Product Description

The second volume of the acclaimed English edition of Miqra'ot Gedolot

First published 500 years ago as the "Rabbinic Bible," the biblical commentaries known as Miqra'ot Gedolot have inspired and educated generations of Hebrew readers. With this edition, the voices of Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Nahmanides, Rashbam, and other medieval Bible commentators come alive once more, speaking in a contemporary English translation annotated and explicated for lay readers.

Each page of this second volume in The Commentators' Bible series contains several verses from the Book of Leviticus, surrounded by both the 1917 and 1985 JPS translations, and by new contemporary English translations of the major commentators. The book also includes an introduction, a glossary of terms, a list of names used in the text, notes on source texts, a special topics list, and resources for further study.

This large-format volume is beautifully designed for easy navigation among the many elements on each page, including explanatory notes and selected additional comments from the works of Bekhor Shor, Hizkuni, Abarbanel, Sforno, Gersonides, and others.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71009 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 250 pages

Review
"The importance of this volume cannot be overestimated..." -- JBooks.com, January 27, 2006

From the Publisher
Follows the highly-acclaimed Commentators Bible: The JPS Miqra'ot Gedolot: Exodus.

About the Author
Michael Carasik teaches Biblical Hebrew at the University of Pennsylvania and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He received his Ph.D. in Bible and the Ancient Near East from Brandeis University, and has taught at various universities. He is the author of Theologies of the Mind in Biblical Israel and is a regular contributor of articles and reviews in scholarly journals. His weekly "Torah Talk" podcast is available at torahtalk.michaelcarasik.com or through the iTunes Store.

Customer Reviews

Let It Go Medieval On You
Compiled by Michael Carasik, a teacher of Bible at the University of Pennsylvania, Miqra'ot Gedolot (or "large format bible") is now available in an understandable English edition. It was first published 500 years ago (the second edition was published in 1525 by Rabbi Yakov ben Hayyim) as the "Rabbinic Bible." The format is a Hebrew text from the bible in the middle of the page. On top of this Hebrew box is a Targum, or translation(s) in English; surrounding the passage are medieval commentaries from Rashi (RAbbi SHlomo ben Yitzhak, 1040-1105, Northern France), Rashbam (RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, 1085-1174, grandson of Rashi, Northern France) , Ibn Ezra (Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra, 1089-c1164, Muslim Spain/Italy/France/England), and Nachmanides / RambaN (RAbbi Moshe Ben Nahman, 1195-c1260, Spain/Israel) in new, more understandable, English translations. Other commentators are included when appropriate, including "Masorah (or c1000 traditions)", Bekhor Shor (12th Century France), Rabbi David Kimhi (RaDaK, c1160-c1235, Provence), Hizkuni, Gersonides/Ralbag, Abarbanel (15th Century Inquisition/Spain/Portugal, Italy), and Sforno (Italy, 1470-1550). Abarbanel provides the main question. The biblical passage is translated using BOTH the 1917 (Old JPS) and 1985 (New JPS) JPS English translations, since great scholars wrote them in each period, and nuggets of insight can be derived from each one, even if they are not parallel. The beauty of reading medieval commentaries on Exodus is that they find connections and contradictions that lay readers in English may miss from the more modern bibles. Also, since the commentators lived at different times in different circumstances, the reader can see how the biblical passage spoke to various scholars over time. It also is more raw than the Hertz bibles' (U.K. Chief Rabbi J. H. Hertz), that were used in many synagogues, and written to gloss over "primitive" Hebrew practices. The editor recommends that you follow one particular commentator through an entire story; compare different commentators; compare the two differing English translations and try to understand why they differ; read an entire chapter in the Old JPS translatoin and then in the New JPS translation and see what insights you can find; and/or ponder whether the questions you ask on the text are the same questions that Abarbanel and others felt were the glaring issue. Go and Learn.

False advertising?
When I first read about this "translation" of Mikra'ot Gedolot, I thought to myself: it can't be true. Chavel's English translation of RaMBaN's (Nachmanides) commentary on Shemot (Exodus) alone contains 626 pages of text. How in the world could all of that plus the other classical commentaries plus the original biblical text in Hebrew plus two translations of the biblical text all fit into a 349 page volume? The answer is that they don't. Just by checking the sample page available on the JPS website, I immediately saw that much of Ibn Ezra was missing. For all I know, this may be a very useful volume. However, if you think that it really offers translations of all the materials that appear in a real Mikra'ot Gedolot - think again.

Finding Your Way Through Exodus Was Never So Easy
This new translation of Miqra'ot Gedolot - Exodus is wonderful. The format is easy to read, the translations are very accessible, and the page of commentaries comes alive for those who are (yet) unable to read the original in Hebrew. This translation opens up a whole new world for the student of Torah and Bible - hearing the voices of the commentators respond to each other... and now the reader is invited to join the conversation. Looking forward to all five books of Torah.. and beyond.