Re-centering the Bible: A Jewish Response to Western-Centric Interpretation

By: Sidney Davis

Introduction

For centuries, the reading and interpretation of the Bible—both the TaNaKh (Hebrew Bible) and the New Testament—have been shaped by Eurocentric, Western-centric, and global north perspectives. These approaches have often obscured or distorted the original Jewish, Eastern, and Semitic context of the sacred texts. This paper reclaims and re-centers the Bible through its authentic Jewish lens, challenging the theological colonialism that has substituted Rome for Jerusalem, the Church for Israel, and Western dogma for Jewish covenant. All quotations are mine unless otherwise indicated.

I. The Bible Is Jewish

The Scriptures are Jewish in origin, language, worldview, geography, culture, and prophetic focus. The Torah was given to Israel, the prophets spoke to and for Israel, and the New Testament emerged from within a Jewish sectarian context rooted in Second Temple Judaism.

“The book of scriptures, both the Original Testament and the New Testament, is Jewish. Its perspective is Jewish. Its world is oriental or of the East and global south. It is not about the global north or western worldview.”

II. The False Center: Europe, Rome, and America

Western Christianity has centered prophecy on Europe (Rome, the papacy, and later the United States) in contradiction to the actual prophetic landscape of Scripture, which focuses on Israel, Jerusalem, Zion, and the Temple.

“All Bible prophecy centers around Israel, the people of Israel, the land of Israel and Jerusalem. It is not about Europe, the people of Europe, or about the city of Rome. America is an extension of Europe. The insertion of Rome or the West as the primary focus of Biblical prophecy is Christian, or Western-centric, or Eurocentric global north worldview.”

In Revelation, the Beast is not Rome, but a power hostile to Jerusalem and Israel—possibly represented by Islamic or Eastern empires historically occupying the Temple Mount.

III. Theological Corruption: Eucharist and Greek Philosophy

Western theology transformed the Seudat HaBrit (Covenant Meal) into the Eucharist by applying Greek metaphysical categories like substance and essence, foreign to the Torah’s sacrificial logic.

“We must recover Jewish thought and language for the Eucharist, rather than the philosophical and sacramental frameworks of later Western Christianity.”

The original context of bread and wine as covenantal, sacrificial symbols rooted in Temple worship has been replaced by mystical doctrines such as Transubstantiation that obscure the Jewish context.

IV. The Church and the Erasure of Israel

Gentile Christianity has repeatedly replaced Israel with the Church—supersessionism—and depicted Jews as spiritually obsolete. This erasure is not just theological; it is cultural and existential.

“They talk about ‘ancient Israel’ as if Israel no longer exists, as if the people of Israel are some ancient relic with no present relevance. This attitude is offensive to the Jewish people—dismissive, ignoring, and rendering us invisible.”

V. Prophecy Must Be Reclaimed

The prophetic narrative of the Bible revolves around the covenant people and covenant land:

  • The judgment of nations is determined by how they treat Jerusalem and Israel.
  • The restoration of Zion is the centerpiece of eschatology.
  • The Temple Mount remains the focal point of divine presence and conflict.

Any reading that replaces Jerusalem with Rome or America violates the prophetic integrity of Scripture.

VI. Corrective Measures: A Jewish Hermeneutic

  1. Restore Israel as the Hermeneutical Center – Begin with the covenant, the land, the people.
  2. Honor the Hebrew Language and Literary Structures – Recognize chiasms, parallelism, and midrashic layers.
  3. Read the NT as Jewish Literature – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, Jude, Hebrews, and Revelation emerge from Jewish apocalyptic and midrashic traditions.
  4. Reclaim the Eastern Worldview – Time, covenant, justice, and holiness are understood communally, not individualistically.

VII. AskTheTeacher.Blog: A Platform for Reorientation

This blog AskTheTeacher.blog exists to counter anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism in biblical interpretation and to provide:

  • Jewish commentary on Scripture
  • Theological corrections to supersessionist interpretations
  • Scholarly bridges for interfaith learning

“The Bible must be taught and studied with reverence for its Jewish soil. Only then can Jews and Christians meet truthfully across the sacred text.”

Conclusion

The time has come to return the Scriptures to their rightful context: Israel, Zion, Torah, covenant, and Messiah. We reject the colonial frameworks of the Western church and embrace the Jewish Messiah within the Jewish Scriptures, spoken to the Jewish people, and fulfilled in God’s promises to Israel.

“Out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2:3)

Prepared by: Sidney Davis
Jewish scholar and founder of AskTheTeacher.blog