The Commentators’ Bible
Miqra’ot Gedolot (מקראות גדולות) or “Great Scriptures,” also known as the “Rabbinic Bible,” is an edition of the Hebrew Bible containing commentary drawn from the wisdom of medieval Rabbinic tradition. In the past, access to these volumes has required an extensive knowledge of not only biblical Hebrew, but medieval Hebrew as well. Now, under the editorship of Michael Carasik the content of these volumes is available for modern English readers through The Commentators’ Bible.
First published 500 years ago as the “Rabbinic Bible,” the biblical commentaries known as the Miqra’ot Gedolot have inspired and educated generations of Hebrew readers. With this edition, the voices of Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Nahmanides, Rashbam, and other medieval commentators come alive once more, speaking in a contemporary English translation annotated and explicated for lay readers.
Volumes for Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are now available for the Accordance Library. These volumes make for fascinating reading as each section begins with questions, followed by commentary representing interpretation made by those mentioned in the previous paragraph. See the screenshot below for an example of this format demonstrated from Exodus 5.
Click on the image above for a larger view.
Click on the image above for a larger view.
Regardless of one’s faith background, there is much to be gained by all students of the Bible from studying these medieval voices of tradition. Making these resources even more valuable for research, the Accordance development team has carefully analyzed the text of each volume and tagged content according to the following fields: Reference, Titles, English Content, Scripture, Hebrew Content, Transliteration and Authors. These specific search fields allow for precise research according to the kind of content in the volumes.
Note: While the printed version of this publication includes 1) the Hebrew text of the Bible, and 2) two English translations (the old Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917 and the new JPS translation of 1985), this module does not contain the actual Hebrew text or translations. It contains all the Notes, Commentary, Editorial Annotations, and Special Topics of the printed version. The commentary of this module can be linked to run in parallel with any Accordance Bible translation.
Below are a couple of representative screenshots that highlight the material and layout of this commentary series. You can click each image to get a full size product illustration.
| Exodus | Leviticus | Numbers |
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Exodus Regular Price: $69.90  |
Leviticus Regular Price: $69.90 |
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Numbers Regular Price: $69.90 |
Deuteronomy Regular Price: $69.90 |
The Commentators’ Bible: Set of 4
Regular Price: $249
The Bible’s Many Voices
In addition to The Commentators’ Bible, we are also making available Carasik’s volume, The Bible’s Many Voices for the Accordance Library.
The most common English translations of the Bible often sound like a single, somewhat archaic voice. In fact, the Bible is made up of many separate books composed by multiple writers in a wide range of styles and perspectives. It is, as Michael Carasik demonstrates, not a remote text reserved for churches and synagogues but rather a human document full of history, poetry, politics, theology, and spirituality.
Using historic, linguistic, anthropological, and theological sources, Carasik helps us distinguish between the Jewish Bible’s voices—the mythic, the historical, the prophetic, the theological, and the legal. By articulating the differences among these voices, he shows us not just their messages and meanings but also what mattered to the authors. In these contrasts we encounter the Bible anew, as a living work whose many voices tell us about the world out of which the Bible grew—and the world that it created.
As with the other volumes from Carasik, the Accordance development team has carefully analyzed the text of each volume and tagged content according to the following fields: Reference, Titles, English Content, Scripture, Hebrew Content, Transliteration and Page Numbers. These specific search fields allow for precise research according to the kind of content in the volumes.
Click the above image for a full size product illustration.
The Bible’s Many Voices
Regular Price: $29.90