words in the Greek versions are not just poor Greek but actually meaningless Greek, because of the literal translation. The undertext reveals a Hebrew original.

Recent linguistic research confirms that Hebrew was the spoken language of Israel at the time of Christ. This knowledge is enabling scholars to correct the numerous mistranslations in the English text, which was translated from the Greek. Some of the scholars quoted are Jehoshua M Grintz, David Flusser, Moshe Bar-Asher, Pinhas Lapide, Harris Birkeland, William Sanford LaSor, Frank Cross and Abbe J T Milik.

Chapter 4 explores the extra-biblical evidence for Hebrew in the writings of Josephus and the Anti-Nicene Fathers, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, on coins and inscriptions and in Rabbinic literature. The case for Hebrew is overwhelming.

But the most convincing indication of the Hebrew origin of these three Gospels can be found in the text itself. The Hebrew undertext is revealed in the sentence structure and the many literalisms and idioms that are peculiar to Hebrew. The authors provide many examples in which confusing passages immediately become clear when translated back into Hebrew.

Chapter 6 considers the theological error due to mistranslation. Unfortunately there are passages of which the mistranslation has caused significant error and unnecessary theological controversies. Thus, the expression Kingdom of Heaven primarily means the community of believers, not the future kingdom. It also becomes clear that Jesus did indeed claim to be the Saviour, by inter alia referring to himself as the "Green Tree", a messianic title. The book also dispels other myths like the ones about pacifism, martyrdom and giving without discernment.

In the Appendix, David Bivin deals with many particular texts in detail, including Matt 5:3, Luke 23:31, Matt 11:12, Luke 12:49 - 50, Matt 16:19, Matt 5:20, Matt 5:17 & 18 (about the iota and tittle). It is quite disturbing to think that for almost two millennia, believers did not read the true meaning that Jesus intended. How strange that this should only have come to light in the last century, and that most modern translations of the Bible still contain the incorrect and confusing translations!

Black and white photographs and illustrations enhance the text throughout. The book concludes with a bibliography and biographical information on the authors. Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus is a compelling read, but too short. What it reveals has enormous implications for Christianity. Another book that sheds light on this matter is Yeshua: A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church, by Dr Ron Moseley.

This is just what I've been searching for: a book about Hebrew and how it works, and the idioms that might explain some of the often confusing phrases used in the New Testament. This book is easy to read and very convincing. You don't have to agree with everything the authors say to benefit from the text. But it helps enormously. And it does indeed open up the more difficult words of Christ with possible interpretations that make very good sense. For a person who can not tackle Greek or Hebrew from the ground up, this is marvelous. I wish there were more books like this one -- and books that would delve into how language must affect thinking. I refer to word order here, to preferences for certain proverbs and expressions. Surely a language has a personality. This book helped me to understand something of the personality of Hebrew.

This is one of the best written books about the words and sayings of Yeshua the Messiah. It presents a crisp, complete, concise understanding about Yeshua's teachings. Are the words of Yeshua really difficult to understand? Yes, very much so if you do not know that He was born into a Jewish, Torah-observant home, kept the commandments of G-d and taught others to do so, and most importantly, spoke Hebrew. This is the key to understanding the difficult words of Yeshua....that He spoke Hebrew. Only if we discipline ourselves and learn to read the Scriptures through eastern eyes rather than western eyes can we really appreciate the teachings of our Messiah. His words explode with deeper meaning for us as we begin to view them through the eyes and culture of the Jewish Messiah. Every time we read His words, we need to ask the question, "Where did He get that from in the Torah?" After all, He is the living Torah. This book should be in the library of every serious talmid (student) of the Bible.

I had struggled with the sometimes confusing and clunky Greek of the gospels, but didn't have enough background to recognize what the authors discuss: the underlying Hebraic linguistic and cultural assumptions of the NT.

Not only will this book change the way you read the gospels, it may well end up affecting your theology, too. Once you have the context for the "difficult words," certain thorny doctrinal issues have to be faced. The authors show how doctrinal principles like pacifism/nonresistence cannot legitimately be derived from the gospels. You'll also learn what Jesus meant by his saying that he came to "fulfill" the law - and you'll be left to decide for yourself what that "jot and tittle" reference means for contemporary Christian practice.

This is a very brief text, concise in its arguments. Much of the meat of the book is actually in the long appendix. I was left wanting much, much more - including a working knowledge of Hebrew. This book will challenge and inspire you. Highly recommended!

This book is a persuasive argument for the Hebraic background to the gospel writings.

