Every Good and Perfect Gift: A Novel

Book Description

In the tradition of Kaye Gibbons, Sheri Reynolds, and Dorothy Allison, Brenda Jernigan is an exciting and original Southern voice. This novel concerns a miraculous event -- with a contemporary spin -- that sets in motion a profoundly moving and often warmly human coming-of-age story. This is beautifully crafted writing, rich with unforgettable characters.

Every Good and Perfect Gift is set in a small town in North Carolina, a place that is comfortable with tradition, including the traditional image of God. On a sultry Sunday morning when ten-year-old Maggie Davidson swoons from the heat and sees God -- and God is a woman -- people are quick to ascribe her vision to the fantasies of an overheated girl. But when Maggie begins to demonstrate a gift of healing, people's attitudes change.
This is a story of a family of three strong women -- grandmother, mother, and daughter -- who live by the laws of love, loss, and pride. It is also the story of a community of good people gone wrong and bad people who find good in themselves. It is a knowingly detailed account of a particular part of America -- and of the wide landscape of human hearts and souls.

Customer Reviews:

Strong women, with a stronger faith in God.......2002-09-09

This book was a wonderful read. Maggie, at the young age of 10, sees God. And God is a woman. Healing powers are bestowed on Maggie, and the burden of her gift at times becomes too much for her to bear or understand. Maggie's mother and grandmother play a huge part in her life, as does Maggie's first experience with love. Maggie meets Alex, and during the summer, they spend time on the farm, discussing her gift and trying to understand why she has been chosen to work God's miracles.

The story continues to unfold as her mother suffers a stroke, and Maggie reaches to God to heal her sick loved one. When this does not happen, Maggie rejects her faith, in herself and in God. As well, Maggie rejects Alex and he leaves her, swearing to return when she will finally believe in their love. I kept turning the pages to see if Maggie and Alex can recapture their love...and the ending fits the story.

This story is a soulful journey, with strong female characters, especially Maggie who is our portal to God's love. A rich tale, worthy of 5 stars.

I Knew it All Along...God is A Woman.......2002-02-11

Sitting in Sunday school listening to an interminable story, Maggie Davidson sees God, in the form of a woman, in a vision when she's just 10 years old, and discovers that she has the gift of healing. She blurts this out to anyone who will listen, which quickly earns her the label of liar and kook. So she decides to keep her visions to herself after that. She can't summon the appearances of God, nor does she have any control over her healing powers, but her reputation spreads quickly throughout the small town of Canaan, North Carolina. Maggie bears her notoriety with grace and tolerance, but is always aware of how different she is from other people.

Maggie is being raised by her mother and grandmother, both strong, unique women. Granny is running the tobacco farm, and Maggie helps out when she's not in school. Her alcoholic father took off years ago, but shows up to borrow some money from Maggie when he learns of her famous gift. In fact, most of the men in this book are weak or flawed in some way. Granny is a delightful character, down-to-earth, warm hearted and practical, constantly spouting down home wisdoms.

Alex Barrons, a Princeton seminary student, shows up one summer when Maggie is in college, intent on interviewing Maggie as part of his summer research project on modern day mystics and visionaries. Maggie agrees to talk to him, and they become friends as the summer progresses. But when it's time for Alex to return to college, he admits that he has fallen in love with her. Maggie feels that she won't fit into his world, and feels violated when he reveals that he told someone else about her secret belief that God is a woman. Maggie refuses to read any of his letters while he is away, but her heart is broken and she can't forget about him and the bond they shared.

The book was a delightful study of small town folks, good people doing good deeds, misguided people doing harm to each other, religious fervor, the power of God's love, and the power of faith and forgiveness. Sit down with this book for an afternoon, and you'll feel a renewal of your own faith and love.

Entertaining and fun to read.......2002-01-17

I really liked reading this book. It reminded me of "Where the Heart Is". I liked the strong women characters. The healing gift storyline was intriguing to me, but I was disappointed because it seemed to fall to the wayside in the latter half of the book as the lovelife of the characters took over. The story was a little bit predictable, but overall it was an enjoyable experience.

UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS, KEEN OBSERVATIONS IN A GREAT STORY.......2001-10-31

Brenda Jernigan's first novel is one filled with authentic, believable characters and gentle but clear-eyed observations of life in the South during the 50s and 60s. Like another reviewer, I found that several of the characters reminded me in no small way of some of my own memorable relatives.

The story centers around three women, living together on their own, whose lives are filled with familiar joys and sorrows, eccentric and strong-willed relatives and neighbors, hard work and rewards. Their personalities are distinctly different, and at times conflicting -- but they are bound together by their faith (expressed and experienced in different ways), values and deep love of family.

