Customer Reviews

Complete Jewish Bible-OE

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You ask, "What makes this translation Jewish?" Good question. If you can get past the knee-jerk reactions, I'll tell you. If you haven't noticed most modern English translators have only an accademic understanding of Judaism. This translator is a Jew from an observant, well educated family. Dr. Ben Horin, a Reconstructionis Jewish author wrote, "A Jewish heart can be had quickly. Jewish eyes are the product of 4,000 years of special evolution." Being steeped in the Jewish life gives Dr. Stern a unique view. His translation of the New Testament is idiomatic, similar to NIV. But Dr. Stern's translation starts from the premise that the authors were Jews primarily writing to audiance that was Jews and Righteous Gentiles. (Those were gentiles who attended synogogue and observed some of the commandments, but had not converted to Judaism.)

Why should a Christian read this book? Because Jesus spoke to Jewish groups, not gentiles, when He preached. He assumed a familiarity with the Torah that came from a specific set of teachings set in a specific culture. That culture is not always reflected in other translations. Just read Dr. Stern's treatment of Hebrews and compare it to any other English translation. It makes more sense then any I have read.

Why should a Jew read this book? Not to better understand Christians. For that I recommend the New King James and the New International Version. If you want to understand the teachings of the Jew whose life has impacted more Jews then any other Jew since Moses, this is the translation for you. You may not agree with Dr. Stern about whether Yeshua is the Meshiach, but at least you will understand what His followers had to say.

I should add that this translation was vetted by a number of scholars, including Dr. John Fischer, dean of St. Petersburg Theological Seminary in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Those reviewers who think that this translation is called the Complete Jewish Bible in order to 'trap' unsuspecting Jews into reading the New Testament have not read the authors information available on the first pages of the book. While writing this book to show the Jewishness of the New Testament to Jew and Gentile, the book can hardly be concidered deceptive...a glance at the back of the book or the table of contents will remind the reader that 'Bible' does not refer only to the Tanakh, so any Jew should realize that there is something else here.

For followers of Yeshua, however, this is a good translation that deserves it's spot on your study shelf along with your NIV, NASB, or NASB.

I have been using this translation for several years now and find it to be very accurate. I have compared it to several other standard versions and to several interlineary bibles and have been very happy with it.

As an example of the accuracy of the text, take, for example, the Greek word pisteo. The Greek word has several trasnlations: belief, faith, trust. In John 11:25, Yeshua mentions that "eveyone who (believes in, has faith in, trusts in) Me shall live even if he dies." If this is translated as believe, as it is in many translations, even the demons will live. But seeing that this word has several meanings, Dr. Stern uses other scriptures to decide that he will use the word faith. To put your faith in Yeshua is not the same as simply believing in Him.

I find that reading the names of people and places in Hewbrew rather than in English reminds me that the culture was different and I have to keep that in mind in understanding how it applies to me. Having read scripture for years, I was beginning to find my eyes scanning pages I've read over and over again without taking in the information. This translation stopped that completely.

I feel it is important for every Christian to understand the roots of his/her religion to fully understand the New Covnenant. The CJB has been a wonderful translation for me.

As a student (and erstwhile scholar) of Biblical languages I found this author's New Testament Greek translation by far the trueist to the published United Bible Society 4th eddition text than any English translation I have explored to date. The use of transliteration of Hebrew names and key theological terms, while challanging to the Christian Gentile mind, is extremely enlightening. This author, unlike the committes of translators who produced the other English edditions of the Biblical text, does not shy away from translating the Greek correctly when it challanges specific Christian denominational practice. Just one example is the correct translation "immerse" instead of the transliteration "baptize" used since the original KJV. Such transliteration to preserve denominational practice is "dishonest" at best. The negative reviews written by those of more orthodox Jewish faith than the author are completely understandable. To assert approval would demand they approach the person Jesus in a totaly fresh way, ie. as the Messiah that was rejected and crucified 2,000 years ago. The translation of the Hebrew Old Testament (as much as I can check at the level of my present capabilities) is as true to the language and even truer to professed intent as the most recent English translation of the accepted Hebrew text as that produced by the Jewish Publication Society. David Stern's translation is a monumental work that should be read by every person of the planet that is willing to let God's Holy written Word "mean what it says, and say what it means": atheist, agnostic, Christian and Jew alike.

