Customer Reviews

The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (The Schocken Bible, Vol. 1)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everett Fox's translation of the Torah is plain and simple the finest translation from Hebrew I have ever seen. None of the other notable English translations, from the JPS Tanakh to the excellent Bloch translation of Song of Songs even comes close to the power and faithfulness of Fox's Five Books of Moses. He comes as close as is linguistically possible to capturing the rhythm, nuance, and grace of the Hebrew original as is possible in another langage. Furthermore, when he knows that pure translation will be insufficient to capture a play on words-- how many native English readers even know the Bible is full of plays on words?-- he provides transliterations of the relevant Hebrew phrases as well, so the device becomes apparent.

Some have complained that in forcing the English language to follow the patterns of a different grammatical system-- to say nothing of worldview-- he has twisted even poetic English beyond recognition. But not only is this text highly readable poetry, it reinforces with every word the nearly-always neglected fact that the Tanakh (the "Old Testament") was not written in English, or Latin, or Greek, and represents a vastly different set of literary (and religious) endeavors than the Christian scriptures. It forcefully gives the reader a much-needed reminder that this is not the book you think it is.

Most translations, in smoothing the text out into English prose and poetry, either sacrifice accuracy (e.g. the King James), or sacrifice the poetry (e.g. the JPS, which contains some of the least poetic poetry I can think of), resulting in an anemic set of verses bearing little resemblence to the wild, vibrant song of the Hebrew original. Fox's unique word-flow unpacks the dense Hebrew into a torrent of breathtaking imagery (e.g. "At the beginning of God's creating/of the heavens and the earth,/when the earth was wild and waste,/darkness over the face of Ocean,/rushing-spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters--"). He retains the proper transliterations of the Hebrew names, for an authentic-sounding "Yitzchak" instead of "Isaac," "Yaakov" instead of "Jacob," "Moshe and Aharon" instead of "Moses and Aaron." Perhaps most importantly, he refuses to translate the tetragrammaton, and so instead of "the LORD said this" or "the LORD said that," his text references YHWH (the w instead of the v I expect results from his basing his work on Rosenzweig, who of course used the w because it is pronounced v in German).

My one niggling complaint is his decision regarding the translation of emphatic doubling, so that repetitions like "mot yumat" are translated "he shall die, yes die." It certainly reflects a doubled verb form, and it is certainly different than the traditional, "shall surely die," but I am not wild about the sound of it. But that's a small thing amidst a sea of greatness.

The footnotes and commentary are also very useful, although more so, I think, if you are not a fluent Hebrew speaker familiar with the original text. Nonetheless, I am both, and I still found several highly valuable pieces of information that I did not know, and many more additional comments that presented the text in ways that I had not quite thought of before. One word of warning: if you are looking for a Torah with the traditional Jewish type of commentary (like Hertz or Hirsch or the Artscroll), this is not it. The commentary is not religious, but literary, linguistic, historical, and cultural. You should still get this translation, just be aware of what it is and is not.

Nobody who reads the Bible and speaks English should be without a copy of this. That goes double for anyone who speaks English but not Hebrew.

Schocken Press has undertaken an ambitious project, to retranslate the Bible into modern language capturing the sound and quality of idiom of the original languages as much as possible. The first volume of this project is available in The Five Books of Moses, Shocken Bible: Volume I, translated and with commentary by Everett Fox.

'Based upon principles developed by Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig, this new English translation restores the poetics of the Hebrew original--the echoes, allusions, alliterations, and word-plays that rhetorically underscore its meaning and are intrinsic to a text meant to be read aloud and heard.' The underlying premise of most translations of the Bible have been to clarify the meaning of the text. While this is certainly not overlooked here, it can be the case that in the pursuit of textual clarity, the ability to make it audibly intelligible gets lost -- a lot of passages from the New Revised Standard Version, for instance, are so precise in construction that they defy oral expression.

