Commentary on the Torah - Softcover

Friedman, Richard Elliott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060507179 ISBN 13: 9780060507176

Publisher: HarperOne, 2003

Synopsis

In this groundbreaking and insightful new commentary, one of the world's leading biblical scholars unveils the unity and continuity of the Torah for the modern reader. Richard Elliott Friedman, the bestselling author of Who Wrote the Bible?, integrates the most recent discoveries in biblical archaeology and research with the fruits of years of experience studying and teaching the Bible to illuminate the straightforward meaning of the text -- "to shed new light on the Torah and, more important, to open windows through which it sheds its light on us."

While other commentaries are generally collections of comments by a number of scholars, this is a unified commentary on the Torah by a single scholar, the most unified by a Jewish scholar in centuries. It includes the original Hebrew text, a new translation, and an authoritative, accessibly written interpretation and analysis of each passage that remains focused on the meaning of the Torah as a whole, showing how its separate books are united into one cohesive, all-encompassing sacred literary masterpiece. This landmark work is destined to take its place as a classic in the libraries of lay readers and scholars alike, as we seek to understand the significance of the scriptural texts for our lives today, and for years to come.

About this title

Review:

Commentary on the Torah by Richard Elliot Friedman includes the original Hebrew text of the Torah, a complete new translation of these five books of the Bible, and commentary that aims to show how each passage illuminates the Torah as a whole. Friedman's massive project invites comparison with the legendary commentary written by Rashi, which has served as the standard work of its kind for almost 1,000 years. This new commentary draws on recent archeological discoveries, medieval commentaries, and modern textual scholarship "to shed new light on the Torah, and, more important, to open windows through which it sheds its light on us." The book also continues Friedman's ongoing project of making serious religious scholarship accessible to the general reader (as did his previous works, including Who Wrote the Bible and The Hidden Face of God). To that end, it is organized not only with chapter and verse markings, but also by traditional weekly synagogue readings. This textual organization, combined with Friedman's relentless focus on the text's meaning for faithful lay readers, makes his Commentary an ideal resource for synagogue and church study groups, as well as a necessary reference work for individual students of religion. --Michael Joseph Gross

About the Author:

RICHARD ELLIOTT FRIEDMAN is one of the premier bible scholars in the country. He earned his doctorate at Harvard and was a visiting fellow at Oxford and Cambridge, a Senior Fellow of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Jerusalem, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Haifa. He is the Ann & Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia and the Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization Emeritus of the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of Commentary on the Torah, The Disappearance of God, The Hidden Book in the Bible, The Bible with Sources Revealed, The Bible Now, The Exile and Biblical Narrative, the bestselling Who Wrote the Bible?, and most recently, The Exodus. He was an American Council of Learned Societies Fellow and was elected to membership in The Biblical Colloquium. His books have been translated into Hebrew, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Polish, Hungarian, Dutch, Portuguese, Czech, Turkish, Korean, and French. He was a consultant for the Dreamworks film The Prince of Egypt, for Alice Hoffman's The Dovekeepers, and for NBC, A&E, PBS, and Nova.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060507179
• ISBN 13: 9780060507176
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 704