Torah: The Five Books of Moses - The Parallel Bible: Hebrew / English (Hebrew Edition)
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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Reviews
Kirsten
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Illuminating and thorough， but out of step with modern theology I was shocked to find out this was published in 2008。 Alter writes from a point of privilege that makes it seem as though he's translating back in the 1960s （which is when he began this process， I guess）。 The trouble is， for many theology has moved on， thank goodness。 While there's certainly reason to determine just how close one can get to biblical Hebrew in an English translation， biblical commentary now asks us to consider those Illuminating and thorough， but out of step with modern theology I was shocked to find out this was published in 2008。 Alter writes from a point of privilege that makes it seem as though he's translating back in the 1960s （which is when he began this process， I guess）。 The trouble is， for many theology has moved on， thank goodness。 While there's certainly reason to determine just how close one can get to biblical Hebrew in an English translation， biblical commentary now asks us to consider those left behind。 Alter is especially bad at asking this about women。 Not only does he assign them traits that are not in the Hebrew （manipulative， hysterical） he also does not raise questions about the Hebrew that is used to describe them or their stories， nor does he dive as deep into the historical context when women are concerned。 And God as a he， always？ Thought we were past that。In addition， he constantly references classical （white male dominated） literature and notes comparisons to French， which is alienating for those who haven't been schooled in this way。 Finally， I noted only once where he references a woman's translation or interpretation of the bible， which says a lot about Judeo-Christian thought in general， but is also likely one of the reasons he does not pay much attention to those at the margins of the Pentateuch。 。。。more
Siobhán
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Genesis is my favorite， Exodus is good， Leviticus has some gems even if you're not into legal declarations to see how wrongly people quote it， Numbers is for the census data nerds， and Deuteronomy is a wild ride。 Best verse is （view spoiler）[Genesis 50:20 （hide spoiler）] and best story is （view spoiler）[end of Genesis when Jacob essentially just gives out to his sons in classic big family energy （hide spoiler）]。 Genesis is my favorite， Exodus is good， Leviticus has some gems even if you're not into legal declarations to see how wrongly people quote it， Numbers is for the census data nerds， and Deuteronomy is a wild ride。 Best verse is （view spoiler）[Genesis 50:20 （hide spoiler）] and best story is （view spoiler）[end of Genesis when Jacob essentially just gives out to his sons in classic big family energy （hide spoiler）]。 。。。more
Marty GS
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Book club for this one goes crazy。 Really hard to get in though tbh
Bryan Oliver
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While I read this for greater understanding and empathy of the practitioners of one of the world's main religions - it left me with nothing but contempt for the actual book， and a strong feeling that those who practice judeo-christian beliefs have absolutely not read the actual texts。 God just murders a bunch of people， quite often specifically stating to slaughter every single man， woman， and child in the 10s of thousands。 The book is filled with lies and direct contradictions， as well as nonse While I read this for greater understanding and empathy of the practitioners of one of the world's main religions - it left me with nothing but contempt for the actual book， and a strong feeling that those who practice judeo-christian beliefs have absolutely not read the actual texts。 God just murders a bunch of people， quite often specifically stating to slaughter every single man， woman， and child in the 10s of thousands。 The book is filled with lies and direct contradictions， as well as nonsensical embellishments。 It's not even a good story - I am aware that plenty context is lost in translation， but there is no need for dozens and dozens of pages repeating the same instructions for sacrificing goats and first borns and birds and oddly specific rituals because the aroma is pleasing to god。 Or entire chapters explaining hundreds of tribes and that their leader lived to be 170 years old。 It's insanely repetitive， and there's no way that churches have their parishioners read these texts。 Anything that makes no sense in modern society simply gets ignored， and storylines get disney'ed up to make them appeal to the masses instead of viewed with shock and disgust。I'm a fan of religion in general and think it has contributed more good than bad to the world， but this is a horrible， nonsensical， sci-fi fantasy， unfortunately deficient book。 。。。more