Daughter Maggie, the main character and narrator, is ten years old as the book opens. One morning in Sunday school, she is gifted with a vision of God, accompanied by a simple message: "Feed my sheep'. The fact that, in Maggie's vision, God appears as a woman, is met with an understated, natural acceptance by her, and by understandable skepticism and consternation by her family and others in the small North Carolina town of Canaan, where they live. After being rebuked and ridiculed for this aspect of her revelation, Maggie decides to keep the Heavenly gender to herself. From time to time, she experiences repetitions of the initial vision -- and feels herself being utilized as a conduit for healing energy, which of course brings more attention her way. These incidents cannot be called up by her at will -- to the dismay and scorn of those who would use her 'power' for their own purposes and profit. Her view of her 'gift', and all of its accompanying burdens, are refreshingly honest, straightforward and simple -- she knows that the power doesn't lie within her or belong to her, and she sees herself as someone fairly ordinary. She deals with all of this as she struggles against all of the barriers thrown up against a young woman in the South during this time who is trying to be independent, educate herself, and make her place in the world.

Maggie grandmother is -- as one magazine article so aptly puts it -- 'a sturdy country woman of great faith'. She is necessarily tough, the unquestionable matriarch of her extended family -- with some members of which she occasionally butts heads -- but she is filled with the power that unconditional love instills in a person. She is fond of quoting scripture, and she has a knack for getting right to the heart of any matter -- the tools of faith, strength and love serve her well.

Lily, Maggie's mother, is quite the free spirit. Much of her family views her as an aberration, and with some degree of disdain and disrespect -- but in her own way, she is just as strong-willed, just as pure-hearted as her mother. Jernigan skillfully develops her character as the story progresses to allow the reader to come to realize this.

The author's character-building skills are one of the most rewarding things about this novel -- coupled with her talent for translating what surely must be first-hand observations of growing up in the 60s South into readable, relevant and entertaining prose make this book a joyful, moving experience.

In addition, the book is valuable in gently allowing us to consider the ways in which God is revealed -- or not -- to each one of us. Those who cling so tightly to irrelevancies such as gender and skin color -- things of the flesh, not of the spirit -- are in danger of missing the deeper universality of the spiritual experience. A couple of observations from 'outside' Christianity come to mind. Ramakrishna, a great saint who lived in India during the late 19th century, spoke often about the unifying beliefs of the world's great religions. He likened the varying presentations of the word of God as different meals, prepared by a loving mother to suit the tastes of her children. I also recently saw a quote from Mahatma Ghandi that said (approximately) 'There are some people in the world who are so hungry that God can only appear to them as a loaf of bread'. Our needs are as varied as we are as human beings -- why is it that our vision and understanding of God's nature should not be varied as well?

This book is a coming-of-age tale, a love story, a social document, and simply a well-written, rewarding read -- whether you grew up in the South, or anywhere. This is a story and a group of characters that you will not soon forget.

A great read for fans of contemporary southern fiction.......2001-10-22

I really loved this book; reminded me of fiction by Kaye Gibbons and Lee Smith. It's difficult for a fiction writer to point out the foibles of established religion without coming across as anti-religion, but Jernigan manages this feat as skillfully as Clyde Edgerton does in novels like Raney.

Average customer rating:

Good adventure, but minimal tie in to the Forgotten Realms

There was just something missing in this one

"The men ate the camels, the reptilian sellswords ate the men."

Not bad for a rainy afternoon with nothing to do.

Great introduction to Forgotten Realms
The Parched Sea (Forgotten Realms Novel : the Harpers, Book 1)
Troy Denning
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Denning, Troy | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Red Magic (Forgotten Realms: The Harpers, Book 3)

THE NIGHT PARADE (Forgotten Realms Fantasy Adventure)

Soldiers of Ice (Forgotten Realms - the Harpers, No 7)

CRYPT OF THE SHADOWKING (Forgotten Realms)

Curse of the Shadowmage (Forgotten Realms-The Harpers, No 11)

ASIN: 1560760672

Customer Reviews:

Good adventure, but minimal tie in to the Forgotten Realms.......2005-04-14

This is the first of "The Harpers" novels. It is out of print, so you may have some difficulty obtaining a copy. The adventure is quite good, and the characters are all-too-believable. If you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms, it is certainly a worthwhile acquisition.

There were several things I liked about the book. It was nice to learn about Ruha, the protagonist. She appears in a supporting role in a number of other FR novels, and I had always suspected that she had an interesting history. It was nice to finally learn some of that history. (Clearly, however, there is more somewhere, because at the novel's end her Harper affiliation is still somewhat negligible.)

