Complete Jewish Bible : An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'Rit Hadashah (New Testament)

I am a Christian and have done many Bible studies and own many different versions of the Bible. All of them bring something slightly different to the study. This one blows my mind. It is completely new and exciting. I love that the books are in the order that Jesus (Yeshua) knew them to be...well old testament that is. Names of towns are also in Hebrew. The author gives a wonderful Introduction and history of how this CJB came to be and how the Bible in general can be trusted as true. I first received this size print of the book. Getting older it was too small so I returned and reordered it in the Large print edition. The days it was gone I was missing it. I am interested in my Jewish roots...being grafted into the vine all things Jewish attract me. It is wonderful having the names of people in Hebrew just as Jesus would have said and read them. It has a great pronunciation and dictionary in the back for quick reference on how to say the hebrew words and for some a definition. I love that the focus is on Messianic prophesy. This is going to be my favorite reading Bible. Probably not the one I carry to church as the order of the books is so different I'd be slow getting to the page we are on. I highly recommend this to anyone seeking to know the God of All. Jews and Gentiles.

This was the third book published by David Stern, a Messianic Jewish scholar. Analyzing the field of Messianic apologetics, Prof. Stern first intended to publish a New Testament commentary that corrected many doctrinal errors that have long been believed in the Christian Church: to wit, the replacement theology that was introduced by the Church Fathers beginning from the early 3rd century BCE - that the Jewish people were God's Plan A, but they failed and became "Christ-killers", and that the Church has replaced them as the "new Israel". Prof. Stern wanted to correct these errors and bring a fresh understanding to many misunderstood NT writings. Unfortunately, none of the then current NT translations would suffice. All had serious errors because of the anti-Jewish biases of the translators. For example, James 2:2 reads in a typical translation, "For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly...(NRSV), but the word translated "assembly" is quite literally the Greek word "synagogue", and is so translated EVERY OTHER PLACE in the NT. It seems that no translator can bring themselves to say that an assembly of people honoring Jesus as the Messiah would ever call themselves a "synagogue". Because of this, Prof. Stern decided that his first book would be a fresh translation of the NT from the Greek that would, in his words, "express the Jewishness of the NT" and show that this document was in fact a Jewish book, written almost entirely BY Jews (Luke in all probability being a full proselyte to Judaism), FOR Jews, and that it gives NO Biblical grounds for anti-semitism. His next book was a NT commentary addressing many of his variant renderings in terms of Scriptural support. Then, due to popular demand in the Messianic community, He came out with this volume. Combining his Jewish NT with a modernized paraphrase of the 1917 JPS Holy Scriptures (the Tanakh/OT), he produced a combined volume suitable for devotional use and useful as well for following the traditional Torah cycle, in which the entirety of the five books of Moses are read in the course of the year. Jewish New Testament Commentary: A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament

Regarding this version (as in the contents) of the Bible: This is an excellent Bible to own. The wording is more relaxed and natural when compared against the NKJ or other "old English" versions but it doesn't go to the extreme of paraphrasing like the Living Bible. (As a sidenote, I think that the Living Bible is a great introduction Bible for children or youth groups because of how simplified the concepts are. But you'd definitely want to upgrade to a Bible like the CJB for a more in-depth experience.) It's translated directly from the original languages instead of from another translation although some words and most names are not translated. A few examples: You'll read Yeshua instead of Jesus, Yochanan the Immerser instead of John the Baptist and Ruach Hakodesh instead of the Holy Spirit. Luckily there's an explanation at the beginning as to why this was intentionally done and a dictionary at the back to translate these terms. Regarding this printed book: This is a hardback "book" without any of the classic indentations or tabs which allows one to easily locate books. You can always purchase tabs independently. I have seen the CJB in other formats including the "classic" Bible look: black leatherish cover, soft backed instead of hard backed and the pages gradually indent to display the book abbreviations. The other formats are not sold on Amazon at the time of this review. I am not sure where to purchase it. Your local Christian bookstore should be able to order it. Regarding the Kindle version: I bought the Kindle version of this book. Unlike normal books that you read from start to finish, one usually jumps around in a Bible. Especially during religious services. It's very difficult to navigate to a specific verse in the Kindle version. I honestly don't recommend it because of that.

As a teenage "Catholic", I was looking into the protestant faith because I didn't understand why the Roman teachings influenced the Catholic Church so much. I recently discovered that I have some Jewish Roots as both of my grandparents on my mothers side(which died while I was young) were Jewish and my mom was a convert to Catholicism which I never knew. I set out to read more about being Jewish and whatnot and discovered that it is a beautiful religion and even started talking to my parents about attending a synagogue. I then contacted a Orthodox Jewish synagogue and they explained to me that I was already Jewish and that I would just have to be circumcised and whatnot else. I had a bad feeling about going to a service and on that same day as I was doing some research I came across Messianic Judaism. It combined my belief in Yeshua and in Atonai. I proceeded to read about how it came to be and what it was and I discovered that it was a beautiful religion and so I began to search for an appropriate "messianic" bible to compare to my parents Catholic Bible(NRSV–CE). I bought this bible for that purpose and the translation is beautiful and I like how it includes Hebrew names instead of the translated English names. It has helped me a lot on my path. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Yeshua bless you.