Nathan Nicolau
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Giving a rating would be edgy。 Much more death and punishment than I expected。 Too many oddly specific laws as well。 Moses needed an editor。
Samantha
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Knowing and understanding， a book of instruction 🙏🏻❤️ learning how to become acceptable in Gods eyes
John
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This is a Hebraic translation of the Pentateuch， with commentary by the translator。 I read this for the translation and didn't read the notes at all， so I cannot speak to them。The translation was very interesting to me， as it attempts to capture and communicate the Hebrew style of the text for the English reader。 This made the translation "new" in a sense that I find helpful。One stylistic detraction is that the names too， are Hebraic， meaning some of them are difficult to equate with the names w This is a Hebraic translation of the Pentateuch， with commentary by the translator。 I read this for the translation and didn't read the notes at all， so I cannot speak to them。The translation was very interesting to me， as it attempts to capture and communicate the Hebrew style of the text for the English reader。 This made the translation "new" in a sense that I find helpful。One stylistic detraction is that the names too， are Hebraic， meaning some of them are difficult to equate with the names we're accustomed to in English translations， and most will trip you up。 For example， Moses is Moshe， and Jacob is Yakov。But this is a really useful translation that many will find edifying。 。。。more
Sam
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A little cliché at times
Elizabeth
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2
Mohammadtauseef
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 torah is best book
Suvama
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Una novela imposible de olvidar， para jóvenes y no tan jóvenes。" USA Today Una novela imposible de olvidar， para jóvenes y no tan jóvenes。" USA Today 。。。more
Melissa
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Excellent material！！I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this。 I learned a lot about the words and themes of the Torah， and also about ancient culture to some extent。 Excellent material！！I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this。 I learned a lot about the words and themes of the Torah， and also about ancient culture to some extent。 。。。more
John
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This was a fabulous translation and brought the spirit of the text alive in a way other translations have struggled to do。
Marit
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Syns 1。 og begynnelsen av 2。 mosebok ofte var storslått litteratur， og 3。-5。 mosebok var også interessant， men her ble det mye gjentagelser（Leste dette i takt med podcasten «Ole Martin og Einar leser bibelen»， veldig morsom & interessant opplevelse！ （Med Ole Martin Moen og Einar Duenger Bøhn）。 Gleder meg til å høre videre etter hvert som de leser seg gjennom bibelen， tror jeg hopper av å lese selv her lol）
Eli
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There's little about the Torah that hasn't been said， and said by people much smarter than me。 I just want to briefly note some things I found interesting。 First I want to talk about is a parallel I found between the Torah and the Odyssey， that being the treatment of class。 During the Exodus from Egypt and the journey to the promised land （the story of which comprises the latter four books） the Israelite masses are portrayed as fickle and shortsighted。 They constantly disobey the Lord's commands There's little about the Torah that hasn't been said， and said by people much smarter than me。 I just want to briefly note some things I found interesting。 First I want to talk about is a parallel I found between the Torah and the Odyssey， that being the treatment of class。 During the Exodus from Egypt and the journey to the promised land （the story of which comprises the latter four books） the Israelite masses are portrayed as fickle and shortsighted。 They constantly disobey the Lord's commands。 in my view， Moses and his allies such as Eleazer and Joshua represent an enlightened aristocracy managing the 'ignorant masses'。 