Customer Reviews

The Jewish Study Bible: featuring The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Tanakh, an edition of the Holy Scriptures of Judaism, put out by the Jewish Publication Society (JPS), now has a study-bible edition, which is incredibly helpful for scripture study.

The word Tanakh consists of the first letters of the words denoting the three sections of the text: the Torah (the Law), consisting of the first five books; the Nevi'im (the Prophets), which includes major and minor prophets, as well as some of the history books; and the Kethuvim (the Writings), which consists of poetry, wisdom literature, stories and eschatological literature, and some further history books.

The Tanakh is not simply a new translation of the Christian Old Testament. Indeed, most Christian readers would be surprised at the differences inherent in the Tanakh. For one thing, the ordering of the books in the Tanakh is different from the order in the Christian Old Testament. The intent behind the differing order demonstrates one of the key differences in focus of Judaism and Christianity. The ordering of the Old Testament, with the minor prophets, and their call to repentance and future deliverance of the people of Israel by God, is anticipatory of the Messianic age, and hence provide a 'run-up' to the New Testament. Obviously, Judaism does not have the same focus toward Jesus. Thus, the conclusion of the Tanakh leads to the return from exile, the restoration of the people of Israel to the land of promise, and the return of the worship of God to the appointed place, the Temple.

Also, the chapter/verse division is somewhat different. This can be seen in side-by-side comparison with other English Bible translations, but also becomes apparent in comparison with other Jewish editions.

The editors state that English translations usually list thirty-nine books of the Bible. Meanwhile, Hebrew Bibles classically have presented twenty-four books -- counting the following groups as one book each: the two part of Samuel; the two parts of Kings; the Twelve ('Minor') Prophets; Ezra and Nehemiah; and the two parts of Chronicles. Some aspects of our book design presume the thirty-nine-book division: the tables, book openings, and chapter numbers. But we ended only the conventional twenty-four books with a closing prayer and with the sum total of verses.

The Tanakh was originally translated and published in three sections, corresponding to the three divisions of the text. Begun in 1955, The Torah was completed in 1962; then there was a wait until The Nevi'im was released in 1978, and The Kethuvim in 1982. This edition of the Tanakh is the compilation of these efforts by JPS, with revisions, especially of the 1962 Torah translation.

This edition has as its intended readership the scholar or the general reader; it is not set up for liturgical use -- as the preface states: 'It meets only the traditional rabbinic standards (halakhah) for formatting a study Bible, which are less stringent than those for ritual texts.'

The introduction to the JPS Tanakh is quite frank about the difficulties that arise in working with ancient manuscripts. In a section entitled The Unbroken Chain of Uncertainty, the editors address the problem of which documentation and corrective (the masorah, which gives rise to the name masoretic text, meaning, authoritative and 'marked') is used, given the variances that arise in ancient manuscripts with fairly equal claim of authority. Drawing on the MCW (Michigan-Claremont-Westminster) electronic BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia), JPS has a text nearly identical with the Leningrad Codex (a 1000-year old volume of the text, the oldest nearly complete volume known). In using this documentation, JPS editors have also done the following in making the text accessible and authoritative:

- added chapter and verse numbers, all of which were added much later
- redivided the Psalms to 150 (the Codex has divisions into 149)
- inserted markings to show codex paragraphing as well as possible scribal errors
- filling in cross-references

These notes deal with textual anomalies, and are written in such a manner than a glossary helps decipher them.

This is a rewarding volume for anyone who seeks to tap into the power of the Hebrew scriptures.

This review is in response to the first review that appears on the Amazon website for the Study Bible. At first I was hesitant to purchase the text, because I was afraid that it would push the documentary hypothesis (i.e. that the Bible was written by man, and not necessarily even inspired by God; a position that is antithetical to traditional Judaism). When I saw the first review, which said that it doesn't try to push the Documentary Hypothesis like some versions do, I was placated and decided that I would buy the book.

Upon receiving the book, however, I was disapointed and felt that the review that led me to purchase the text was misleading. Firstly, the introduction is devoted to explaining the Documentary Hypothesis. Secondly, the commentary is mostly an explanation of how events, artifacts, and customs mentioned in the Bible are merely adaptation for general Ancient Near East Culture. For example, the biblical injunction to not add to or subtract from the biblical decrees is explained as a common feature of "Wisdom Literature" from the Ancient Near East. The commentary does not, in any way, seek to explain the excerpt in a way that makes it relevant to the life of the reader or to the practice of Judaism.

If you want something that reads like a dry history book, then this is for you. If you want something that brings the Bible to life and invokes spirituality--and most importantly, builds its analysis on the belief that the Bible was given by God, then please look elsewhere.

