Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page i JPS GUIDE THE JEWISH BIBLE Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page ii The JPS Project Team Project Editor and Publishing Director Carol Hupping Assistant Editor Julia Oestreich Managing Editor Janet Liss Production Manager Robin Norman Researcher and Writer Julie Pelc Copyeditor Debra Corman Project Advisory Board Shalom Paul Fred Greenspahn Ziony Zevit Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page iii JPS GUIDE THE JEWISH BIBLE 2008 • 5768 Philadelphia The Jewish Publication Society Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page iv JPS is a nonprofit educational association and the oldest and foremost publisher of Judaica in English in North America. The mission of JPS is to enhance Jewish culture by promoting the dissemination of religious and secular works, in the United States and abroad, to all individuals and institutions interested in past and contemporary Jewish life. Copyright © 2008 by The Jewish Publication Society First edition. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, except for brief passages in connection with a critical review, without permission in writing from the publisher: The Jewish Publication Society 2100 Arch Street, 2nd floor Philadelphia, PA 19103 www.jewishpub.org Design and Composition by Masters Group Design Manufactured in the United States of America 08 09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data JPS guide : the Jewish Bible. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8276-0851-1 (alk. paper) 1. Bible. O.T.--Introductions. BS1140.3J67 2008 221.6'1--dc22 2008010794 JPS books are available at discounts for bulk purchases for reading groups, special sales, and fundraising purchases. Custom editions, including personalized covers, can be created in larger quantities for special needs. For more information, please contac tus at [email protected] or at this address: 2100 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page v Contents VII • Acknowledgments IX • Abbreviations for the Books of the Bible 1 • What Is the Bible? 13 • How the Bible Became “the Bible” 19 • The Origins of the Hebrew Bible Text 25 • The Torah Scroll 29 • Public Reading of the Torah 33 • A Short History of Bible Translations 51 • The Matter of Gender in the JPS Torah Translation 57 • Storytelling in the Bible 69 • Biblical Law 77 • Biblical Poetry 91 • The Books of the Prophets 97 • Wisdom Literature 107 • Methods of Bible Study 121 • Commentaries on the Bible 153 • Midrash 169 • Summaries of the Books of the Bible 217 • Glossary 246 • Family Tree of the Torah 248 • Weights and Measures in the Bible 251 • Timeline of Biblical Events 258 • Chronology of the Prophets 259 • Chronology of the Monarchies 260 • Familiar Quotations from the Bible 263 • Maps of Biblical Lands 272 • A Short List of Recommended Books and Websites 277 • Bibliography of Works Cited 280 • Contributors 282 • Index Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page vi Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page vii Acknowledgments his volume began with a simple idea: to create a concise companion to the Bible. But that led to a not-so-simple question: How does one develop a T guide that is worthy of accompanying such a complex book and keep it short and uncomplicated? A book based on scholarship without being “scholarly”? For JPS, which prides itself on publishing scholarly books, especially ones about the Bible, this was a challenge. Fortunately, we had some excellent resources right at JPS, and some fine people to call on to help. We invited scholars—those who wrote for the JPS Bible commentaries and for Etz Hayim, who advised on the JPS TANAKH, and who contributed to The Contemporary Torah—as well as educators and librarians, to tell us what they thought should be in such a guide. Some of these people also contributed chapters to complement the new pieces we commissioned. And we had a first-rate advisory board whose members read every word and made invaluable suggestions throughout the manuscript’s development. With such excellent help, The Jewish Bible: A JPS Guide is what it set out to be: an introduction and compact reference to the most fascinating and influential vii book of all time. We very much want to thank JPS CEO and editor-in-chief Ellen Frankel, for supporting us each step of the way; she has been our cheerleader and guide, encouraging us to turn a promising idea into a real book and setting high standards for it. And it was our three advisers who helped us strive to meet these standards. Thank you senior adviser Shalom Paul, and advisers Frederick Greenspahn and Ziony Zevit for your