Jewish Study Bible?
What are your thoughts on the Jewish Study Bible? Does it cover both the Old and New Testament? Also, if anyone owns a copy of the Jewish NT Commentary, can you post a sample of Acts 2:36-47?
And one last thing - are both of these resources worth having?
Thanks!
DAL
Comments
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OT only. It is really good! See the reviews on Amazon!
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Here's a quick snap via Biblia. His commentary is excellent and I do recommend it.
The mind of man is the mill of God, not to grind chaff, but wheat. Thomas Manton | Study hard, for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow. Richard Baxter
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Ive had my eye on the Jewish Study Bible for some time, but havent pulled the trigger yet. I have other resources that are higher on my priority list currently.
For book reviews and more visit sojotheo.com
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DAL said:
What are your thoughts on the Jewish Study Bible?
It is absolutely essential (unless you own the JPS Commentary) to get a basic understanding of the Jewish understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures.
DAL said:Does it cover both the Old and New Testament?
MT Hebrew Scriptures only i.e. the standard Jewish canon.
DAL said:are both of these resources worth having?
The second is marginal. However, the Jewish Annotated New Testament bu Levine and Brettler should be in everyone's library. Unfortunately, it is not in Logos.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Just remember 'jewish' in this case tends toward the more eyebrow raising side of life (not immensely conservative).
Plus I've no use for Stern, but one lady's opinion.
I prefer the other NT one that has a considerable number of jewish scholars involved (I thought Logos had it, but maybe not.)
http://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Annotated-New-Testament-ebook/dp/B006FITOMQ
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Denise said:
Just remember 'jewish' in this case tends toward the more eyebrow raising side of life (not immensely conservative).
Plus I've no use for Stern, but one lady's opinion.
I prefer the other NT one that has a considerable number of jewish scholars involved (I thought Logos had it, but maybe not.)
http://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Annotated-New-Testament-ebook/dp/B006FITOMQ
I have it in Accordance but haven't seen it in Logos. It is a great resource.
-Dan
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One of those days...
36: Made . . . Lord and Messiah, the view that God “adopted” Jesus as messiah, as shown in the resurrection. This may be an indication of one early explanation of Jesus’ messiahship.
2.37–41: Teaching on repentance. Repentance often appears as a central teaching (3.19; 5.31; 8.22; 11.18; 17.30; 20.21; 26.20).
38: Repent, turn from what one has been and done; the reference is general, not to a specific act. Be baptized, some Jews associated baptism or ritual immersion with repentance (Isa 1.16; Ps 51.7 [Heb v. 9]; Lk 3.3; Sib. Or. 4.162–70; 1QS 3.6–9). Baptism in Jesus’ name, however, distinguishes the new community (2.41; 10.48; 19.5). Sins may be forgiven, unspecified; the sins most likely include killing Jesus (v. 23).
40: Save, a key concept in Acts, connoting rescue from sin and falsehood (as here) and entry into the reign of God (4.12; 11.14; 13.47; 15.1; 16.30–31). Corrupt generation, Deut 32.20; Ps 78.8.
41: Such summaries appear regularly (4.32–35; 5.12–16; 6.11; 9.31), and emphasize the astounding success in attracting believers. Three thousand, many in Jerusalem become believers (2.47; 4.4; 5.14; 6.1; 21.20).
2.42–47: Early community life. The ideal life is one of prayer and communal fellowship.
42: Teaching and fellowship, . . . breaking of bread . . . prayers, three characteristics (instruction, community, worship) followed by a fourth (care for others) in v. 44.
44: Had all things in common, communal ownership (4.36–5.11; 6.1–6), existed among the Jewish community at Qumran (1QS 1.11), and was highly valued in philosophical teachings (Aristotle, Eth. nic. 9.8, Cicero, Off. 1.16.51). The actual practice may have been different; see 5.1–2.
46: Temple, the apostles often congregate in the Temple for prayer and teaching (3.1–10; 5.21,42; 21.26–30; 22.17).