Can I say enough? Probably not. Can I say enough to persuade you to buy this book? Perhaps. This is such a great Bible translation. This Bible offers much that other English translations have been lacking in for years.

First, people interested in this Bible will want to know what's different about this Bible from other Bibles. There are several things different about this Bible from the versions you may be used to. I'll try to be short.

1. The Old Testament (Tanakh) is translated from the Masoretic Hebrew text, not from the Septuagint. Many of you may be shocked to realize, but virtually all of the English versions available (yes, including the King James Version) are not translated from the Hebrew, but from the Greek Septuagint, which was translated in roughly 247-221 B.C. While generally this does not create problems, it is quite obvious that translating once is much more accurate than translating twice.

2. Stern retains the transliterated (or, written in English, instead of Hebrew) names for people, places, and some important Jewish key words. For some, this may seem tedious at first, but I assure you that it is not particularly troublesome. It is very easy from context to know of what person you are reading, and often the transliterated names are actually spelled very similar or identical to what you are used to in other Bibles. Furthermore, Stern includes a very useful glossary in the back of the Bible for you to look up any of the transliterated Hebrew names and terms.

3. The books of the Old Testament in this Bible are not in the same order as in other English versions. This results from the translation from the Septuagint, referred to earlier. The order of the books in other English Bibles was derived from the Greek Septuagint (if you want to know more about that topic, you might want to check out The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah). This follows the Hebrew canonical order, separating the scriptures into the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. Since there is no Hebrew canonical order for the New Testament (since it is not considered scripture by Judaism), the New Testament, or B'rit Hadashah, is in the same order as you are used to.

4. Despite the transliterated Hebrew words, this Bible is surprisingly easy to read. The format is very simple, even informal at times, and results in a very comfortable read. However, it does not over-simplify the text, as other English versions are sometimes guilty of doing.


Finally, a personal note. Before obtaining this Bible, I still almost exclusively used the KJV for my personal Bible study, though I often used other versions in teaching (I teach an adult Bible Study class at my church). The reason for favoring the KJV was simply that other, newer versions are often guilty of simplifying the text, and NOT just the grammar. Many parts of Biblical text are NOT simple, and should not be treated as such. However, the GRAMMAR may be simplified and modernized greatly. This Bible achieves both--modernization of the language (no thees thous or shalts), but retains the textual import of difficult passages. Now, I use the CJB almost exclusively in both my personal Bible Study and in my mid-week class. Several of my students and family have purchased the Bible after being introduced to it by myself.

The bottom line is simply this: the CJB makes the Bible come alive in a new way. It makes the characters feel real, personal, alive. With its retention of Hebrew concepts in the New Testament, it shows us what a great disservice we lent ourselves when we divorced Christianity from Judaism.

I've been puzzled for most of my Christian life as to why Judaism has been so forcefully excluded from our thought life; so I went to Israel for myself, to live for a year there and learn all that I could, and found this translation! It explains so much that we've been missing for millennia, key phrases in Jesus's sermons which are linked directly to common Jewish rituals and ways of thought which us Christians have no idea about! For instance, as Mr. Stern points out, when Jesus said "But if your eye is evil, all your body will be dark. If then the light which is in you is dark, how dark it will be!" in Matthew 6, he's actually referring to the Jewish custom that a stingy or ungenerous man had a 'dark' or 'evil' eye. This reference to being stingy goes right along with the rest of the chapter, which talks about good stewardship, but is often mistranslated by our lack of cultural understanding to mean that the fellow with a 'dark eye' is just mean or wicked somehow. What an eye-opener (forgive the pun) to see Jesus from a Jewish man's perspective. My boyfriend, while in Israel, had supper with David H. Stern, the translation's creator; I can testafy that he is as close to an orthodox Jewish man as someone who believes Jesus is the Messiah can get, so I think he knows what he's talking about here. Great translation, easy read, and a lot of really sharp insights. I am looking forward to a commentary volume by Mr. Stern, please don't dissappoint us!

