Customer Reviews

The Book of Psalms (Dover Thrift Editions)

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This is the book of my heart and soul. I pray some part of it everyday . It is Man calling out to G-d, praying to G-d , asking for G-d's help, thanking G-d, praising G-d.
As a religious Jew I recite each day as part of my daily prayer a large number of Psalms. I too when I feel in real need of help turn to G-d by saying the Psalms. When I go to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem it is Psalms which I pray.
The Psalms in Hebrew are called ' Tehilim'.
I pray ordinarily in Hebrew. But the King James version is such a moving and wonderful translation that I often pray from it. Sometimes I simply do not know the Hebrew that well , and so read the English version.
In my mind and heart there is no more meaningful Literature than this.
These are the words that connect us most deeply with G-d.

Font size is about 8 or 9 - with clear and good spacing - easy to read.

There is not much margin space but the Psalms have some good spacing between each other to allow for some notes per Psalm.

Nice size book, good printing and the Psalms are nice to read in this translation - like the flow. I avoided the KJV because of its older English style, but I found that it is nice in itself; and I can always check a couple of other versions which is helpful anyway with meaning/prayer regardless of which version I start out with.

And very nice price - especially if you want a copy to write on or just carry around.
(not compact size, a bit bigger; thin but with sturdy paper cover and pages.) This is one of the best as far as clarity of printing (for those of us with aging, blurring eyesight)

Glad I gave this a try - wasn't sure of quality with such a low price; very pleasantly surprised.

I first ordered from Amazon The Book of Psalms in the Schottenstein edition ISBN 1-57819-558-6 as I was looking for an edition in English and Hebrew, with a hard cover, with good paper that would give me good service for many future years. I liked the idea of an interlinear text with the English translation of each Hebrew word under each Hebrew character, but unlike the interlinear Greek-English New Testament Nestle/Marshall, published by Bagster 1958, the Schottenstein edition does not have an English translation on the side, or underneath, similar to the King James' translation of the Greek. This edition by Schottenstein is wonderful for someone with a reasonable knowledge of Hebrew who can basically read it so that it can be appreciated both academically and/or interiorize it with spiritual effect. I regret that I have no understanding of Hebrew,and could not find in the mere translation of the characters anything that satisfied my need for the language and poetry of the original on which to support my spiritual needs - <For the conductor,<For<< of joy.<with a cry< to God* <sound the shofar <<hands;<. There is a commentary on the text underneath which is valuable for an understanding of the vocabulary and text. So, this is not a translation for someone who does not have a reasonable knowledge of Hebrew, and not for someone looking for an edition that has the Hebrew characters, Hebrew translation, and a translation which is written in a good English style.

So, I then searched for just a translation of the Hebrew text into English only, in a hard cover, containing only the Psalms, and easy to carry with me at all times. It seemed that there were only two possibilities on Amazon. First, The Book of Psalms, the King James
Version, published by Dover Publications 1993 ISBN 0-486-27541-8 in a soft cover. I thought maybe I would have it bound, but that can present problems in opening the book easily. I ordered it, only to now discover that the paper is of very poor quality which will soon discolour and tear.

At the same time I ordered The Book of Psalms - A New Translation to the Traditional Hebrew Text published by The Jewish Publication Society ISBN 0-8276-0630-3. One Amazon reviewer commented that it is said by some to have mistakes in translation and literary value. I was very disappointed to read this as a friend of mine who is a Rabbi had told me of this translation planned, for what we Christians call, the entire Old Testament; it is said to be planned to take many many years and be a definitive work of Rabbinical scholarship. I have the deepest respect for the veracity of Jewish scholarship, so I have written to my Rabbi friend to ask him his opinion, and the opinion of other Rabbi, of the degree of inaccuracy; style is a personal matter. However, on examining the text and making a comparison with the King James Version I am very pleased to have the Jewish Publication Society edition. In just a short examination of both texts I like the text and style of the JPS edition. If I change my mind later I will correct this review! Apart from which, the volume is a sturdy hard cover edition, easy to carry, somewhat larger than the Dover Publication, and on good paper and with a good font and print setting. I look forward to using this edition very much and very often. On the basis of all I have said above I recommend that anyone who does not read Hebrew fluently, and basically is looking for a Jewish translation of the Psalms for daily practical use in English, to use this JPS edition: Psalm 90 - O Lord, you have been our refuge in every generation, KJV Lord thou has been our dwelling place in all generations, JPS - God restores the lonely to their homes, sets free the imprisoned, safe and sound, while the rebellious must live in a dry land, KJV - God setteth, the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. Both are beautiful, but the words of the JPS, for me, leap into clarity and with an ease of comprehension. I shall carry this text with me and read it every day, and when it is in tatters I will simply replace it. For a commentary I will use the Anchor Bible text.




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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
A translation I often use, March 10, 2005
By Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews


I know that there are those who say that this translation is not a very good one, both in terms of accuracy and literary quality. Nonetheless in spite of my knowing Hebrew and knowing certain Tehillim by heart in Hebrew and in English I each day read one Psalm for this book in the morning. English is easier for me than Hebrew, and though it does not give the same sense of sanctity or depth it does give me a kind of basic understanding I sometimes care more for than anything else. I read Tehillim as my most beloved Literature, as the strength of my soul, as a form of daily renewal of connection with and coming closer to God.
This translation helps me and therefore I recommend it.

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