Reading the Hebrew Bible: Two Millennia of Jewish Biblical Commentary

by Yaakov Elman

The Hebrew Bible, sacred scripture both to Judaism and to Christianity, has been a major religious influence for atleast 2000 years. Christianity, the daughter religion, asserted its independence from Judaism, the parent religion, by asserting the superiority of its won interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. As a result, Christians tend to be unfamiliar with Jewish biblical commentary. In the case of Islam, a younger daughter religion, Jewish commentary and the Bible itself have been ignored. Today, however, the situation is beginning to change, and many non-Jews are beginning to appreciate the potential of Jewish commentary for enhancing their understanding of the Bible. For such readers, and for Jews as well, Reading the Hebrew Bible is the perfect introduction to Jewish biblical commentary and commentators down through the ages. A through survey of the history of Jewish involvement with the Book of Books, it focuses in particular on the two basic approaches that have characterized Jewish biblical commentary almost from the beginning: a concern with the plain sense of the text, and an awareness of the Bible as a revealed work.

Paperback

Published June 1, 2005

About the author

Yaakov Elman was an American Judaic scholar.