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Complete Jewish Bible-OE

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I don't want to repeat what has been said before, so I will just make one point. There are a number of Yiddish words scattered throughout the New Testament. Of course Jews no more spoke Yiddish in Christ's time than they spoke English. I asked Dr Stern why he had done this; he replied that it was to add to the Jewish flavor of the New Testament. That sums up the book - deliberate sloppy scholarship to convey a false flavor of Jewishness.

You are going to hear strong Criticisms from certain groups in regard to this translation... Ignore them. They revolve around the contemporary Paul debate which most Christians are ignorant of...

While I am not inclined to follow Stern in many places in regard to his Pauline interpretation, he does give a new angle to think about. By the way the Greek kartegeo in Ephesians 2:11-16 is a very technical term meaning to nullify the impact not abolish. Messiah nullifies the impact of the separation caused by Purity laws.

Stern takes does take liberties in places but honestly not any more than the NIV does from a Gentile Evangelical perspective. ALL TRANSLATION INVOLVES AT LEAST SOME ELEMENT OF INTERPRETATION. Certainly there are more "literal" translations but Stern's translation emphasizes often ignored or glossed background. Don't stop here though buy the commentary, start reading up on the New Perspective on Paul and start challenging your friends.

After that Learn Greek and Hebrew....

May the Shalom of God rest upon you

Those reviewers who think that this translation is called the Complete Jewish Bible in order to 'trap' unsuspecting Jews into reading the New Testament have not read the authors information available on the first pages of the book. While writing this book to show the Jewishness of the New Testament to Jew and Gentile, the book can hardly be concidered deceptive...a glance at the back of the book or the table of contents will remind the reader that 'Bible' does not refer only to the Tanakh, so any Jew should realize that there is something else here.

For followers of Yeshua, however, this is a good translation that deserves it's spot on your study shelf along with your NIV, NASB, or NASB.

I have been using this translation for several years now and find it to be very accurate. I have compared it to several other standard versions and to several interlineary bibles and have been very happy with it.

As an example of the accuracy of the text, take, for example, the Greek word pisteo. The Greek word has several trasnlations: belief, faith, trust. In John 11:25, Yeshua mentions that "eveyone who (believes in, has faith in, trusts in) Me shall live even if he dies." If this is translated as believe, as it is in many translations, even the demons will live. But seeing that this word has several meanings, Dr. Stern uses other scriptures to decide that he will use the word faith. To put your faith in Yeshua is not the same as simply believing in Him.

I find that reading the names of people and places in Hewbrew rather than in English reminds me that the culture was different and I have to keep that in mind in understanding how it applies to me. Having read scripture for years, I was beginning to find my eyes scanning pages I've read over and over again without taking in the information. This translation stopped that completely.

I feel it is important for every Christian to understand the roots of his/her religion to fully understand the New Covnenant. The CJB has been a wonderful translation for me.

I underestand the difficulty the loyal Jew must have in even considering the possibilities that Jesus is truly Messiah. If there ever was a peculiar nation that loved God with a burning love... it is the Jew, and vice versa, but until the prophecies have been examined by a sincere heart and will look at old testament prophecies that they truly have been fulfilled by Jesus and other intracacies, been looked at genuinely,one cannot know the whole truth. For example one prophecy, from Psalm 34:20, the Messiah to have no broken bones, fulfilled in John 19:31-36. It truly is amazing considering the custom at that time was to break the bones of those on the cross and yet He was taken down without His legs being broken or any other bones!
Another, Isaiah 7:14, to be born from a virgin which was fullfilled in Luke 1:26-35 and Mathew 1:18-23.Even another prophecy was Psalm 118:22-23, the rejected stone which would become the capstone, which was fulfilled in Mathew 21:42-44, Mark 12:10-12, Luke 20:17-19 and then again in Acts 4:10-11, 1Peter 2:7-8 Until the relationships of old and new testaments are examined SINCERELY;only then can the Truth be determined. I have always believed in my heart that Jesus is Messiah, although I have read up on many religions to see what all the hullaballoo is about, I've found that there are only 3 monotheistic views of God, all others are pantheistic! If the prophecies were not predicted and fulfilled with such accuracy I'm sure I would convert to be a Jew, but there is no refutation in these and many many more prophecies which have already been fulfilled by our sweet Messiah who suffered much for All and then rejected which was also prophecied!

