Yeshua (Jesus) spoke Hebrew (and Aramaic) and his teachings can only be understood from an Hebraic perspective. This book goes into the many of his teachings explaining the meanings by examining the Hebrew words and phrases used. One example from the book is the phrases "good eye" and "bad eye" (Matthew 6:22, 23) used by Yeshua. From an English or Greek perspectives these phrases have no meaning but when translated back into Hebrew, "ayin tov" and "ayin ra", the meanings become clear as these very phrases are found in the Tenach (Old Testament) and mean "generous" and "stingy". Without this kind of information, improper interpretation of the New Testament is inevitable.

This book clearly describes ways of understanding some original Hebrew and Greek techniques and of discovering the true meanings of many of the words of Jesus. This book will be an important addition to your personal or group Bible study time. Newly Revised!

David Bivin is the founder and director of the Jerusalem Perspective. Roy Buzzard, Jr. is Adjunct Assitant Professor in The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

David Flusser, Hebrew University
I am delighted that this book shares with the English-speaking public information that is well attested and well known to Israel scholars-namely, that Jesus' teaching was originally transmitted in Hebrew and therefore can be fully understood only if we know its Hebraic background.

candycoated from Amarillo, TX USA
These guys have tapped into the fundamental issue of understanding the New Testament. To understand the Jewish thought, culture and language of the 1st century is to know the real Jesus and His teachings. Jesus was an observant Jew, and modern day Christianity has seemed to overlook that for too long. Read this book to understand Jewish idiom and thought. Then, Jesus' words begin to make a lot more sense.

A reader
This is one of the best written books about the words and sayings of Yeshua the Messiah. It presents a crisp, complete, concise understanding about Yeshua's teachings. Are the words of Yeshua really difficult to understand? Yes, very much so if you do not know that He was born into a Jewish, Torah-observant home, kept the commandments of G-d and taught others to do so, and most importantly, spoke Hebrew. This is the key to understanding the difficult words of Yeshua....that He spoke Hebrew. Only if we discipline ourselves and learn to read the Scriptures through eastern eyes rather than western eyes can we really appreciate the teachings of our Messiah. His words explode with deeper meaning for us as we begin to view them through the eyes and culture of the Jewish Messiah. Every time we read His words, we need to ask the question, "Where did He get that from in the Torah?" After all, He is the living Torah. This book should be in the library of every serious talmid (student) of the Bible.

markeverett49_seminarian from New Orleans, LA United States
"It is indeed unfortunate that of all the New Testament writings, the words and sayings of Jesus himself are the most difficult to understand." So begins this remarkable little book.

The minor premise is undisputed: Jesus was Jewish. The major premise is: the "Hebraic mindset" (-language, thought, culture, idioms) is far removed from the Greek. To understand Jesus, therefore, one must appreciate the Hebraic/Jewish background of the Greek gospels. (A growing minority of Scripture scholars consider that our present Greek gospels are translations of Hebrew or Aramaic originals and that they are best understood when read that way.

Though serious scholarship underlies the work, it aims to teach the general public what it means to think of Jesus as an observant Jew versed in and devoted to the Torah. Running just over 130 pages, it leaves the reader hungry for more examples and more detailed analysis. Yet it may come as a watershed to readers who--like me--have thought too little about how the Jewish background of Jesus influenced the way he thought and taught.

Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, no one disputes that Hebrew was still used during the time of Jesus. The book provides a good primer on this point and its importance.

The next main section concerns the implications of misunderstanding Jesus. Such misunderstandings fall into two categories. First, there are the times we think we understand Jesus perfectly but do not. For example, Bivin and Blizzard argue that by "kingdom of heaven" Jesus was not referring to a futuristic place but rather to a present reality. (The reign of God means God reigns in one's life.) Further, Jesus was not a pacifist, despite "turn the other cheek", and he did not advocate indiscriminate charity, despite "give to him who asks of you."

Then there are the things Jesus says that we know we don't understand. Such as "blessed are the poor in spirit." Shouldn't one be rich in spirit? Yes, and Jesus was cautioning against self-righteousness. Christians tend to 'get' that despite the curious wording. But what about "to bind" and "to loosen" from Matthew 16? What was Jesus giving Peter the authority to do? And over whom? During the Sermon on the Mount what did Jesus mean by 'I came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it?' Christians aren't required to follw the Law, are they? If that doesn't 'abolish' it, then what would?

My favorite example concerns a puzzling verse from Luke's account of the Passion. Jesus tells the women of Jerusalem, "For if they do these things IN a green tree, what shall be done IN the dry?" Odd as this idiom may sound, I grew up with the sense that it meant, "Listen, ladies, don't weep for me but for yourselves. If this is how they treat me, how do you think they'll treat you?" Something like that is part of what Jesus is saying here, but there's more. The use of "green tree" (rooted in Ezekiel 20:47) is a MESSIANIC claim. Many scholars nowadays argue that Jesus never thought of himself as the Messiah--if he were, they reason, why didn't he just say so? Biven and Blizard argue persuasively that, in a Jewish way, he did exactly that, time and time and time again.