47: Summary statement depicting church growth (see 4.32–35; 5.12–16; 6.7; 9.31; 16.5; 19.20).
Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Annotated New Testament. Accordance electronic ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), n.p.
Is the passage in question....
-Dan
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Thanks guys for your help, I greatly appreciate it! One last question: Should I get the Complete Jewish Bible to go along with the Jewish Study Bible or should I purchase just the Tanakh separately?
Anyway, hopefully the Jewish Annotated NT will be available some day in Logos format.
DAL
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Again, just expressing a personal o-pin-i-on.
Tanakh you should already have. It's a good stable OT translation, and often helpful on some of the more difficult passages. I initially got it in OliveTree and then got another copy in Logos. I especially like the notes that spend a little extra time on guessing meanings (most translations usually just give another guess). That'd be the 1985 version. You may also wish to purchase (later?) the 1917 version. Similar to the NIV-wars, the Tanakh has had it's critics concerning the 1985 version. And need I point out the 1917 was under the leadership of Jastrow. Yep.
JSB you'll enjoy for relaxed reading. As a study Bible it doesn't have a lot of depth, but quite often has some rather surprising comments. Again, 'jewish' has many flavors; this is just one.
Stern, if you like all his hoopla, have at it. My guess is, he's re-writing history OT/NT-wise, (since there's little to be had, until Jerusalem bit the dust).
I don't know if David Paul will pass this way, but I'd be curious as to his thoughts on Stern.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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Alright, thanks Denise! Then Tanakh it is! AND JSB. I'll wait for the Jewish Annotated Bible to make it to Logos some day for now.
DAL
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DAL said:
One last question: Should I get the Complete Jewish Bible to go along with the Jewish Study Bible or should I purchase just the Tanakh separately?
Complete Jewish Bible includes a Tanakh version that is a hybrid paraphrase/translation
INTRODUCTION (from Complete Jewish Bible)
Why is this Bible different from all other Bibles? Because it is the only English version of the Bible fully Jewish in style and presentation that includes both the Tanakh (“Old Testament”) and the B’rit Hadashah (New Covenant, “New Testament”). Even its title, the Complete Jewish Bible, challenges both Jews and Christians to see that the whole Bible is Jewish, the B’rit Hadashah as well as the Tanakh. Jews are challenged by the implication that without it the Tanakh is an incomplete Bible. Christians are challenged with the fact that they are joined to the Jewish people through faith in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus)—so that because Christianity can be rightly understood only from a Jewish perspective, anti-Semitism is condemned absolutely and forever. In short, the Complete Jewish Bible restores the Jewish unity of the Bible. Also for the first time the information needed for the synagogue readings from the Torah and the Prophets is completely integrated with similar use of the B’rit Hadashah.
I. HOW THE COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE CAME TO BE
A bit of personal history will give the reader some insight as to why the Complete Jewish Bible exists. Bible introductions are usually more formal, eschewing the use of the first-person singular pronoun, because the seriousness of the Bible seems to call for it—a formal introduction reinforces the authority of the Bible itself. After all, the Bible is God’s Word to humanity, the only completely reliable verbal communication God has given us. It is worthy of acceptance, belief, trust; it is his handbook for faith and practice.1 Since this is so, the writer of an introduction to the Bible necessarily shoulders a heavy responsibility, one in which informality and focus on oneself seem out of place.
Nevertheless, there is another side: precisely because the Bible deals with such serious topics as sin, judgment, God’s will, repentance and forgiveness, as well as the role in life and history of Yeshua the Messiah (whom Christians call Jesus Christ), readers of translations tend to forget that there is a very specific human input which does not date from Bible times and which both fosters and impedes their understanding of Scripture, namely, the translator. My choice of style for this Introduction, especially in Sections I and II, stems from my desire to have the translator’s role in this Bible version and others better understood. Farther on, I will deal with the content of the Bible itself (Sections III–VIII), the specific features of the Complete Jewish Bible (Sections IX–XIV) and how to make the best use of this version (Sections XV–XVII). But here, I am presenting the translator’s story.
