Sam Torode

The Dirty Parts of the Bible
Sam Torode
Loved this book! It was about a over zealot preacher who sends his son to Texas to finding hidden money and the crazy adventures the son has along the way. The son, Tobias, befriends a hobo before finding family in Texas. His family in Texas take him in and he learns more about his dad and life. A fun, enjoyable, and thoughtful read. Could not stop once I started.
This is the second time I read it. Read it by ebook in 2015 and received an Audible book from freeaudiblecodes and finished it today. Still loved it.… (altro)

I picked this up on Kindle for 99 cents because another book by Sam Torode looked interesting. His version of Song of Songs (and introduction) argues for a literal reading of the story, as love story between shepherd and Shulamite woman. As the woman has most of the narrative voice in these poems, Torode assumes it was written by a female author (which would be rare in that time).

I didn't read this along side the Hebrew, but for what I can remember, Torode does a fair rendering of the poems, even if stylized for English readers. From his introduction, and website, he nowhere claims to be an expert on the ANE or ANE languages. He is therefore dependent on secondary literature (Euguene Peterson's message is listed in the bibliography and I wonder if it forms the basis for his interpretation).

So I wouldn't necessarily trust the scholarship and would refer you to some good commentaries which make a similar case as Torode (though not exactly in its details). That being said, he recaptures some of the vitality and scandal of the language.

… (altro)