The Hebrew Bible. David M. Carr
to have divided a copy of his New Testament into the present 7,959 verses while riding on horseback from Paris to Lyon. He also numbered the chapters and verses of both the Old and New Testament. Now these verses are found in scholarly editions of the Hebrew Bible (see Figure 0.1) and in translations of the Bible.
FIGURE 0.2 One of our earliest manuscripts of the book of Isaiah, dated to the early first century bce. Note how the letters are hung from lines on the parchment and a scribe has added a verse into the middle.
Conclusion on Critically Analyzing a Page of Your Own Bible
This chapter just starts to indicate how every page of your Bible, whether a Jewish Tanakh or a particular Christian Bible, is the product of an intense process of textual criticism, analysis of the original language of biblical passages, and packaging of the particular translation of such passages through elements like chapter and verse numbers. Ancient manuscripts often were divided into longer, unnumbered reading sections (for use in worship), and they sometimes included marginal comments or additional verses here or there (see Figure 0.2). Nevertheless, they did not have the numbering, headings, or the reader‐guides now in the Bible before you. Take note of every element on a given page of your contemporary Bible that helps frame the biblical text and present it to you. Your first step as a critical reader of the Bible is to become more conscious of these elements and more familiar with their characteristics.
CHAPTER REVIEW
For Review
1 Know the meaning and significance of the following terms discussed in this chapter:apocryphacanon and canonicalconjectural emendationdeuterocanonical booksdynamic equivalence translationformal correspondence translationHebrew BibleKing James VersionQur’anLXXmanuscript witnessMasoretic textMTOld TestamentPentateuchSeptuagintsupersessionismTanakhtextual criticismTorah
2 What are the main differences between the Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Tanakh?
3 How is the Muslim Qur’an related to the Jewish and Christian Bibles?
RESOURCES FOR FURTHER STUDY
Editions of translations
1 The first edition listed provides an overview of several translations; some good editions follow.
2 The New Jerusalem Bible. New York: Doubleday, 1985. This is the NJB.
3 The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha (5th edition), eds. Michael Coogan et al. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. This contains the NRSV.
4 The Jewish Study Bible, eds. A. Berlin et al. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. This contains the NJPS.
5 The HarperCollins Study Bible (fully revised and updated), eds. Harold W. Attridge et al. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006. This contains the NRSV.
One‐volume commentaries
1 Mays, James L., ed. HarperCollin’s Bible Commentary (revised edition). San Francisco: Harper & Row, 2000.
2 Newsom, Carol A., and Ringe, Sharon H., The Women’s Bible Commentary (3rd edition). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.
Technological Resources
Bible Software: Accordance Bible Software. It is recommended that you purchase the NRSV, NJB, or another up‐to‐date translation. As of the writing of this introduction, you are given the King James Version (outdated for academic study of the Bible) as part of the initial package.
Useful websites for translation comparison
The Bible Gateway (mostly Christian translations) – www.biblegateway.com
Bible Study Tools (mostly Christian translations) – https://www.biblestudytools.com/compare‐translations
Sefaria (access to the New Jewish Publication Society/NJPS version and other Jewish texts) – www.sefaria.org
APPENDIX 1: TRANSLATION AND PARAPHRASE COMPARISON OF ISA 52:13–15
| ISA Chapter and Verse | Revised Standard Version | New American Standard Version | New International Version | Today’s English Version (Good News Bible) |
| 52:13 | Behold my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. | Behold my servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up, and greatly exalted. | See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. | The Lord says, My servant will succeed in his task; he will be highly honored. |
| 52:14 | As many were astonished at him – his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men – | Just as many were astonished at you, My People, so His appearance was marred more than any man, And his form more than the sons of men. | Just as there were many who were appalled at him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness – | Many people were shocked when they saw him; he was so disfigured that he hardly looked human. |
| 52:15 | so shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they shall see, and that which they have not heard they shall understand. | Thus he will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand. | so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand. | But now many nations will marvel at him, and kings will be speechless with amazement. They will see and understand something they had never known. |
| 52:13 | Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be lifted up, exalted to the heights. | See, my Servant shall prosper; he shall be highly exalted. | Indeed, My servant shall prosper, be exalted and raised to great heights. | Look, my servant will prosper, will grow great, will rise to great heights. |
| 52:14 | Time was when many were aghast at you, my people; | Yet many shall be amazed when they see him – yes, even far‐off foreign nations and their kings; [See the end of 52:15 for the rest] |
Just as the many were appalled at him – So |