Product Description

Oxford University Press breaks exciting new ground in the field of study Bibles with The Jewish Study Bible. This innovative volume will, for the first time, offer readers of the Hebrew Bible a resource that is specifically tailored to meet their needs. The JSB presents the center of gravity of the Scriptures where Jews experience it--in Torah. It offers readers the fruits of various schools 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 world over. 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 biblical scholars and rabbis from the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism movements produced this modern translation, which dates from 1985. Unlike other English translations based upon such ancient versions as the Septuagint and Vulgate, which emend the Hebrew text, TANAKH is faithful to the original text. Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews, professors, students, rabbis: indeed, anyone interested in acquiring a fuller understanding of the riches of the Hebrew Bible will profit from reading The Jewish Study Bible.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137588 in Books
• Published on: 2003-12-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 2208 pages

Review
"The Jewish Study Bible encompasses a monumental assembly of critical learning and acumen, representing the achievement of an entire generation of Jewish scholars. The commentaries are not only erudite but purposeful and theologically alert. A heroic undertaking, brilliantly conceived and executed with panache."--Jacob Neusner
"Serious students of Judaism will want to have a copy of this outstanding and surprisingly affordable study Bible, which stands in the tradition of Oxford's great study Bibles."--Publishers Weekly, Religion Bookline
"Another superb holiday gift, especially appropriate for non-Orthodox Jews, is The Jewish Study Bible from Oxford University Press, which finally stands alongside the many verse-by-verse commentaries for Christians. This work also is recommended for serious-minded Christian readers."--Associated Press

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Introduction to Academic Scholarship
Prior to buying the Jewish Study Bible I had previously experienced the Hebrew Bible through the prism of traditional Orthodox Jewish scholarship and commentary at an advanced level. This edition expanded my intellectual and religious horizons significantly, explaining the different and complex academic perception of the Bible from familiar territory.

Each book and section of the Hebrew Bible is accorded a substantial introduction explaining the genesis of the text from both a traditional and academic perspective.

The main text of this edition is devoted to the fantastic modern JPS translation, surrounded by an in depth academic commentary with explanation, maps and diagrams plus many cross-references to other relevant passages. The academic commentary is specifically targeted to explain the various traditional Jewish understandings of the text as well. The commentary is lucid, readable and extremely helpful while also ensuring brevity. Where reference is being made to complex academic theories on the nature of the text, the reader is referred to the back of the book...

The REAL SELLING POINT of this edition, is the voluminous collection of 24 essays written by top academic scholars at the back of the book. It is these essays which explain in real depth the current, extremely complex, academic views on the composition of the Hebrew Bible, current scholarship on the nature of ancient Israelite religion and many more contemporary topics such as the "The Bible in Israeli Life and Society". Earlier traditional Jewish approaches to the Bible are discussed in depth, including "Classical Rabbinic Interpretation" and more.

I have two minor complaints about this volume.
Firstly, the Hebrew text could not be included; however, in terms of the target audience and size of commentary, this is very understandable. That is not to say that the commentary is at all basic, far from it, but I imagine the editors resolved that those with the skills to read the traditional Hebrew text could refer to it elsewhere.
Secondly, the pages are far too thin to make it properly durable. This is obviously a common complaint with Bibles; I'm hoping that the leather bound edition might have thicker pages.

I spent many years pouring over the Artscroll edition Tanach, trying to make head or tail of the biblical text; with its pathetic translation and inadequate fundamentalist commentary, I rarely understood what I was reading.

If you are a person who wants to THINK about the biblical text, with all of its problems, inconsistencies, soaring beauty and religious warmth, I would heartily suggest you get hold of this ASAP. I am only disappointed that I did not do so earlier.

The Jewish Study Bible: Featuring the Jewish Publication Soc
I own and read the following versions of the Old & New Testament: CEV, JPS, GNT, KJV, NKJV, NIV, NLT, & TNIV, but there is something really beautiful about the JPS that I keep coming back to it. The commentaries are really interesting, and I believe they tend to be more accurate and insightful in comparison with the NIV & NKJV study bibles. If you lean towards a fundamental approach to the reading of the bible the commentaries may not sit well with you. At the end of the book is a number of very interesting essays written by academics on rabbinical and biblical interpretation.

In the beginning...
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.