Biblical Studies: Tanakh & Torah

Read our customer guide Bound in navy leatherette with gilded edges and navy satin ribbon; padded binding. The JPS Hebrew-English TANAKH features the oldest-known complete Hebrew version of the Holy Scriptures, side by side with JPS's renowned English translation. Its well-designed format allows for ease of reading and features clear type, an engaging and efficient two-column format that enables readers to move quickly from one language to another, and an organization that contemporary readers will find familiar. The Hebrew text of this TANAKH is based on the famed Leningrad Codex, the Masoretic text traceable to Aaron ben Moses ben Asher, ca. 930 CE. Ben-Asher researched all available texts to compile an authoritative Bible manuscript. In 1010 CE his work was revised by Samuel ben Jacob, a scribe in Egypt. Lost for centuries, the manuscript was eventually discovered in the mid-nineteenth century and became known as the Leningrad Codex. This edition adapts the latest BHS edition of the Leningrad text by correcting errors and providing modern paragraphing. The English text in this TANAKH is a slightly updated version of the acclaimed 1985 JPS translation. Wherever possible, the results of modern study of the languages and culture of the ancient Near East have been brought to bear on the biblical text, which allows for an English style reflective of the biblical spirit and language rather than of the era of the translation. This edition also includes an informative preface that discusses the history of Bible translation, focusing on the latest JPS English translation of the Holy Scriptures. It is the result of a 30-year interdenominational collaboration of eminent Jewish Bible scholars. Readers are sure to appreciate one of the most intensive projects in the history of The Jewish Publication Society.

Read our customer guide Regarded throughout the English-speaking world as the standard English translation of the Holy Scriptures, the JPS TANAKH has been acclaimed by scholars, rabbis, lay leaders, Jews, and Christians alike. The JPS TANAKH is an entirely original translation of the Holy Scriptures into contemporary English, based on the Masoretic (the traditional Hebrew) text. It is the culmination of three decades of collaboration by academic scholars and rabbis, representing the three largest branches of organized Judaism in the United States. Not since the third century b.c.e., when 72 elders of the tribes of Israel created the Greek translation of Scriptures known as the Septuagint has such a broad-based committee of Jewish scholars produced a major Bible translation. In executing this monumental task, the translators made use of the entire range of biblical interpretation, ancient and modern, Jewish and non-Jewish. They drew upon the latest findings in linguistics and archaeology, as well as the work of early rabbinic and medieval commentators, grammarians, and philologians. The resulting text is a triumph of literary style and biblical scholarship, unsurpassed in accuracy and clarity. Ebook versions of this title may be purchased from most ebook vendors.

Now, readers of the Bible who are interested in studying Jewish traditions have a one-volume resource specifically tailored for their needs. The Jewish Study Bible presents the center of gravity of the Scriptures where Jews experience it--in Torah. It offers readers the fruits of variousschools of Jewish traditions of biblical exegesis (rabbinic, medieval, mystical, etc.) and provides them with a wealth of ancillary materials that aid in bringing the ancient text to life. The nearly forty contributors to the work represent the cream of Jewish biblical scholarship from the worldover. No knowledge of Hebrew is required for one to make use of this unique volume.The JSB uses The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation, whose name is an acronym formed from the Hebrew initials of the three sections into which the Hebrew Bible is traditionally divided (Torah, Instruction; Nevi'im, Prophets; and Kethubim, Writings). A committee of esteemed biblicalscholars and rabbis from the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism movements produced this modern translation, which dates from 1985.Anyone interested in acquiring a fuller understanding of the riches of the Bible will profit from reading The Jewish Study Bible.

Read our customer guide The Torah is the essence of Jewish tradition; it inspires each successive generation. The current JPS translation, based on classical and modern sources, is acclaimed for its fidelity to the ancient Hebrew.

Nearly 25 years after the ground-breaking publication of the firstever English language liberal Torah commentary, we present The Torah: A Modern Commentary, Revised Edition. This volume features new highlights and makes it easier than ever to study, read, and teach Torah.