I am Jewish, was raised in the Jewish religion by Jewish parents and did not come to faith in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, until I was thirty-seven years old. As a Messianic Jew (a Jew who honors Yeshua as the Messiah), I saw that the greatest schism in the world is the separation between the Church and the Jewish people; and I experienced it as God’s will for my life that I do what I could to resolve this—it would be my contribution to tikkun-ha‘olam (repairing the world). Although I had a doctorate in economics, I returned to school to learn more about both Christianity and Judaism—Fuller Theological Seminary for the Christian elements and the University of Judaism for the Jewish.
Thus equipped, I set out in 1977 to write a Messianic Jewish commentary on the New Testament; I wanted to produce a single book that would deal with all the “Jewish issues” I could think of in connection with the New Testament—questions Jews have about Yeshua, the New Testament, and Christianity; questions Christians have about Judaism and the Jewish roots of their own faith; and questions we Messianic Jews have about our own identity and role in the light of two thousand years of separation and conflict between the Church and the Jews. But I quickly discovered that much of what I was writing consisted of arguments with the translator of the English version I was using; they took the form, “Our English version says such-and-such, but what it really means is so-and-so.” The idea came to me to attempt my own translation of the New Testament from the ancient Greek original; then, obviously, I would have a version I agreed with, so I could focus exclusively on the subject matter. I did a sample and was pleased with it. Thus was born the Jewish New Testament (JNT), which was published in 1989.
I spent the next three years finishing up the Jewish New Testament Commentary. Meanwhile, the JNT had been well received by Messianic Jews and by Christians open to experiencing the Jewishness of their faith. Bible translation may not be known as a glamorous profession, but I have fans. My fans, who said that they appreciated my re-introduction of Jewishness into the New Testament and that they enjoyed my “informal yet respectful” style of writing, kept asking me, “When are you going to do the Old Testament?” They wanted to have a single book containing the entire Bible that they could bring to their congregational meetings, instead of having to carry the Jewish New Testament plus a second book containing the Tanakh.
I put them off for three more years but finally bowed to the inevitable and got to work. My delay was due to lack of incentive. In translating the Jewish New Testament I had had a strong and directed desire to show everyone, Jews and Christians alike, that the New Testament is a thoroughly Jewish book. But with the Old Testament I had no such motivation—everyone knows it’s Jewish, so what’s to prove? Moreover, at the age of sixty I didn’t care to spend years and years and more years doing a translation from the original Hebrew. Even though I had been living in Israel and speaking Hebrew since 1979, I knew from observing my children that my level of competence in the language was approximately that of a native Israeli fifth-grader. I certainly had no special expertise in biblical Hebrew that would justify my trying to translate the Tanakh.
So I set myself a simpler task. Initially my thought was to acquire the rights to some modern translation of the Tanakh which would be stylistically compatible with my own English style in the JNT. I couldn’t imagine that the owners of any copyrighted Jewish-sponsored translation would permit me to combine it with the New Testament in a single volume having my projected title, so I looked for suitable candidates among the Christian versions. My first choice was rejected by the copyright holders, but my second choice was accepted. However, just as I was ready to move ahead, I realized that if this was to be the Complete Jewish Bible, I couldn’t use any Christian Old Testament, because Christians modify the Masoretic text (the Hebrew text of the Tanakh accepted by Judaism) with information gleaned from the Septuagint and other early versions.2 Elation was replaced by gloom. Suddenly it occurred to me that the old Jewish Publication Society (JPS) version of the Tanakh, perhaps the best-known and most used Jewish translation in the English-speaking world, had just gone into the public domain—it had been published in 1917, and copyrights run 75 years. But although it had been published in 1917, for various sociological reasons it sounded as if it had been written in 1617! It was full of King James Bible English and was altogether incompatible with the modern English I had used in the JNT.
