A “witty and accessible look at Scripture” that explores what the Bible meant before two millennia of mistranslations and misinterpretations (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In this fascinating book, acclaimed translator and biblical scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman walks the reader through dozens of mistranslations, misconceptions, and other misunderstandings about the Bible. In forty short, straightforward chapters, he covers morality, lifestyle, theology, and biblical imagery, including:

• The Bible doesn’t call homosexuality a sin, and doesn’t advocate for the one-man-one-woman model of the family that has been dubbed “biblical.”


• The Bible’s famous “beat their swords into plowshares” is matched by the militaristic “beat your plowshares into swords.”


• The often-cited New Testament quotation “God so loved the world” is a mistranslation, as are the titles “Son of Man” and “Son of God.”


• The Ten Commandments don’t prohibit killing or coveting.

What does the Bible say about violence? About the Rapture? About keeping kosher? About marriage and divorce? Hoffman provides answers to all of these and more, succinctly explaining how so many pivotal biblical answers came to be misunderstood.