Exodus is full of examples of this。 In Exodus 17， the thirst of the dehydrated Israelites is portrayed as being impious。 "Wherefore the people strove with Moses， and said: 'Give us water that we may drink。' And Moses said unto them: 'Why strive ye with me？ wherefore do ye try the LORD？'"。 In Numbers 11， the Israelites bewail their liberation from Egypt and Moses' leadership， begging for meat （"flesh"） to eat instead of the manna G-d has given them。 The Lord rains quail from the sky， but "While the flesh was yet between their teeth， ere it was chewed， the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people， and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague。" The hungry masses are thus evil and wicked for despising their hunger。 In the Odyssey the masses （represented by Odysseus' crew） are treated in the same way。 The parallel to the Israelite masses is Odysseus' crew， always hampering Odysseus' efforts to return home。 Odysseus， an actual king and aristocrat， is perhaps a clearer stand for the ruling class than Moses， who was only raised as a prince。 I went over the Odyssey's treatment of class in my review of the poem but to cite some examples， the crew unties the pouch where Aeolus' stores the winds and later on they slaughter and eat the cattle of Helios。 In both cases this in disobedience to the orders of King Odysseus。 I also want to point out that Odyssey and the Torah were written in the same time period， somewhere between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE。 Now， of course there is immense scholarly debate surrounding the date of composition for both of them， but the general scholarly consensus puts them in that period of time。 Something which isn't as controversial is the era *depicted* in the Torah and the Odyssey。 Both look back in time to the late Bronze age， c。 1200-1000 BC。 It goes without saying that a work of literature reflects the attitudes and views of the society the literary work was written in。 Taken together， the Torah and the Odyssey provide a window into how the literate classes of iron age societies across the eastern Mediterranean viewed class。 In spite of this， there are some surprisingly "pro-masses" features of Mosaic law。 （I use the term "pro-masses" because "leftist" or "socialist" are anachronistic to the time period。 Both latter terms have democratic connotations but the Torah， as a corpus of divinely ordained laws， is clearly anti-democratic。） Debt forgiveness is the most striking of these pro-masses features。 The Torah dictates that all debts are to be forgiven after 7 years。 Furthermore， all Hebrew slaves are to be given the option of freedom after 7 years。 Every 50 years， a Jubilee is to be held which forgives all debts， manumits all slaves， and returns all holdings returned to their original owners （property was taken as collateral for unpaid debts back then as they still are today）。Debt and land were at the forefront of people's movements throughout the ancient world。 Debt forgiveness was a key policy of Urukagina of Lagash， a Sumerian king regarded as the first social reformer。 Debt forgiveness and manumission of debt-slaves were key features of Athenian democracy。 During his reign in the 6th century BC， Solon of Athens cancelled all debts and freed all debt slaves （including his own）。 Apologies for any grammar， spelling， or punctuation mistakes。 。。。more
Pritam Chattopadhyay
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Wherefore doth a living man complain， a man for the punishment of his sins？Let us search and try our ways， and turn again to the Lord。Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens。We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned。Thou hast covered with anger， and persecuted us: thou hast slain， thou hast not pitied。Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud， that our prayer should not pass through。Thou hast made us as the off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the peo Wherefore doth a living man complain， a man for the punishment of his sins？Let us search and try our ways， and turn again to the Lord。Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens。We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned。Thou hast covered with anger， and persecuted us: thou hast slain， thou hast not pitied。Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud， that our prayer should not pass through。Thou hast made us as the off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the people。All our enemies have opened their mouths against us。Fear and a snare is come upon us， desolation and destruction。Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people。Mine eye trickleth down， and ceaseth not， without any intermission，Till the Lord look down， and behold from heaven。The Torah， or the Hebrew Bible， is the cornerstone of the Jewish religion and law。 This “Torah of Moses” came to be known in Greek as the “five-volumed book，” which we know in English as the Pentateuch。 The Torah consists of five books – Bereshit， Shemot， Vayikra， Bamidbar and Devarim – which correspond to the first five books of the Christian Bible: Genesis， Exodus， Leviticus， Numbers and Deuteronomy。 The books describe the origin of mankind in the Garden of Eden and the early leaders of the tribe of Israel， including Abraham， Isaac and Jacob。 It describes the escape from Egypt to Mount Sinai; the delivery of the Torah， including the Ten Commandments and other instructions; and the punishment for not obeying them。 The Torah concludes with the death of Moses and the entry of the Israelites into Canaan， the land promised to them by God。The Torah encompasses the whole of the Hebrew Bible （the body of scripture known to non-Jews as the Old Testament and to Jews as the Tanakh or Written Torah）， together with the Talmud （Oral Law）。 An ever-expanding source of intellectual and emotional insight， the Written Torah provides knowledge to those who study it， and leads to a solid relationship with God for those who take it to heart and make it their own。The Hebrew Bible as it appears in our texts today is an anthology of thirty-nine books， reckoned as twenty-two， written for the most part in Hebrew， a little of it in Aramaic。 （The uncanonized apocryphal sections are in Greek as well as Hebrew。） There is hardly any doubt that these books were written over a time stretching more than a thousand years。 A much larger segment than commonly supposed is written in poetic and aphoristic form。 In this sense the Torah is to be considered one of the world's greatest collections of pure literature。Basically it contains five types of material:（1） The legendary tales， frequently influencing faraway Asian story writers， as in India and Persia;（2） The historical books （of remarkable accuracy， as shown by recent archaeological findings）;（3） The ritualistic codes with their 613 commandments and prohibitions as to diet， habitat， marriage， prayer service， sacrifices and legal procedure;（4） The prophetic sermons on current political and social issues;（5） The philosophical and poetical works。The Torah is still transcribed by hand onto scrolls。 Tradition demands strict accuracy of the 304，805 Hebrew characters that make it up。It is a painstaking process， a work of profound faith and calligraphic art， executed according to precise rules of style and lettering， which can take eighteen months to complete。It is a requirement of Judaism that every Jew own such a copy of the Torah。 For at least two thousand years Jews have heard or spoken the same prescribed passage of the Torah on the same day in a year-long cycle of readings。 The Torah not only embodies the tenets of the Jewish religion but emphasizes its ancient tradition。 It is， with Hinduism and Zoroastrianism， one of the oldest systems of principle in the world， and the Torah is its book。 。。。more
Susan
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To better understand what Jesus and the Apostles tell us in the New Testament， Christians benefit from reading the Torah over and over。 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching， rebuking， correcting and training in righteousness。" （2 Timothy 3:16） To better understand what Jesus and the Apostles tell us in the New Testament， Christians benefit from reading the Torah over and over。 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching， rebuking， correcting and training in righteousness。" （2 Timothy 3:16） 。。。more
Ratbite
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"From Moses to Moses there was none greater than Moses。" - Moses "From Moses to Moses there was none greater than Moses。" - Moses 。。。more
MÉYO
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I get the appeal！ Of all the religious books I’ve read， the Torah was the most straight forward and entertaining。 Surprisingly it reads more like an Egyptian history book， unfortunately， there still remains fierce debate between historians， archeologists and religious scholars as to whether or not the slavery/exodus of the Jews in Egypt was even remotely true。 Devoid of a miracle man performing miraculous stunts， the Torah presents a more honest ideology of simple men trying to implement basic r I get the appeal！ Of all the religious books I’ve read， the Torah was the most straight forward and entertaining。 Surprisingly it reads more like an Egyptian history book， unfortunately， there still remains fierce debate between historians， archeologists and religious scholars as to whether or not the slavery/exodus of the Jews in Egypt was even remotely true。 Devoid of a miracle man performing miraculous stunts， the Torah presents a more honest ideology of simple men trying to implement basic rules of hygiene and ethics。 Like the Bible though， the good Lord is OBSESSED with beef BBQ， and the amount of pages dedicated to naming what can and cannot be eaten is quite amusing/disturbing and oddly specific。 The final book （Deuteronomy） is where the Torah takes a departure from its “allegory” tales and starts to read like the Quran where the merchant class are trying to dictate the rules of society to justify themselves and their possessions。 God spends the first half of Deuteronomy making all the usual threats of torture， starvation and annihilation， BUT， salvation could be yours if you just follow the rules on which heathens to kill， which countries to invade， which people to enslave， how to beat slaves， how to acquire/beat/discard/kill women and most importantly， it’s totally cool to charge interest！ I’ll need a lot more indoctrination before I can accept “financial engineering” was part of God’s cosmic design。 。。。more
Yousra
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To be politically incorrect but completely honest， I have never read a book in which both the content and the “prose” were so bad that you couldn’t decide which is worse。 Beliefs aside， this is arguably the worst book I have ever read not only because its so unethical and vile but also because it was just so b o r i n g I got constipated from the amount of times I had to get up “and make some tea” just to escape it for a couple of more minutes。 Golden Lessons from the Torah: 1 - God’ To be politically incorrect but completely honest， I have never read a book in which both the content and the “prose” were so bad that you couldn’t decide which is worse。 Beliefs aside， this is arguably the worst book I have ever read not only because its so unethical and vile but also because it was just so b o r i n g I got constipated from the amount of times I had to get up “and make some tea” just to escape it for a couple of more minutes。 Golden Lessons from the Torah: 1 - God’s chosen people have the right to kill anyone God hasn’t chosen， kids included， because God says so。 “Put to death both man and woman， child and infant， ox and sheep， camel and donkey。’”“Save alive nothing that breathes。” 2 - Whenever he reaches a new city， Abraham cowardly lies and says that Sarah is his sister and when he’s believed and Sarah is taken to be another man’s wife， God punishes the new oblivious husband instead thus proving that God does work in very mysterious ways。 3 - Hebrews are so much cooler than Egyptians that god will kill even Egyptian babies just to win the Hebrews’ love and admiration。 Yet the Israelites won’t stop whining and blaming Moses and his god for taking them out of Egypt which must be so hard for God after all that he had done for them。 （Killing innocent people and stuff） 4- Women suck， rape is more forgivable than homosexuality， and having slaves is kinda cool。 5- God is very detail-oriented and likes random things done in very specific ways so you better pay attention。 6。 If a damsel gets raped in the city， kill her and her rapist because her screams weren’t heard whereas if a damsel gets raped in the countryside and her screams are heard， then only kill her rapist。 Well， guess who’s moving to the country！！ I sincerely don’t enjoy either preaching or shaming but people condoning nazism/racism/sexism/speciesm/terrorism or any other form of extremism while holding even the slightest respect for this book are either hypocritical， severely delusional， or they obviously have never even read the book。 。。。more
Ryan McCarthy
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Genuinely unimpressed。 I'm working my way through the entirety of the Bible and I'm very glad to be done with this portion。 Genesis is a pretty engaging cosmology aside from the genealogies。 I understand why genealogies would have been so important to the nomadic Jews， but they don't exactly make for compelling reading。 Additionally， the endless litany of laws make YHWH look like a micromanager at best and a violently jealous schizophrenic at worst。 Very strange， but I'm eager to move on and get Genuinely unimpressed。 I'm working my way through the entirety of the Bible and I'm very glad to be done with this portion。 Genesis is a pretty engaging cosmology aside from the genealogies。 I understand why genealogies would have been so important to the nomadic Jews， but they don't exactly make for compelling reading。 Additionally， the endless litany of laws make YHWH look like a micromanager at best and a violently jealous schizophrenic at worst。 Very strange， but I'm eager to move on and get to the New Testament。 。。。more
Jackie
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I'll refrain from rating the Torah。。 I've been meaning to read it start-to-finish for years now， and finally succeeded at completing my week to week parsha （give or take some late weeks）。 I was surprised by a lot of the content， namely the amount of space and detail dedicated to the building of the tabernacle。 Maybe next year I'll do the Talmud！ I'll refrain from rating the Torah。。 I've been meaning to read it start-to-finish for years now， and finally succeeded at completing my week to week parsha （give or take some late weeks）。 I was surprised by a lot of the content， namely the amount of space and detail dedicated to the building of the tabernacle。 Maybe next year I'll do the Talmud！ 。。。more
Gary Fisher
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How many times have I read the Torah over the past 60 years？ It's a lifetime pursuit。 It was interesting to reread Genesis with especial attention to the unknowability of the "creator。" How many times have I read the Torah over the past 60 years？ It's a lifetime pursuit。 It was interesting to reread Genesis with especial attention to the unknowability of the "creator。" 。。。more
Nouru-éddine
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الوصايا تجاه اللهلَا يَكُنْ لَكَ آلِهَةٌ أُخْرَى أَمَامِي。لَا تَصْنَعْ لَكَ تِمْثَالًا مَنْحُوتًا، وَلَا صُورَةً مَا مِمَّا فِي السَّمَاءِ مِنْ فَوْقُ، وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مِنْ تَحْتُ، وَمَا فِي الْمَاءِ مِنْ تَحْتِ الأَرْضِ。 لَا تَسْجُدْ لَهُنَّ وَلَا تَعْبُدْهُنَّ。لاَ تَنْطِقْ بِاسْمِ الرَّبِّ إِلهِكَ بَاطِلًا، لأَنَّ الرَّبَّ لاَ يُبْرِئُ مَنْ نَطَقَ بِاسْمِهِ بَاطِلًا。اُذْكُرْ يَوْمَ السَّبْتِ لِتُقَدِّسَهُ。الوصايا تجاه القريبأكْرِمْ أَبَاكَ وَأُمَّكَ لِكَيْ تَطُولَ أَيَّامُكَ عَلَى الأَرْضِ الوصايا تجاه اللهلَا يَكُنْ لَكَ آلِهَةٌ أُخْرَى أَمَامِي。لَا تَصْنَعْ لَكَ تِمْثَالًا مَنْحُوتًا، وَلَا صُورَةً مَا مِمَّا فِي السَّمَاءِ مِنْ فَوْقُ، وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ مِنْ تَحْتُ، وَمَا فِي الْمَاءِ مِنْ تَحْتِ الأَرْضِ。 لَا تَسْجُدْ لَهُنَّ وَلَا تَعْبُدْهُنَّ。لاَ تَنْطِقْ بِاسْمِ الرَّبِّ إِلهِكَ بَاطِلًا، لأَنَّ الرَّبَّ لاَ يُبْرِئُ مَنْ نَطَقَ بِاسْمِهِ بَاطِلًا。اُذْكُرْ يَوْمَ السَّبْتِ لِتُقَدِّسَهُ。الوصايا تجاه القريبأكْرِمْ أَبَاكَ وَأُمَّكَ لِكَيْ تَطُولَ أَيَّامُكَ عَلَى الأَرْضِ الَّتِي يُعْطِيكَ الرَّبُّ إِلهُكَ。الوصايا تجاه المجتمعلَا تَقْتُلْ。لَا تَزْنِ。لَا تَسْرِقْ。لَا تَشْهَدْ شَهَادَةَ زُورٍ。لَا تَشْتَهِ بَيْتَ قَرِيبِكَ。 لَا تَشْتَهِ امْرَأَةَ قَرِيبِكَ، وَلَا عَبْدَهُ، وَلَا أَمَتَهُ، وَلَا ثَوْرَهُ، وَلَا حِمَارَهُ، وَلَا شَيْئًا مِمَّا لِقَرِيبِكَ。 。。。more
➸ Gwen de Sade
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Why do I hate myself
deora
，
eh
Carol Bakker
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I couldn't find the entire Bible read by David Suchet， except for a chronological version。 So this represents all the books of the Bible。 I read this as part of the Bible Reading Challenge。 And most of my listening came while I walked。 I began listening to some random chap on an app; but things changed and then the reader had background music， something to which I violently object。 I found Suchet while cycling through the Psalms and was hooked。 He is the most expressive reader in a way that enha I couldn't find the entire Bible read by David Suchet， except for a chronological version。 So this represents all the books of the Bible。 I read this as part of the Bible Reading Challenge。 And most of my listening came while I walked。 I began listening to some random chap on an app; but things changed and then the reader had background music， something to which I violently object。 I found Suchet while cycling through the Psalms and was hooked。 He is the most expressive reader in a way that enhances instead of distracting。 Words of life。I listened using Hoopla and also on YouTube。 。。。more
Jackson Hengsterman
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read the New American Version
Ry
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I am surprised to learn that Numbers is my least favorite。（This is a really good translation。 Very accessible and clear and with good footnotes with literal/alternative translations for certain lines。）
Alexander K
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