I tried having this old JPS edition scanned into a computer, with the object of modernizing its English by means of a few global-search-and-replace commands. I wanted to be able to press two buttons and have every “thou” turn into a “you” and “doeth” into “do”; “Abraham” into “Avraham” and “Isaac” into “Yitz’chak.” It proved to be not that simple. Not only the words but the sentence structures were archaic. The more I fiddled with the JPS text the less satisfied I was. It was like restoring an old car with lots of dents. You fix the first three, and the fourth, fifth and sixth stand out. Repair them, and numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10 beg for attention. Eventually you repair all the big dents, and you have a car with thousands of little dents, so it still doesn’t look right.
So I decided to paraphrase the entire JPS Tanakh into modern English, typing in the whole thing by hand, as I decided how to express each word, each phrase, each verse. Though a huge project, it would be much less demanding than a translation. And that is how much of this Tanakh came into existence.
However, there were many places where I questioned the JPS version’s renderings. In such cases I translated the Hebrew of the Masoretic text myself. I also made use of other English versions to assist me in expressing certain verses in modern English. All Bible translators do this—the people who put together the King James Version did it too, acknowledging their debt to those who had gone before them in their famous subtitle, “and with the former translations diligently compared and revised.” So the Tanakh you have in this book is something between a translation and a paraphrase; since it is partly one and partly the other, I refuse to define it as either and instead call it simply a “version.” On the other hand, the books of the New Covenant are my translation from the original Greek.
Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible: an English version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B’rit Hadashah (New Testament) (1st ed.). Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications.Keep Smiling [:)]
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From Wikipedia:
Stern's major work is the Complete Jewish Bible, his English translation of the Tanakh and New Testament (which he, like many Messianic Jews, refers to as the "B'rit Hadashah", from the Hebrew term ברית חדשה, often translated "new covenant", used in Jeremiah 31). One unique feature of Stern's translation is the wide usage of transliteration, rather than literal translation, throughout the Bible. For the New Testament, Greek proper nouns are often replaced with transliterated Hebrew words. Stern himself refers to this as a "cosmetic" treatment.
Other notable characteristics of Stern's translation include the translating of Greek phrases about "the law" as having to do with "Torah-legalism" instead. More explanation is found in his Messianic Jewish Manifesto (now out of print) and his Messianic Judaism: A Modern Movement With an Ancient Past (a revision of the Manifesto).
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Just so you know, if you are wanting to pick it up the Jewish Study Bible is currently on sale for the 4th of July!
For book reviews and more visit sojotheo.com
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I went ahead and got the JSB, Tanakh, The Complete Jewish Bible and the Jewish NT Commentary. They all complement one another. It's sad the JSB comments on Isaiah 7:14 are way off, though; but hey, that's why the comments on Matthew 1:23 of the Jewish NT commentary are there for, to correct the ones from the JSB on Isaiah 7:14
DAL
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DAL said:
It's sad the JSB comments on Isaiah 7:14 are way off, though;
That's not exactly fair. The JSB is reading the Hebrew Scriptures as Hebrew Scriptures. As Schmemann would put it, Christians read the Hebrew Scripture through the lens of the cross. If you aren't interested in understanding how contemporary Judaism interprets the Hebrew Scriptures, return the book don't knock it. If, on the other hand, you find cases where the JSB reading is not within the range of "standard contemporary" Jewish interpretation, feel free to complain. In the latter case the book is failing at its intended purpose.
And, yes, while there may be few Jewish Logos users, they too need to feel comfortable on the forums. I wish there were a significant number of them because there are many Jewish resources I would like to have in Logos - and most of the Jewish software packages assume a knowledge of Hebrew that I lack.
DAL said:the comments on Matthew 1:23 of the Jewish NT commentary are there for
Sorry, David Stern is too quirky for my taste even when he's right.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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mab
I am confused, this a Jewish study bible on the Hebrew scriptures,
but mab your example seems to be commentary on the new testament, what verses is he commenting on. Or is your sample from the Jewish New Testamentary Commentary by Stern.
