09-28-2008, 06:46 PM
So you like the Jewish versions too <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: --> , yip although their translations are polemical with the Messianic prophecies (keep the CJB or ISR handy for those passages), here's every Jewish version of the full Tanakh I've ever heard of (highlighted in red are my personal recommendations):
A Translation of the Old Testament, Published with the Hebrew Text (1851) - Abraham Benisch:
Haven't found it anywhere on the net, most probably out of print. You can read about Benisch here: Jewish Encyclopedia - Abraham Benisch.
The Twenty-Four Books of the Holy Scriptures (1853-1857) Isaac Leeser:
Very similar to the 1917 JPS Tanakh, in fact Leeser was one of the founders of the Jewish Publication Society. You can read his translation online here: Look Higher!
The Jewish Family Bible (1881) - Michael Friedl??nder:
Also seems to be out of print, so far haven't found it online anywhere.
JPS Tankah (1917): There's a Sacred Name version done by the Karaites available here, there's also an online version which uses "HaShem" instead of "Lord" here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hareidi.org/bible/">http://www.hareidi.org/bible/</a><!-- m -->.
The Jewish Bible for Family Reading (1956) - Joseph Gaer:
Download the entire pdf scan here: The Digital Christian Library.
Koren Jerusalem Bible (1962) - Harold Fisch:
This is akhan Albion's recommendation. I've never read it, what I do know about it is that it's published in Jerusalem, Israel and is apparently of excellent quality, highly respected and widely used. It contains the Hebrew text, while the English translation is very ellegant, accurate and it restores the Hebrew names of the Tanakh characters, this one is on my "must buy someday" list. Publisher's website: Koren Publishing.
Judaica Press Complete Tanach with Rashi (1963):
An Orthodox Jewish translation, also endorsed by Chassidic Jews and generally very popular with Conservative and Reform Jews too. I often read this one and find it very literal and accurate, I prefer it to both the old and new JPS, the fact it combines Rashi's commentary makes it all the more useful. Here's the link: Chabad Library
Revised/New JPS Tanakh (1985):
I have this one with my BibleWorks program. I do like it alot, but as I've said before it's more liberal than the older JPS version, it's the version of choice for Reform Jews. I would like to get hold of the Jewish Study Bible someday though.
The Living Torah (1981) - Aryeh Kaplan & The Living Nach (1996) - Yaakov Elman:
The Living Torah is an Orthodox translation by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. Although both the translation & commentary is superb it does have Kabbalistic leanings. Online link: The Living Torah. Kaplan died before he could complete his translation of the Tanakh so others like Yaakov Elman decided to pick from where he left off. I haven't found much on The Living Nach, except that it's published in 3 volumes: The Early Prophets (Yaakov Elman), The Latter Prophets (Yaakov Elman) & The Sacred Writings (Moshe Schapiro, M.H. Mykoff, and Gavriel Rubin).
ArtScroll Tanach Series (1976-1993?) & Stone Edition of the Tanach (1996) - Mesorah Publications:
This is the giant of Jewish versions, the version of choice for Orthodox Jews, and one of the best selling among all Jews, where this publisher is concerned you are spoiled for choice. The rabbinical commentaries are so exhaustive that Mesorah first released their ArtScroll Tanach as 24 volume set. If you seriously want to study the Tanakh like an Orthodox Jew would, then the ArtScroll Tanach Series is an absolute must have. For the translation itself and a more concise commentary, you can go for the single volume, Stone Edition of the Tanach. There's also the new series Rubin Edition of the Prophets, but I don't know if it's much different to the former series.
And for the Khumashim/Torah only, there's a lot of these, but here are the best known ones:
The Living Torah (1981) - Aryeh Kaplan: Orthodox translation, available online here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp">http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp</a><!-- m -->
Stone Edition of the Chumash (1993) - ArtScroll/Messorah Publications: Orthodox translation, two versions available - Ashkenaz & Sephard, not available online but you can purchase it here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.artscroll.com/stonechumash.html">http://www.artscroll.com/stonechumash.html</a><!-- m -->
The Five Books of Moses (1995) - Everett Fox: not available online, publisher's website: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.randomhouse.com/schocken/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780805211191">http://www.randomhouse.com/schocken/cat ... 0805211191</a><!-- m -->
The Five Books of Moses (2004) - Robert Alter: not available online, you can get it from Amazon: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Books-Moses-Translation-Commentary/dp/0393019551/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b">http://www.amazon.com/Five-Books-Moses- ... y_b_text_b</a><!-- m -->
Gutnick Edition of the Chumash (2006) - Chaim Miller: a Chasidic translation, also not available online, publisher's website here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.kolmenachem.com/">http://www.kolmenachem.com/</a><!-- m -->
Metsudah Linear Chumash with Rashi (?) - Metsudah: Ashkenazi Orthodox translation, available online here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tachash.org/chumash/pardate.html">http://www.tachash.org/chumash/pardate.html</a><!-- m -->
A Translation of the Old Testament, Published with the Hebrew Text (1851) - Abraham Benisch:
Haven't found it anywhere on the net, most probably out of print. You can read about Benisch here: Jewish Encyclopedia - Abraham Benisch.
