Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor "tree of life" (Genesis ii. 9) as "tree of healing", explaining that the fruit of the tree possessed the virtue of healing the sick, without, however, bestowing eternal life. In regard to the transformation of Lot's wife into a pillar of salt (Gen. xix. 26) he explains that, disbelieving in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, she lingered on the road, and was overtaken by the rain of brimstone and fire, which are usually mixed with salt. Well acquainted with the Vulgate and Christian Biblical exegesis, Joseph, in commenting on Psalm ii., cites Jerome, whose explanation of the word he
Bible translations into Oceanic languages publish the Rarotongan Bible - New Testament. He came back to Rarotonga soon after, and left for the New Hebrides in 1839 where he was killed and eaten by cannibals at Erromanga on 20 November 1839. He was just 43 years of age. The complete Bible was published in 1851. [Insert by Tangata Vainerere, 2014] Samoan language first had a Gospel of John from 1841, then a Bible from 1844, mainly the work of George Pratt. Henry Nott (1774-1844) translated the Bible into Tahitian. Although parts of the Bible were first translated into Tongan in 1844, the New Testament was