Ugaritic A language of inscriptions found at Ras Shamra, on the Syrian coast, in the second millennium B.C.E. Both the language and its literature have shed much light on the Hebrew Bible.
Vulgate The Latin translation of the Bible made by the Church father Jerome about the year 400 C.E. It became the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.
Abbreviations and Terms
Cf. A reference to another version, or to a cognate lan- guage, that justifies the translation adopted.
Heb. The Hebrew word or phrase in transliteration, especially when necessary to point out a pun, homonym, or the like. Heb. is also used to indicate the literal wording for which a superior rendering was em- ployed; see Genesis 46.23, note d, or 49.9, note a. An example of a somewhat different type may be seen at Exodus 21.22, note e.
I.e. An explanation, to avoid adding words to the text, in order to clarify the translation; see Exodus 22.29, note.
Lit. For the literal translation of a word or phrase that was given an idiomatic or somewhat free translation in the text; see Genesis 30.27, note j, and 30.38, k; or 43.21, note b, and 43.34, note c; or Deuteronomy 18.1, note a (where the Hebrew and English cannot agree in number).
Meaning of Heb. uncertain Where the translation represents the best that the committee could achieve with an elusive or difficult text. In some cases the text may be unintelligible be- cause of corruption.
Moved up Where clarity required the shifting of a word or phrase within a verse or from one verse to another; see Gen- esis 10.14, note d.
Or Indicates an alternative reading that the committee found almost as acceptable as the one adopted for the text.
Others Indicates a well-known traditional translation, espe- cially if it was used in the older (1917) JPS version, that the committee does not find acceptable even as an alternative reading.
See Frequently used in place of cf., but usually intended to begin a note attached to another passage in the Bible.
Torah (The Pentateuch)
Bereshit (Genesis)
Shemot (Exodus)
Vayikra (Leviticus)
Bamidbar (Numbers)
Devarim (Deuteronomy)
Genesis
1 When God began to createa heaven and earth—2the earth being un- formed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind fromb God sweeping over the water—3 God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.c
6God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, that it may separate water from water.” 7God made the expanse, and it separated the water which was below the expanse from the water which was above the expanse. And it was so. 8God called the expanse Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9God said, “Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of waters He called Seas. And God saw that this was good. 11And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that this was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times—the days and the years; 15and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights, the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars. 17And God set them in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that this was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and birds that fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21God created the great sea monsters, and all the living creatures of every kind that creep, which the waters brought forth in swarms, and all the winged birds of every kind. And God saw that this was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile and increase, fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24God said, “Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts of every kind.” And it was so. 25God made wild beasts of every kind and cattle of every kind, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. And God saw that this was good. 26And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.” 27And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.”
29God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food. 30And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” And it was so. 31And God saw all that He had made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2 The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. 2On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceaseda on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. 3And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. 4Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made earth and heaven—5when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil, 6but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth—7the LORD God formed manb from the dust of the earth.c He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
8The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed. 9And from the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad.
10A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches. 11The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. (12The gold of that land is good; bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli.d) 13The name of the second river is Gihon, the one that winds through the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Tigris, the one that flows east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; 17but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.”
18The LORD God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him.” 19And the LORD God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that would be its name. 20And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but for Adam no fitting helper was found. 21So the LORD God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that spot. 22And the LORD God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the man. 23Then the man