For too many Jewish young people, bar/bat mitzvah has been the beginning of the end of their Jewish journeys. When students perceive the Torah as incomprehensible or irrelevant, many form the false impression that Judaism has nothing to say to them. Enter the game-changer: the JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. The narrative summaries, "big" ideas, model divrei Torah, haftarot commentaries, and discussion questions will engage teens in studying the Torah and haftarot, in writing divrei Torah, and in continuing to learn Torah throughout their lives--making it the book every rabbi, cantor, parent, and tutor will also want to have. Jewish learning--for young people and adults--will never be the same.   

In this groundbreaking and insightful new commentary, one of the world's leading biblical scholars unveils the unity and continuity of the Torah for the modern reader. Richard Elliott Friedman, the bestselling author of Who Wrote the Bible?, integrates the most recent discoveries in biblical archaeology and research with the fruits of years of experience studying and teaching the Bible to illuminate the straightforward meaning of the text -- "to shed new light on the Torah and, more important, to open windows through which it sheds its light on us." While other commentaries are generally collections of comments by a number of scholars, this is a unified commentary on the Torah by a single scholar, the most unified by a Jewish scholar in centuries. It includes the original Hebrew text, a new translation, and an authoritative, accessibly written interpretation and analysis of each passage that remains focused on the meaning of the Torah as a whole, showing how its separate books are united into one cohesive, all-encompassing sacred literary masterpiece. This landmark work is destined to take its place as a classic in the libraries of lay readers and scholars alike, as we seek to understand the significance of the scriptural texts for our lives today, and for years to come.

Gunter Stemberger's revision of H. L. Strack's classic introduction to rabbinic literature, which appeared in its first English edition in 1991, was widely acclaimed. Gunter Stemberger and Markus Bockmuehl have now produced this updated edition, which is a significant revision (completed in 1996) of the 1991 volume. Following Strack's original outline, Stemberger discusses first the historical framework, the basic principles of rabbinic literature and hermeneutics and the most important Rabbis. The main part of the book is devoted to the Talmudic and Midrashic literature in the light of contemporary rabbinic research. The appendix includes a new section on electronic resources for the study of the Talmud and Midrash. The result is a comprehensive work of reference that no student of rabbinics can afford to be without.

The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition makes Judaism's great compendium of tradition, law, and legend readily accessible to the modern English reader for the first time. Accepted as the authoritative basis for all codifications of Jewish law and subsequent codifications of Jewish law and practice, the multivolume Babylonian Talmud has been studied constantly by Jewish communities throughout the world since its completion in the sixth century. Yet for most people, the complexity of the Talmud's Hebrew and Aramaic text is an almost impenetrable barrier to appreciating its riches. Even in translation, the unique system of logic and involved argumentation often baffle the inexperienced reader. The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition makes it possible for everyone to read the Talmud because it is more than just a translation. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz becomes your personal instructor, guiding you through the intricate paths of Talmudic logic and thought. His extensive introductions and commentaries make the text crystal clear by providing all the background information needed to follow it, while his illustrated marginal notes supply fascinating insights into daily life in Talmudic times. This volume, Tractate Bava Metzia, Part One, is one of the first sections traditionally studied by newcomers to the Talmud, since it contains so many or' the basic elements common to all Talmudic logic. It focuses on the resolution of disputes that may arise in daily life and commercial transactions, such as rival claims to the ownership of property. Many related issues involving claims inevitably come under examination, such as contracts (including marriage contracts and bills of divorce), loans, promissory notes, and other such documents. There is much discussion of how the courts should proceed, including whether or not an oath, which is considered by the Talmud to be a matter of gave consequence, was to be administered to the various claimants. The extraordinary sensitivity of the courts to ensuring absolute justice for all parties is reflected on every page. And as with all Talmudic discussions, the interplay of personalities and the subtleties of human relationships give rise to a host of possibilities that reflect human life as a whole.

Presented as a graphical exegesis. Neusner (religious studies, U. of South Florida) offers an outline form of a previous translation by Tzvee Zahavy, intending to thereby show how the Talmud is structured as an orderly and rational document. The author's own actual commentary is limited to a preface