Do you have a sample from The Jewish Study Bible ( A proper Jewish Study Bible)
Also DAL The Jewish New Testament Commentary by Stern is not strictly Jewish rather Messianic Jewish (Christian).
The Complete Jewish Bible is by Stern is not strictly Jewish rather Messianic Jewish (Christian).
We need to be clear on our terminology.
Thanks
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P A said:
Do you have a sample from The Jewish Study Bible ( A proper Jewish Study Bible)
Yes, here is how the Jewish Study Bible deals with Isaiah 53:
53:1–11a: The surprised observers’ speech.
The identity of the speakers who express their shock at the career of the servant is unclear. Are they the kings and nations of the world (cf. 52:15)? If so, then the servant is probably the nation Israel, and the nations are stunned that such an insignificant and lowly group turns out to have been so important to the divine plan. (Cf. Deut. 7:7.) Alternatively, the speakers may be the Judeans themselves, in which case the servant is either a pious minority (the ideal Israel, in contrast to the mass of Judeans whose faith and behavior miss the mark God set for them) or some individual within the Israelite community. 4–6: Either the servant suffered on behalf of the speakers (i.e., the guilty were not punished at all), or he suffered along with the guilty, even though he himself did not share in the guilt of his fellow Israelites. The former idea (i.e., the notion of vicarious suffering) would be unusual for the Bible; the latter idea (the idea of corporate guilt) is not. 8–9: Cut off from the land of the living … grave: Scholars debate whether these lines describe the literal death of the servant or the severe straits he was in. Exaggerated descriptions of one’s plight as equivalent to death are common in the Bible; see Pss. 18:5–6; 30:4; Jonah 2:2, 8. 10b–11a: The servant is vindicated. Either he is saved from a fate like death, or he is actually described as being resurrected. In the latter case, his resurrection is probably a metaphor for the renewal of the nation at the end of the exile. Similarly, in Ezek. ch 37 Israel in exile is described as dead; the nation is brought back to life when the exile ends.
Adele Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler, and Michael Fishbane, eds., The Jewish Study Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 891–892.
חַפְּשׂוּ בַּתּוֹרָה הֵיטֵב וְאַל תִּסְתַּמְּכוּ עַל דְּבָרַי
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MJ. Smith said:DAL said:
It's sad the JSB comments on Isaiah 7:14 are way off, though;
That's not exactly fair. The JSB is reading the Hebrew Scriptures as Hebrew Scriptures. As Schmemann would put it, Christians read the Hebrew Scripture through the lens of the cross. If you aren't interested in understanding how contemporary Judaism interprets the Hebrew Scriptures, return the book don't knock it. If, on the other hand, you find cases where the JSB reading is not within the range of "standard contemporary" Jewish interpretation, feel free to complain. In the latter case the book is failing at its intended purpose.
And, yes, while there may be few Jewish Logos users, they too need to feel comfortable on the forums. I wish there were a significant number of them because there are many Jewish resources I would like to have in Logos - and most of the Jewish software packages assume a knowledge of Hebrew that I lack.
DAL said:the comments on Matthew 1:23 of the Jewish NT commentary are there for
Sorry, David Stern is too quirky for my taste even when he's right.
Well, it is fair, since the commentator didn't stick to his "Jewish interpretation" but decided to say that Christians try to apply Isaiah 7:14 to Mary when that's wrong, "he says;" hence, my constructive criticism. Instead, he should've said, this is what the passage means (his own Jewish interpretation) period! (Leave christians out, since we actually do have the right interpretation given to us by a Jew - Matthew). Over all, I'm not going to "judge" and author just because I don't like him. I like the Jewish Study Bible and Stern (quirky or not) both complement each other. Maybe Logos can have a 50% off sale on Tanakh Commentaries or include them in the next L6 Platinum or Gold upgrade.
