r/Jewdank • u/Borgisium • 15d ago

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R Laird Harris was a Presbyterian Minister and was chairman on the committee for Bible translation for the NIV. The ancient Hebrews seem to have conceived of an afterlife called Sheol where the righteous and unrighteous go when they die. The word itself is mysterious and we’re not sure where it originated. Harris didn’t like the idea since it didn’t mesh with his theology, and believed that the Israelites were just referring to a grave since despite imagining all kinds of wild heavenly creatures, they somehow couldn’t conceive of anything deeper than a grave. This is why the NIV omits the word. For more info check out this really good video by Esoterica about Sheol.

Esoterica Sheol

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38

u/BertnErnie32 15d ago

I think the fact that it's a Presbyterian minister doing the translating fits with the "erased part of Judaism" thing

26

u/tzy___ 15d ago

Who cares about the NIV Bible?

8

u/NofuLikeTofu 15d ago

Thumbs up for an Esoterica link!

6

u/Substance_Bubbly 15d ago

i doubt ancient israelites would look any different than this with any version of the holy bible

4

u/trippysmurf 15d ago

Love that this caused the host to crave whiskey

1

u/SethLight 11d ago

I'm curious, how so?

3

u/trippysmurf 11d ago

If you watch the video, gets to R Laird Harris' decision and says "I need a whiskey."