Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus’ by Lois Tverberg (Baker Books, 2017).

This book is the third in a worthy series on how understanding the Jewishness of Jesus can transform your faith. The previous two (Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus) are equally commendable, as the author always puts across important information in an accessible manner.

This third volume, as its title suggests, is more about the Bible that Jesus had, showing us how he would have understood it. The contrast is clearly demonstrated between our Greek/Western understanding and the Hebraic approach that is so necessary if we are to unlock the treasures within God’s word.

Emmaus Road Experience

The author’s aim is to provide us with an experience akin to that of the disciples on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24) when Jesus explained what they were missing by not having a complete picture of their scriptures.

The book is divided into three main sections. Part One is called ‘Repacking our Mental Bags’ and is intended as a starter to help us begin our journey into the Bible as Jesus knew it. Part Two, ‘How the Bible Thinks’, guides us further along the path into Hebraic thinking and how the ‘big picture’ ideas contained within the Bible are essential to an understanding of its message. The third part is entitled ‘Reading about the Messiah’ and aims to show him through Hebrew eyes.

Tverberg contrasts our Greek/Western understanding with the Hebraic approach that is so necessary to unlock the treasures within God’s word.

Although these are useful divisions there is no reason why the book cannot simply be enjoyed chapter by chapter and dipped into according to time available and the desire to learn certain aspects more thoroughly than others.

Going Deeper

Each chapter ends with ‘Tools and Reflections’ and ‘Thoughts for Going Deeper’. The book concludes with three useful appendices, one on the books of the Tanakh (Old Testament), one on Bible translations and, perhaps most helpfully, one containing ‘Thirty Useful Hebrew Words for Bible Study’.

There are good endnotes and recommended resources for further reading. In addition, there is a companion website which has a free PDF sample chapter to download (effectively the first 20 pages of the book).

Although much of this material is available in other books, Tverberg, co-founder of the educational En Gedi Resources Center, has the skill to take us back into the world of Jesus so we can listen afresh to what he said and see anew what he did.

‘Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: How a Jewish perspective can transform your understanding’ (hardback, 285pp) is available from Amazon for £14.99. Also on Kindle.