DAL
Ps. Anyway, didn't mean to rattle your cage MJ!
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DAL said:
Well, it is fair, since the commentator didn't stick to his "Jewish interpretation" but decided to say that Christians try to apply Isaiah 7:14 to Mary when that's wrong, "he says;" hence, my constructive criticism.
Had you said that his treatment of the common Christian interpretation was incorrect/ill-informed my response would have been different.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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DAL ... not speaking to the theology of the passage, but are you conversant with the discussion that the NT greek doesn't demand today's interpretation? In otherwords you can read the NT greek just as the JSB reads the OT hebrew (your example). The first documented interpretation relative to today's Christian view was in the late 1st century and then the 2nd. Thus what he said, and what some Christian commentaries have also noted. He's not taking a position per se. If I remember correctly, the Ebionites (early jewish Christians) had a position that would accomodate the JSB OT reading.
By and large the JSB walks a pretty narrow line.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
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A few questions:
- So, the Jewish Study Bible (JSB) can be seen as a short form of the JPS Tanakh Commentary (JPSTC) [which does not cover the whole OT/Jewish Bible]?
- As the JSB and the JPSTC interpret the Bible form a Jewish standpoint, do they draw on Mishna, Talmud and Midrash?
- I know there are many commentaries that interpret the NT under consideration of the Mishna, Talmud etc. but are there other commentaries that interpret the OT considering Jewish thought and understanding? I'm interested in resources on the old testament from a Jewish viewpoint that shows their understanding and practice of the text.
Thank you
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Schumitinu said:
So, the Jewish Study Bible (JSB) can be seen as a short form of the JPS Tanakh Commentary (JPSTC) which does not cover the whole OT/Jewish Bible?
No, they are completely separate but from the same publisher and a similar
viewpoint.Schumitinu said:do they draw on Mishna, Talmud and Midrash?
Yes
Schumitinu said:are there other commentaries that interpret the OT considering Jewish thought and understanding?
Yes, but not in Logos.
from Wikipedia:
20th and 21st century commentary
- The Soncino Books of the Bible covers the whole Tanakh in fourteen volumes, published by the Soncino Press. The first volume to appear was Psalms in 1945, and the last was Chronicles in 1952. The editor was Rabbi Abraham Cohen. Each volume contains the Hebrew and English texts of the Hebrew Bible in parallel columns, with a running commentary below them.
- Judaica Press is an Orthodox Jewish publishing house. They have published a set of 24 bilingual Hebrew-English volumes of Mikraot Gedolot for Nevi'im and Ketuvim, published as Books of the Prophets and Writings. As in traditional Mikraot Gedolot, the Hebrew text includes the Masoretic text, the Aramaic Targum, and several classic rabbinic commentaries. The English translations, by Avroham Yoseif Rosenberg (also: Abraham Joseph Rosenberg), include a translation of the Biblical text, Rashi's commentary, and a summary of rabbinic and modern commentaries. It is available online as Javascript-dependent HTML document with Rashi's commentary at chabad.org - The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary (in Hebrew and English).
- The Living Torah, by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, his best-known work, is a widely used, scholarly (and user friendly) translation into English of the Torah. It is noteworthy for its detailed index, thorough cross-references, extensive footnotes with maps and diagrams, and research on realia, flora, fauna, and geography. The footnotes also indicate differences in interpretation between the classic commentators. It was one of the first translations structured around the parshiyot, the traditional division of the Torah text. The Living Torah was later supplemented by The Living Nach on Nevi'im (two volumes: "The Early Prophets" and "The Latter Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Sacred Writings" in one volume). These were prepared posthumously following Rabbi Kaplan's format by others including Yaakov Elman.
