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| Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures--The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text | 
 enlarge | Author: Jps
Publisher: Jewish Publication Society of America
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
Buy New: $6.00
You Save: $16.00 (73%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (50 reviews)
Sales Rank: 13803
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Special
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1622
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 5 x 1.5
ISBN: 0827603665
Dewey Decimal Number: 221.52
EAN: 9780827603660
ASIN: 0827603665
Publication Date: November 1985
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Take care October 5, 2008
This is not a full sized book and it's made from that onion-skin type biblical paper...and the covers are VERY weak cardstock. The book bows when I pick it up. I'm very unhappy. Had I known this about this particular edition I'd have gotten the hardbound one. This book is a keeper, meant to be read and dog earred etc...but I don't know that this one will be able to stand up to such use. I'm in the process of trying to reinforce and laminate the covers so at least they will be more sturdy. If this book is not that important to you, then it will be OK. But if you mean to use this book a lot, pay the extra for the better quality book. I wish I had.
 Fascinating to read when you have only had a Christian bias up until now August 12, 2008
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
Let's get one thing out of the way. All Bible translations have a bias. The Bible: Authorized King James Version (Oxford World's Classics) was a protestant document through and through. While many claim to be easier to understand, most of them sacrifice ambiguity and humor in the interest of "clarity". The worst offenders change the Bible stories altogether.
This particular version of the Bible is Jewish. Note the name as Tanakh and not "Old Testament" since in Judaism there is no "New Testament". The stories are arranged by the title - Torah - Nevuvim - Khethovim - or Torah, Prophets and Wisdom literature (Job, Ruth, Song of Songs, etc.) One can quibble with this translation losing some of poetry (unlike The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (The Schocken Bible, Volume 1) which strives to preserve the poetic verses and repetitive words so that English readers can get a true taste of the Torah as it sounds to a native Hebrew speaker) but this is a fine translation full of passion and storytelling.
Of course, my personal bias in favor of this translation began when I read it for class and fell in love with stories that I once thought of as only prologues to Christianity. Gone are the "proof texts" that litter many a Christian missionary reading. Isaiah is looking at a young woman and not a virgin about to give birth. Psalm 22 is talking about lions not the crucifixion of Jesus. But what makes this more interesting is how fun some of the stories are, particularly Samuel (the story of David) which is ultimately tragic but has some hilarious bits along the way including the Philistines being stricken with hemorrhoids in chapter 5 and making golden rat and hemorrhoid statues to honor the G-d of Israel. Most other translations wimp out and say that they died of "the plague". Sure, it's immature to look through a Bible for scatological humor, but if it's there, it's there. And it makes God Knows seem a lot less blasphemous in comparison.
In many ways, this is the redheaded step child of Bible translations. Artscroll has been cornering the market on translations and they like to use Rashi commentary in place of translation (which means a thoroughly awful castrated version of Song of Songs) and others prefer King James for poetry, but I still find this one to be my favorite. Maybe because of some of the weaknesses or maybe because in a field ripe with biases and agenda, this one tries to be non-biased as it can be.
Wonderful translation August 1, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This has been a most welcome and very handy source for us whenever we seek English translations of Jewish sacred texts.
We also own the Stone edition of the Tanach: The Torah, Prophets, Writings, including all 24 books of the so-called "Old Testament," in Hebrew and English, with commentary. We also own The Torah: A Modern Commentary, which includes only Torah, better known as the Five Books of Moses, along with the readings' assignments to the Jewish holidays.
But this edition is by far the most used in our household, and we recommend it highly, to Jewish and Christian readers alike.
Highly recommended... May 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think this is a truly beautiful translation. I was also very happy with the quality of the book itself. Well worth every penny.
Tanakh - English translation May 3, 2008
This is a readable translation of Hebrew scriptures. It is easily understood in distinction to the KJV, but without the English poetry. It is far more authorative than KJV. The paperback version (mine) is easily held and convenient to read.
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