The Genesis Project

Translation and meaning of the first book of the Bible

This is a project I have been working on for over a decade. I have just now begun serious editing of each chapter, which may take another year. In the meantime, I want to share the relatively polished versions of each one as I work my way through them. Here is the first installment, the Preface.

Preface. Background and Motivation

July 6, 2025

This is a translation of the Hebrew Bible from Hebrew to English, accompanied by an extensive commentary. It answers a question that I am asked regularly; that is, to recommend a single source for this foundational Jewish scripture.

My understanding of the Hebrew Bible has come about through reading its content with the aid of dozens of translations and commentaries. No one single volume or series of volumes used an approach that completely satisfied me. Not that they had shortcomings, but that they simply were one voice among many. The Hebrew Bible is so rich, however, that the more voices you add to its interpretation, your understanding likewise becomes greater.

I came to my love of the Hebrew Bible through my previous psychedelic drug research. This is not as strange as it first appears. The psychedelic drug state shares many phenomenological features with spiritual experiences and other altered states of consciousness. Visions, voices, the sense of consciousness separating from the body, extreme emotional states. These and other changes in mental function occur in the psychedelic drug experience, the near-death experience, dreams, psychosis, and meditation.

Spiritually, the contemporary psychedelic drug state is most often viewed through the lenses of Buddhism, nature religions such as shamanism, and the collection of beliefs constituting New Age spirituality. The spiritual platform from which I approached the psychedelic drug experience was Zen Buddhism, based upon years of study and practice. However, the goal of Zen training, kensho or satori, is a formless, unitive, content-free state, and it generally regards form and content negatively. In these ways, it was strictly opposed to the DMT experience, which is full of content with which the experient interacts. As it turns out, Hebrew Bible prophecy provided a much greater resonance, a better fit, between the 2 sets of experiences.

When I rediscovered the Hebrew Bible thirty years ago, I was looking for both spiritual and intellectual insights and inspiration. The spiritual aspect related to seeking an alternative to the Zen Buddhist teachings and practices with which I had been engaged for more than two decades. The intellectual question concerned the results from my 1990s studies of psychedelic drugs. Specifically, I sought a model of highly unusual altered states of consciousness more consistent with my findings than the Eastern religious model.[1]

Having been raised and educated within a Conservative Jewish environment, I returned to my roots, wondering if the Hebrew Bible might prove useful for either or both of those tasks. I knew that the Hebrew Bible is the earliest collection of Jewish writings, its essential text. But I didn’t know how to choose a proper translation, nor how to assess its faithfulness to the original ancient Hebrew language.

I began with a traditional Jewish translation:[2] Hebrew on one page, English translation on the facing page, and explanatory footnotes at the bottom of both. This, and others I studied, are traditional Jewish interpretations contained in classic commentaries of the past centuries. However, I didn’t want to depend solely on the translators’ renditions and began studying biblical Hebrew in order to translate the text myself.

First, I learned the derivations of the individual Hebrew words comprising the text. With this information, I could begin unpacking the fuller meaning of Scriptural narratives. The medieval Jewish commentators provided invaluable assistance with this latter task, and I studied dozens of their English-translated works. All along, I jotted notes regarding etymological, philological, or theological insights in the margins of each book of the Hebrew Bible.

Finally, there was no longer room to add additional notes to my copy of Genesis, the Hebrew Bible’s first book. I transcribed these marginalia into a Word file that filled more than 1000 pages. I considered condensing the book into 200 pages or so, but as I began relegating 80% of decades of work to the cutting floor, I abandoned that idea. Instead, I’ve edited the original material as I do any other writing: making it as readable and engaging as possible

When asked about my preferred English translation of the Hebrew Bible, it is difficult to recommend one that meets what I believe are the most important criteria. In order for nearly everyone to understand the text’s meaning, it should be readable, while at the same time respect the intelligence, faith, and emotions of the reader. Therefore, those with a genuine interest can’t say that they don’t know how to learn.

I hope this translation and commentary of Genesis meets at least some of those criteria and attracts new readers. At the same time, it may also provide more experienced readers a useful perspective.

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[1] In DMT: The Spirit Molecule I noted that the most prominent feature of the drug state—full of content, information, and interactions— was not consistent with my anticipation of a formless content-free state of Buddhist enlightenment.

[2] The Sapirstein Rashi, ArtScroll/Mesorah.