Magnes Press Hebrew Bible Collection (12 vols.)

by Yehezkel Kaufmann; Steven E. Fassberg; Avi Hurvitz; U. Cassuto

and

7 more

Publishers:

Magnes Press; Brill

, 1973–2006

Overview

The 12-volume Magnes Press Hebrew Bible Collection contains engaging and critical analyses of the Hebrew Bible from the world’s foremost Jewish and Hebrew scholars. From multi-volume commentaries on Genesis and Exodus, to meticulous studies in linguistics, history and geography, these award-winning Hebrew scholars have contributed monumental studies to the field of Hebrew Bible scholarship. Some books in this collection are updated and revised reprints of important classics by authors such as Umberto Cassuto; others are groundbreaking new studies in the scholarship on the Hebrew Bible.

The Magnes Press Hebrew Bible Collection also contains two edited volumes on biblical Hebrew and Semitic linguistics, with contributions from dozens of Hebrew scholars from around the world. The authors also explore the historical context of the Old Testament with volumes on Ugaritic writings, Assyriology, and the historical and literary prominence of extra-biblical Near Eastern literature. Several volumes explore the literary function of the Hebrew Bible, with special attention paid to narrative prose and storytelling.

With the power of Logos Bible Software, this 12-volume collection is fully searchable and easier to access than ever! The instant access to dictionaries and inter-linking to English Bible translations in the Logos Bible Software edition makes these important works more available than ever for Old Testament and Hebrew scholars, as well as pastors, students, and lay readers.

Key Features

• Twelve volumes in all, including two edited volumes with dozens of contributors
• Subject and topical indices
• Scripture references link to Hebrew texts and English translations

Product Details

• Title: Magnes Press Hebrew Bible Collection
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Volumes: 12
• Pages: 3,676

A Commentary on the Book of Exodus

• Author: Umberto Cassuto
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 526

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In this volume, A commentary on the Book of Exodus, Cassuto's comments have a vivid quality seldom found in the exegetical writings of other biblical expositors, who all too often prefer a jejune and lifeless approach to their subject. Cassuto succeeds in injecting a sense of dramatic excitement into his interpretations. Without neglecting the scientific data provided by archeological and philological research, he makes us conscious of the literary attributes of the Bible.

This work does not separate the annotations from the Biblical text, but forms a continuous, unified commentary in which the Scriptural citations are interlinked with the exposition. The elements are so closely and artistically interwoven as to form a new literary entity—not a text with notes, but a homogeneous expository work, which must rank among the finest modern contributions to the treasury of biblical learning.

Umberto Cassuto was an Italian historian and Biblical and Semitic scholar. He began to make a name in the world of scholarship by virtue of a series of articles mainly on the history of Jews in Italy. In 1912 he began to publish important papers and books on Bible studies. All his works are of great significance to this day. Cassuto died in 1951.

A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part 1: From Adam to Noah

• Author: Umberto Cassuto
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1961
• Pages: 341

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The aim of this commentary is to explain, with the help of a historico-philological method of interpretation, the simple meaning of the Biblical text, and to arrive, as nearly as possible, at the meaning the words of the Torah were intended to have for the reader at the time they were written.

The present work is rich in original insights and scholarly illuminations that make it an invaluable guide to the Bible student—whether an erudite scholar or a well-read lay inquirer—irrespective of the opinions held with regard to the higher critical doctrines.

Umberto Cassuto was an Italian historian and Biblical and Semitic scholar. He began to make a name in the world of scholarship by virtue of a series of articles mainly on the history of Jews in Italy. In 1912 he began to publish important papers and books on Bible studies. All his works are of great significance to this day. Cassuto died in 1951.

A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part 2: From Noah to Abraham

• Author: Umberto Cassuto
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1964
• Pages: 400

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

From Noah to Abraham is the second in a series of comprehensive commentaries on the book of Genesis which the late Professor Umberto Cassuto had planned as part of a magnum opus, embracing the whole Pentateuch and also the book of Psalms.