I sense two trends as I read the reviews of others on this Bible translation: 1, Messianic Jews who thing this is the greatest thing since sliced bread and 2, Traditional Jews who think that David Stern is an evil man because he is believer in Jesus yet maintains he's a Jew. However, in all of this, I see very little treatment of the work itself, hence my groan of disapproval at everybody. So, it looks like I'm going to have to do it. The fact of the matter is that this translation does very little in regards to "shedding light" on the Jewishness of either the Tanak or the New Testament...in reality, the main thing it does is add Hebrew words here and there, and all the names are Hebrew names. You'll get just as much befit from the NIV, NASB or (for the scholar in you) the NRSV. It is helpful in that it lists all the Torah and Haftorah portions as well as a New Testament addition for each. Now, a note to everyone out there: Get a life. For those who just can't get over how good this Bible is, there are better ones out there. You like this one? That's good, but don't let it be the only one you ever read, because there are several other good translations out there. For those who think this is a "travesty" and are thoroughly angered by it: not everybody is out to convert you. If you don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah, that's your prerogative, but you can't assume that those who are out to get you.

I first came accross this book 5 months ago from a family of Christians who are both pastors. I was raised a nondenominational Christian but have always been very interested in Jewish Culture and beliefs. Countless times people have tried to convince me that there is only one Bible from God. I know now that is a lie. I have over 9 different versions of bibles (not including this one) and they are all from the Lord. So many people simply do not even try to understand that Yeshua (Jesus) was and Orthadox Jewish Rabbi his entire life here on earth. I have heard so many lies like "No Jesus was Catholic" or "Jesus was Southern Baptist". I am so thankful that my Lord has allowed me the opportunity to learn about what being Jewish is really all about. If a Jew believes in Yeshua that person will always remain Jewish no matter what people say. This book is a great treasure to the world. The only thing I value more than this book other than my family and dear friends is my salvation. Mr. Stern, thank you so much for opening my eyes to the truth about my religious origins. May the Lord bless you so much. Thank you so much Yeshua for everything including this wonderful truly Jewish Bible. Shalom.

I've been puzzled for most of my Christian life as to why Judaism has been so forcefully excluded from our thought life; so I went to Israel for myself, to live for a year there and learn all that I could, and found this translation! It explains so much that we've been missing for millennia, key phrases in Jesus's sermons which are linked directly to common Jewish rituals and ways of thought which us Christians have no idea about! For instance, as Mr. Stern points out, when Jesus said "But if your eye is evil, all your body will be dark. If then the light which is in you is dark, how dark it will be!" in Matthew 6, he's actually referring to the Jewish custom that a stingy or ungenerous man had a 'dark' or 'evil' eye. This reference to being stingy goes right along with the rest of the chapter, which talks about good stewardship, but is often mistranslated by our lack of cultural understanding to mean that the fellow with a 'dark eye' is just mean or wicked somehow. What an eye-opener (forgive the pun) to see Jesus from a Jewish man's perspective. My boyfriend, while in Israel, had supper with David H. Stern, the translation's creator; I can testafy that he is as close to an orthodox Jewish man as someone who believes Jesus is the Messiah can get, so I think he knows what he's talking about here. Great translation, easy read, and a lot of really sharp insights. I am looking forward to a commentary volume by Mr. Stern, please don't dissappoint us!

I have been a denominational Christian for over 30 years. What I have learned about the heart of G-d, the depth of what it means to be a believer has surely been increased maniforld times by having read this translation. It fills in all the missing peices, the things I have struggled with are now at rest.
Thanks for a very timely book, hopefully more Christians will be open to this truth.
DDN

This bible translation most certainly is controversial. Rabbinic Jews would find it to be nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to proselytize them; however, Messianic Jews would accept this book as the cornerstone of their faith.

Without saying which opinion has more validation, this translation is very well-written and accessible to all readers. All Jews and gentiles alike should read this book with an open mind, and draw their own conclusions.

I got this Bible because I'd started the online studies through www.torahclass.com, and wanted to check out the version the teacher used. I greatly appreciated the detail David Stern went to in describing his reasons for putting together this translation, as well his careful description of the process he took. It seemed a little odd though that he referred to those who asked him to put together a complete Bible as his 'fans'! Though from his writing, he seems a humble man.

While a little leery of any Bible translation that is done entirely by one person (The Message being the main example - that is a terrible and thoroughly new-age treatment of the original texts) this one is far truer to the original manuscripts, yet with a Hebraic perspective.

Remember, both Jesus and Paul were in a culture (Judaism) that had perverted the simple instruction of YHVH into a man-made system. Similar to way Christianity has perverted the message of the Word made flesh into a man-made structure that bears little resemblance to the original instruction of YHVH. Many of the Christian interpretations of Paul's letters in particular are subtly twisted to preach a message that is not in line with and sometimes opposite to Torah. As Peter put it, Paul preaches some things that are difficult to understand, and are twisted by those with perverse minds. The Complete Jewish Bible helps untwist some of these passages into a sense that does not seem to contradict, but rather helps 'fill up' the original.

The cover is pretty flowery, and I thought it could more aptly be called something like 'The Complete Bible - in its Hebraic perspective' though his choice sounds better, it certainly does offend those in Judaism. Those in Christian denominations that are even subtly anti-Semitic or dispensational could also be offended or leery of it.

All in all though, a good investment.