Studies in Biblical Interpretation

by Nahum M. Sarna, Jeffrey H. Tigay (Foreword)

A JPS Scholar of Distinction Title Nahum Sarna is one of the most regarded and well-known names in biblical academia. This collection contains 26 essays, spanning his career. Together they cover the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, the Psalms, and biblical history.

450 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Nahum Mattathias Sarna (Hebrew: נחום סרנא; March 27, 1923 – June 23, 2005) was a modern biblical scholar who is best known for the study of Genesis and Exodus represented in his Understanding Genesis (1966) and in his contributions to the first two volumes of the JPS Torah Commentary (1989/91). He was also part of the translation team for the Kethuvim section of the Jewish Publication Society's translation of the Bible, known as New Jewish Publication Society of America Version.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of Nahum Sarna's work is somewhat disappointing. It appears to collect only what was easy/cheap to secure the rights for, mostly conference presentations, speeches and papers in festschrifts. That said it does contain two very good papers: one on Psalm 89 and what he terms inner biblical exegesis--the interpretation of an original text by its editor during the canonization process--and a paper on the exegesis of Abraham Ibn Ezra that highlights his willingness to approach the text (when dealing with non-halakhic material) with a historical eye and possible editing of the text a landmark in Jewish exegesis and paved the way for later diachronic interpretation by among others Abravanel.