Umberto Cassuto was an Italian historian and Biblical and Semitic scholar. He began to make a name in the world of scholarship by virtue of a series of articles mainly on the history of Jews in Italy. In 1912 he began to publish important papers and books on Bible studies. All his works are of great significance to this day. Cassuto died in 1951.

Biblical and Oriental Studies, Vol. 1

• Author: Umberto Cassuto
• Translator: Israel Abrahams
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1975
• Pages: 318

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Cassuto wrote in many languages and published his articles in a variety of learned periodicals. Previously, many of these writings were very difficult to obtain. Although the majority of essays presented here in English translation were written a long time ago, the passing years have dealt kindly with them—and their value has not dissipated.

The present collection of essays is the first of two volumes comprising articles on the Bible, Ugaritic writings, and other texts. This volume is devoted to purely biblical themes.

Umberto Cassuto was an Italian historian and Biblical and Semitic scholar. He began to make a name in the world of scholarship by virtue of a series of articles mainly on the history of Jews in Italy. In 1912 he began to publish important papers and books on Bible studies. All his works are of great significance to this day. Cassuto died in 1951.

Biblical and Oriental Studies, Vol. 2

• Author: Umberto Cassuto
• Translator: Israel Abrahams
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1975
• Pages: 298

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

This collection of essays is the second of two volumes comprising articles on the Bible, Ugaritic writings, and other texts. While the first volume is devoted to purely biblical themes, this volume includes comparative studies in which Biblical subjects are examined in the light of Eastern literature (particularly Ugaritic) and articles on Ugaritic and other texts. This volume also contains the index to both volumes.

Umberto Cassuto was an Italian historian and Biblical and Semitic scholar. He began to make a name in the world of scholarship by virtue of a series of articles mainly on the history of Jews in Italy. In 1912 he began to publish important papers and books on Bible studies. All his works are of great significance to this day. Cassuto died in 1951.

Biblical Hebrew in its Northwest Semitic Setting

• Editors: Steven E. Fassberg and Avi Hurvitz
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 324

In 1961 William L. Moran published The Hebrew Language in Its Northwest Semitic Background, in which he presented a state-of-the-art description of the linguistic milieu out of which biblical Hebrew developed. Moran stressed the features found in earlier Northwest Semitic languages that are similar to Hebrew and he demonstrated how the study of those languages sheds light on biblical Hebrew.

Since Moran wrote, our knowledge of both the Hebrew of the biblical period and of Northwest Semitics has increased considerably. In the light of new epigraphic finds and the significant advances in the fields of Biblical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic in the past four decades, the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem convened an international research group during the 2001–2002 academic year on the topic “Biblical Hebrew in Its Northwest Semitic Setting: Typological and Historical Perspectives.”

This volume presents the fruits of the year-long collaboration and contains twenty articles based on lectures given during the year by members of the group and invited guests: Moshe Bar-Asher, Joshua Blau, John A. Emerton, Steven E. Fassberg, W. Randall Garr, Edward L. Greenstein, John Huehnergard, Avi Hurvitz, Jan Joosten, Menahem Z. Kaddari, Geoffrey Khan, André Lemaire, Mordechai Mishor, Adina Moshavi, Alviero Niccacci, M. O’Connor, Frank H. Polak, Elisha Qimron, Gary Rendsburg, and Ada Yardeni. A wide array of subjects are discussed, all of which have implications for the study of Biblical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic.

Steven E. Fassberg is the Caspar Levias Chair in Ancient Semitic Languages at the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Avi Hurvitz is the Benzion and Lina Halper Professor of Bible and Hebrew Language at The Hebrew University.

History, Historiography and Interpretation

• Editors: Hayyim Tadmor and Moshe Weinfeld
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 192

The essays collected in this volume explore diverse aspects of literary creativity in the Ancient Near East, including Ancient Israel, with a special emphasis on historical writing. Cuneiform documents are analyzed in order to test historical consciousness in Ancient Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Israel, and biblical texts are illuminated through comparisons drawn from neighboring cultures.

The essays are particularly noteworthy for being the product of constant dialogue among leading scholars, noted specialists in their respective disciplines, who comprised a research group at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem during 1978–1979.