I also enjoyed the portrayal of the Bedine and the desert nomad life. It reminded me quite a bit of "Dune" in the way the characters were always obsessed with water, and thinking of the desert almost as another adversary.

The "big three" in the book, Ruha, Lander, and Kadumi, are all well-created. They are all reasonably complex and have some inherent conflict that helps to drive the plot. Ruha and Kadumi in particular develop as characters. I would have enjoyed watching their relationship continue to develop. It would have been quite complicated, I am sure.

My only criticism of this book is that it does not particularly tie into the Forgotten Realms. There are a few passing allusions to the more famous Harpers, but really, there is very little that stamps this book as clearly a "Harpers" novel. In particular, one of the hallmarks of the Harpers seems to be their ability to respond to overwhelming odds with: 1) clever tactics, and 2) an above average "gallows" sense of humor.

While Lander's tactics were quite good (and frankly more believable than some other Harpers books) he never seemed to have the same attitude as most of the Harpers. Certainly there was very little humor in the book.

I do not want to be too critical of the novel's lack of "Harpers" feel, though. Many well-loved series take some time to find themselves. (Ask any Star Trek: The Next Generation fan about the first half-dozen episodes and you will understand what I mean.) Overall, this was a very enjoyable read.

There was just something missing in this one.......2005-01-05

While this book was enjoyable for the most part, I really felt as if it was missing something throughout the story.. Its hard to say exactly what that something is, but I just wasn't fulfilled after this Harpers novel. More detail should have been provided in some instances and the background characters were too predictable (the sheiks and the Zhents). There's something else though that left me with a bored feeling throughout much of the novel. Maybe it was just a little too predictable or maybe I was just looking for something with a little more serious/mature feeling, but I just couldn't ever really get into Ruha and Lander's plight.

I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I was surprised to see this novel getting an overall 4.5 star rating on Amazon.

"The men ate the camels, the reptilian sellswords ate the men.".......2004-06-05

Definitely a great fantasy epic and one of my personal favorites, THE PARCHED SEA sheds light on the ever-expanding magical desert of Anauroch set in the amazing world of the Forgotten Realms!
The book is the first in a series of 16 novels focusing on the legendary Harpers, the primary secret organization fighting the spread of evil in Faerun.
A Bedine witch outcast joins a Harper agent out of Sembia sent into the Desert to thwart the Zhentarim plans of enslaving the indigenous peoples, setting up a direct trade route between East and West, and eventually expanding Zhentish influence all across the continent. In the process, the couple will have to overcome its worse fears if they are to stand a chance at success...
The Parched Sea deals with a neglected part of the Realms, The Desert of Anauroch, with its rich history, its proud and exotic people, and that feeling of excitement and adventure.
The book is so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense.
Troy Denning has done a FANTASTIC job of acquiring and presenting, efficiently and successfully, essential knowledge relevant to Faerun, including customs, religion and the history of the peoples of Toril. His solid grasp of factual detail makes him capable of providing the necessary background needed to carry out the difficult task of writing Forgotten Realms novels, which is something often missing from the work of many Fantasy authors. Consequently, from the moment you pick up the book you have trouble putting it down and if that is not a clear sign of a fantastic writer/author, I don't know what is!
Troy Denning is an experienced author, who has truly outdone himself and has presented us with a wonderful piece of literature the likes of which can be compared to JRR Tolkien's work, RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies, and in authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends trilogies.
Magic, Monsters, Harpers and Zhents are all about. In conclusion, it's what Fantasy reading SHOULD be. A GREAT book indeed and a "must read" if you love Fantasy and especially if you love the Forgotten Realms! DON'T MISS IT!!!
The Veiled Dragon, Harpers novel #12, also happens to be Troy Denning's sequel to The Parched Sea. I can't wait...

Not bad for a rainy afternoon with nothing to do........2004-03-25

This was an enteratining book, that gives you a good amount of information about the peoples of the anauroch. I think that my only problem with the book is that the heroes would make a big deal about how certain stretches of the desert were impassible, and then travel threw them with really very little difficulty at all. One of the better in the Harper's series though.

Great introduction to Forgotten Realms.......2004-02-16

My love of the Baulders Gate and Neverwinter Nights PC/PS2 games (both set in Forgotten Realms) is what drew me to pick this up. This is the first FR book I had read, and I wasn't dissapointed.

Product Description

6 Titles Forgotten Realms Series The Harpers (1-6) : The Parched Sea Elfshadow Red Magic The Night Parade The Ring of Winter Crypt of the Shadowking. six mmpb books.

