The Bible With and Without Jesus How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

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.