Religion

Translating Sex in the Hebrew Bible: How Mistranslation Leads to Misinterpretation

How words related to gender, sex, and sexuality in the Hebrew Bible have been mistranslated鈥攁nd what we gain by retranslating words we thought we knew

Paperback

Price:
$27.95/拢22.00
ISBN:
Published:
Mar 30, 2027
Pages:
200
Size:
5.5 x 8.5 in.
Illus:
1 b/w illus. 7 tables.

Even those who have not read the Hebrew Bible know some of its phrases by heart: 鈥淭hou shalt not commit adultery.鈥 鈥淒o not lie with a male as with a woman.鈥 鈥淔or I am a jealous god.鈥 But are these translations reliable? In this groundbreaking book, Sara Milstein argues that words in the Hebrew Bible related to sex, gender, and sexuality have been consistently mistranslated, resulting in the misinterpretation of numerous passages. Peppering her analysis with tidbits from ancient and modern law, Greek literature, the study of emotions, and the history of sexuality, Milstein offers fresh interpretations of terms and texts that have been lost in translation for millennia.

In a series of illuminating case studies, Milstein reveals how the earliest translators introduced concepts that were foreign to the ancient Israelites. These concepts then spread to other translations and interpretations, religious and scholarly alike. Paradoxically, she argues, translation is both the obstacle and the cure. Rather than begin with the English (or German, or Chinese, or …) and work backwards, we must start with the Hebrew and move forward, approaching familiar texts from a new position of unfamiliarity. It鈥檚 time, Milstein suggests, to rethink our assumptions about sex in the Bible, one word at a time.