The preliminary argument actually defends the claim that the gospels themselves were written in Hebrew, not Aramaic, and only later translated into Greek. The argument against Aramaic is detailed, and I am not at all versed in Aramaic so as to respond to it. At some points it seems forced, as when the authors argue that Jesus' words on the cross, "Eloi," (Aramaic) were actually "Eli" (Hebrew), leading to the claim that he was calling Elijah (p. 10). It would be just as reasonable to assume that his hearers mistook what he was saying and assumed he was calling Elijah.
Furthermore, the two-page response to the Greek theory (p. 14-16), seems absurd, given that our only extant manuscripts are Greek. That only one counter-argument is given seems like the authors are avoiding the obvious. Furthermore, there are obvious plays on Greek words in the gospels, as with Peter's conversation with Jesus after the resurrection and the play on varying forms of the word "love," only true in Greek. The authors are not arguing merely that the authors were from a Hebrew context, but that their writings themselves were Hebrew. Given that Greek was the standard language of diplomacy in the first century, this seems ridiculous.

Still, the Hebraic background to the texts was clearly in the minds of the authors. Even if they wrote in Greek, that they were translating Hebrew idioms still seems likely (even if not in print). The first few chapters simply belabor an unnecessary argument, while Chapter 5 (p. 53-65), is the most valuable. Here, the Hebrew idioms are exposed and translated. The meaning of offering your peace to a house (p. 57) is infinitely more clear given the Judaic context of the text.

Chapter 6, an analysis of a couple of potential theological errors that can stem from misunderstanding the nature of the text, is fascinating. I like the argument that Jesus was not intending a strict pacifism (p. 67-72) and that he didn't intend an unwise generosity when he talked about giving (p. 72-75).

The appendix is a wealth of sermon material for the particular texts addressed. It plunges into the possible Hebrew intentions to verses which seem senseless in English and even in Greek. Sometimes I am not entirely compelled by their exegesis, since, for instance, the phrase "cast out your bad name" (p. 115) is not radically different than what we assume it meant in the English. Nonetheless, there are some priceless revelations here, such as the meaning of the tittle on the jot, the mark on the top of the yod.

All considered, I like the direction of the book, though it would be more compelling if they had spent more time on theological ramifications and less time arguing for an implausible nature of non-extant texts. In the end, I found myself simply wishing the book was longer.

This book is a great little gem to pick up. The price is not prohibitive at all, and it's a great addition to any Christian's bookshelf.

For those of you who love this stuff, and are always looking for another book that introduces a little more Jewish insight into the New Testament, this is a great book to get you thinking about topics you may have never thought of before. In other words, it's a great starting point for further study.

Alternatively, if you're one of those people who are looking for a nominal amount of self-sufficient reading, this book is equally appropriate. It's a pretty thin little thing, and you can cover it in almost no time. However, the things you'll learn on those pages will help the scriptures make more sense that they ever have before.

The short: The book is a great little book that will strengthen your understanding of scripture and will be a great little reference for you. And since it's a short book, you can read it and then decide if you're interested in studying further. You really, REALLY can't go wrong. Highly recommended.

It's hard to know how to review this when you don't know if the thesis is right. I grew up Jewish before becoming a Christian, and I still find it hard to believe, in the light of scholarship and what we have from ancient writings, that we can know that Jesus spoke Hebrew. The authors do not offer enough proof. This is the type of scholarship I have learned to beware of.

There is too much evidence in the New Testament that Jesus spoke Aramaic. He probably grew up in a trilingual culture--Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Students in Ukraine speak Ukrainian at school and Russian at the playground. And the USA has tens of millions that need English and Spanish to make it through a day. Ever go to Williamsburg, New York? Hasidic Jewish children reading the Torah in Hebrew and the Talmud in Hebrew and Aramaic, while speaking Yiddish and learning English, need four languages in a day's time.

Well, maybe I'm wrong. But as a former professor, I detect a real lack of scholarship and convincing evidence.

There are other things of which I am suspicious. The authors water down certain biblical teachings. They claim that Jesus' commendation of those persecuted has led to the false teaching that we'll get rewarded for persecution. I believe that we will, but they downplay this interpretation. And the Kingdom of Heaven is God reigning in our hearts, but not some future kingdom? That is Reformed theology at its worst, and as I have attended and even joined Reformed churches in the past (I'm out of them now), I'm not going on rumor.

Although I'm glad Christians no longer get their jollies conducting pogroms, burning down synagogues, and confiscating Jewish property, I detect a sentimentality to things Jewish that affects the authors' viewpoints. And as a long-standing Jewish convert to Christianity, and one who has spent over a year in Israel, I have had decades to see these issues, read about them, hear about them, and think about them. There are many other Gentiles whose sentimentality skews their judgment. Just look at Gentile Christians pretending to convert to Judaism so that they can stay in Israel after their two years for tourist visas run out. This is a delicate area, an issue I face constantly. I believe the authors have let incomplete scholarship and modern evangelical Christian sentimentality to Jewish concepts and culture affect the balancing act that we must all perform in our minds when dealing with these issues. But no offense--they're not the only ones, and they still are brothers in Christ.

In "Difficult Words" David and Roy did what most of us want in that they got to the point with good statistics of actually how much Hebrew and Greek is contained in the Biblical Text, and provided great short insights. This is the kind of writing that encourages readers to become scholars. I look forward to more of the same. This is a book many of us cut our teeth on and should be highly recommended to every student of any age.