The Complete Jewish Bible : An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'rit Hadashah (New Testament) / Translated by David Stern. Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. 1998. pp lv, 1630. ill. (maps). Includes Index. Bibliographic References. [on verso: "Published by Messianic Jewish Publishers"] Unless one is trained in biblical languages (Hebrew, Koine Greek, and Aramaic) the Scriptures (both Jewish and Christian) are only accessible through translations. Yet, not every translation is of equal use in every situation. There are some translations that are good for academic study and homiletic work (interlinear, and word-for-word translations), some are appropriate for devotional and personal reading (paraphrases, thought-for-thought), some are appropriate for public proclamation in liturgical settings, and some translations can fulfill more than one. The Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) translated by Dr. David Stern -former professor of economics at UCLA and now a mentor of Messianic Judaism in Israel- is a multipurpose translation designed for personal use, study, and public proclamation in synagogue "by Messianic Jews and by Christians open to experiencing the Jewishness of their faith" (p xiii). The CJB "is the only English version of the Bible fully Jewish in style and presentation that includes both the Tanakh ("Old Testament") and the B'rit Hadashah ("New Testament"). (from the Introduction, p xii), yet even this work is not a translation for everyone. It is not, for instance a translation for Jews who do not accept the messiahship (yet alone the divinity) of Yeshua, nor is it suitably deployed in critical scholarship. It is, however, suitable for anyone who wants immerse themselves in the flavor of Judaism as lived by Jesus. The CJB is a good companion volume to other translations, but should not normally (except possibly by Messianic Jews) be used as a stand alone translation. As even Dr. Stern admits, being the product of single translator, there are bound to be errors in translation or transcription that a committee of translators working together would overcome. Fair warning: The CJB was not conceived as a single whole. It incorporates an earlier work "The Jewish New Testament" (published in 1989), and the commitment to bring the JNT and a compatibly paraphrased (non-Christian) Tanakh together under a single cover came later, which helps to explain some minor inconsistencies in the two sets of texts. (xiii). The Tanakh as rendered here is "something between a translation and a paraphrase" using the 1917 JPS text (now in public domain) as a base for modernization and presented in Hebrew order, with accompanying lists of the Christian Old Testament Order and Books of the Bible in Alphabetical Order. Aside from the biblical texts themselves, the CJB also includes a comprehensive introduction that provides the history of composition, intent, style, structure and use of the CJB, a glossary and a pronunciation guide, an index of Tanakh texts cited in the B'rit Hadashah, and maps of biblical Near East and Yeretz Yisrael, as well as an "About the Translator" on the back page. New readers may experience difficulty in reading and pronouncing words and names, and question Dr. Stern's choice to transliterate Hebrew names, idioms and certain expressions, but as with any repetition-induced familiarity, perseverance with the text will reward the reader with a richer appreciation for the language and culture of the Son of David. Some reviewers of the CJB condemn it as a deceptive tool of Christian evangelism, and thus an "unJewish" book. However, in evaluating the claims of a work, it is necessary as far as possible to know who the intended audience of the work is. It is not enough to read the body of the text without giving consideration to Forewords, Prefaces, and/or Introductions of a work. Likewise, other reviewers praise it as the best translation out there and consider it to be the only Bible needed. The meaning and beauty of the Scriptures, though, are not exhausted by any one translation or interpretation, no matter how contextualized -the fullest understanding (apart from reading it in the original languages) comes from a comparison of many translations, and close study of the texts. In this regard, the CJB is a fine addition to the reader, seeker, and interpreter's toolbox.

A+

This is a replacement bible. Glad to have found and purchased it.

This is my second copy. I have had a soft cover (paper) for over 10 years and have worn it out so it was time to get a new one. In this Bible the Old Testament is arranged the way it is in the Jewish Bible. I love the fact that the books of the Bible are written in the transliteration of the Hebrew names as are the names of the people. It is by far my Bible of choice, and as stated before, I have used the soft cover addition so much that I found it necessary to purchase a hard cover copy. In the back of the Bible you will find translations from the transliteration of Hebrew to English so you really do not get confused - infact you actually learn a bit of Hebrew as you go along...not that you might actually pronounce it correctly. I like this Bible so much that I am transfering some of my notes from my original copy to this one,

A tradução é excelente, a melhor de todas na minha opinião, mas o formato kindle não é bom. Simplesmente não é possível escolher o capítulo do livro que você quer ler, só o livro. Então ao clicar em qualquer livro, vai para o capítulo 1. Onde já se viu uma Bíblia em que não se pode escolher o capítulo do livro? Definitivamente, não vale o preço. É melhor comprar a de papel, sem comparação.

The best Bible which i ever have. Awesome, & I strongly recommend everyone to buy from Amazon.

with THIS. 他の英語聖書を読むならNKJV,TNIVになるだろうか。

I enjoy this man's writins, causes hunger to Arise. Good! Well Done

Questo libro è per me una grande benedizione, uno strumento utilissimo per lo studio delle Scritture e per la meditazione che nasce dallo studio stesso. Lo consiglio a tutti coloro che vogliono diventare o sono già discepoli di Cristo (Yeshua). Dio Vi Benedica. claudio