The Grammar of God: A Journey into the Words and Worlds of the Bible

by Aviya Kushner

Hardcover, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

220.4 KUS

Publication

Spiegel & Grau (2015), Edition: First Edition, 272 pages

Description

"The author recalls how, after becoming very familiar with the Biblical Old Testament in its original Hebrew growing up, an encounter with an English language version led her on a ten-year project of examining various translations of the Old Testament andtheir histories,"--Novelist.

Barcode

4142

Awards

National Jewish Book Award (Finalist — Modern Jewish Thought and Experience — 2015)

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member CarrieWuj
This is amazing scholarship and fascinating analysis. Aviya Kushner has spoken Hebrew since she could speak, with English as her second language, despite growing up in NY. As part of a devout Jewish family, reading the scriptures and debating and discussing them is second nature. So when she takes
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a class in grad school (with Marilynne Robinson, no less) on the Bible, she is utterly confused and surprised by the very different meaning it has in English from the Hebrew she is accustomed to. So begins an intense, but accessible comparison of the Hebrew meaning and its English counterpart, interwoven with memoir-like reflections of certain topics or biblical themes. She doesn't attempt to tackle the entire Old Testament -- she easily gets lost in a single line! but rather picks 8 topics to explore. She says: "My mother taught me that language is not simply words, it is an opening into a way of thinking, a view of the world, a naming of its neighborhoods." The nuances are really interesting and this books gives a whole new appreciation for the elasticity of language to convey meaning and the challenge of putting faith into words.
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LibraryThing member deckla
She grew up speaking Hebrew in an orthodox Jewish community and was shocked at the Pentateuch she was given in a class at the Iowa Writers School taught by Marilynne Robinson. This led her to do a textual comparison and reflect on how those differences are expressed in the different cultures.
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Fascinating.
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LibraryThing member b.masonjudy
I was truly excited to read this text, assigned for my course in Hebrew Bible, but I was left wanting. Kushner's collection of essays can't really decide if it wants to be about translation, her personal history, or the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Given her background in poetry,
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I would have expected the text to be concentrated, but the essays, barring a few such as "Man" and "Law" feel loosely connected and rambling, with seldom a payoff of continuity at the end of each piece.
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LibraryThing member markon
This is an incredibly rich stew of stories and a glimpse into some of the differences between the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Christian Bible as translated into English. Aviya Kushner, poet, teacher, and former journalist uses her family's habit of arguing about the meaning of Hebrew texts and
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her introduction to the Christian Bible in English, via a course taught by Marilynne Robinson, to highlight some of the key differences she sees between these texts. This is a deeply personal book, as well as one that gave this reader both a glimpse into how grammar and translation influence the meaning of texts, and the rich history of Jewish study and commentary of the Torah, prophets, and writings.
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LibraryThing member DrFuriosa
This was a fascinating concept, and I liked the memoir approach. The overall arc and rationale for which Bible passages Kushner suggested still feel unclear. 3.5 stars.

ISBN

0385520824 / 9780385520829
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