Hayyim Tadmor was a leading professor of Assyriology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Moshe Weinfeld is professor emeritus of Bible at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Literary Studies in the Hebrew Bible

• Author: Shemaryahu Talmon
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1993
• Pages: 318

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In the studies collected in this volume, the author aims at highlighting salient literary modes which can be identified in the books of the Hebrew Bible. The application of such modes is illustrated by analyzing the biblical writers’ technique of underscoring the concurrency of events by splitting a narrative account, inter-splicing it with a second account, and then resuming the first. Thus they steer clear of conveying the impression of a chronological succession of events in question which would be unavoidable in a one-line sequential presentation. In a group of studies, identifiable literary traits are brought to bear on the investigation of principles and problems relating to the ‘comparative approach’ in biblical exegesis.

Shemaryahu Talmon has published numerous essays in scholarly journals and memorial volumes. His research interests include Israelite society in the biblical period, the Bible as literature, and the history of the Bible text and versions.

Storytelling in the Bible

• Author: Jacob Licht
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1985
• Pages: 154

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Modern techniques of literary criticism, combined with a deep love of the Bible, have been employed by the author in this profound and original work. In six chapters and an epilogue, the author analyses the aesthetic means by which the narrators achieved their ends. He shows us mimesis in the story of Saul and the witch of En-Dor. He shows how intense emotion led up to and conveyed as David hears the news of Absalom’s death. He uses the story of the floating Axehead (2 Kings 6, 1-7) to demonstrate the way the narrator creates scenes (and invites the reader to stage it as a play in his head). The author allows the Old Testament narrative to speak for itself. In his own comments there is an arresting freshness combined with a vigor which enlivens the scholarship which illuminates the book.

Jacob Shalom Licht was a lecturer at Tel Aviv University. For many years he served as a member of the editorial board of the Hebrew Biblical Encyclopaedia. He was a leading expert on Qumran studies since its inception. His interests included biblical and post-biblical theology, the beginnings of halach and literature.

The Biblical Account of the Conquest of Canaan

• Author: Yehezkel Kaufmann
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1991
• Pages: 148

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Yehezkel Kaufman, modern Israel’s foremost biblical scholar, composed this monograph in connection with his two volumes of commentary to the Books of Joshua and Judges. He takes issue with the view that these books originated in late monarchic times, centuries removed from the events they relate and hence of little historical worth. He criticizes in detail the literary arguments on which that view is based, contending that, on the contrary, these books are based on, and incorporate, pre-monarchic sources attesting to the earliest phrase of the religion of ancient Israel.

Yehezkel Kaufmann has written extensively on Bible studies, socio-political problems of Zionism and the emerging State of Israel. He was the recipient of the Israel Prize in Jewish Studies.

The Book of Genesis

• Author: Zvi Adar
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1990
• Pages: 166

This book presents the aim, spirit, and content of the book of Genesis. Most literature on the book of Genesis consists of either a detailed commentary or a study of its different sources and components. This work intends, instead, to elucidate the main ideas implicit in the narrative and to describe the salient features of its chief personalities.

Zvi Adar taught at the School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and served as its director. He also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. His main fields of interest were educational theory and Biblical study.

Topics in Hebrew and Semitic Linguistics

• Editor: Joshua Blau
• Publisher: Magnes Press
• Publication Date: 1998
• Pages: 491

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

This collection of papers in Hebrew and Semitic linguistics is formed by research into the history of Biblical Hebrew. Authors deal with details, yet the introduction, entitled “On the History and Structure of Hebrew”, especially written for this publication, fits them into the general frame. This collection will convey to scholars something more than the mere sum of the various publications. Topics in Hebrew and Semitic Linguistics also contains numerous helpful indices.

Joshua Blau, professor emeritus of Arabic Languages and Literature at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is the former President of the Academy of the Hebrew Language and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. His research interests include Judeo-Arabic philology, Semitic historical linguistics, Hebrew linguistics, and dictionary of medieval Judeo-Arabic.