I recently finished reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. This is the 4th work by him that I've read in recent years (too many prostitutes), and I must say that I'm all Steinbecked out for a while. At 600+ dense pages, East isn't for the easily-sidetracked, and I've had enough.
Central to the story is the translation of one Hebrew verb (timshel) from Genesis 4:7. See here for a segment from the book. Basically, Steinbeck's character translates the verb as Thou mayest, meaning that it is up to an individual (and not his ancestors or anything else) whether or not he will choose good or evil.
Interestingly, Steinbeck seems to be the only one who translates this verb this way, as you can see if you click on the Genesis link above. So, while it's an interesting thought, it doesn't seen to agree with the mainstream opinion of Biblical translators regarding the proper wording. Steinbeck's opinion doesn't necessarily agree with the rest of the Bible either. I'm sure I'll comment more on the Bible (and everything else) in the upcoming weeks, months, and years.
I guess Steinbeck wasn't a Calvinist.
East gets four stars out of five. I'm sorry if that's too low a rating for such a "classic", but I liked his Grapes of Wrath better, and that gets 5 stars.
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