THE HARPERS 1: Parched Sea; 2: Elfshadow; 3: Red Magic; 4: Night Parade; 5: Ring of Winter; 6: Crypt of the Shadowking; 7: Soldiers of Ice; 8: Elfsong; 9: Crown of Fire; 10: Masquerades; 11: Curse of the Shadowmage; 12: Veiled Dragon; 13: Silver Shadows

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THE HARPERS 1: Parched Sea; 2: Elfshadow; 3: Red Magic; 4: Night Parade; 5: Ring of Winter; 6: Crypt of the Shadowking; 7: Soldiers of Ice; 8: Elfsong; 9: Crown of Fire; 10: Masquerades; 11: Curse of the Shadowmage; 12: Veiled Dragon; 13: Silver Shadows
Troy; Cunningham, Elaine; Rabe, Jean; Ciencin, Scott; Lowder, James; Anthony, Mark; Cook, David; Greenwood, Ed; Novak, Kate; Grubb, Jeff Denning
Manufacturer: TSR Forgotten Realms
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5GD44

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The Parched Sea
Troy Denning
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NX7N1I

The Parched Sea (Forgotten Realms: The Harpers # 1)

Average customer rating:

"The men ate the camels, the reptilian sellswords ate the men."

The Parched Sea (Forgotten Realms: The Harpers # 1)
Troy Denning
Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000JKNYOU

Customer Reviews:

"The men ate the camels, the reptilian sellswords ate the men.".......2007-09-06

5 Titles Forgotten Realms Series The Harpers (1-5) : 1. The Parched Sea 2. Elfshadow 3. Red Magic 4. The Night Parade 5. The Ring of Winter

Average customer rating:

5 Titles Forgotten Realms Series The Harpers (1-5) : 1. The Parched Sea 2. Elfshadow 3. Red Magic 4. The Night Parade 5. The Ring of Winter
Troy Denning , Elaine Cunningham , Jean Rabe , Scott Ciencin , and James Lowder
Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000VLUM10

Product Description

multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.

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THE CHUMS OF MOORHAVEN.

Manufacturer: Warne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HG1QNM

Average customer rating:
The Golden Barrier
Agnes Castle; Egerton Castle
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Literature & Fiction | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1421239124
Release Date: 2000-05-26

Book Description

1913. A romantic novel from the notable literary couple of Egerton Castle and his wife, Agnes (Sweetman) Castle, who was a sister of the novelist Francis Blundell. The story begins: The hottest afternoon of the hot summer-so Lady Adelaide declared it to be. And though she was assured of the presence of a breeze and confronted with a thermometer, she maintained (on the authority of the Daily Mail, just arrived) that, as it had been ninety-eight at Kew yesterday, here, in South Devon, it must be well over a hundred; especially as the forecasts announced a still increasing temperature. She announced that, if they all chose to behave like lunatics and seek sunstroke in the hayfields, she at least would prove her sanity by lunching indoors and spending the afternoon in the library-the coolest room in the house. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

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Moorhaven
Daoma Winston
Manufacturer: Futura
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KKD7NW

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Moorhaven

Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Regency | Romance | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0380002442

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Greed and Insanity By The Sea
Hate across the generations

Moorhaven
Daoma Winston
Manufacturer: Ulverscroft Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

Romance | Large Print | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0708930336

Customer Reviews:

Greed and Insanity By The Sea.......2006-09-10

Three generations of Moorhavens florish and suffer in this spectacular forerunner to Emerald Station. The women are strong, wealthy and absolutely mad in their quest for complete domination over their family's inherited wealth. Unfortunately, Moorhaven was built on wild cliffs too close to the sea for comfort. Will the sea rise up to reclaim it's own?

Hate across the generations.......2000-04-13

A great gothic romance where three women in different generations become mistresses of a great house on "land stolen from the sea." As is typical in gothic romances, murder attacks the shadowy figures of the family, leaving the strong heroines to solve it. You don't find a weak femme fatale in Moorhaven -- although the historic period suggests the helpless female type. I love gothic romances, and this one is a hit.

Average customer rating:

Moorhaven
Winston Daoma
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000V9BIME

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Moorhaven

Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000F5HZ7G

Product Description

The breathtaking romance of Cordelia and Johnathan-the governess and the Master of Moorhaven-begins the stormy saga that spans three generations at Moorhaven, the great stone house built on land stolen from the sea. The strange mystery haunting the house, the passionate family feuds, the secret love affairs, and the life-long hatreds wind their way through the generations as the family prepares itself to meet the final challange of Moorhaven!