Fox says in his Translator's Preface: 'I have presented the text in English dress but with a Hebraic voice.' Careful attention has been given to rhythm and sound. Too many English translations overlook the auditory quality of the words, and while striving to capture the idea of the text, they miss the crucial 'hearing cues' that an oral rendering would give the listener.

To this end, the text is printed as if it were in blank verse (save where a poetic style was already present and could be carried forward). Proper nouns (the names of persons and places) retain their Hebraic forms; odd, though, that the title of the book is The Five Books of Moses rather than The Five Books of Moshe. Also, a principle of the 'leading-word' is employed here. A good example follows:

The New English Bible translated Genesis 32.21-22 as:

for he thought, 'I will appease him with the present I have sent on ahead, and afterwards, when I come into his presence, he will perhaps receive me kindly.' So Jacob's present went on ahead of him...

Here, one would get the idea that the 'present' is the key word. But, in Hebrew, it isn't. Fox's translation reads thusly:

For he said to himself:
I will wipe (the anger from) his face
with the gift that goes ahead of my face
afterward, when I see his face,
perhaps he will lift up my face!
The gift crossed over ahead of his face...

A very different sense of meaning, cadence, and purpose comes out from this translation.

Fox is heavily indebted to the work of Buber and Rosenzweig (who worked on a German translation similar in character to this English translation) in the early part of this century. Fox dismisses the idea that this is simply an English variant of their German masterpiece, but does acknowledge great inspiration and methodological similarities. 'Buber and Rosenzweig translated the Bible out of the deep conviction that language has the power to bridge worlds and to redeem human beings. They both, separately and together, fought to restore the power of ancient words and to speak modern ones with wholeness and genuineness.'

Fox begins each of the five books with an essay discussing historical context, textual contents, themes and structures, and other important items. Fox continues a running commentary of the text on pages opposite the Biblical text, and has extensive notes. This is a work of care and precision, and very useful for Biblical research.

Worthwhile for scholars, Bible enthusiasts, and occasional readers, this book is an interesting addition to any collection, and a vital piece for research and exegesis of the Torah.

How many people have actually read the bible? While many describe this text as the most important work of western civilization, too many people find it both impenetrable and poorly written. That is not the fault of the actual text; indeed the Hebrew poetry of the bible is among some of the best ever written. The problem lies instead in the translation. Myriad efforts at popular translations have been made, from putting the bible into common English to straight line-by-line English. While these methods render the text more easily read, they also cost it the poetic language and much of its drama.

Everett Fox has solved these problems with a translation that is nothing short of masterful. The language is lucid, the prose poetic, and the story intact. Moreover, Fox is an honest translator, detailing his decisions and pointing out where multiple meaning exist. I have read literally dozens of translations of the bible. In my opinion, this is far and away the best.

Fox's contribution to the text will surely be remember and appreciated both now and for decades to come.

While this is the most authentic and poetic translation of the Torah, the five books of the Bible that Jews hold as sacred but Christians & Muslims see as a lot of rules and stories that served as the basis for their guy, it can be read by anyone.

Everett Fox does an amazing job of capturing the Hebrew syntax and poetry down to repeating words which are repeated in the context and bring more insights than many translations which gloss over the word plays.(like the fact that Moses' "basket" and Noah's "ark" is the same word. Or that it is the REED sea not the red sea.)

But the most important part of this book is the fact that it makes the "boring" parts of the Bible exciting and vibrant. You will never badmouth Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy again after you read this translation. Trust me.

Until recently, I was unaware of the competing versions of the Bible by Biblical scholars Dr. Robert Alter and Dr. Everett Fox. Both have authored many books and critical essays about the Bible, culminating with parallel academic versions of The Torah (interestingly, they both chose the title, "The Five Books of Moses."), biography of David's life (both chose to use 1,2 Samuel) and both offered competing translations of Genesis.

The good news is, is that both men offer surprisingly interesting renditions of these books. I was especially please to recently receive Dr. Fox' version of the Torah after having Dr. Alters for two months.