I can't believe anyone has finished reading this book. I am still in the middle. So far it is really interesting, and besides the King's James version, it is the best translation that I have read. It gives you a lot to think about. I have no comment really about how good the translation is, because I am not an expert on this sort of translation. But the notes are very interesting and informative. It seems to be a very modern interpretation by the the experts. It deals with all the studies, contradictions, and errors. It keeps you aware of all the different authors of the Tanakh.

The translation is easily readable; I don't have the background to comment on accuracy.

The notes are conveniently in the margins. They explain some of the terminology, compare this translation to others, put the text in its cultural and religious context, compare passages to other Biblical and non-Hebriac religious texts. The essays give insight into various viewpoints on the books - Rabbinic, historical, even Christian! The notes and essays use the latest available textual and historical evidence and tools.

And all at a great price. This should certainly be your TANAKH of choice.

I held back from submitting a review until I had worked my way through this hefty volume, so I might as well address some of the issues raised in the meantime.

At least some of the earlier reviewers seem to have been under the impression that the base text of this commentary was the Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917. This was itself a de facto revision of the British Revised Version of 1885, carried out under the direction of (and largely the work of) Max L. Margolis, a distinguished critical scholar. (He had a known distaste for organized religion, which probably helped him ignore objections from some of his supposed colleagues in the Rabbinate.) It was used as the based text in the Soncino Bible Commentary, and the second edition of the Hertz Pentateuch, used in Synagogues for decades. The Old JPS "Holy Scripture" was for me, as for many other Jewish readers in the United States, the primary introduction to the Bible. (For further details, the essay on Jewish Bible translations in the present volume may be consulted.)

"The Jewish Study Bible" is, in fact, based on the *replacement* for this familiar version, published between 1962 and 1982, as the New Jewish Publication Society Version. The Old JPS version, however, apparently is still being reprinted, fortunately for those who find the NJPSV gratingly modern, or just bland and rather abstract in its choice of words. It is important to keep the two versions distinct, however, as they were carried out following different principles of translation, and have very a different "feel".

The New Translation (now a few decades old) differs dramatically in using modern, instead of modified King James Version, English, in both vocabulary and, more radically, in sentence structure. With its various revisions in 1985 and subsequently, has the advantage of nearly a century of additional scholarship, especially in archeology and ancient languages. Instead of being stamped with the influence of one strong-minded scholar, it was hammered out by committees of scholars, including representatives of the (modern) Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform movements. The NJPSV has served as the basis of Reform and Conservative one-volume Torah commentaries, a JPS five-volume Torah commentary, and is also available facing a very beautiful Hebrew text.

There are other recent Jewish translations, complete or in progress, some from resolutely Orthodox perspectives, others, like Richard Elliott Friedman's, embracing Higher Critical analysis. A major attempt, by Everett Fox, to follow the Hebrew text as closely as possible while still being intelligible as English, differs quite radically from the NJPSV in style, although often in agreement on the meaning.

The present commentary, covering the whole Jewish Biblical canon, aims to place the Jewish Bible, as a Jewish text, in the context of modern information, and modern critical theories of various kinds. It is logically enough, based on what is now the mostly widely used modern Jewish English translation. Obviously, this project will not please those who want to think of Hebrew text as a revelation dictated to human secretaries, and satisfactorily explained by the great medieval commentators and their latter-day synthesizers. However, the team which has prepared this commentary, like the team of translators, is extremely aware of Jewish issues, and the kinds of questions Jewish readers are likely to have.

In addition to the annotations to the Biblical text, which are themselves of considerable value, there are excellent essays offerings surveys of scholarship from various points of view, of which those under the heading "Jewish Interpretations of the Bible" might well be read first by those with a limited familiarity with this enormous subject, and can probably be read profitably by advanced students as well.

The results are at times strikingly different from those found in the other Oxford Study Bibles, and in other one-volume commentaries, such as the avowedly ecumenical "HarperCollins Study Bible." There is also a very high degree of similarity, due both the presence of Jewish contributors to the other projects (including some whose work is also found in the present commentary), and to the large amount of commonly received linguistic and material (archeological and other) information with which modern scholarship is conducted.

Although those looking for an Orthodox Jewish approach are likely to be disappointed, if not outraged, traditional Jewish understandings of the text are drawn upon, to a considerably greater degree than in other general commentaries, and some, at least, of the Jewish liturgical uses of Biblical passages are identified, either in essays, or in notes to the passages in their original contexts. As I am sure will be true of every reader with a wide background in Biblical studies, I have a number of points with which I disagree. But I am enormously impressed by the enterprise as a whole.

I've always been a fan of the TANAKH Translation of the Hebrew Bible (aka Old Testament), but have been unable to find a volume that had study notes for the entire translation. The Jewish Publication Society (copyright holder of the TANAKH) has nice Commentaries on the individual books of the Torah (plus Jonah and Esther), but these cover only the books mentioned and are too unwieldy for everyday use.

