The editors of The Jewish Annotated New Testament show how and why Jews and Christians read many of the same Biblical texts – including passages from the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Psalms – differently. Exploring and explaining these diverse perspectives, they reveal more clearly Scripture’s beauty and power. Esteemed Bible scholars and teachers Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler take readers on a guided tour of the most popular Hebrew Bible passages quoted in the New Testament to show what the texts meant in their original contexts and then how Jews and Christians, over time, understood those same texts. Passages include the creation of the world, the role of Adam and Eve, the Suffering Servant of Isiah, the book of Jonah, and Psalm 22, whose words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” Jesus quotes as he dies on the cross. Comparing various interpretations – historical, literary, and theological - of each ancient text, Levine and Brettler offer deeper understandings of the original narratives and their many afterlives. They show how the text speaks to different generations under changed circumstances, and so illuminate the Bible’s ongoing significance. By understanding the depth and variety by which these passages have been, and can be, understood, The Bible With and Without Jesus does more than enhance our religious understandings, it helps us to see the Bible as a source of inspiration for any and all readers.

Although major New Testament figures--Jesus and Paul, Peter and James, Jesus' mother Mary and Mary Magdalene--were Jews, living in a culture steeped in Jewish history, beliefs, and practices, there has never been an edition of the New Testament that addresses its Jewish background and the culture from which it grew--until now. In The Jewish Annotated New Testament, eminent experts under the general editorship of Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler put these writings back into the context of their original authors and audiences. And they explain how these writings have affected the relations of Jews and Christians over the past two thousand years. An international team of scholars introduces and annotates the Gospels, Acts, Letters, and Revelation from Jewish perspectives, in the New Revised Standard Version translation. They show how Jewish practices and writings, particularly the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, influenced the New Testament writers. From this perspective, readers gain new insight into the New Testament's meaning and significance. In addition, thirty essays on historical and religious topics--Divine Beings, Jesus in Jewish thought, Parables and Midrash, Mysticism, Jewish Family Life, Messianic Movements, Dead Sea Scrolls, questions of the New Testament and anti-Judaism, and others--bring the Jewish context of the New Testament to the fore, enabling all readers to see these writings both in their original contexts and in the history of interpretation. For readers unfamiliar with Christian language and customs, there are explanations of such matters as the Eucharist, the significance of baptism, and "original sin." For non-Jewish readers interested in the Jewish roots of Christianity and for Jewish readers who want a New Testament that neither proselytizes for Christianity nor denigrates Judaism, The Jewish Annotated New Testament is an essential volume that places these writings in a context that will enlighten students, professionals, and general readers.

Master Bible scholar and teacher Marc Brettler argues that today's contemporary readers can only understand the ancient Hebrew Scripture by knowing more about the culture that produced it. And so Brettler unpacks the literary conventions, ideological assumptions, and historical conditions that inform the biblical text and demonstrates how modern critical scholarship and archaeological discoveries shed light on this fascinating and complex literature. Brettler surveys representative biblical texts from different genres to illustrate how modern scholars have taught us to "read" these texts. Using the "historical-critical method" long popular in academia, he guides us in reading the Bible as it was read in the biblical period, independent of later religious norms and interpretive traditions. Understanding the Bible this way lets us appreciate it as an interesting text that speaks in multiple voices on profound issues. This book is the first "Jewishly sensitive" introduction to the historical-critical method. Unlike other introductory texts, the Bible that this book speaks about is the Jewish one -- with the three-part TaNaKH arrangement, the sequence of books found in modern printed Hebrew editions, and the chapter and verse enumerations used in most modern Jewish versions of the Bible. In an afterword, the author discusses how the historical-critical method can help contemporary Jews relate to the Bible as a religious text in a more meaningful way.

The renowned biblical scholar, author of The Misunderstood Jew, and general editor for The Jewish Annotated New Testament interweaves history and spiritual analysis to explore Jesus’ most popular teaching parables, exposing their misinterpretations and making them lively and relevant for modern readers. Jesus was a skilled storyteller and perceptive teacher who used parables from everyday life to effectively convey his message and meaning. Life in first-century Palestine was very different from our world today, and many traditional interpretations of Jesus’ stories ignore this disparity and have often allowed anti-Semitism and misogyny to color their perspectives. In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. Levine reveals the parables’ connections to first-century economic and agricultural life, social customs and morality, Jewish scriptures and Roman culture. With this revitalized understanding, she interprets these moving stories for the contemporary reader, showing how the parables are not just about Jesus, but are also about us—and when read rightly, still challenge and provoke us two thousand years later.

