Welcome to my bookstore...
I want to present my books to you in a different way. Rather than simply describing each title, I tell the story behind them, the journey that led me to write them. Each of these five works marks a milestone in a lifelong effort to recover the language, culture, and worldview of the Bible’s authors.
  
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A Cultural and Linguistic Excavation of the BibleIt all began in 1999, when my wife and I founded the Ancient Hebrew Research Center—a place to record and share my studies on the language and culture of the Bible. Over the next twenty-five years, I immersed myself in the world of the ancient Hebrews, exploring how their worldview shaped the words and ideas found in Scripture. After more than thirty years of research, I brought together everything I had learned into this single volume. A Cultural and Linguistic Excavation of the Bible digs deep into the history of the Bible, its people, and their language to uncover truths long buried under centuries of translation and interpretation. |
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Benner's Lexicon of Biblical HebrewI discovered early on that most lexicons approach Hebrew through a Western, abstract lens—so I began building a dictionary that reflects the concrete, action-oriented thinking of the ancient Hebrews. The Hebrews were Easterners; their thought was rooted in experience, not abstraction. As I worked, I saw Hebrew as a network of roots whose cognates illuminate one another. What started as a personal tool grew into a resource others needed. Originally published as The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible, the work has been revised over the years and republished in 2025 as Benner’s Lexicon of Biblical Hebrew, designed to help readers see Hebrew as the Hebrews themselves did. |
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Benner's Mechanical Translation of the TorahAfter finishing the Lexicon, I turned to translation with one aim: remove translator bias and let the Hebrew speak through the English. Most modern translations smooth the text to read more easily, but that smoothing often hides the original meaning. I developed a philosophy of transparent translation so readers could see the Hebrew through the English. Benner’s Mechanical Translation of the Torah adheres to a strict one-to-one principle—one English word to one Hebrew word—providing a literal window into the structure and flow of the original language. It is accompanied by extensive notes and dictionary references to aid comprehension. |
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Benner's Translation of the TorahThe Mechanical Translation made the text transparent; the next step was to rearrange that material so an English reader could follow the thought while still sensing the Hebrew origin. By adjusting Hebrew grammar and syntax into English order, this translation aims to be more readable while remaining faithful to the Hebrew thought patterns. It will read differently from mainstream translations and may feel foreign to many readers—that foreignness is intentional. Because the Bible was written in a world vastly unlike our own, a translation that reflects that world often sounds strange at first. The strangeness is also the key to understanding. |
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Benner's Commentary of the TorahTwenty-five years of lexicon and translation work revealed patterns and insights in the Torah that most readers miss; this commentary gathers and explains those discoveries. My approach—reading the Torah from the linguistic, cultural, and philosophical perspective of the ancient Hebrews—unlocks meanings that are often overlooked when modern Western assumptions govern interpretation. Benner’s Commentary on the Torah examines the cultural and linguistic background of important verses, names, and topics. When read as an Ancient Hebrew would have read it, the Torah becomes more vivid, more personal, and richer in revelation. |
