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New resources for biblical studies

14 Tuesday Jul 2020

Posted by Steven Anderson in Biblical languages, Books

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Hebrew Bible recordings

It has been awhile since I have posted here, but that isn’t because I haven’t been writing! It is time now to give a quick update on projects that I and others have been working on. The first two projects in this list are free!

2 Cover 800Tomo 2 portada 800

First, I have written an eight-volume guide to understanding each book of the Bible, Dr. Anderson’s Interpretive Guide to the Bible. These books are available for free download from my website, or for purchase on Amazon. The first two volumes of this series are newly revised and translated into Spanish as Guía interpretativa para la Biblia for use as Bible curriculum for Seminario Teológico Evangélico Gozo Eterno. The Spanish volumes are available for free download on my website, or on the seminary’s website; print volumes are available for purchase on Amazon.

GenesisSecond, I have made playlists on SoundCloud of free recordings of the entire Old Testament read in the original Hebrew and Aramaic by Omer Frenkel and produced by the 929 Project, an Israeli Jewish (non-Christian) organization (there are 929 chapters in the Hebrew Bible). Omer Frenkel is a native speaker of Hebrew and a well known Israeli narrator. While I am not affiliated with the 929 Project, any SoundCloud user can make playlists of their recordings, which are not easily accessible otherwise.

DVD Cover ESTHER-800DVD Cover DANIEL 800

Third, new volumes of the Photo Companion to the Bible continue to be released. I began this project with Todd Bolen in November 2014 in order to find the best photographs to illustrate the Bible by chapter and verse. The project has since grown significantly, with more than half a dozen other scholars contributing, although I have done most of the first drafts. My favorites among the new releases are the Daniel and Esther volumes, for which I was the primary creator. Since these volumes do not just include photographs but also extensive explanations, anyone who is interested in the relationship of historical and archaeological background information to the Bible will find the Photo Companion to the Bible profitable.

NT banner 2

Fourth, I am happy to promote the new single-volume edition of the Syriac-English New Testament published by Gorgias Press. (This is a sponsored mention.) The Syriac New Testament is important for New Testament textual criticism, and also for the certain parts of historic Eastern Christianity. The English translation provides access to readings of the Syriac Peshitta for those who cannot read Syriac. For students of Syriac, the English translation will provide a handy way to check one’s understanding of the Syriac text as it is read. This is a high-quality academic edition with features that attempt to reproduce the look and feel of historic Syriac Bibles.

There are some other projects I am working on that, Lord willing, will be released one by one over the coming months and years. These include: (1) A commentary on Revelation that I have been writing for the past few years (I am currently on chapter 14). (2) Spanish translations of more volumes of my Interpretive Guide to the Bible. (3) Spanish translations of some of my blog posts, each one linked to an updated English version.

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Psalm 23: A Photo Commentary

19 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by Steven Anderson in Bible, Books

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Psalm 23 photos

Psalm 23 is the most familiar and best loved of all the psalms. It is a source of comfort and encouragement for Christians throughout the vicissitudes of life, and its reassuring words are often read at funeral services. There is truly a spiritual bond between the writer of this psalm—King David of Israel—and modern Christians. Yet there is also a profound gap of time and culture that forms a barrier to our understanding of the psalm’s meaning. David lived 3,000 years ago in a cultural world that was vastly different from the United States of America. Many helpful studies on Psalm 23 have been written, often focused on the theme of shepherding. But there has never been a study published which uses photographs to elucidate the historical and cultural setting of this ancient psalm. This gap is now filled with a new book I have coauthored with my friend and fellow Bible scholar, Todd Bolen. Psalm 23: A Photo Commentary illustrates Psalm 23 with more than 60 high-quality photographs. The photographs include traditional cultural scenes, modern landscapes, and museum artifacts. The accompanying text explains the visual information in the photographs and relates it to Psalm 23 through a verse-by-verse commentary. The book is available from Amazon in both print and Kindle editions. The Kindle (Matchbook) price will be lowered to $0.00 after purchase of the print book. The photographs are also available in PowerPoint format from BiblePlaces.com.