Oxford Univ. Press has produced a great single-volume work that is beautifully typeset and easy to read. Each book has an engaging introduction and helpful sidebar notes and commentary provided by reputable Jewish scholars. These notes are organized as thought units, not as random facts and definitions. Although the TANAKH does not break down the text into subunits with section heads, the scholars providing the notes do this in a non-obtrusive manner. I find this to be a very respectful way to treat the Scripture text. (Many Christian study Bibles intrude upon the text in such a willy-nilly manner it can be hard for even a serious Bible-reader to know where the Scripture ends and the "commentating" has begun.)

The volume concludes with 200-pages worth of essays: 7 on Jewish interpretation of the Bible; 8 on the Bible in Jewish life and thought; and 9 on backgrounds for reading the Bible (some of which are adaptations of essays found in Oxford's Annotated Bible). Like most study Bibles, the Jewish Study Bible has a timeline to help the reader get an approximate sense of when key biblical events occurred. What's nice about the JSB is that it also has a Chronological Table of Rulers listing rulers not directly referenced in the Bible; this helps the reader better place those that are. The 20-page glossary covers literary and theological terms (casuistic law, etiology, haplography, Oral Torah, etc.) as well as key names and terms from the biblical text.

As for "chutzpah"...this can be found in the commentator's note on Isaiah 44.9-13: "God rebukes [the people] for their chutzpah in questioning the means through whom God chose to work." I offer this as evidence that the authors do not confine themselves to dry, esoteric scholarly ways of expression.

As a Christian, I'd heard (favorably) about the upcoming publication of the newest Oxford Jewish Study Bible, so I purchased it at the end of January 04.

I have not been disappointed with this purchase. It's a nice addition to my library to have what Christians consider the Old Testament, in contemporary English, in a layout/format, translation and commentary from a Jewish perspective.

Note that for example as to commentary: Chapter 52/53 of Isaiah dealing with the "suffering servant", the commentary explains how Christians believe/teach that this is referring to Jesus, but then gives at least two different Jewish perspectives on this passage.

Other goodies are diagrams of the temple, and commentaries on the levitical priesthood and temple practice from a Jewish perspective that give insight to those of the Christian faith trying to understand the Jewish roots of our faith.

This Tanach looks like a terrific resource for English-speaking Jews. It includes many traditional commentaries and covers them in an objective fashion --- religious Jews can read the commentaries without feeling like they are watered down or attempting to prove the Documentary Hypothesis (as a certain Torah edition does), and less religious Jews can read the commentaries without feeling like they push an ultra-Orthodox interpretation (as a certain other Torah commentary does). That said, I haven't read the whole thing, so it's certainly possible it has weaknesses that I am unaware of.
Obviously any book of this length cannot possibly cover everything --- the interested reader should supplement it with their choice of 20 volume commentary.

This study Bible contains the Jewish Publication Society's "Tanakh" translation of the Jewish scriptures [the Old Testament to Christians], together with extensive notes. The notes reflect modern scholarship, also indicate how a passage has been interpreted throughout the long history of Judaism and how a passage is used in Judaism today. Frequently, the notes give alternatives to the meanings presented in the translation. While the notes are far more extensive than in ecumenical study Bibles [such as the New Oxford Annotated Bible and the HarperCollins Study Bible], they serve only as a bare introduction to the vast wealth of Jewish commentary on the Bible.

The JPS translation, like all Jewish translations, adheres to the Masoretic (traditional) Hebrew text used in the Jewish liturgy. Most Christian translations substitute readings from other sources (such as the Greek Septuagint translation and the Dead Sea Scrolls) when they are thought to be more accurate than the Masoretic Text.

This study Bible does not pretend that, in places, other sources may reflect the original form of the text. The notes -- both to the Study Bible and the translation -- suggest possible alternate readings from other sources.

A long section of articles in the back of the Study Bible provides an introduction to Jewish interpretation and use of the Bible throughout the ages.

While it is impossible for any one-volume work to do more than scratch the surface of Jewish Bible scholarship throughout the ages, the Jewish Study Bible provides an introduction for Jews, and others who are interested in Judaism, to Jewish Bible study. It is definitely worth buying by those who do not have the time (or the money) for a multiplicity of volumes.

I received the book I purchased from you, "The Jewish Study Bible: Featuring the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation," in good condition and very fast. The problem is with the translation: It's WRONG! I was expecting this to be an updated version of the JPS translation, like they claim it is; however, it is an entirely different translation that has completely different meanings of many of the passages. For example: It claims that the Jewish story of Creation was taken from the old Mesopotamian myths. And in Genesis 1:11, it has God implanting the earth with vegetation, rather than the seeds that will eventually sprout the vegetation. This version is very inaccurate, to say the least. I am disappointed and disgusted with the "Jewish" Publication Society, they have made a mockery of Judaism with their new translation. In short, I need to return this book.