The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible

By Jonathan Kirsch

Sex. Violence. Scandal. These are words we rarely associate with the sacred text of the Bible. Yet in this brilliant new book, Jonathan Kirsch shows that the Old Testament is filled with some of the most startling and explicit stories in all of Western literature. These tales of seduction and rape, voyeurism and exhibitionism, intermarriage and illegitimacy, assassination and murder have been suppressed by religious authorities throughout history precisely because they are so shocking. "You mean that's in the Bible?" is the common reaction of the contemporary reader to the stories that Kirsch retells and explores.

In The Harlot by the Side of the Road, Kirsch recounts these suppressed and mistranslated tales in the grand storytelling tradition. Here is the tale of Dinah, the young Israelite daughter raped by a princely suitor. The price for her hand in marriage? The circumcision of every man in his kingdom. Here, too, is the story of Lot's daughters, who, when faced with the possibility that they are the last survivors on earth, must copulate with their drunken father to continue their race. And the story of Tamar, the harlot by the side of the road, who must disguise herself as a prostitute and seduce her father-in-law in order to bear the child who has been promised her.

Kirsch places each story within the political and social context of its time, and delves into the latest biblical scholarship to explain why each story was originally censored. He also brings to light when and where each story was first written down, and how it found its way into the Bible. And he shows how these stories have something important to say to contemporary readers who might never pick up a Bible.

Kirsch reveals that the Bible's real power lies in its unflinching lessons in human nature. And he illuminates the surprising modernity of the Bible's characters: these were, like us, people delicately balanced between their destructive and generous natures. Certain to excite controversy and ignite intellectual debate, The Harlot by the Side of the Road will undoubtedly be one of the year's most talked-about books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 23, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307567635

Jonathan Kirsch

Jonathan Kirsch is the author of ten books, including the national bestseller The Harlot by the Side of the Road and his most recent work, the Los Angeles Times bestseller A History of the End of the World. Kirsch is also a book columnist for the Los Angeles Times, a broadcaster for NPR affiliates in Southern California, and an adjunct professor at New York University.

Reviews for The Harlot by the Side of the Road

[lndlindsey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Meh. Some of this is good. I'm not impressed with his re-written versions of the stories, and some of the explanations/history went on a little too long. One thing it did show me is that some of those Bible scholars grasped for some pretty tiny straws in order to explain stories they were uncomfortable with.

[devil_llama · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fun introduction to some of the women of the Bible, some of them "naughty", some abused, but always doing their best to survive in a world defined and ruled by men, where all the rules benefit men, often at the expense of women. The author lets his imagination be his guide, and provides speculative back stories to fill in the frequently sketchy details provided by the Bible.

[igorterleg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For an attempt to explain "forbidden tales" of the Bible, it is a good work. The author could have however put more effort into explanations than into his retellings which do more harm than good to this book. Other than that, it's a good introduction to the more troubling fragments of the Hebrew Bible.

[altheaann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Since I had just finished reading a fictional retelling of the story of the Biblical Dinah, I thought I'd move on to this book, which had been sitting on my shelf for a while. This book briefly retells a few of the more "scandalous" stories from the Bible (those involving rape, incest, murder, & such). The retellings are printed alongside the actual text of the original stories. Then, the author talks (at length) about the different possible translations and interpretations of these events, taking into account what various scholars throughout history have said regarding the stories, and how the events related were likely viewed by contemporary listeners, in the context of ancient middle-eastern culture and society. Kirsch is, overall, positive in his message, but is not afraid to relate the stories to present day politics, or to be critical.

It's a very interesting book - I think the "harlot" and "forbidden" stuff is mainly to reel in readers - hey, it worked on me - I don't read a whole lot of religious scholarship! But I found this to be a very interesting and illuminating book, and one that many many people would benefit from reading...

[aputel-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love reading about theology. I really liked this book and it's insight into women in the bible.

[quantum_flapdoodle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fun introduction to some of the women of the Bible, some of them "naughty", some abused, but always doing their best to survive in a world defined and ruled by men, where all the rules benefit men, often at the expense of women. The author lets his imagination be his guide, and provides speculative back stories to fill in the frequently sketchy details provided by the Bible.

[marthajeanne · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The subtitle is 'Forbidden Tales of the Bible'. Certainly I didn't hear these stories in Sunday School: Lot's daughters, Dinah, Tamar, ... Each of seven stories that most of us haven't heard is presented in its Biblical form, as a fictional story of how it might have happened, and then thoughtfully explained in the context of the culture of the time and of the whole Bible. Yes, the Bible includes a lot of disturbing incidents, sex and violence, often together. We don't do ourselves any favours if we ignore this. Also, of course, censoring these stories cut a lot of interesting women from our vision of the Bible. These studies are not the final word on the women they discussed, but they are a good introduction.

[sunnydale_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The blurb says, "Kirsch places each story within the political and social context of its time, delves into the latest biblical scholarship to explain why each one was originally censored, and shows how these ancient narratives hold valuable lessons for all of us." There are a surprising number of overtly sexual references in the Bible, but most of them are obscured by euphemisms. Some were in the original Hebrew, but most of them were introduced deliberately by translators who didn't want their readers to know about all that sex.