The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers, New Book Review

Date Reviewed: May 29, 2005


And the real translation?

When the Bible was translated from Aramaic into Greek, were the translators careful about how they did it? Or did they let their culture and their prejudices guide how the translation went? Floyd D. Braggs explores these issues in BETTER OFF BORN DEAD. He uses the book of Ecclesiastes, which is translated from Greek and was apparently written by King Solomon. However, translated from the original Hebrew, the name of the book was Qoheleth, which is, according to Strong's Concordance, a feminine word. Braggs points out when Ecclesiastes was written Solomon wasn't alive, so it had to be someone else who wrote it. He comes to the conclusion that it was King David's daughter and Solomon's sister, Tamar, who was the author. Reading Ecclesiastes from a female point of view changes the entire meaning of this book of the Bible. Tamar is showing her anger at the way women are being treated by men in her culture.

Braggs discusses the early Catholic Church and how the church wished to keep women subjugated to men. The church was very much against the common members of the church reading the Bible at all. They preferred to tell the people what it said rather than have them read it for themselves and see it differently than they had always been told. As a result, the first translators were killed for their efforts.

As a woman, it was sheer joy to read another version of Ecclesiastes. It was pleasurable to find out that 3,000 years ago, Tamar could show her anger at men for their desire to dominate women. Bragg also uses the scriptures in Genesis to show that God had no intention for men to dominate women, but for men and women to be partners. It was the original translators who put women in a position lower than that of men. Tamar, being a Qoheleth, was a female preacher, yet today in many churches, women are forced to be silent according to many ministers' understanding of the Bible. This is a must read for anyone interested in the Christian religion and the position of women in the church. It is a true eye-opener.



Reviewed by alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers



Follow this link: http://www.therawreviewers.com/artman/publish/BetterOffBorn.shtml