The editors of The Jewish Annotated New Testament show how
and why Jews and Christians read many of the same Biblical texts -
including passages from the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Psalms -
differently. Exploring and explaining these diverse perspectives, they
reveal more clearly Scripture's beauty and power.
Esteemed Bible scholars and teachers Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z.
Brettler take readers on a guided tour of the most popular Hebrew Bible
passages quoted in the New Testament to show what the texts meant in
their original contexts and then how Jews and Christians, over time,
understood those same texts. Passages include the creation of the world,
the role of Adam and Eve, the Suffering Servant of Isiah, the book of
Jonah, and Psalm 22, whose words, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me," Jesus quotes as he dies on the cross.
Comparing various interpretations - historical, literary, and
theological - of each ancient text, Levine and Brettler offer deeper
understandings of the original narratives and their many afterlives.
They show how the text speaks to different generations under changed
circumstances, and so illuminate the Bible's ongoing significance. By
understanding the depth and variety by which these passages have been,
and can be, understood, The Bible With and Without Jesus does more
than enhance our religious understandings, it helps us to see the Bible
as a source of inspiration for any and all readers.