During a recent close study of Paul's epistles in several English translations (and subsequently the Greek) it became clear that Stern's rendering is in many respects more lucid than several popular committee-produced efforts. This brings a consistency and harmony to his work that many modern translations lack. He is refreshingly forthright (and faithful) in touchy translations of controverted texts, especially in sexual morality where others obfuscate with euphemisms. He uses the transliterated Hebrew names of bible characters, and the profound and essential "Israelite-ness" of Christianity seeps through without compromising the catholicity of The Way. His translation also picks out nuances that many will find enriching. Small example: "faith" is often rendered as "trust in", which is both more concrete and more consistent with the Jewish understanding. A minor quibble: I don't care much for his "Messianic Community" rendering of 'ekklesia'; though not wrong, it fails to capture the organic unity between the Head and His Body, (the ekklesia is a community, but it is also much more -- Yeshua's Mystical Body). Another inhibitor for me: this translation excludes several Tanakh (OT) books that since the Foundation in 33 AD were regarded as canonical, and whose authenticity is attested by the infallible authority of Yeshua the Mashiach in the very messianic community he founded on Shimon Kefa. (After all, most scholars agree the NT writers used and quoted from the Septuagint, which contains the books arbitrarily excluded by rabbis nearly two generations after Jesus). However, don't let these shortcomings stop you from acquiring and enjoying this important translation. I find myself increasingly referring to Stern's CJB when I encounter convoluted passages in other translations -- more often than not he renders the sense in very accessible contemporary English that squares well with the Hebrew or Greek textus receptus. Also, the companion Jewish New Testament Commentary is highly recommended.

I absolutely love this translation. It brings out the nuances that are missed in nearly every other English translation. Since the Bible was written by Jews and primarily for Jews it's best to have it translated into English by Jews who understand a Jewish world view. It really brings G-d's word to life and makes some many misunderstood passages clear.

I'm a baby Christian, beginning to understand my grafting to the Jewish roots. Well, I own a KJV, an ASV, plus this Bible. When I couldn't grasp the message in the KJV (old english can be hard to read), I'd go to the ASV, but sometimes that didn't help either. I have read thru a few other versions, like the NIV and such, but they were so choppy to read, God's Word was being butchered. I've probably had this Complete Jewish Bible for a month or so before I cracked it open. Wow, I love it. In the beginning, I'd bounce back and forth between it and the KJV or the ASV to see how close the message stayed intact. I find it faithful. It is so readable and understandable that I will perhaps make it my "main" Bible. I have the hard back edition, because they hadn't come out with the leather bound edition at the time. But what I wish they'd do is make a leather bound in large print soon!

This is a fine Jewish translation. Reviewers who make statements like "Christianity is not Jewish," or "the New Testament has no place in Jewish worship," are either misinformed or are trying to mislead you.
Such reviewers tend to misunderstand the very meaning of the word "Christian." The root of the word "Christian" is "Christ;" the word "Christ" is a Latinized and finally Anglicized version of the Greek word "Christos," which is a direct translation of the Hebrew word "Mashiach." (The word "Christian," in a correctly understood, literal sense, means a follower of the Jewish Mashiach/Messiah/Christ--a uniquely Jewish concept). These titles--Christ, Christos, and Mashiach--all signify the same exact thing: "Messiah," which literally means "the annointed one," a title which (in the Old Testament/Tanakh) was applied primarily to three kinds of people (prophets, priests, and kings), all three of which would have their ultimate fulfillment in the person of THE Messiah (that's right, the Messiah was to be a priestly, prophetic king). Rabbinic scholars tend to deemphasize the priestly role of the Messiah. By "priestly role" I mean "intercessory," and all things pertaining to making atonement for sins through the sacrificial system, which centered around the Temple. Emphasizing the royal/political office of the Messiah, while ignoring or deemphasizing the priestly office of the Messiah is an approach which is fundamentally flawed. In other words, if you ignore the priestly and prophetic functions of the Messiah, you will be unlikely to recognize the Messiah. Note that in the Torah (the 5 books of Moses) the word "mashiach" is applied to only one kind of person: the priest! Surely, God was trying to tell us something--that the Messiah would be priestly, and would fulfill the ultimate meaning and significance of the sacrificial system and its officiating priesthood. You may ask then, how can the Messiah--who must be of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of David (which Jesus is)--be a priest, if the priest had to be not only a Levite but a descendant of Kohath? God Himself answers this question in Psalm 110:4: "The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.'" This special priestly order (the order of Melchizedek) was specially set aside by God for the Messiah, who would make atonement for the sins, not only of the Jewish people but of the world, through his own blood: "...He would render Himself as a guilt offering..." (Isaiah 53:10). That's what the entire sacrifiicial system with its officiating priesthood had been pointing to all along (the book of Hebrews deals with this in detail, including all things pertaining to the priestly order of Melchizedek).