As would be expected, many of the photographs in our book show shepherds and sheep. We have taken care to use photos from the land of Israel that match the cultural and historical setting of Psalm 23 as closely as possible. For example, the “still waters” where sheep found refreshment (Psalm 23:2) are illustrated by photos of pools and streams in the areas of Judah where David may have traveled with his flock of sheep, like this one:

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Still waters of Ein Farah in the Judean wilderness

The book also includes many historic photographs from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century in order to show Palestinian shepherds in traditional garb, like the scene we chose for the front cover:

Psalm_23_A_Photo_Co_Cover_for_Kindle

The valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4) is a concept that may seem foreign to modern readers. The Judean wilderness, which is largely barren, contains many deep valleys with seasonal streams and vegetation that would be needed to sustain a flock of sheep. However, the steep walls of these valleys cast dark shadows throughout the day, and predatory animals often lurked behind the rocks and thickets. Our book provides a number of examples of these valleys, such as this one:

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Dark shadow in Nahal Zin

The shepherd-sheep metaphor ends after verse 4, and in the last two verses of Psalm 23 David speaks of his relationship with the Lord under the metaphor of a host and guest. One of the things David affirms in this section is that the Lord prepares a table before him in the presence of his enemies (Psalm 23:5). Our photos give visual proof that the territory of Israel’s enemy Moab can be seen from either Jerusalem or Bethlehem on a clear day. The Lord literally built up David’s kingdom in full view of his enemies.

Bethlehem Shepherds Fields and Mts of Moab, db6601060303

View of the mountains of Moab across the Dead Sea from Bethlehem

As these examples demonstrate, our goal is connect modern readers with the historical and cultural world of King David in order to better understand Psalm 23. A picture is truly worth a thousand words; photos can communicate concepts that would be difficult to understand through a written description. Our personal understanding of Psalm 23 was deepened through the research we did to write this book, and our hope is that our readers also will literally see this beloved psalm more clearly through this unique photo commentary.

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An Interpretive Guide to the Bible

27 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by Steven Anderson in Bible, Books

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free books

I am pleased to announce that I am now making PDF copies of my eight-volume book series, Dr. Anderson’s Interpretive Guide to the Bible, available for free on my website.

With so many commentaries and study Bibles available, what makes Dr. Anderson’s Interpretive Guide to the Bible unique?

  1. These interpretive guides fill a gap in the literature by providing a synthetic overview of every book of the Bible in a way that commentaries and introductions do not.
  2. These interpretive guides are original scholarship, unlike much of what is produced today. They are the product of my own careful study of the Scriptures, and are not simply a slightly revised repetition of what you can read in other resources. I am an independent thinker, and you will find many original insights and ideas throughout these interpretive guides.
  3. My method of biblical interpretation emphasizes the primacy of the biblical text, and seeks to find its literal meaning. Most contemporary literature seeks to read the Bible through the grid of preformed theological ideas or background studies.
  4. Although I use and often recommend recent commentaries and other scholarly literature, I am writing from a traditional point of view that you will not read in other contemporary literature. Contemporary publishers only publish contemporary viewpoints. Those who enjoy reading classic commentaries, such as the ones by Keil & Delitzch or Albert Barnes, might like these interpretive guides.

These interpretive guides are similar enough to a Bible commentary so that some people would classify them as commentaries. However, they do not deal much with issues of translation or textual criticism, and do not deal extensively with interpretive details. This series is intended partly as an aid to reading, and partly as a starting point for more detailed exegesis. It is, essentially, a general guide to biblical interpretation, from which more specific interpretations may be developed.

These interpretive guides are intended for anyone who wants to study the Bible. There are some more advanced or technical discussions in them that only scholars are likely to follow, but there are also many things that virtually any Christian reader of the Bible can understand. These interpretive guides are designed to help but also challenge adult readers at all academic levels.

It is my hope that making these books available for free in PDF form will greatly increase their reach and their usefulness to the church. Please use these books, recommend them to others if you find them helpful, and check back occasionally for updated editions.

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