When do you say mazal tov? What is the English equivalent to the Talmudic expression Alya ve-kots ba ("a sheep's tail with a thorn in it")? What is a get, a golem, a kibbutz, a chalutz? What four plant species are waved during prayers on the harvest festival of Sukkot? You'll find answers to these questions and hundreds of others--all in clear English--in this remarkable collection of the best known, most loved Hebrew words and phrases in the English speaking world. From Acharon to Zohar, this informative and often humorous dictionary features over six hundred Hebrew words and expressions arranged in alphabetical order (the Roman alphabet is used throughout, as well as Hebrew head words). The first such guide to Hebrew, this volume is more than a mere lexicon--it is a jubilant celebration of Hebrew itself, a treasure trove of Jewish wit, wisdom, culture, and tradition. Lewis Glinert provides a concise definition of each entry, and then illustrates the word's usage with generous passages from the Bible and the Talmud, the prayers and the sayings of famous rabbis, the razor's edge of Jewish humor, excerpts from the work of Elie Wiesel, Adin Steinsaltz, S.Y. Agnon, Martin Buber, Naomi Shemer and other contemporary writers, folklore from all over the Jewish world, and colorful slices of modern Israeli life. There are words directly related to the practice of religion, such as amida (a prayer said standing, under one's breath, essentially a cry for help--for wisdom, health, peace, prosperity, and so forth) as well as the names of all the Jewish holy days and religious customs; words from everyday Jewish experience, such peot (the long sidecurls customarily worn by the Chasidim); many words familiar from their use in Israel, such as rega (literally, "one moment," it is the Israeli equivalent of Mexico's mañana) or miluim (army reserve service); and many traditional sayings, such as Tsarat rabim chatsi nechama ("A public woe is half a comfort"). In addition, Glinert provides at the back of the book an alphabetical list of familiar biblical names in English, Sephardi/Israeli Hebrew, and Ashkenazi Hebrew. This celebration of Hebrew language and culture is a joy to read and to use. Everyone from Bible students to collectors of Judaica, from Woody Allen fans to people planning a journey to the Holy Land, will be delighted by this informative volume.

The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.

Are the Writings a miscellaneous collection of books, as is so often asserted, or do they have a purposeful design or arrangement? Over the past 35 years, there has been a significant amount of scholarly interest in the shape of the Law, Former Prophets, Twelve Minor Prophets and the Psalms, while examinations of the shape of the Writings were almost nonexistent until very recently. The 11 essays in this volume explore this often-neglected issue from a variety of critical perspectives—reader-centered approaches, canonical, structural-canonical, and redactional—made more robust by the mix of German- and English-language scholarship on this question, including 4 articles translated from German into English. Essays range from the historical development of the collection, to analysis of the collection’s different arrangements, to the relationship of books and subcollections within the Writings, to the reception of the collection in Jewish and Christian sources. Every book in the Writings is discussed, with particular attention given to Job, Ruth, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. The volume closes with 3 critical responses from John Barton, Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, and Christopher Seitz.

Psalms, Proverbs, and Job with Hebrew, English Transliteration and English Translation in 3 line segments Perfect for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level Hebrew. Includes a key to Hebrew Vowels and Letter Pronunciation. You can now also listen to the hebrew audio while you read the books! Just go to the website for the audio, which is provided in this ebook.

In this Apollos Old Testament Commentary, Anthony Petterson offers detailed commentary on the prophetic books of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, setting them in their wider biblical-theological context. He shows the connections between the post-exilic world and our own, and explains how these books contain a vital message for the church today, living in the gap between promise and reality.

Among all of the books of the First Testament, the Song of Songs is one of the most intriguing. On the one hand, its unabashed sensuality has captured the imagination and has endeared it to those who appreciate passionate human love. On the other hand, more demure readers have frequently been chagrined by their own fascination with its erotic character and have cloaked their interest under the guise of metaphorical reading. Both interpretations of the Song of Songs have been endorsed. Down through the ages, both Jewish and Christian interpreters have delighted in the exquisite imagery of the book's songs, but they have also frequently reverted to allegory in their interpretations. This commentary views the Song as a collection of love poems and carefully examines features of Hebrew poetry in order to uncover the delicacy of their expression. It is unique not only in the attention that it gives to the obvious feminine perspective of the poems but in their ecosensitive character. Although it is a tribute to mutual love, the principal frame of reference is the amorous disposition of the woman. Her words open and close the Song and her voice is dominant throughout. The imagery that the lovers use is drawn from nature. Whether it is the woman in awe of the strength and splendor of her lover or the man glorifying her physical charms, the descriptions all call on elements from the natural world to characterize the feature being described. Whatever they experience or know or even desire is somehow rooted in the natural world. Chapters are Superscription," "Mutual Yearning (1:2-2:7)," "An Opportunity Lost, Then Found (2:8-3:5)," "Ravished By Beauty (3:6-5:1)," "One of a Kind (5:2-6:3)," "The Admiration of all over (6:4-8:4)," and "Love Affirmed (8:5-8:14)."

Where its predecessor dwelt primarily upon the content, mode, and practitioners of Torah study, this volume focuses upon issues--some theoretical, others pragmatic; some current, others timeless--which concern the practice and implementation of Torah. It opens with an inquiry into whether, and to what extent, Halakhah recognizes the validity and value of an ethic which, in some sense, lies beyond its scope. This is followed by two essays--focused upon events in Israel but of more general significance, as well--which deal with the character--and bounds of Jewish polity. Tangentially related is the subject of the next chapter--straddling the communal and the personal--regarding the parameters of tolerance. The next several chapters treat more purely personal topics--response to suffering, Shabbat prayer, and shemittah. They are followed by discussions of aspects of the sensitive areas of conversion, abortion, and the Israeli chief rabbinate, commingled with two essays, more sociologically oriented, on Jewish self-identification and communal service, and an exchange concerning Baruch Goldstein. These are, in turn, followed by two chapters focused upon modern or centrist Orthodoxy, particularly. The volume concludes with a series of responses to major questions posed in various symposia, in which participants were asked, descriptively and prescriptively, both to evaluate the current Jewish scene and to chart a suggested course for its future direction.