The Jewish Study Bible

by Adele Berlin; Marc Zvi Brettler; Michael Fishbane

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

, 2004

Overview

The Jewish Study Bible is a one-volume resource tailored to the needs of students of the Hebrew Bible. Nearly 40 scholars worldwide, representing the best of today’s Jewish biblical scholarship, contributed to the Jewish Study Bible’s translation and interpretation. A committee of highly respected biblical scholars and rabbis from the orthodox, conservative, and Reform Judaism movements produced this modern translation.

No knowledge of Hebrew is required to make use of this unique volume. The Jewish Study Bible uses the Jewish Publication Society TANAKH translation. Since its publication, the Jewish Study Bible has become one of the most popular volumes in Oxford’s celebrated line of bibles.

The Jewish Study Bible is now available in a state-of-the-art digital edition using the power of Logos Bible Software. This is an easy-to-use tool that helps make Bible study more fruitful than ever. The quality of biblical scholarship, easy-to-navigate format, and vibrant supplementary features bring the ancient text to life.

Key Features

• Offers informative essays that address a wide variety of topics
• Provides in-text tables, maps, and charts
• Includes full-color New Oxford Bible maps

Contents

Top Highlights

“David, however, only cuts off the corner of Saul’s cloak as proof that he could have killed him. He is not aware that the cutting of the cloak also has symbolic significance, namely, cutting off the kingdom (cf. 15:27–28; 1 Kings 11:29–32). The author may be foreshadowing those later events.” (Page 607)

“Alternatively, some still see purity rules as vestiges from primitive times. The challenge is to recognize purity rules (of the ritual and moral sort) as meaningful and yet nuanced ways of highlighting issues of social and theological significance.” (Page 2047)

“The recapitulation indicates the end of the interpolated section and reemphasizes the legal distinction between human life and the life of animals.” (Page 269)

“On the law of talion, or ‘eye-for-eye’ principle, for bodily harm, see Exod. 21:23–25, where monetary compensation equivalent to the damages is meant (see v. 22). Rabbinic law interprets our text and Deut. 19:21 in the same fashion, but from the formulation of v. 20 it would seem that in Leviticus the literal sense is intended.” (Page 269)

“In the Tanakh, faith does not mean believing in spite of the evidence. It means trusting profoundly in a person, in this case the personal God who has reiterated His promise.” (Page 35)

Praise for the Print Edition

Another superb holiday gift, especially appropriate for non-Orthodox Jews, is The Jewish Study Bible from Oxford University Press, which finally stands alongside the many verse-by-verse commentaries for Christians. This work also is recommended for serious-minded Christian readers.

—Associated Press

The Jewish Study Bible encompasses a monumental assembly of critical learning and acumen, representing the achievement of an entire generation of Jewish scholars. The commentaries are not only erudite but purposeful and theologically alert. A heroic undertaking, brilliantly conceived and executed with panache.

—Jacob Neusner, research professor of theology and senior fellow, Institute of Advanced Theology, Bard College

Serious students of Judaism will want to have a copy of this outstanding and surprisingly affordable study Bible, which stands in the tradition of Oxford’s great study Bibles.

—Publishers Weekly, Religion Bookline

Product Details

• Title: The Jewish Study Bible
• Authors: Adele Berlin, Marc Zvi Brettler, Michael Fishbane
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Print Publication Date: 2004
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Pages: 2208
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. › Commentaries
• Resource ID: LLS:JSB
• Resource Type: Study Bible
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-01-16T19:18:43Z

About the Editors

Adele Berlin is Robert H. Smith Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Maryland. She is the author of three biblical commentaries and Biblical Poetry through Medieval Jewish Eyes.

Marc Zvi Brettler is Dora Golding Professor of Biblical Literature in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. He is the associate editor of The New Oxford Annotated Bible.

Michael Fishbane, one of the foremost Hebrew Bible scholars in the world today, is the Nathan Cummings Professor of Jewish Studies and chair of the Committee on Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago.