The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible

My interest in the Bible was intensified by the time I lived in Israel in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when I studied Hebrew in two ulpanim (intensive Hebrew language schools for new immigrants). As I struggled to learn the ancient Hebrew words for such modern realities as “electricity” or “computer,” I spent many months traveling all over the country on my motorcycle and got to see what Israelis call simply The Land (ha-aretz) up close and personal. There is nothing like going to a rock concert in the biblical Ashkelon (with the lyrics in Hebrew), or spending an afternoon lounging in seaside cafés on the Sea of Galilee, to make the ancient stories of the Bible really come alive. To this day, I will always be grateful to my wise and patient Hebrew teachers (one a German refugee from the Holocaust) who casually shared their vast erudition, and their lives, with me. I am also grateful to my wife and children who, years later, patiently endured my absences when I attended a graduate program in biblical studies and spent many hours away from home, in seminars or dusty libraries. Finally, I would like to thank Harry Crocker of Regnery who, out of the blue, asked me if I would like to write this book, as well as Miriam Moore, my patient editor.