The Living Torah & The Living Nach

Click here for sample verses from the Living Torah & Living Nach version

The Living Torah (Hebrew / English) - Aryeh Kaplan

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Title: The Living Torah ✡ תורת חיים The Five Books of Moses and the Haftarot • חומשה חומשי תורה עם/ והפטרות / עם תרגום חדש לשפה האנגלית
A new translation based on traditional Jewish sources, / with notes, introduction, maps, tables, charts, bibliography / and index / by / Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan /
מאת הרב אריה קפלן ז‘‘ל
Date: ⓒ 1981
Publisher: Brooklyn N.Y. (U.S.A.) [and] Jerusalem (Israel): Maznaim Publishing Corporation
Contents: The Five Books of Moses. Haftarot (Prophet readings). – Translator‘s Introduction, Contents, Haftorah Blessings, Bibliography, Index.
Language: Hebrew and English
References:
Images: Hebrew Title, English Title, Cover
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum. Karlsruhe/ Baden. Germany
Comments: Hardcover, large octavo, sewn binding, XXVI, 1428 & (18 notes) pp. Torah text in single column, Hebrew (Masorah) on right, translation on left side of double page. Annotations and b&w illustrations in footnotes.
Online: The Living Torah can be found online at Navigating the Bible II
Aryeh Kaplan wrote a 3–page introduction, dated 23 Tammuz 5740 ( July 7, 1980). He characterizes his translation as follows:
»The philosophy of this translation has been to treat the Torah as a living document. Our sages teach that “every day the Torah should be as new.“ This indicates that even a translation may not treat the Torah as an archaic document. It also implies that archaic or obsolete language must not be used when translating the Torah, because this language gives the impression of the Torah being old, not new. (…) More important is the use of idiomatic language in the Torah, The greatest mistake any translator could make would be to translate an idiom literally. (…) It is obvious that the Torah contains much idiomatic usage, and translating it literally (as do most translations) distort the meaning of the text. (…) In short, what we have attempted to provide is a translation of Judaism‘s most important Book, that is accurate, clear, modern, readable, and above all, in a consonance with the living tradition of Judaism.«
The Bibliography is an informative lexikon with 23 pp, the index comprises of 21 pp.

To give an example of the diverse movements within Judaism and its approach to Scripture, one may be surprised to read how the Bibliography characterizes the JPS– translation:
»Produced by Reform and Conservative scholars, it often follows the King James translation rather than traditional Jewish sources. Although it is largely unreliable, it remains a standard even in many Orthodox Jewish sources.«

The Living Torah (English) - Aryeh Kaplan

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Title: The Living Torah • The Five Books of Moses / A new translation based on traditional Jewish sources, with notes, introduction, maps, tables, charts, bibliography and index by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Date: 1981
Publisher: Maznaim Publishing Corporation: New York & Jerusalem
Contents: Torah: Genesis-Deuteronomy
References: Chamberlin 180-3, Taliaferro-EELBV 8615.100.
Images: Jacket, Cover, Title page
Online: The Living Torah can be found online at Navigating the Bible II

Despite the title, this is not related to the Living Bible by Kenneth Taylor.

The Living Nach ✡ Early Prophets - Yaakov Elman

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Title: The Living Nach ✡ Early Prophets • A New Translation Based On Traditional Jewish Sources / by / Yaakov Elman
Date: ⓒ 1994 / 5754
Publisher: Brooklyn N.Y. (U.S.A.) [and] Jerusalem (Israel): Moznaim Publishing Corporation
Contents: The Early Prophets: Joshua, Judges, I/II Samuel, I/II Kings. – Preface, Acknowledgements, User‘s Note, Contents, Maps and Haftaroth Indexes, Bibliography, Index.
References:
Images: Cover, Title page
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum. Karlsruhe/ Baden. Germany

Comments: Hardcover, large octavo, sewn binding, XXX & 618 pp. Scripture text in single column. Annotations & illustrations in footnotes, numerous maps, diagrams and charts.

This second Vol. of “THE LIVING TORAH SERIES“ is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z.l. – Yaakov Elman wrote the Preface and the Acknowledgements, dated 11 Elul 5748 (Aug 24, 1988), “our 20th anniversary“. In the “User‘s Note“ Elman mentiones:
»The language has been kept simple enough for even a fairly young child to understand the text and enjoy the stories. For the person who wishes to delve deeper, there are extensive notes, explaining most areas where questions are likely to occur.«

The Bibliography is an informative lexikon with 10 pp, the index comprises of 27 pp.

The Living Nach ✡ Later Prophets - Yaakov Elman & Moshe Schapiro

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Title: The Living Nach ✡ Later Prophets • A New Translation Based On Traditional Jewish Sources / by / Yaakov Elman and Moshe Schapiro
Date: ⓒ 1995 / 5756
Publisher: Brooklyn N.Y. (U.S.A.) [and] Jerusalem (Israel): Moznaim Publishing Corporation
Contents: The Later Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremia, Ezekiel by Jaakov Elman assisted by Leib Moscovitz and Shalom Kaplan;
Twelve Prophets by Moshe Schapiro, assisted by Moshe Mykoff. – Preface, User‘s Note, Contents, Maps and Haftaroth Indexes.
Images: Cover, Title page
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum. Karlsruhe/ Baden. Germany

Comments: Hardcover, large octavo, sewn binding, XXXX & 846 pp. Scripture text in single column. Each book is introduced. Annotations & illustrations in footnotes, numerous maps, diagrams and charts.

This third Vol. of “THE LIVING TORAH SERIES“ is more or less identical to the second vol., but the multi–paged Bibliography and Index have not been included. Preface and User‘s Note aren't dated and have only slightly been altered.

The Living Nach ✡ Sacred Writings - M. H. Mykoff, Gavriel Rubin & Moshe Schapiro

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Title: The Living Nach ✡ Sacred Writings • A New Translation Based On Traditional Jewish Sources / by / M. H. Mykoff, Gavriel Rubin and Moshe Schapiro
Date: ⓒ 1998 / 5758
Publisher: Brooklyn N.Y. (U.S.A.) [and] Jerusalem (Israel): Moznaim Publishing Corporation
Contents: Sacred Writings: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Five Megilloth, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles. – Preface, Contents and Maps Index.
Images: Cover, Title page
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum. Karlsruhe/ Baden. Germany
Comments: Hardcover, large octavo, sewn binding, XXV, 943 & (5) pp. Scripture text in single column. Each book is introduced. Annotations & illustrations in footnotes; numerous maps, diagrams and charts.

This fourth Vol. of “THE LIVING TORAH SERIES“ is more or less identical to the previous volumes, but the multi–paged Bibliography and Index have not been included.
The Preface is not dated; the authors point out that this final volume follows the pattern of “The Living Torah“ and the first two volumes of “The Living Nach“. It‘s objective is, as stated in these earlier works, to present the reader with an idiomatic translation which faithfully reflects the Book of books as understood by Jewish tradition.

Gallery of the Living Nach and Living Torah Volumes

From left: Living Nach (volume 4 - Writings), Volume 3 (Later Prophets), Volume 2 (Early Prophets), Torah - Hebrew & English.


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