The Jerusalem Bible [Hardcover]

Harold Fisch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1977

The Bible with Koren Hebrew text and a meticulous, facing English translation.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 2098 pages
• Publisher: Koren; 2nd edition (December 1977)
• Language: English, Hebrew
• ISBN-10: 0873069994
• ISBN-13: 978-0873069991
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A More Hebrew Bible/Tanak, April 9, 2000

By 

Shemayah Phillips - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jerusalem Bible (Hardcover)

Most people who would appreciate this Bible (Tanak) will already have others. This one has two features that are most commendable. First, it includes the Masoretic Text (that is, the standard Hebrew) on facing pages --every Bible should have in my opinion. It reminds us that the Bible is Hebrew (with a little Aramaic), after all. The second feature is that it uses a much more accurate treatment of Hebrew proper nouns reflecting the Hebrew itself. For example, we are given Yehoshua, Moshe, Eliyya instead of Joshua, Moses, and Elijah. Also the 'alef, `ayin are represented as I just have, with ' or ` respectively, and the xet (cheth)is represented by an underlined h. I personally prefer to see waw represented with a w, rather than the Ashkenazic v. In general, there is better transliteration.

There is improvement of typographical conventions in the Hebrew text, including treatment of leaving out the superfluous vowel-points in the tetragram so that there is no chance of someone mispronouncing the Name with those (purposely incorrect) vowels. The Ketiv/Qeri are treated similarly with the qeri appearing in the margin. "Paragraph" divisions reflect the setuma and petuxa of the Hebrew text. Also sedarim (weekly portions for reading through the year in unison), including aliyot and parashot hashshavua, are also given in the margins. (aliyot mark divisions within sedarim for changing the reader in the synagogue to read in turn.) English chapter divisions and numbering are retained in the outside margin, but reflect the Hebrew divisions where Christian convention is incorrect.

The English besides the transliteration mentioned above also is quite good and clearly and closely reflects the Hebrew in all ways. The translation draws mostly on Friedlander (1881), but also Lesser, and others, yet modernizes archaic words and constructions found in some English Bibles. This Bible does not cower to Christian translations. (A comparison list of typical proper nouns and versions used in included in the back---or is it the front? ;-) Actually, this Bible is oriented from right to left as Hebrew books do, and Hebrew text reads!

In my Bible, Koren is listed as the publisher (Jerusalem).

This is the Bible to have. Period. Christians should be aware that this is the Hebrew Bible (Tanak) and does not include their NT.

A few complaints: I would like to see the transliteration carried for the divine Name (preferably YHWH, or with the four Hebrew letters even within the English) and also 'El, 'Elohim, 'Elo'ah, etc. transliterated to reflect the variations found in the Hebrew. Also, I would like to see slightly better print quality. While the format is excellent, including typography, print should be cleaner, blacker, (little bit larger for "old" guys) on better paper for the print. I have founds misaligned page prints with text missing. I was heartbroken to see such a fine Bible marred by this.

This Bible is a must have if you desire The Hebrew Bible to be a *Hebrew* Bible.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Hebraic Hebrew-English Bible, April 12, 2002

By 

Timothy Dougal (Madison, Wi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Jerusalem Bible (Hardcover)

First, the bad news: that is, I have to agree with the other two reviewers regarding print quality. Sometimes it's a little less than clear, and my edition has two sets of facing pages which were over-inked and the English side is overlaid with a shadow impression of Hebrew making the English difficult to read (of course, it's possible YHWH wants me only to read the Hebrew of these two pages!)

The good news falls into more categories. First, the price is very attractive, being less than half that of other bilingual Bibles I have seen. But the real selling point for me was the literal quality of the translation, including having proper names transliterated straight from the Hebrew without regard to conventional usage, and the fact that even the visual arrangement of the translation directly mirrors, most of the time, the exact arrangement of the Hebrew text. The translation is generally old fashioned, based in general on a 19th Century translation, but updated to reflect modern usage and recent linguistic research. The Hebrew text, according to the introduction, is definitive as of 1962, and free of previous errors. The order of the books, for Christians reading this, is Judaic: Tora, Prophets and Writings, rather than the Septuagint order used in churches, and this in itself provides additional food for thought.

In short, this Bible is a valuable and cost effective version for the serious student and curious reader who wonders "What does the Bible really say?"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reviews referring to wrong book, January 23, 2006

By 

Joseph Sanderson (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jerusalem Bible (Hardcover)

Can I warn those reading the reviews below that numerous reviews and a customer image refer to another book of the same name. This Tanakh contains the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament to Gentiles) and NOT the 'New Testament' or Apocrypha.

This said, I find this one of the best Tanakhs available, and hope that Koren make it available again.