Atheos Hebraica is a blog that I have taken the liberty to start, aiming to translate and interpret the Old Testament in readable portions from start to finish.
Modern translations of the Old Testament have detracted further and further from the original Hebrew with the aim of becoming ‘more applicable’ to the modern reader. As well as this most translations are the product of scholars who have their own Christian agendas. As an atheist I hope that I can translate and interpret the Old Testament free of a Christian mind-set, allowing me in some respects to translate the Old Testament as it would be understood by Ancient Israelites. Unlike some modern translators I will not be skipping over words to make the text more readable, as this contributes to a loss of Hebrew sentence structure and narrative schemes, therefore my translation should appear quite literal, and in some respects different.
As a socialist I will not be remaining neutral in my interpretation but whether I turn out to be pro or anti-Old Testament is still unknown. My interpretation aims to give new or renewed insight into the passages, in which I will build upon the work of others as well as my own. I am setting out to give a historic, socialist and atheistic interpretation of the passages I shall translate, yet I will not be delving into debates on authourship or into form/redaction criticsim. Although a specifically atheistic interpretation may prove contradictory (as the Old Testament was written from a religious perspective) it should give insight which has previously been explored to a limited degree as most interpretations have been under-taken by the religious rather than the atheist.
Both the translation and interpretation of the Old Testament have led us to the forms of Christianity and Judaism we have today, this blog will help to question many widely held beliefs in the two religions.
Thank you
James Morris
*Any similarity with other translations of the Old Testament is coincidental.
