“As exceptional for the 2000’s as Rashi was for the 1000’s, this is the definitive Jewish commentary on the Five Books of Moses.”
—BARUCH HALPERN,
Chaiken Family Chair in Jewish Studies, Pennsylvania State University
“Richard Elliott Friedman has created a pathbreaking translation and commentary. His intelligent use of biblical and archeological scholarship consistently yields new insights into the Bible, while his spiritual sensibility allows him to emphasize the rich religious meanings that inhere in Torah. Jews and Christians alike will hail this work! “
—RABBI DAVID ELLENSON, Ph.D.,
President, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
“This is the way to study Torah! Friedman has produced a commentary that is both traditional and modern, drawing on the best of medieval commentaries and modern scholarship but adding his own perspective as well. He models for us the most intelligent—and traditional—way to make the Torah live in our own lives.”
—RABBI ELLIOT N. DORFF, Ph.D.,
Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Judaism
“A vast array of insights. Every page of the commentary shows Friedman’s keen eye for subtle nuances and telling literary details. I would recommend this book to all Bible readers, but especially as a valuable resource for those who are engaged in serious, ongoing Torah study.”
—ALAN COOPER,
Professor of Bible, Jewish Theological Seminary
and Union Theological Seminary
“A commentary that is both learned and engaging, consistently reaching out to the reader in order to make the Biblical text relevant to contemporary spiritual and ethical perplexity. Lucid, judicious, provocative; a major achievement.”
—ARNOLD EISEN,
Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University
“This is a culminating work by a remarkable scholar. Friedman has had a place in the company of the great scholars of the recent past; now we find him another place of equal value and importance among an older generation of legendary commentators on the Hebrew Scriptures: Kimhi and Abarbanel, Rashbam and Nachmanides, and that perennial master of the written Word, Rashi. We will leave the comparison at that point, in order to emphasize the remarkable scope and depth, the brilliance and winsomeness of this new but constant Companion to the Holy Scriptures.”
—DAVID NOEL FREEDMAN,
General Editor, The Anchor Bible
“Richard Friedman not only provides a fresh and exciting translation in the real language of ordinary people, he also presents a discerning and original commentary. With him as guide, the Five Books of Moses take on new life. Here we see, in his language, ‘problems we had not seen, old problems that had not been solved,’—together with his always-compelling solutions. He lives up to his well-earned name as the single most interesting mind working on the Bible in any language today.”
—JACOB NEUSNER,
Senior Fellow, Institute of Advanced Theology,
and Research Professor of Religion and Theology, Bard College
“Friedman’s reading is close and keen—able to dig out half-hidden details and problems in the text and offer convincing explanations of them. Yet none of what he writes is remote and obscure; it is rather in easily accessible prose, which brings out the continuing vitality and power of the Biblical text in a compelling way. He has, especially, a deep and comprehensive grasp of the interconnectedness of the Bible, showing again and again how individual verses and passages echo and build on one another.”
—PETER MACHINIST,
Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Harvard University
“At last—a translation of the Torah that finds a successful balance between the literal and the idiomatic. And at last—an accompanying commentary informed by the best classical and modern scholarship and also exquisitely sensitive to the questions and concerns of the contemporary student of Torah.”
—CAROL MEYERS,
Professor of Biblical Studies and Archaeology, Duke University
“Richard Friedman’s Commentary on the Torah is unique and wonderful—intelligent, courageous, creative, and playful. It could only have been created by a world class scholar. It could only have been crafted by a great lover of Bible. It could only have been written by Richard Elliott Friedman.”
—RABBI BRADLEY SHAVIT ARTSON,
Dean, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, University of Judaism
“Like the prototypical commentator, Rashi, Richard Friedman conveys a vast amount of learning with a light touch. His translations are fresh and vibrant. His masterful commentary blends scholarly precision, literary sensitivity, and spiritual reflection.”
—DANIEL MATT,
author of God and the Big Bang and The Essential Kabbalah
“An eye-opening work. As a translator, Richard Friedman wisely avoids any attempt to ‘strangify the text or resort to pompous or sententious wording. Instead, this is the Torah straight-from-the-shoulder, spoken in today’s English. Not everyone will agree with his choices or explanations, but all readers will be happy for Friedman’s clear, down-to-earth, and often thought-provoking rendering.”
—JAMES KUGEL,
Starr Professor of Hebrew Literature, Harvard University
“There is something new under the sun! Richard Friedman’s Commentary on the Torah weds modern critical commentary with religious and traditional sensibilities. It is must reading for all who regularly attend synagogue or church, all who are in Bible study groups, and anyone with an interest in religion. Delightful new insights abound.”
—PROFESSOR BURTON L. VISOTZKY,
Jewish Theological Seminary, author of Reading the Book: Making the Bible a Timeless Text
“Friedman’s new Commentary on the Torah is fresh, timely, and significant. It is especially valuable for offering a new sensitive translation, and for bringing insights from traditional Jewish sources into a creative dialogue with contemporary, critical concerns.”
—DR. TAMARA COHN ESKENAZI,
Professor of Bible, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
“A fresh, crisp, brilliant rendering of the Pentateuch, with rich allusions to the Prophets and the Holy Writings. The commentary, while flowing from traditional sources, reflects modern and contemporary scholarship of very high quality beautifully integrated into a rich mosaic.”
—ALFRED GOTTSCHALK,
Professor Emeritus, Jewish Intellectual History, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
“Friedman’s commentary, which evinces his familiarity with medieval commentators and modern scholarship, and which is laced throughout with his own unique insights and interpretations, is combined with a lucid translation, written with literary sensitivity.”
—PROFESSOR SHALOM PAUL,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
“It is a new kind of commentary. Clear. Vivid. Innovative. I shall be adding it to my shelf regularly to savor its scholarly innovations, accessible style, and lively, personal associations.”
—JACOB MILGROM,
Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley, in Moment Magazine
“[A] masterful commentary that truly teaches how the Torah text might be read as a whole, and how it might ‘teach’ and inform the life of the religiously sensitive individual. His pedagogical skills—his ability to communicate in a clear and interesting fashion—are especially laudable. I know of no other work that has these merits, and I imagine that anyone from any background who reads this commentary will gain an enriched sense of the Torah, its meaning, and its significance.”
—MARC BRETTLER,
Professor of Bible, Brandeis University, Bible Review
“Commentary on the Torah displays not only a scholar’s mastery of biblical Hebrew but also a poet’s ear for language.”
—JONATHAN KIRSCH,
Los Angeles Times
“First-rate.... The rich library of Bible translations and commentary gets even richer with the arrival of the Friedman version.”
—ELLIOT JAGER,
Jerusalem Post
“Jewish scholars have praised this modern, one-person treatise as ‘the definitive Jewish commentary on the Five Books of Moses’ and have called the new English translation ‘a successful balance between the literal and the idiomatic.’”
—The Houston Chronicle
“[M]onumental. Friedman’s translation is fresh and dynamic.”
—The Bible Today
“… Reflects modern research and scholarship as well as traditional sensibility. Friedman’s own translation and his commentary … has won praise across theological lines.”
—Publisher’s Weekly, October 15, 2001
“Richard Elliott Friedman’s new translation and commentary on the Torah provides profound routes of return for scholars and laypersons, Jew and Christians alike. [T]his voice of Friedman’s, while clearly the voice of an academic scholar, speaks as if directly to our contemporary American English-speaking heart.”
-PETER OCHS,
Books & Culture