Therefore it was entirely appropriate for Stern to substitute the word "Messiah" (or "Mashiach") every place that the word "Christ" occurs in the New Testament. After all, this is a translation, not a transliteration, and the goal of translation is to carry over actual meaning from one language to another. "Christos" means "Messiah," and therefore it SHOULD BE translated as "Messiah." Whether you regard Jesus as the Messiah or not is beside the point. Be assured, however, that Jesus is, indeed, the Jewish Messiah: According to Daniel 9 (read the whole chapter, IN CONTEXT PLEASE), the priestly and prophetic offices/ministries of the Messiah had to be fulfilled before the destruction of the 2nd Temple. The 2nd Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.; Jesus fulfilled the relevant priestly and prophetic offices of the Messiah before the 2nd Temple was destroyed; Jesus is thus the only candidate for Messiah. Therefore if Jesus is not the Messiah then there is no Messiah. So, if the Messiah comes, be assured it will be a "second coming," since the Messiah had to (and did) come before the 2nd temple was destroyed. When Jesus comes again he will fulfill all things pertaining to the royal office of the Messiah, and will reign as a priestly king, "after the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6 et al.).

Finally, you may ask, if Jesus is the JEWISH Messiah, then why do so many Gentiles follow him? The answer: according to the Bible, if the Gentiles did not follow him, then he COULD NOT be the Messiah: In Isaiah 49, God calls on His ideal Servant the Messiah (himself metaphorically called "Israel" in verse 3, since the Messiah is the ideal representative and embodiment of Israel) to be a light to the Gentiles: "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the Gentiles so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6). The destiny of Israel was to know God and to make God known--to be a light to the Gentiles by bringing knowledge of the one true God to the ends of the earth. This ultimate destiny of Israel has been fulfilled through Israel's ideal representative, the Messiah. Just ask yourself a few questions: who is the most famous Jew who has ever lived? Through what Jew has the knowledge of the God of Israel gone to the ends of the earth to the Gentiles? If not for Jesus, would the Gentile world even know anything about the concept of Messiah?

I have been reading the reviews and I am forced to make a comment. I came across this Version yesterday at a bible study and new immediately that I needed a copy. I realize that there are people that do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but to those of us that do believe, (as the bible states) We are accepted (or become a part) of the family of Abraham. Which in turn makes us Jews by spirit. Therefore I see nothing wrong with it being named Complete Jewish Bible. The Translation is refreshing and accurate. If we believe on him who came and died for our sins, then we become heirs to the kingdom. In the Old Testament during the old covenant (please excuse my terms of reference.)If an outsider (or gentile)accepted God and his laws and commandments, then he was circumsized and accepted fully as one of the Children of Israel (heirs to GODS promises). The same thing applies now, only now we have to accept Jesus the Christ's sacrifce. The point that is consistantly being missed is that the main theme of the Bible whatever translation of version that you read is LOVE. My prayer is that we (every last one of us)quit trying to seek out the differences and concentrate on showing kindness, love compassion,patience, and longsuffering so that we all, Jew, non- Jew, Christian, and nonbeliever can know GODS eternal and unchanging love. So that we my fulfill the purpose he has in our lives. GOD Bless you all. Amen