The Bibliography

What's so good about a Bibliography anyway?

There have been some very wise people throughout history who have understood the Bible well enough to shed some light on some difficult passages for us. These are the Bible Commentators.

Not all these writings have survived. But we are lucky enough to have available to us today some of the more important ones.

Most of the good commentators were Jews, some were not. However, all of them were consulted in preparation of The Living Torah.

Sometimes other works are also quoted in the notes to The Living Torah. These are the famous books written over the years about other topics, but who incidentally shed light on Biblical questions.

Some are actually just stories about long ago, others are books on ancient Geography, wildlife and plants.

All these important sources are not only usefull in understanding the Bible. Just knowing about them, where and when they lived, what they wrote and other details of their life is an important History lesson for anyone smart enough to pay attention.

The translator of The Living Torah, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, took the time to research the history and nature of many of the commentators. The result of his efforts are to be found in the bibliography of The Living Torah. Here are just three entries:

Excerpts from the Living Torah Bibliography

Vulgate -- Latin translation of the Bible by Jerome or Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus (circa 340-420 c.e.) The translation is usefull for determining obscure words in the text and in the Septuagint. It is reported that the author consulted with Jewish scholars in making the translation.

Rashi - acronym of Rabbi Shlomo Yarchi (1040-1105) author of the most important commentaries on the Bible and Talmud, printed in most major editions. His commentary on the Torah was the first known Hebrew book to be printed (Rome 1470). His commentaries are known to be extremely terse, immediately bringing forth the main idea of the text.

Philostratus - (circa 170-245 c.e.) Author of The life of Apollonius of Tyana which contains important geographical information (see not on Exodus 10:19), published by Aldus, 1520. The author was born in Lemnos, taught in Athens, and settled in Rome.