The Harlot by the Side of the Road is the first book to shed light on strange biblical passages which have largely been ignored by ministers, priests and rabbies because they semed too awkward to examine. Johnathan Kirsch retells these `forbidden' stories in con-temporary English, alongside thr original text, and demonstrates that the people in biblical times were as vulnerable, confused and prone to weakness of the flesh and failure of the spirit as any character in Homer, Shakespere or Dostoevsky, and wrestled with the same problems of the heart and mind hat still confront us today. He also explains how each story found its way into the Bible, why it was originally suppressed-and examines the rituals, customs and politics that bring these extraordinary tales alive for the contempoary reader.