- Mesorah Publications, Ltd. is a Haredi Orthodox Jewish publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York. Its general editors are Rabbis Nosson Scherman and Meir Zlotowitz. They publish the Artscroll prayerbooks and Bible commentaries. In 1993 they published The Chumash: The Stone Edition, a Torah translation and commentary arranged for liturgical use. It is popularly known as The ArtScroll Chumash, and has since became the best-selling English-Hebrew Torah translation and commentary in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries. They have issued a series of Tanakh commentaries on the rest of the Tanakh. Their translations have been criticized by a few Modern Orthodox scholars, e.g. B. Barry Levy, and by some non-Orthodox scholars, as mistranslating the Bible. The dispute comes about because the editors at Mesorah Publications consciously attempt to present a translation of the text based on rabbinic tradition and medieval biblical commentators such as Rashi, as opposed to a literal translation.
- Koren Publishers Jerusalem is a Jerusalem-based publishing company founded in 1961. It publishes various editions of The Koren Tanakh, originally created by master typographer and company founder Eliyahu Koren. The Koren Tanakh is the official Tanakh accepted by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel for synagogue Haftarah reading, and the Bible upon which Israel's President is sworn into office. Koren offers a Hebrew/English edition with translation by biblical and literary scholar, Harold Fisch, and is currently at work on a Hebrew/English edition with translation and commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
- Da'at Miqra is a series of Hebrew-language biblical commentaries, published by the Jerusalem-based Rav Kook Institute. Its editors included the late Prof. Yehuda Elitzur of Bar-Ilan University, Bible scholar Amos Hakham, Sha’ul Yisra’eli, Mordechai Breuer and Yehuda Kiel. The commentary combines a traditional rabbinic outlook with the findings of modern research. The editors have sought to present an interpretation based primarily upon Peshat — the direct, literal reading of the text — as opposed to Drash. They do so by incorporating geographic references, archaeological findings and textual analysis.
- The Gutnick Edition Chumash, by Rabbi Chaim Miller, is a translation that incorporates Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson's - the Rebbe's - "novel interpretation" of Rashi's commentary. This "Toras Menachem" commentary is culled from the Rebbe's lectures and notes on classical and Hassidic interpretations. It also includes mystical insights called "Sparks of Chassidus", a summary of the mitzvot found in each Parashah according to Sefer ha-Chinuch. It is unique in its presentation of "Classic Questions" - the questions underlying more than one hundred Torah commentaries.
- A second Lubavitch Chumash, Kehot Publication Society's Torah Chumash (the "LA Chumash") offers an Interpolated English translation and commentary - "woven" together - again based on Rashi, and the works of the Rebbe. The Chumash also includes a fully vocalized Hebrew text of Rashi`s commentary. The Editor-in-Chief is Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky with contributing editors: Rabbis Baruch Kaplan, Betzalel Lifshitz, Yosef Marcus and Dov Wagner. Additional Features include "Chasidic Insights" and "Inner Dimensions", Chronological charts, topic titles, illustrations, diagrams and maps. Each sidra is prefaced by an overview, a study of the name of each sidra and its relevance to the respective text.
- A modern Orthodox Yeshiva in New York, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, recently started a new Bible series, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Tanakh Companion. The first volume out is Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Tanakh Companion to The Book of Samuel: Bible Study in the Spirit of Open and Modern Orthodoxy, edited by Nathaniel Helfgot and Shmuel Herzfeld.
- JPS Tanakh Commentary. The Jewish Publication Society, known in the Jewish community as JPS, has initiated a long-term, large scale project to complete a modern Jewish commentary on the entire Hebrew Bible. Unlike the Judaica Press and Soncino commentaries, the JPS commentaries are producing a detailed line-by-line commentary of every passage, in every book of the Bible. The amount of the JPS commentaries are almost an order of magnitude larger than those found in the earlier Orthodox English works. They currently have produced volumes on all five books of the Torah, the Haftarot, and the books of Jonah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Ruth. Although not a book of the Bible, JPS has also issued a commentary volume on the Haggadah. The next volumes planned are Lamentations, Song of Songs, & Psalms (5 volumes).