wise counsel and for generously giving us so much of your time in reviewing outlines and drafts, final manuscripts, map sketches, and more. We are indebted to Marc Brettler, for giving us access to material from his book How to Read the Bible. And to all the others who contributed their knowledge and writings: Adele Berlin, Joyce Eisenberg, Michael Fishbane, Michael Fox, Leonard Greenspoon, Jill Hammer, Nahum Sarna, Stuart Kelman, Adriane Leveen, David Mandel, Lionel Moses, Adele Reinhartz, Benjamin Scolnic, Ellen Scolnic, David Stein, Jeffrey Tigay, Barry Walfish, and Andrea Weiss. Thank you Cullen Schippe, Chuck Stetson, and the Pflaum Publishing Group, for permission to excerpt from The Bible and Its Influence; Don Kraus and Oxford University Press, for an excerpt from The Jewish Study Bible; and Keter Publishing House, for permission to adapt from “Poetry” in Encyclopaedia Judaica. Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page viii The Jewish Bible We are grateful to Sharon Liberman Mintz, the curator of Jewish art of the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, for opening up JTS’s extensive archives to us; to Paul LoBue and his design team for creating our maps; and to series designer Lisa Weinberger for her stylish layout and color scheme. At the outset Julie Pelc helped us get this project jump-started, poring through her personal library and that of the American Jewish University, making suggestions, and writing early drafts. Julia Oestreich picked up where Julie left off, researching so many topics, preparing boxes, finalizing charts and tables, directing map work, gathering art, and doing with great competence dozens of other tasks to prepare for production. JPS interns Robyn Weiss, Rachel Maimin, and Miriam Newman devoted part of their summer to this project. And Karen Schnitker took time out of her other JPS work to do research and writing as well. Many thanks, too, to copyeditor Debra Corman, whose keen knowledge of judaica was such an asset; to sharp-eyed proofreader Candace Levy; and indexer Mark Lautman. And of course, to production manager Robin Norman and managing editor Janet Liss, who together oversaw the final, critical stages of quality control and kept us all on track and in good humor. viii Carol Hupping Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page ix Abbreviations for the Books of the Bible Amos Amos 1 Chron. 1 Chronicles 2 Chron. 2 Chronicles Dan. Daniel Deut. Deuteronomy Eccles. Ecclesiastes Esther Esther Exod. Exodus Ezek. Ezekiel Ezra Ezra Gen. Genesis Hab. Habakkuk Hag. Haggai Hosea Hosea Isa. Isaiah Jer. Jeremiah Job Job Joel Joel ix Jon. Jonah Josh. Joshua Judg. Judges 1 Kings 1 Kings 2 Kings 2 Kings Lam. Lamentations Lev. Leviticus Mal. Malachi Mic. Micah Nah. Nahum Neh. Nehemiah Num. Numbers Obad. Obadiah Prov. Proverbs Ps. Psalms Ruth Ruth 1 Sam. 1 Samuel 2 Sam. 2 Samuel Songs Song of Songs Zech. Zechariah Zeph. Zephaniah Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page x Bible 5/19/08 4:59 PM Page 1 What Is the Bible? he word “Bible” derives from the Greek biblia, meaning “books.” By its very name, “the Bible” refers to “the collection of books”—that is, the one Tthat is deemed to be authoritative, or canonical. Different communities have different Bibles. For Christians, the Bible includes the New Testament; for Jews it does not. To distinguish the Jewish Bible from the Christian Bible, people have suggested a variety of names for it. Christians typically call it the Old Testament, where “testament” is an archaic way of referring to a contract (“covenant”). This name is based on a prophecy in Jeremiah that states: “See, a time is coming—declares the LORD—when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, though I espoused them—declares the LORD” (31:31–32). Early Christian tradition understood this passage as a prophecy about a new covenant, centered around Jesus, which replaces the old Mosaic one. This led to the terms “New Testament” 1 and “Old Testament.” Jews, however, view the original covenant as still operative. For this reason, Jews have tended to reject the term “Old Testament.” Many simply call this body of literature “the Bible.” For religious Jews, this name is by definition appropriate: these are “the books” that are authoritative. Academic scholars, meanwhile, generally prefer not to take sides in the debate as to which covenant with God is in force. Therefore, in scholarly circles, the more neutral terms “Hebrew Bible” or “Jewish Scripture(s)” have gained currency. Admittedly, the first term is slightly imprecise, because some passages of the Bible are not in Hebrew but rather in Aramaic, a related Semitic language.