The Jewish Study Bible Quotes

“Do not imagine that you, of all the Jews, will escape with your life by being in the king’s palace. 14On the contrary, if you keep silent in this crisis, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another quarter, while you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows, perhaps you have attained to royal position for just such a crisis.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“41Then Moses set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan 42to which a manslayer could escape, one who unwittingly slew a fellow man without having been hostile to him in the past; he could flee to one of these cities and live: 43Bezer, in the wilderness in the Tableland, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth, in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; and Golan, in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“the book of genesis received its English name from the Greek translation of the Heb word toledot, which is used thirteen times in Genesis and is translated as “story” (2.4), “record” (5.1), or “line” (10.1). In Heb, it is known, like many books in the Tanakh, by its first word, bereshit, which means, “In the beginning.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“We must all die; we are like water that is poured on the ground and cannot be gathered up.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

“28 You are my God and I will praise You; You are my God and I will extol You. 29 Praise the Lord for He is good, His steadfast love is eternal.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“in Sheol there is no retribution and all its inhabitants are equal, without regard to their former status or behavior in life. Raising up from Sheol, a common biblical motif, does not refer to resurrection from death—a later belief as well—but to deliverance from near death (seePs.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“David attacked a region, he would leave no man or woman alive; he would take flocks, herds, asses, camels, and clothing. When he returned and came* to Achish, 10Achish would ask, “Where* did you raid today?” and David would reply, “The Negeb* of Judah,” or “the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or “the Negeb of the Kenites.” 11David would leave no man or woman alive to be brought to Gath; for he thought, “They might tell about us: David did this.” Such was his practice as long as he stayed in the territory of the Philistines.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“18 1When [David] finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan’s soul became bound up with the soul of David; Jonathan loved David as himself.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“23Whenever the [evil] spirit of God came upon Saul, David would take the lyre and play it;a Saul would find relief and feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“21Finally, don’t pay attention to everything that is said, so that you may not hear your slave reviling you; 22for well you remember* the many times that you yourself have reviled others.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“there is not one good man on earth who does what is best* and doesn’t err.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“15In my own brief span of life, I have seen both these things: sometimes a good man perishes in spite of his goodness, and sometimes a wicked one endures in spite of his wickedness. 16So don’t overdo goodness and don’t act the wise man to excess, or you may be dumfounded. 17Don’t overdo wickedness and don’t be a fool, or you may die before your time. 18It is best that you grasp the one without letting go of the other, for one who fears God will do his duty* by both.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“6 1The Ark of the Lord remained in the territory of the Philistines seven months.* 2Then the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and asked, “What shall we do about the Ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it off to its own place.” 3They answered, “If you are going to send the Ark of the God of Israel away, do not send it away without anything; you must also pay an indemnity to Him. Then you will be healed, and *He will make Himself known to you; otherwise His hand will not turn away from you.”-a 4They asked, “What is the indemnity that we should pay to Him?” They answered, “Five golden hemorrhoids and five golden mice, corresponding to the number of lords of the Philistines; for the same plague struck all of you* and your lords. 5You shall make figures of your hemorrhoids and of the mice that are ravaging your land; thus you shall honor the God of Israel, and perhaps He will lighten the weight of His hand upon you and your gods and your land.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“5 1When the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. 2The Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the temple of Dagon and they set it up beside Dagon. 3Early the next day, the Ashdodites found Dagon lying face down on the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord. They picked Dagon up and put him back in his place; 4but early the next morning, Dagon was again lying prone on the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord. The head and both hands of Dagon were cut off, lying on the threshold; only *Dagon’s trunk was left intact.-a 5That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod. 6The hand of the Lord lay heavy upon the Ashdodites, and He wrought havoc among them: He struck *Ashdod and its territory-b with hemorrhoids. 7When the men of Ashdod saw how matters stood, they said, “The Ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand has dealt harshly with us and with our god Dagon.” 8They sent messengers and assembled all the lords of the Philistines and asked, “What shall we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the Ark of the God of Israel be removed to Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel [to Gath]. 9And after they had moved it, the hand of the Lord came against the city, causing great panic; He struck the people of the city, young and old, so that hemorrhoids a-broke out-a among them.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“2 1And Hannah prayed: My heart exults in the Lord; *I have triumphed-a through the Lord. *I gloat-b over my enemies; I rejoice in Your deliverance. 2 There is no holy one like the Lord, Truly, there is none beside You; There is no rock like our God. 3 Talk no more with lofty pride, Let no arrogance cross your lips! For the Lord is an all-knowing God; By Him actions are measured. 4 The bows of the mighty are broken, And the faltering are girded with strength. 5 Men once sated must hire out for bread; Men once hungry hunger no more. While the barren woman bears seven, The mother of many is forlorn. 6 The Lord deals death and gives life, Casts down into Sheol and raises up. 7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He casts down, He also lifts high. 8 He raises the poor from the dust, Lifts up the needy from the dunghill, Setting them with nobles, Granting them seats of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s; He has set the world upon them. 9 He guards the steps of His faithful, But the wicked perish in darkness— For not by strength shall man prevail. 10 The foes of the Lord shall be shattered; He will thunder against them in the heavens. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to His king, *And triumph to-c His anointed one.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“the books of samuel were originally one book. In the Septuagint (LXX) it was divided into two, owing to its length, and the Christian tradition followed this division. In Hebrew Bibles used by the Jewish community, this division was not accepted until the 15th century, under the influence of the Vulgate. Following a pattern found in some other biblical books, which end with the death of a main character, the division in the book of Samuel was made at the point of Saul’s death.