- A major Bible commentary now in use by Conservative Judaism is Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, Its production involved the collaboration of the Rabbinical Assembly, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and the Jewish Publication Society. The Hebrew and English bible text is the New JPS version. It contains a number of commentaries, written in English, on the Torah which run alongside the Hebrew text and its English translation, and it also contains a number of essays on the Torah and Tanakh in the back of the book. It contains three types of commentary: (1) the p'shat, which discusses the literal meaning of the text; this has been adapted from the first five volumes of the JPS Bible Commentary; (2) the d'rash, which draws on Talmudic, Medieval, Chassidic, and Modern Jewish sources to expound on the deeper meaning of the text; and (3) the halacha l'maaseh - which explains how the text relates to current Jewish law.
- Professor Leonard S. Kravitz and Rabbi Kerry Olitzky have authored a series of Tanakh commentaries. Their commentaries draw on classical Jewish works such as the Mishnah, Talmud, Targums, the midrash literature, and also the classical Jewish bible commentators such as Gersonides, Rashi and Abraham ibn Ezra. They take into account modern scholarship; while these books take note of some findings of higher textual criticism, these are not academic books using source criticism to deconstruct the Tanakh. Rather, their purpose is educational, and Jewishly inspirational, and as such do not follow the path of classical Reform scholars, or the more secular projects such as the Anchor Bible series. The books also add a layer of commentary by modern day rabbis. These books are published by the Union for Reform Judaism. Commentaries in this series now include Jonah, Lamentations, Ruth, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs.
- The Jewish Study Bible, from Oxford University Press, edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler. The English bible text is the New JPS version. A new English commentary has been written for the entire Hebrew Bible drawing on both traditional rabbinic sources, and the findings of modern day higher textual criticism.
- There is much overlap between non-Orthodox Jewish Bible commentary, and the non-sectarian and inter-religious Bible commentary found in the Anchor Bible Series. Originally published by Doubleday, and now by Yale University Press, this series began in 1956. Having initiated a new era of cooperation among scholars in biblical research, over 1,000 scholars—representing Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, secular, and other traditions—have now contributed to the project.
- The Torah: A Women's Commentary, Edited by Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea Weiss. URJ Press (December 10, 2007). This volume "gives dimension to the women's voices in our tradition. Under Editor Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi's skillful leadership, this commentary provides insight and inspiration for all who study Torah: men and women, Jew and non-Jew. As Dr. Eskenazi has eloquently stated, 'we want to bring the women of the Torah from the shadow into the limelight, from their silences into speech, from the margins to which they have often been relegated to the center of the page - for their sake, for our sake and for our children's sake.'"[
- The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions Edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, Jewish Lights Publishing (September 2008). From the Jewish Lights website: "In this groundbreaking book, more than 50 women rabbis come together to offer us inspiring insights on the Torah, in a week-by-week format. Included are commentaries by the first women ever ordained in the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements, and by many other women across these denominations who serve in the rabbinate in a variety of ways."
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Thanks MJ. Much appreciated!
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Schumitinu said:
I know there are many commentaries that interpret the NT under consideration of the Mishna, Talmud etc.
Yes, but note that the vast majority of them are Christian, not Jewish. An exception would be
Denise said:Schumitinu said:are there other commentaries that interpret the OT considering Jewish thought and understanding?
MJ listed modern ones. Before them you have the classics: Midrash Rabbah, Rashi etc. Of those, we do have The Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah (3 vols.) and JPS Classic Midrash Collection in Logos.
Mac Pro (late 2013) OS 12.6.2
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MJ. Smith said:DAL said:
Well, it is fair, since the commentator didn't stick to his "Jewish interpretation" but decided to say that Christians try to apply Isaiah 7:14 to Mary when that's wrong, "he says;" hence, my constructive criticism.
Had you said that his treatment of the common Christian interpretation was incorrect/ill-informed my response would have been different.
Well, yeah, I thought of it, but didn't communicate it correctly in writing. [;)]
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