Diana, the button under “Order as a Set” will record an order for both books, but only charge $15.99. There’s another button on the right side of the page that is for ordering a set. And on the “Bookstore” page it gives you all the options for ordering individually or in a set. The cart is not so smart that it can sense that you’ve ordered both books. Each button has its own price code, and some buttons are for ordering individual books and some are for the set.

All major translations of the Old Testament (the NIV, ESV, NASB, JPS Tanakh, etc), started with Hebrew texts. You might want to read my article called “Translation Debates – A Jewish View” and the comments below.

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, NOT in Hebrew. In some places, the Greek in it sounds awkward, as if it reflects a Hebrew/Aramaic source. Other places it is quite polished, and clearly not Semitic. You see this in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), particularly in the sayings and parables of Jesus. One place you find the contrast between the two Greek styles is in Acts. The first 15 chapters have a lot of “Hebraisms,” but at the point when Luke starts writing from the first person, it is all polished Koine Greek. Paul sometimes incorporates Hebraic ideas and imagery into letters, but no scholar believes he wrote in anything but Greek.

I’ve heard this urban legend many times, and I know the scholars who this is attributed to. It comes from a misunderstanding of their scholarly work. The sooner people stop repeating it, the better.

Many thanks

Jeff