{"id":529,"date":"2016-08-04T21:46:30","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T01:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/?p=529"},"modified":"2016-08-04T23:13:56","modified_gmt":"2016-08-05T03:13:56","slug":"why-you-need-a-jewish-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/2016\/08\/why-you-need-a-jewish-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Need a Jewish Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Note: This post is geared toward readers interested in conversion, however the points are valid no matter what your background is.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/h1>\n I finally gave away my Christian Bible earlier this year when we moved from Indiana to my husband\u2019s home in Illinois. It was a big study Bible, maybe three or four inches thick, with pretty gold on the edges and a mahogany leather cover. I gave it away because there was no room, but also because I was ready. It was time for it to go.<\/p>\n Earlier this week a new Bible came! \u00a0I finally got around to ordering one, and I had picked this lovely JPS Henbrew-English Tanakh, where one side is English and the other is Hebrew. Not that it\u2019s needed in services, but because it\u2019s symbolizes something new for me. A step toward faith and a step toward seriousness in my endeavor.<\/p>\n <\/a>\u00a0<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n Should you buy a Jewish Bible even if you have a \u201cChristian\u201d Bible? My answer is a resounding yes, and here are four reasons why.<\/p>\n Reason #1: Jewish Literacy<\/h2>\n*** ** If you\u2019re in the process of conversion, it\u2019s absolutely imperative that you increase your literacy. Steep yourself in it all. Become a student and learn everything you can. You\u2019ll feel more confident for it and it\u2019s good knowledge to have. Also, what help are you as a convert if you can\u2019t articulate and defend other Jews against missionaries, propaganda, and bias? So brush up!<\/p>\n ** Reading the\u00a0Jewish<\/em> Bible will give you literacy into the stories and the mitzvot you\u2019ll be expected to know. It should be considered an essential component of your library, if for reference than nothing else. You\u2019ll learn the Hebrew names of the books of the Bible, the organization of the books (it\u2019s a little different), and you\u2019ll see how some of the verses are numbered differently.<\/p>\n ** Reason #2: Christian Bias<\/h2>\n ** I hesitated to post this part, but it\u2019s truth. Some words in the KJV have biases that are not present in the original Hebrew. These words\u00a0are skewed in such a way as to make texts into proof texts, pulling meaning out of words that isn\u2019t present in the original. You won\u2019t find that sort of bias in the Hebrew text. You\u2019ll find that some of the verses look different than in the Christian \u201cOld Testament\u201d, but this is good, as it\u2019s closer to the original Hebrew.<\/p>\n ** For example, in Genesis 1:1,<\/p>\n ** \u201cWhen God began to create heaven and earth\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n ** Other Bibles will say, \u201cIn the beginning God created.\u201d But the verb here, at least as I understand it, is not one of created but creating. Such as, \u201cIn the midst of creating\u2026\u201d It could have been a day or a million years. Point is, He was\u00a0creating<\/em>.<\/p>\n ** Another important example is in Job. I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ve blogged about this before or not, but Judaism doesn\u2019t believe in the godlike figure of Satan that Christianity does. Christians say things like, \u201cthe devil made me do that,\u201d or \u201cthe devil is making things tough today\u201d. It\u2019s an entirely Christian notion.<\/p>\n ** In Job, the reference to \u201cSatan\u201d isn\u2019t the same. In Hebrew, it\u2019s\u00a0ha-satan<\/em>, or \u201cthe adversary\u201d. This figure is, in the original Hebrew, simply a being whose job it was to act as an adversary and play \u201cdevil\u2019s advocate to the Almighty.<\/p>\n ** Job 1:6-\u00a0\u201cOne day the divine beings presented themselves before the Lord, and the Adversary came along with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n ** A bit interesting, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n ** Reason #3: Learn Hebrew<\/h2>\n ** A third and very important reason to get a Bible like this JPS version is to learn to read Hebrew. If you get called to read in synagogue, you\u2019ll need to be able to read Hebrew. If you want to follow along with the Torah readings, it\u2019ll be better if you can read (and understand) Biblical Hebrew. And if you ever want to be able to read it, the Bible is the best way to learn. Unlike in modern Hebrew publications, the Bible has the vowel marks, called\u00a0diacritics.<\/em><\/p>\n ** When I lived in Indianapolis and still studied with my rabbi, he once asked me what I\u2019d need to do and know in order to feel comfortable calling myself a Jew after conversion. On my list was knowing Hebrew. What better use for your Hebrew than to read the Torah?<\/p>\n ** Reason #4: Torah Readings<\/h2>\n ** There is a Torah and haftarah reading for every week of the year, including Leap Year. A Hebrew Bible such as the JPS one includes a table of the readings along with their Hebrew names. As I mentioned before about Jewish literacy, this is stuff you need to know. Don\u2019t fiddle with a Christian Bible and get a Jewish one. You\u2019ll be glad you did.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ** ***Note: This post is geared toward readers interested in conversion, however the points are valid no matter what your background is.\u00a0 Introduction I finally gave away my Christian Bible earlier this year when we moved from Indiana to my husband\u2019s home in Illinois. It was a big study Bible, maybe three or four inches thick, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1656,"featured_media":530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,235,20,206],"tags":[236,237,219],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conversion","category-learn-hebrew","category-spiritual-life","category-tanakh","tag-bible","tag-learn-hebrew","tag-tanakh-2"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy You Need a Jewish Bible<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Note: This post is geared toward readers interested in conversion, however the points are valid no matter what your background is.\u00a0 Introduction I finally\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why You Need a Jewish Bible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Note: This post is geared toward readers interested in conversion, however the points are valid no matter what your background is.\u00a0 Introduction I finally\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/2016\/08\/why-you-need-a-jewish-bible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Following Ruth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-05T01:46:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-05T03:13:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/389\/2016\/08\/13895217_1175330949155558_4871069808890249830_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"471\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"661\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynn Swayze\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynn Swayze\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/2016\/08\/why-you-need-a-jewish-bible\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/2016\/08\/why-you-need-a-jewish-bible\/\",\"name\":\"Why You Need a Jewish Bible\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-05T01:46:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-05T03:13:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/#\/schema\/person\/48bf4ee3cc972cc65438c2af22c6e5fb\"},\"description\":\"Note: This post is geared toward readers interested in conversion, however the points are valid no matter what your background is.\u00a0 Introduction I finally\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/2016\/08\/why-you-need-a-jewish-bible\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/2016\/08\/why-you-need-a-jewish-bible\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/2016\/08\/why-you-need-a-jewish-bible\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why You Need a Jewish Bible\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/\",\"name\":\"Following Ruth\",\"description\":\"A Journey from Evangelical Christianity to Judaism\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/#\/schema\/person\/48bf4ee3cc972cc65438c2af22c6e5fb\",\"name\":\"Lynn Swayze\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/followingruth\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/283cc00cbf8885ca94f4ffbc32f165e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/283cc00cbf8885ca94f4ffbc32f165e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynn Swayze\"},\"description\":\"Lynn Swayze is a an technology copywriter, author, and mother of four. 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