Page 29 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
8 8 COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW

experience that, for certain verses, and not for others, some translations are more
faithful to the true meaning of the Hebrew text, and to how traditional Jewish
scholars have interpreted it.
If the author’s acquaintance with how Jewish sources interpret a certain part of
a verse indicated that there might be, in available translations, a major departure
from the true sense of the verse, or if it was felt that a verse in the English transla-
tion departed from the real Hebrew meaning (Hebrew is my mother tongue), an
alternative translation was offered in brackets within the quote, or subsequently,
without omitting the original English translation.
A companion book that has been a great assistance throughout the process of
authoring this book is The New Concordance for the Bible (Even-Shoshan 1988).
Also, I infrequently used the Biblical Encyclopedia (Mazar et al. 1976) and Lexicon
Biblicum (Soliali and Barkuz 1965). These were used for some validation of
concepts when deemed necessary. Other sources are quoted throughout the text.
A major source for some details in the text is existing Web sites. They are
quoted numerous times in the text. Though I only used sites that to my judgment
are credible enough (and usually cross-referenced), I do not assume any responsi-
bility for the accuracy of these sites and their contents.
Finally, the coincidences displayed in this composition are not equally persua-
sive one way or another. In other words, some coincidences are more extraordinary
than others. Some may be perceived as directly derived from the biblical text, or
from the obvious meanings of Hebrew words. Others may look contrived to the
reader. Still others may be incredibly difficult to explain. We have not attempted

any screening of these coincidences. Furthermore, we have also not attempted any
rating (or ranking) according to their possibly psychological or rational (or irratio-

nal) impact. Therefore, as befits a book about coincidences, these are arranged in
no particular order, coincidentally scattered throughout the book. It is left for the
reader to shape up his/her reaction as to how a particular coincidence, or a group
of coincidences bound by a common theme, should be perceived.
A concluding epilogue conveys some personal sentiments.

We regard the nineteen statistical analyses displayed in this book the most
important contribution of this research composition.

All else—ornaments.