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“4And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought the Ephraimites. The men of Gilead defeated the Ephraimites; for *they had said, “You Gileadites are nothing but fugitives from Ephraim—being in Manasseh is like being in Ephraim.”-a 5The Gileadites held the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any fugitive from Ephraim said, “Let me cross,” the men of Gilead would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?”; if he said “No,” 6they would say to him, “Then say shibboleth”; but he would say “sibboleth,” not being able to pronounce it correctly. Thereupon they would seize him and slay him by the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimites fell at that time.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“5So he took the troops down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Set apart all those who *lap up the water with their tongues like dogs-f from all those who get down on their knees to drink.” 6Now those who “lapped” the water into their mouths by hand numbered three hundred; all the rest of the troops got down on their knees to drink. 7Then the Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you and I will put Midian into your hands through the three hundred ‘lappers’; let the rest of the troops go home.” 8d-So [the lappers] took the provisions and horns that the other men had with them,-d and he sent the rest of the men of Israel back to their homes, retaining only the three hundred men.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“Most blessed of women be Jael, Wife of Heber the Kenite, Most blessed of women in tents. 25 He asked for water, she offered milk; In a princely bowl she brought him curds. 26 Her [left] hand reached for the tent pin, Her right for the workmen’s hammer. She struck Sisera, crushed his head, Smashed and pierced his temple. 27 At her feet he sank, lay outstretched, At her feet he sank, lay still; Where he sank, there he lay—destroyed.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“Arise, O Barak; Take your captives, O son of Abinoam!”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“12Sisera was informed that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13So Sisera ordered all his chariots—nine hundred iron chariots—and all the troops he had to move from Harosheth-goiim to the Wadi Kishon. 14Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! This is the day on which the Lord will deliver Sisera into your hands: the Lord is marching before you.” Barak charged down Mount Tabor, followed by the ten thousand men, 15and the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and army into a panic *before the onslaught of Barak.-c”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“16So Ehud made for himself a two-edged dagger, a gomed in length, which he girded on his right side under his cloak. 17He presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very stout man. 18When [Ehud] had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had conveyed the tribute. 19But he himself returned from Pesilim, near Gilgal, and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” [Eglon] thereupon commanded, “Silence!” So all those in attendance left his presence; 20and when Ehud approached him, he was sitting alone in his cool upper chamber. Ehud said, “I have a message for you from God”; whereupon he rose from his seat. 21Reaching with his left hand, Ehud drew the dagger from his right side and drove it into [Eglon’s]* belly. 22The fat closed over the blade and the hilt went in after the blade—for he did not pull the dagger out of his belly—and the filth* came out.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“3 1*These are the nations that the Lord left so that He might might test by them all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars of Canaan, 2so that succeeding generations of Israelites might be made to experience war—but only those who had not known the *former wars:-c 3the five principalities* of the Philistines and all the Canaanites, Sidonians, and Hivites who inhabited the hill country of the Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath.* 4These served as a means of testing Israel, to learn whether they would obey the commandments which the Lord had enjoined upon their fathers through Moses.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“The historical background of this dispute could be the 5th c. bce debate over whether or not the Transjordanians, headed by Tobiah, were a part of the community centered in Jerusalem (Neh. 2.10, 19, 20; 13.1–9). Alternately, the Transjordan community may represent all those who live outside of Israel, and the story aims to teach that in order for them to retain their identity and ties with Israel they must not conduct sacrificial practices elsewhere,”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“Gilgal is connected to the verb “roll” (“g-l-l”), perhaps to undermine the original connotation of a circle of standing stones, seen as forbidden divine images”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“13I have given you a land for which you did not labor and towns which you did not build, and you have settled in them; you are enjoying vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. 14“Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve Him with undivided loyalty; put away the gods that your forefathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“20 When they had finished dividing the land, 1the Lord said to Joshua: 2“Speak to the Israelites: Designate the cities of refuge—about which I commanded you through Moses—3to which a manslayer who kills a person by mistake, unintentionally, may flee. They shall serve you as a refuge from the blood avenger. 4He shall flee to one of those cities, present himself at the entrance to the city gate, and plead his case before the elders of that city; and they shall admit him into the city and give him a place in which to live among them. 5Should the blood avenger pursue him, they shall not hand the manslayer over to him, since he killed the other person without intent and had not been his enemy in the past. 6He shall live in that city until he can stand trial before the assembly, [and remain there] until the death of the high priest who is in office at that time. Thereafter, the manslayer may go back to his home in his own town, to the town from which he fled.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“12On that occasion, when the Lord routed the Amorites before the Israelites, Joshua addressed the Lord; he said in the presence of the Israelites: “Stand still, O sun, at Gibeon, O moon, in the Valley of Aijalon!” 13 And the sun stood still And the moon halted, While a nation wreaked judgment on its foes”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“10Encamped at Gilgal, in the steppes of Jericho, the Israelites offered the passover sacrifice on the fourteenth day of the month, toward evening. 11On the day after the passover offering, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the country, unleavened bread and parched grain. 12On that same day,* when they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased. The Israelites got no more manna; that year they ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible

“The story of the conquest and settlement as it now appears in the book of Joshua is a literary, ideological construct, the result of many editions, revisions, and additions, reflecting changing concepts of the fulfillment of the divine promise of the land over a long period of time.”
― Adele Berlin, The Jewish Study Bible