Both books offer slightly different translations along with the running commentary, Dr. Fox' reserves most of his at the beginning of each book, but what stands out is perhaps cadence.

Dr. Fox' is a bit easier to read. Yes, he does substitute/ replace the English/ Latin names with the original Hebrew names. I also found his line of reasoning an interesting contrast to Dr. Alter-- 21st century Talmudic debate!

The soft cover is very durable, but it is heavy to carry. It is also printed in large fonts.

If you're like me, not crazy about the JPS standard version and you want a lively Chumash, I strongly recommend this version. Do I recommend this over Dr. Alter's? No. It's like hearing "Our Love is Here To Stay" and loving Sinatra's version, but also loving Louie Armstrong's.

Since I do not read Hebrew or Greek I have to read the scriptures in English and like all readers of translations my views of them are affected by the goals and purposes they took in preparing their translations. I have read many over the years and there are many that are quite good and have different points to recommend them. And their critics are always able to point out their limitations and even some questionable points.

This translation is quite interesting in its approach to capture the pulse, feel, and literary style of the Hebrew in English. I cannot say how effectively it was done, because I can't read Hebrew. Many others have praised it. I can say that it reads in a very vivid and dramatic way. It has a lively and powerful feel to its language. There are times it does not read as idiomatic English, but you would expect that if it were trying to capture Hebrew, right?

There are also many helps for the reader including introductory essays, helpful footnotes, and a great suggested reading list for further study.

The hard cover edition I have is very handsomely printed in easy to read type, fine paper, with some black and white illuminations to start the books.

I think this is wonderful addition to the shelves of English translations out there and deserves to be read by anyone interested in getting at a more aural approach to these scriptures. This translation really does sound better being read out lout than it reads for the eye. As I understand things, that is what the translator was after, and he succeeded.

Moshe had all the shoppers of Ha-Matzon-Da'at-Kam called together and said to them:

Hey-everybody! If you are tired-of-reading (the) same old Bible translations,
Read, you must read this-here-new-one!

For it (is) very-good, even if the use-of-hyphens (is) a little-funny,
And even if nobody ever talked-(like)-this, no!

So put your credit-card-number into the buying-place,
And procure-for-you (this) nifty-new-rendering of the Torah of Israel, which (is) very-refreshing!

God saw the book: that it was good.

God said: Here, I give you this way-cool-book, that you may read-of-it;
Buy, you must buy it, so that the vendors of Ha-Matzon-Da'at-Kam may-prosper!

And it was so: the shoppers of Ha-Matzon-Da'at-Kam bought the new-translation,
And they were, yes, pleased-as-punch with (their) purchase, into the ages!

Though I am only a second-year student of ancient Hebrew, I can say confidently that the Fox translation is not only accurate to the Hebrew grammar and syntax, but it also consistent with the original literary devices used by Moses.

Whether your interest is in the Bible as literature, as inspiration, or as a study in religion -- Everett Fox's translation/commentary is superb. It is like rediscovering the first five books of the Bible. The commentary is especially strong in explaining the literary devices used in the original Hebrew, and the translation does a remarkable job of bringing the literary strengths and techniques into English -- with striking results.

I used to say that it was pointless to try to study the Bible without Hebrew - that it was impossible to "feel" the text, to get the humor, the irony, the poetry. Not anymore. This is a must for any student of the Bible, as it captures the liveliness and strangeness of the original and expose it as the allusive, alliterative, jabberwocky text that it is.

It has been said that for one who is serious about Biblical religion, the Bible is to be read as a love letter, not a thematic novel. One should pick over each word, each letter, and ask, with the obsession of one reading a love letter, "Why did he choose this word? Why a comma here and not a period? What echoes with what?" This gets the non-Hebrew reader much closer to being able to do so.

Hebrew is best, but this is, finally, a good second choice. It would be perfect if it had Hebrew written alongside - a great way to learn for students. Maybe future editions could be dual-language, as I'd assume that most people who are this hard-core into studying also are Hebrew students.