The Bible, revisited

I've been thinking recently that I'd like to know more Bible stories, as they do seem to permeate our culture somewhat. I had a David Kossoff book when I was a lad which I liked. I can't remember terribly much about it, but I think it was colloquial retellings of the classic stories with a relatively light-hearted commentary. That's the sort of thing I'd like to be reading now.

I saw the Good Book plugged on Slate today. Did anyone follow the original series? It looks pretty much like what I'm after, but I wouldn't imagine there'll be much New Testament in there (or in Kossoff for that matter, should I ever find it) and that's what I'd probably be most keen to learn about.

Any suggestions?

"Well, you could just read The Bible, you lazy so-and-so"

As a child I read a coffee table illustrated children's Bible. The illustrations were superb, and the stories translated into clear English that still preserve the essential strangeness of, for example, Jacob and the angel's wrestling match, the story of Jezebel, Daniel in the lion's den, etc. I don't remember the edition and may be out of print, but it's a great way to start.

For the cover alone, read this edition:

http://www.crushed.co.uk/i/project_images/43.jpg

Do a View Image to get a better look (or go to http://www.crushed.co.uk/i/project_images/43.jpg )

As a child I read a coffee table illustrated children's Bible. The illustrations were superb, and the stories translated into clear English that still preserve the essential strangeness of, for example, Jacob and the angel's wrestling match, the story of Jezebel, Daniel in the lion's den, etc. I don't remember the edition and may be out of print, but it's a great way to start.

I was going to post the same thing. I read through an illustrated children's Bible dozens and dozens of times when I was a kid. Of course it's no substitute for the real Bible, but you can quickly get a basic idea of the many many many many stories/people/parables in the Bible. If one of your goals is to become familiar with the biblical references that permeate our culture, I can't imagine a quicker way to do it. That was when you're at the bar and people are like "Your hair is long like Samson's, are you ripped underneath that coat?", you can say "Yeah but if you cut it off I'll lose all my strength and get imprisoned...of course, then I'd grow it back and kill a whole bunch of people, including myself, as a final act of vengenace." You won't make any friends, but Bible-reading bros will be impressed.

Is this bar nearby?

I've yet to find it, but I know it exists somewhere. But my bar standards are very, very high.

<4

http://www.crushed.co.uk/i/project_images/42.jpg

That cover is quite beautiful, I'm very much coveting it. Do you know any more about that edition, like whether one can buy it or was it just a concept design? I can't find it on Amazon, and obviously googling for "The Bible" brings up quite a lot of hits.

I hadn't thought of children's editions and it'd be a clever way to approach the subject, with added bonus of cool pictures. I was really hoping for a commentary that was more adult, though, without being too earnest or po-faced - which I'd imagine would be the default mode for that genre, and also why I was doubly pleased to see that article on Slate. I wouldn't have thought Corinthians or Revelation were likely to feature heavily in kids' editions either

It's published by Hodder Headline UK, but their site is being redeveloped so you can't search it: I'll try to track down the ISBN.

I've been rereading Genesis and Ezekiel and the Psalms for fun lately, comparing translations at Bible Gateway. Ezekiel was such a fucking badass.

wild eyed performance artist bellowing about the end of the world and cosmic ox carts and shit its like daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag

Hey, how ya doin', good to see ya. I did get around to reading the Good Book recently, as per my original post. It was pretty excellent. He took the Old Testament chapter-by-chapter, ignored the boring bits, mocked the silly bits, and offered a lot of good thinking on why the rest should have come to be the way it is. Lots of nice little insights into modern Jewish custom too, on why ritual X or name such-and-such meant a lot more once the ultimate background to it cropped up in the book itself.

And now I'm right looking forward to Robert Crumb's illustrated version

saw it in a shop today, eve lets it all hang out, but adam is always standing behind something. dealbreaker imo

Gotta hand it to the @TelegraphBooks, assigning Rowan Williams to review Michael Edwards's The Bible Poetry (came out yesterday) is pretty genius.https://t.co/bYmiUHz5Dl

— Books at NYRB (@NYRB_Imprints) August 16, 2023

The slate article at the top of this thread is a good read. I’m really enjoying reading Robert Alters translation of the Jewish book with my wife at the moment. Retains some of the solemnity of the KJV without its “thous” and “arts” or its erroneous translation issues. Great footnoting and introductions to each book as well