4.0184 Old Testament Translations (3/39)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Thu, 14 Jun 90 17:39:48 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0184. Thursday, 14 Jun 1990.


(1) Date: Wed, 13 Jun 90 20:54 EDT (20 lines)
From: ACOOPER@UCBEH
Subject: Re: 4.0176 Responses on Maimonides and on OT Translations

(2) Date: Wed, 13 Jun 90 16:32 PDT (12 lines)
From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@UCLAMVS.BITNET>
Subject: Re: 4.0176 Responses on Maimonides and on OT Translations

(3) Date: Wed, 13 Jun 90 22:58 MST (7 lines)
From: JONATHAN KANDELL <KANDELL@rvax.ccit.arizona.edu>
Subject: Best old testament translations?

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 90 20:54 EDT
From: ACOOPER@UCBEH
Subject: Re: 4.0176 Responses on Maimonides and on OT Translations

This is merely to second Dr. Mason's remarks about English translations
of the Hebrew Bible. Some ancillary aids are becoming available that
make use of the Jewish Publication Society Tanakh. The Union of
American Hebrew Congregations has produced an elegant commentary on the
Pentateuch, edited by Gunther Plaut, that uses JPS as its base text.
And JPS itself is pro- ducing a commentary on the Pentateuch based on
the translation; one hopes that they will be encouraged to move on to
the rest of the Bible. Three volumes have appeared to date (Genesis, by
Nahum Sarna; Leviticus, by Baruch Levine; Numbers, by Jacob Milgrom--the
latter two are unquestionably the finest commentaries in English on
their respective books). One of the great virtues of using JPS with
undergraduates (as I did for many years at McMaster University) is that
it stimulates them to appreciate the integrity of the Hebrew/Jewish
Bible; it is not merely an "Old" Testament, requiring the New in order
to be made whole. Alan Cooper, ACOOPER@UCBEH, Hebrew Union College,
Cincinnati.
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------207---
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 90 16:32 PDT
From: KESSLER <IME9JFK@UCLAMVS.BITNET>
Subject: Re: 4.0176 Responses on Maimonides and on OT Translations

And for the professor's resource: the ongoing, volume by volume critical
edition called the Anchor Bible, with nearly thirty volumes out. Not
cheap: I have subscribed since the beginning, and the volumes run
about 16.95$ now, but line by line with current annotation from all the
best sources, archaeology and so forth. Two shelves now available,
each colume done by a separate editor or editors. For your LIbrary to
buy? or you to subscribe? Kessler at UCLA

(3) --------------------------------------------------------------17----
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 90 22:58 MST
From: JONATHAN KANDELL <KANDELL@rvax.ccit.arizona.edu>
Subject: Best old testament translations?

Can anyone out there familiar with secular biblical studies tell me what
are generally considered the best english translations of the Old
Testament?