Help Me Understand the Bible

We approach the Bible with American eyes and therefore completely miss or misunderstand so much of it. It is an old Middle Eastern book. To really understand it, we must try to understand their culture, theology, language, and thinking.

A good translation is just the first step in understanding the Bible. Figures of speech that are second-nature to native speakers—but often bizarre to others—are especially difficult. When these are further clouded by differences in customs, grasping the ori...