In the The Misunderstood Jew, scholar Amy-Jill Levine helps Christians and Jews understand the "Jewishness" of Jesus so that their appreciation of him deepens and a greater interfaith dialogue can take place. Levine's humor and informed truth-telling provokes honest conversation and debate about how Christians and Jews should understand Jesus, the New Testament, and each other.

WHY I WROTE NEW TESTAMENT PEOPLE By Rabbi Raymond Apple I have spent my whole life studying and teaching Judaism. I have been a spokesman for Judaism on a wide array of platforms the pulpit, the classroom, the written and printed word, the audio-visual media not excluding the university campus and Christian theological colleges and the church Press. I have constantly tried to present the evidence that the teaching of Moses has an undimmed eye and unabated natural force. I even heard myself described by a fervent Christian believer (as I now recall with some amusement) as like Our Lord in using parables and explanations. Despite many years of interfaith involvement I have time and again - found how true are Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchiks words that it is impossible for a Jew to get inside the mind of a Christian and vice-versa. Regardless, I embarked upon this new book because I felt I had to, and could, present material that underlined the view of Paul van Buren that the modern age of mutual respect possesses a radical significance in the long and often difficult history of Jewish-Christian relationships. Writing about the theology of displacement, Van Buren said: The church looked at the Jews from its own position and saw only a stubborn refusal to accept what the church preached as the truth. It seems never to have crossed Christian minds that what the church called Jewish stubbornness was, from Israels perspective, fidelity to Torah and Torahs Author (A Christian Theology of the People of Israel, NY: Seabury Press, 1983, p. 276). In writing this book I have endeavoured to show how fidelity to Torah and Torahs Author can help Christians themselves to gain in understanding of their own doctrine, history and literature. Perhaps a bit patronizing, but true.

The earliest of the four Gospels, the book portrays Jesus as an enigmatic figure, struggling with enemies, his inner and external demons, and with his devoted but disconcerted disciples. Unlike other gospels, his parables are obscure, to be explained secretly to his followers. With an introduction by Nick Cave

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The Bible, in the singular, does not exist. Different communities have different Bibles, and they have them in different orders, languages, and books. #2 The Bible was used in the past to promote and defend different ideologies, and it continues to be used that way today. When read through Christian lenses, the Old Testament points to Jesus. When read through Jewish lenses, the Tanakh speaks to Jewish experience, without Jesus. #3 The term Bible is derived from the Greek word ta biblia, which means the books. The term implies that a particular collection of books has priority. There is no such thing as the Bible; different religious communities have different Bibles. #4 The term Old Testament is problematic, as it strips this work of its Christian context. To refer to the Jewish Bible, we use the medieval term Tanakh, an acronym of Torah (Hebrew instruction; the first five books, also known as the Pentateuch), Nevi’im (Hebrew prophets), and Ketuvim (Hebrew writings).

In this ebook download of Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg challenges readers to follow their Rabbi more closely by reexamining his words in the light of their Jewish context. Doing so will provide a richer, deeper understanding of his ministry, compelling us to live differently, to become more Christ-like. We'll begin to understand why his first Jewish disciples abandoned everything to follow him, to live out his commands. Our modern society, with its individualism and materialism, is very different than the tight-knit, family-oriented setting Jesus lived and taught in. What wisdom can we glean from his Eastern, biblical attitude toward life? How can knowing Jesus within this context shed light on his teachings for us today? In Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus we'll journey back in time to eavesdrop on the conversations that arose among the rabbis of Jesus' day, and consider how hearing Rabbi Jesus with the ears of a first-century disciple can bring new meaning to our faith. And we'll listen to Jewish thinkers through the ages, discovering how ideas that germinated in Jesus' time have borne fruit. Doing so will yield fresh, practical insights for following our Rabbi's teachings from a Jewish point of view.

How is the follower of Jesus to understand the words of the Old Testament? How are those words relevant to the New Covenant he is establishing? What might the words of the Lord’s Prayer have conveyed to his initial followers, and why is that historical information essential to the prayer two millennia later? In Sermon on the Mount, Dr. Amy-Jill Levine takes a detailed and colorful overview of Matthew 5-7, collectively known as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Through Dr. Levine’s engaging method of biblical interpretation, readers will come away with a solid understanding of the Sermon on the Mount in its historical and theological context. Chapters include: The Beatitudes The Extensions Practicing Piety Our Father Finding Your Treasure Living into the Kingdom Explore the major topics in the most popular sermon ever delivered and unpack how Jesus makes his points using a solid knowledge of Hebrew Scriptures and moral teachings. The Leader Guide includes session outline for each group meeting with Scripture, prayer, opening activity, discussion questions, activity, and ending call to action.