Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: How a Jewish Perspective Can Transform Your Understanding

by Lois Tverberg

Overview

What would it be like for modern readers to sit down beside Jesus as he explained the Bible to them? What life-changing insights might emerge from such a transformative encounter?

Lois Tverberg knows the treasures that await readers willing to learn how to read the Bible through Jewish eyes. By helping them understand the Bible as Jesus and his first-century listeners would have, she bridges the gaps of time and culture in order to open the Bible to readers today.

Combining careful research with engaging prose, Tverberg leads us on a journey back in time to shed light on how this Middle Eastern people approached life, God, and each other. She explains age-old imagery that we often misinterpret, allowing us to approach God and the stories and teachings of Scripture with new eyes. By helping readers grasp the perspective of its original audience, she equips them to read the Bible in ways that will enrich their lives and deepen their understanding.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493412679
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	623,739
File size:	10 MB

About the Author

Lois Tverberg has been speaking and writing about the Jewish background of Christianity for the past 20 years. Her passion is to translate the Bible's ancient setting into fresh insights that deepen and strengthen Christian faith. She is cofounder of the En-Gedi Resource Center, an educational ministry with a goal of deepening Christian understanding of the Bible in its original context. A former professor, Tverberg currently lives in Holland, Michigan, and speaks at churches, conferences, and retreats. Learn more at www.ourrabbijesus.com.

Table of Contents

1 Opening the Bible with Jesus: Emmaus Is Still There 9

Part 1 Repacking Our Mental: Bags Tools for the Journey

2 Learning to Be There: A Clash of Cultures 23

3 What Does "Christ" Mean, Anyway?: A Perplexing Word 42

4 Painting in Hebrew: Bold Colors, Broad Brushstrokes 60

Part 2 How the Bible Thinks: Big Picture Ideas That You Need to Understand

5 Greek Brain, Hebrew Brain: Cows, Creeds, and Concrete Metaphors 83

6 Why Jesus Needs Those Boring "Begats": Knowing the Family Rules 113

7 Reading the Bible as a "We": Insights from a Communal Perspective 131

8 Like Grasshoppers in Our Own Eyes: Learning to "Think Small" 158

Part 3 Reading about the Messiah: Seeing Him through Hebrew Eyes

9 Memory Is Critical: Hinting at the Scriptures 179

10 Moses and the Prophets Have Spoken: Finding Promises in the Synagogue 193

11 Reading in the Third Dimension: Listening for Echoes in the Text 209

12 Jesus' Bold Messianic Claims: Very Subtle, Very Jewish 222

13 When the Words Catch Fire: What We Miss in Isaiah 53 238

Acknowledgments 251

Appendix A Books of the Tanakh 253

Appendix B Thirty Useful Hebrew Words for Bible Study 255

Appendix C Bible Translations for Word Study 261

Notes 264

Recommended Resources 274

Subject Index 277

Scripture Index 284