JPS Bible commentary

The JPS commentaries on the Jewish Tanakh (Old Testament) are obviously from a Jewish perspective.

My question is how do they handle the text? Is it a critical commentary? Do they believe it is historically accurate? Who is the author of Genesis JEPD etc? Did the miracles happen? Is it theological?

I am just curious because like christianity there are traditional/ conservative and liberal jews.

Thank you.

P A

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Comments

Adam Rao

The JPS Tanakh commentary series is a critical/technical commentary. Many of the authors have written for other critical/technical commentary series (e.g. Jacob Milgrom wrote Numbers for JPS and wrote Leviticus for Anchor Yale Bible; Baruch Levine wrote Leviticus for JPS and wrote Numbers for Anchor Yale Bible), so it probably qualifies as "liberal" according to the categories you laid out.

Paul

From JPS Genesis introduction: "The present Commentary is primarily concerned with the completed edifice and only to a minor extent with building blocks. It is not based on the coroner’s approach, that is, on dissecting a literary corpse. The Bible is and always has been a living literature and a dynamic force in history, endowed with the ability to move men and transform civilizations. Its vitality and impact reflect themselves in the immense literature of exposition and interpretation that has grown up over two and half millennia. In every generation, the study of the Bible has been at one and the same time a religious obligation, a spiritual experience, a mode of worship, and a moral as well as an intellectual discipline. In the pursuit of these goals, every generation has drawn upon the accumulated wisdom of the past and upon its contemporary store of new learning and scholarship. This Commentary follows this venerable and commonsense tradition. "

It is not critical and it is fairly traditional with a very pious view of the Bible. However, in difficult passages their commentaries can be somewhat superficial, leaving you to want more. It's theological perspective is Jewish, but I was surprised how similar their commentaries are compared with Christian commentaries. The commentary is relatively brief: if you have the NICOT there is not much to be gained with JPS as a Christian reader, in my opinion.

DMB

I was in it this morning due to the LXX variation in Exo 12.40, complained about in the rabbinical writings. Sarna in the JPS volume had an interesting angle on the problem. This is a long quote to an often cited problem (shows up later with Stephen in Acts; my underlining):

This historical summation does not exactly accord with the four hundred years of Egyptian oppression predicted in Genesis 15:13. The Mekhilta resolves the discrepancy by attributing the thirty-year difference to the interval between God’s covenant with Abraham and the birth of Isaac, although the text speaks clearly enough only of the Egyptian episode. The inclusion of the sojourn in Canaan in the computation is explicit in the texts of the Samaritan recension and Septuagint translation. The variant in this latter is noted in rabbinic sources. Ibn Ezra begins the reckoning with the departure of Abraham from Haran for Canaan. And, in fact, exactly two hundred and fifteen years elapsed between that event and Jacob’s migration to Egypt, yielding the same time span for the stay of the Israelites in Egypt. This kind of symmetry follows a pattern well established in the patriarchal narratives and elsewhere in the Book of Genesis. Thus, Abraham lived seventy-five years in the home of his father and seventy-five years in the lifetime of his son Isaac. He was one hundred years of age at the birth of Isaac, and he lived one hundred years in Canaan. Jacob lived seventeen years with Joseph in Canaan and a like period with him in Egypt. Ten generations separated Noah from Adam, and another ten generations, Abraham from Noah. In the light of these facts it may be that the neatly balanced periods of time are intended to be rhetorical rather than literal; that is, they underline the biblical ideal of history as the fulfillment of God’s deliberate design. In the world view of the Bible, history cannot be merely a series of disconnected and haphazard incidents.

Sarna, N. M. (1991). Exodus. English and Hebrew; commentary in English. The JPS Torah commentary (62). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.

P A

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468274#Comment_468274

Thank you Adam

Do you use it? How does it rate compared to other commentary series?

P A

Ben

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468287#Comment_468287

I love the JPS series. One of few complete sets I own. (Granted, it's only nine volumes.)

Dan Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/468287#Comment_468287

It is very moderate in my opinion and I know some have called it conservative. I do not find it one of my most useful tools but glad to have it. For example, Deuteronomy's date and composition discusses many issues and theories, often shooting down ones for one reason or another never coming to a firm conclusion but perhaps for sake of tradition, it is assumes Moses is the author throughout the commentary.

For example:

PREAMBLE TO THE LAWS GIVEN IN MOAB (6:1–11:30)

INTRODUCTION (vv. 1–3)

Moses now shifts his focus to the present and begins to transmit the remaining laws to the people—the main subject of Deuteronomy. He begins in chapters 6–11 with a preamble to the laws, urging the general duties of exclusive loyalty to God, love and reverence for Him, and obedience to His commandments. Verses 1–3 serve as an introduction to the preamble and the laws, expressing the hope that Israel will always revere God and follow His commandments, and reminding the people of the rewards of remaining and prospering in the land.
From a purely literary point of view, the shift of focus from the theophany at Mount Sinai (chap. 5) to the present, in Moab, indicates that 6:1 marks the beginning of a new section of the book. This is recognized in the fact that a new chapter begins here. However, the paragraph divisions in Hebrew texts do not recognize this beginning. The Masoretic text has no break until verse 4. By treating 5:19–6:3 as a single paragraph, it emphasizes that “the Instruction—the laws and the rules” that Moses is about to transmit (6:1) are identical to the ones he was commissioned to receive at Mount Sinai (5:28), that they are a continuation of the commandments given there and not separate from them. This is a very important issue in Deuteronomy (see the introductory Comment to chap. 5).

Tigay, J. H. (1996). Deuteronomy. The JPS Torah Commentary (74). Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.

-Dan

MJ. Smith

Jewish context from The Torah Thru Time - an essential introduction to Jewish interpretative practices for Christians:

For a literalist intepretation see Yitzchak Etshalom's Between The Lines of the Bible. (Not in Logos - the Exodus volume is significantly better than Genesis.) For an introduction to very traditional Medieval commentary see: What's Bothering Rashi? (Not in Logos - web or books). For the ultimate contemporary commentary i.e. the essential commentary choose Artscroll (not in Logos).