This book is by no means 'the last word on the subject.' But it is an enticing intro to a subject of great consequence for all Christians who seek to understand Jesus.

Scott Wheeler from Libby, MT
I'm really surprised this book has become as big as it has. Among Messianic Jewish circles I think it's impossible to find someone's library that is missing it. I know it's a scourge on my library. Bivin and Blizzard are good scholars, I won't deny that, but the premise of their book seems incredible. We have virtually no evidence for Hebrew being the primary language of the first century Jew. Most all of the evidence was provided in their book, and it's not a very big book. The point here is that Biven and Blizzard presented almost none of the evidence to the contrary - you know, the evidence that has convinced the vast majority of the scholarly community? Dr. Michael L. Brown has written a convincing critique of this book that should be read by all interested in New Testament textual criticism. This book is hardly critical of it's own claims and probably overly critical of the claims that the 1st century Jew's primary tongue was Aramaic. In sum, Difficult Words brings up interesting talking points, but is by no means an airtight case.

biblestudy01 from Boise, Idaho
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to belittle this book or the authors in anyway. I believe the have some good points, namely that Hebrew was the commonly spoken language of first century Israel and that Y'shua (Jesus) may have spoken Hebrew as well. The authors constantly assert that the life-story and teaches of Y'shua were originally transmitted in Hebrew and that the Greek text and manuscripts that we have the of Gospels are nothing more than a translation of a translation i.e. the Greek text itself being a translation of an original Hebrew archtype (pg 15). The authors use several pieces of evidence from the style and grammatical structures of Y'shua's sayings and teachings to idioms, or common everyday expressions, of which, the authors believe, can only be understood when the Greek is translated back into Hebrew. An example of a famous Hebraic idiom is found in Matthew 6:22-23, where Y'shua states, "The light of the body is th eye: if there your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye be evil your whole body shall be full of darkness. . ." According to the authors, this is an Hebraic idiom which actually is referring to stinginess versus being generous with one's wealth. When read in plain English and even Greek, the authors believe this saying of Y'shua is utterly meaningless, and I have to agree with him on this point.

The only problem is that the authors constantly assert that the original Gospels were written in Hebrew. Okay, has anyone ever found any Hebrew manuscripts of, say, the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? No. A Hebrew original may be implied from the Greek text, but until paleographers find a Hebrew manuscript of even a fragment of a gospel narrative then I would take this more seriously. Some of the earliest manuscripts of the gospel of John go back to the beginning the the second century, and according to most scholars, this is the earliest manuscript that is closest to the original autograph, and it is written in Greek! The gospels were written in Greek because Greek was also the common man language of the day and it would only make sense to write the gospels in a language that everybody could understand. I have to admit that I'm not expert in this field but I'm just exercising a little healthy skepticism.

Reginald Fitzroy from NC United States
I liked the book. It is helpful to know that many great improvements have been made regarding translations; and helpful to understand the role Hebraic idiomatic speech has had. It helps us see things a little more clearly. Albeit, I was a little amused at the "squirming" the authors seemed to exhibit regarding the interpretation of the term, "persecution", vis the beatitude: "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" The authors tried too hard to soften that up, explaining that the term 'persecute' also means "pursue with vigor", and thus the meaning got all turned around. Weeeellll.....It happens to be a sad fact of becoming a true follower of Jesus (and righteousness, or "salvation") that folks will persecute you. The first thing that will happen is you will lose all your old friends. And all too often, even your own family members. Jesus addresses this several times, explaining in Mark and Luke that all who lose family, etc. in this life, will gain a hundredfold in the after life. But worse, people are actually being put to death in places like the southern Sudan today,(by muslims extremists) where some million and a half Christians have been killed, sold into slavery, forced into prostitution, and even crucified. There have been more Christians martyred in the past ten years than in all of the history of Christendom combined. The fact of persecution is a hard and terrible fact of becoming a follower of Jesus...and folks today act as if they are "threatened" by the religious right wing. (oooohhhh. scary! Oh excuse me. I forgot to paste on my short mustache.) There is no Christian right wing! There are believers who are aware that economic collapse, military defeat, and atrocities all fall on the heels of moral decay and decline...which we are experienceing in the western world today, at an ever increasing, and alarming rate.

Anthony J. Valasek from Clemmons, NC United States
This book really does help one understand the difficult words of Jesus, but from a different perspective. Instead on giving interpretations upon interpretations of scripture, for the most part, this author emphasizes and shows that the perspective or mindset one has when reading the Bible has everything to do with understanding it. To understand the NT one has to understand that Jesus was Jewish and start from there. This book is an eye opener and hard to put down.