The Jewish study Bible

To be fully intelligible, the Bible must be interpreted--a process that can take place in many ways, depending on one's hermeneutical presuppositions. Among the oldest and richest traditions of biblical interpretation is the Jewish. In this second edition of a book first published in 2004, this tradition is helpfully and eruditely explored in two forms: first, direct exegesis of the biblical text, and second, knowledgeable explanatory essays on central themes relevant to appreciating the Hebrew Bible and the history of its interpretation. First, highly competent scholars explain the text of the entire Hebrew Bible; then, in a separate section, the issues relevant to its larger meaning and wider context are explored in several dozen essays presented under various rubrics: "Jewish Interpretation of the Bible," "Biblical Ideas and Institutions," "The Bible in Jewish Life," and "Backgrounds for Reading the Bible." The last of these includes "The Hebrew Bible in Other Scriptures." Each essay is informed, informative, and written by an authority on the subject being analyzed. Taken altogether, the essays provide a nearly exhaustive picture of all the topics basic to understanding the Bible and its background. An extremely useful resource. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; general readers. --Steven Theodore Katz, Boston University