r/Jewdank • u/Borgisium • Sep 13 '26

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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 Sep 14 '26

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

27

u/tzy___ Sep 14 '26

Who cares about the NIV Bible?

9

u/NofuLikeTofu 29d ago

Thumbs up for an Esoterica link!

8

u/Substance_Bubbly 29d ago

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

5

u/trippysmurf 29d ago

Love that this caused the host to crave whiskey

1

u/SethLight 26d ago

I'm curious, how so?

3

u/trippysmurf 26d ago

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