A goodTorah?

[WhoKnows777]

Hi all I would like to buy a good English translation of the Torah. Can anybody make a good recommendation? Thanks, Dirk.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Not sure. I use a couple of online sources for the OT.....

The Mesoretic is a good translation but other people may have some better ones. Here's the link.
Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre

I also like this site and I use it as a cross reference.
Introduction and menu

Anyway....I hope this helps...

Oh...where are my manners.....? I forgot to welcome you.

How about some frubals to start you on your way.....?

 

[WhoKnows777]

Thanks very much Penguin.

 

[elisheba]

Etz Hayim is used in many synagogues. It also has excellent commentary.

 

[Poisonshady313]

I'm a fan of the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash. Plenty of great commentary.

 

[Harmonious]

Another nice one is The Living Torah, with the translation by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

This question is asked repeatedly. I would strongly recommend the The JPS Torah Commentary and consider the above two options extremely poor choices laden with Orthodox interpretation.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre

It is not for nothing that the JPS has moved beyond its 1917 Edition. By the way, this is a Jewish forum ...

 

[Dirty Penguin]

It is not for nothing that the JPS has moved beyond its 1917 Edition. By the way, this is a Jewish forum ...

I will take the edition revision under advisement.

I do apologize if it seemed as though I was budding in. I was merely offering a source for Hebrew Scripture. I meant no disrespect by it. Additionally, I only commented the one time and felt as though I was being very respectful to a question asked. I had been looking at a list of topics and saw his question. In the future I will pay more attention to where the topic is placed.....:sorry1:

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I will take the edition revision under advisement.

The newer translation (JPS, PLaut, Etz Hayim) is the one chosen by both the Reform and Conservative movements in the US, i.e., by the majority of this countries nonsecular Jews.

I do apologize if it seemed as though I was budding in. I was merely offering a source for Hebrew Scripture. I meant no disrespect by it.

I did not take it as being disrespectful. At the same time, both the post's title and location suggest that the author was seeking the opinion of Jews.

 

[Levite]

If I may jump in with something altogether different, I cannot recommend heartily enough Everett Fox's The Five Books of Moses, published by Schocken. Fox translates the Hebrew into verse, which is helpful in and of itself, given that most translations fail to let the reader know that the Hebrew text is deeply poetic. He also, IMHO, comes closest in sound or "feel" to the Hebrew, in ways that nobody else even approaches.

Some have found his text offputting, as it follows the patterning of the Hebrew rather than being cast into "proper" English. But I like it all the more for that reason: it causes the reader to stop and think, to reconsider carefully what they are reading, rather than presume that they know what it says and means, or presuming that it could only mean one thing and not another.

Also, his notes are excellent. He apprises the reader with due care about different translation choices, issues in language, possible re-understandings based on alternate textual traditions, and so forth.

I have consistently used Fox to teach my high school students, students for conversion, and other adult education pupils. It has always served me very well.

 

[arimoff]

artscroll editions are the best ones, they are highly recognized in the Jewish communities.

 

[vq40mastiff]

try your local book store.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

artscroll editions are the best ones, they are highly recognized in the Jewish communities.

The Artscroll Tanach is superb if you're interested in Orthodox interpretation -- I own it and I refer to it frequently. If, however, your interested in scholarly translation and commentary, this is one of the least appropriate texts to use.

To recommend Artscrolls is tantamount to encouraging Torah study with blinders on ...

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

If I may jump in with something altogether different, I cannot recommend heartily enough Everett Fox's The Five Books of Moses, published by Schocken.

Fox is excellent as is Robert Alter.

Let me suggest an exercise, one that will probably require going to a library ...

Get out the JPS with Plaut or Sarna commentary, the Artscroll Tanach, Fox, and Alter, along with any other rendition of Genesis you enjoy, and read the section describing how Ya'akov becomes Yisra'el. Read it along with all relevant notes and commentary, and jot down what you gained from each.​

You should come out of the exercise with a greater appreciation of the text, of the various translations, interpretations, and commentary, and of Torah study itself.

 

[Zardoz]

Bump, it's a good topic

 

[Levite]

Fox is excellent as is Robert Alter....

I heartily second Robert Alter. JPS Commentary is very good, though I find it, spiritually speaking, a bit dry. Though it pains me to say it (having been privileged to study with the late, great, Rabbi Dr. David Lieber z"l), I feel much the same about the Etz Hayim.

While I do concur that the Artscroll/Stone Tanach is an inferior translation overburdened with very Orthodox theological interpolations, I actually do enjoy Kaplan's Living Torah translation from time to time. It is surely deeply Orthodox and as such sometimes problematically translated, but he had good spirituality, and that shines forth in some places. I would certainly not read it alone, though: definitely alongside something else.

JPS is currently midway through releasing an English translation of the Mikraot Gedolot, which is a traditional edition of Torah featuring text plus the commentaries of several key traditional commentators, such as Rashi, Avraham Ibn Ezra, Ovadiah Sforno, Ramban (Moses Nahmanides), and others. I have barely glanced at the translation, but it appears promising. The Hebrew original is, of course, an indispensible standard for the student of Tanakh. If this translation lives up to the original, it should be considered an absolute must-have.