The Bible With and Without Jesus
How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently
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- USD 11.99
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- USD 11.99
Publisher Description
The editors of The
Jewish Annotated New Testament show how and why
Jews and Christians read many of the same Biblical texts – including passages
from the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Psalms – differently. Exploring and
explaining these diverse perspectives, they reveal more clearly Scripture’s
beauty and power.
Esteemed Bible scholars and teachers Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler take
readers on a guided tour of the most popular Hebrew Bible passages quoted in
the New Testament to show what the texts meant in their original contexts and
then how Jews and Christians, over time, understood those same texts. Passages include
the creation of the world, the role of Adam and Eve, the Suffering Servant of
Isiah, the book of Jonah, and Psalm 22, whose words, “My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me,” Jesus quotes as he dies on the cross.
Comparing various interpretations –
historical, literary, and theological - of each ancient text, Levine and
Brettler offer deeper understandings of the original narratives and their many
afterlives. They show how the text speaks to different generations under
changed circumstances, and so illuminate the Bible’s ongoing significance. By
understanding the depth and variety by which these passages have been, and can
be, understood, The Bible With and Without Jesus does more than enhance
our religious understandings, it helps us to see the Bible as a source of
inspiration for any and all readers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Levine (Short Stories by Jesus) and Brettler (How to Read the Jewish Bible), editors of The Jewish Annotated New Testament, aim to foster better understanding between Jews and Christians in this impeccable volume examining well-known passages from Israel's scriptures that are important to the New Testament. Stories they examine include the creation of the world, the Garden of Eden, and Jonah's prophetic mission. For familiar texts such as "an eye for an eye" and "the virgin shall conceive and bear a son," the authors trace how they were interpreted at different times by ancient Israelites, New Testament authors, postbiblical Jews, and later Christians. For example, viewing Adam and Eve as misguided actors requires "a code of conduct, and so we have the Jewish Torah, which helps to harness the evil inclination" but if the story is considered "a narrative of a fall, then we require a narrative of a redemption, and so we have the Christian story." The effect is often one of appreciation of the influence of translation choices for example, Isaiah refers to an "almah," literally meaning a young woman in Hebrew, but the Septuagint, which rendered the Bible in Greek, chose to translate it as "parthenos," a term affiliated with virgin birth. This remarkable, accessible study will appeal to anyone interested in the Hebrew Bible.