The Twenty-Four Books of the Holy Scriptures (1853-1857) Isaac Leeser:
Very similar to the 1917 JPS Tanakh, in fact Leeser was one of the founders of the Jewish Publication Society. You can read his translation online here: Look Higher!
The Jewish Family Bible (1881) - Michael Friedl??nder:
Also seems to be out of print, so far haven't found it online anywhere.
JPS Tankah (1917): There's a Sacred Name version done by the Karaites available here, there's also an online version which uses "HaShem" instead of "Lord" here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hareidi.org/bible/">http://www.hareidi.org/bible/</a><!-- m -->.
The Jewish Bible for Family Reading (1956) - Joseph Gaer:
Download the entire pdf scan here: The Digital Christian Library.
Koren Jerusalem Bible (1962) - Harold Fisch:
This is akhan Albion's recommendation. I've never read it, what I do know about it is that it's published in Jerusalem, Israel and is apparently of excellent quality, highly respected and widely used. It contains the Hebrew text, while the English translation is very ellegant, accurate and it restores the Hebrew names of the Tanakh characters, this one is on my "must buy someday" list. Publisher's website: Koren Publishing.
Judaica Press Complete Tanach with Rashi (1963):
An Orthodox Jewish translation, also endorsed by Chassidic Jews and generally very popular with Conservative and Reform Jews too. I often read this one and find it very literal and accurate, I prefer it to both the old and new JPS, the fact it combines Rashi's commentary makes it all the more useful. Here's the link: Chabad Library
Revised/New JPS Tanakh (1985):
I have this one with my BibleWorks program. I do like it alot, but as I've said before it's more liberal than the older JPS version, it's the version of choice for Reform Jews. I would like to get hold of the Jewish Study Bible someday though.
The Living Torah (1981) - Aryeh Kaplan & The Living Nach (1996) - Yaakov Elman:
The Living Torah is an Orthodox translation by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. Although both the translation & commentary is superb it does have Kabbalistic leanings. Online link: The Living Torah. Kaplan died before he could complete his translation of the Tanakh so others like Yaakov Elman decided to pick from where he left off. I haven't found much on The Living Nach, except that it's published in 3 volumes: The Early Prophets (Yaakov Elman), The Latter Prophets (Yaakov Elman) & The Sacred Writings (Moshe Schapiro, M.H. Mykoff, and Gavriel Rubin).
ArtScroll Tanach Series (1976-1993?) & Stone Edition of the Tanach (1996) - Mesorah Publications:
This is the giant of Jewish versions, the version of choice for Orthodox Jews, and one of the best selling among all Jews, where this publisher is concerned you are spoiled for choice. The rabbinical commentaries are so exhaustive that Mesorah first released their ArtScroll Tanach as 24 volume set. If you seriously want to study the Tanakh like an Orthodox Jew would, then the ArtScroll Tanach Series is an absolute must have. For the translation itself and a more concise commentary, you can go for the single volume, Stone Edition of the Tanach. There's also the new series Rubin Edition of the Prophets, but I don't know if it's much different to the former series.
And for the Khumashim/Torah only, there's a lot of these, but here are the best known ones:
The Living Torah (1981) - Aryeh Kaplan: Orthodox translation, available online here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp">http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp</a><!-- m -->
Stone Edition of the Chumash (1993) - ArtScroll/Messorah Publications: Orthodox translation, two versions available - Ashkenaz & Sephard, not available online but you can purchase it here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.artscroll.com/stonechumash.html">http://www.artscroll.com/stonechumash.html</a><!-- m -->
The Five Books of Moses (1995) - Everett Fox: not available online, publisher's website: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.randomhouse.com/schocken/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780805211191">http://www.randomhouse.com/schocken/cat ... 0805211191</a><!-- m -->
The Five Books of Moses (2004) - Robert Alter: not available online, you can get it from Amazon: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Books-Moses-Translation-Commentary/dp/0393019551/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b">http://www.amazon.com/Five-Books-Moses- ... y_b_text_b</a><!-- m -->
Gutnick Edition of the Chumash (2006) - Chaim Miller: a Chasidic translation, also not available online, publisher's website here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.kolmenachem.com/">http://www.kolmenachem.com/</a><!-- m -->
Metsudah Linear Chumash with Rashi (?) - Metsudah: Ashkenazi Orthodox translation, available online here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tachash.org/chumash/pardate.html">http://www.tachash.org/chumash/pardate.html</a><!-- m -->