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MOORHAVEN
DAOMA WINSTON
Manufacturer: PARRAGON
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S2X2WI

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Moorhaven Fair
Richard Novak
Manufacturer: Pirate Writings Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 096401680X

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Moorhaven
WiNston Daoma
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8G2V4

Book Description

While this tradition contains an element of truth, it is certain that the primary object of translating the Bible was to minister to a need nearer home. Upon the establishment of the Second Commonwealth under Ezra and Nehemiah, it became imperative to make the Torah of God 'distinct and giving sense' through the means of interpretation (Nehemiah 8:8 and 13:24), that the Word of God might be understood by all the people. The Rabbis perceived in this activity of the first generation of the Sopherim the origin of the Aramaic translation known as the Targum, first made orally and afterwards committed to writing, which was necessitated by the fact that Israel had forgotten the sacred language, and spoke the idiom current in a large part of western Asia. All this, however, is veiled in obscurity, as is the whole inner history of the Jews during the Persian rule.

The historic necessity for translation was repeated with all the great changes in Israel's career. It is enough to point to the Septuagint, or the Greek translation of the Scriptures, the product of Israel's contact with the Hellenistic civilization dominating the world at that time; to the Arabic translation by the Gaon Saadya, when the great majority of the Jewish people came under the sceptre of Mohammedan rulers; and to the German translation by Mendelssohn and his school, at the dawn of a new epoch, which brought the Jews in Europe, most of whom spoke a German dialect, into closer contact with their neighbours. These translations are all historical products intimately connected with Israel's wanderings among the nations and with the great events of mankind in general.

Ancient and continuous as this task of translation was, it would be a mistake to think that there were no misgivings about it. At least it is certain that opinions were divided as to the desirability of such undertakings. While Philo and his Alexandrian coreligionists looked upon the translation of the Seventy as a work of inspired men, the Palestinian Rabbis subsequently considered the day on which the Septuagint was completed as one of the most unfortunate in Israel's history, seeing that the Torah could never be adequately translated. And there are indications enough that the consequences of such translations were not all of a desirable nature. However, in view of the eagerness with which they were undertaken almost in every land and in every great epoch of the world's history, it is evident that the people at large approved of such translations, thinking them to be a heave-offering to the Lord of each newly acquired vernacular adopted in the course of the ever-changing conditions of history, and in particular a tribute to the beauty of Japheth dwelling in the spiritual tents of Israel.

The greatest change in the life of Israel during the last two generations was his renewed acquaintance with English-speaking civilization. Out of a handful of immigrants from Central Europe and the East who saw the shores of the New World, or even of England and her colonies, we have grown under Providence both in numbers and in importance, so that we constitute now the greatest section of Israel living in a single country

Customer Reviews:

Misleading Advertising.......2007-06-12

The description for this disc doesn't mention that it's the antique 1917 edition of the JPS Tanakh, which is the King James version with a little tweaking to fix up verse numbering differences and the odd word or two. One can only conclude that the publisher's aim was to gull the public into thinking that it's the current JPS translation, especially when they list a recent publication date and include a current "review" telling us what a great translation it is. This version of the text is in the public domain and can be easily found online, in both Hebrew and the 1917 JPS translation. Don't waste your money.

Great translation.......2005-12-22

The sacred task of translating the Word of God, as revealed to Israel through lawgiver, prophet, psalmist, and sage, began at an early date.

According to an ancient rabbinic interpretation, Joshua had the Torah engraved upon the stones of the altar (Joshua 8:32) not in the original Hebrew alone, but in all the languages of mankind, which were held to be seventy, in order that all men might become acquainted with the words of the Scriptures. This statement, with its universalistic tendency, is, of course, a reflex of later times, when the Hebrew Scriptures had become a subject of curiosity and perhaps also of anxiety to the pagan or semi-pagan world.

While this tradition contains an element of truth, it is certain that the primary object of translating the Bible was to minister to a need nearer home. Upon the establishment of the Second Commonwealth under Ezra and Nehemiah, it became imperative to make the Torah of God 'distinct and giving sense' through the means of interpretation (Nehemiah 8:8 and 13:24), that the Word of God might be understood by all the people.

The Rabbis perceived in this activity of the first generation of the Sopherim the origin of the Aramaic translation known as the Targum, first made orally and afterwards committed to writing, which was necessitated by the fact that Israel had forgotten the sacred language, and spoke the idiom current in a large part of western Asia.

All this, however, is veiled in obscurity, as is the whole inner history of the Jews during the Persian rule.

The historic necessity for translation was repeated with all the great changes in Israel's career. It is enough to point to the Septuagint, or the Greek translation of the Scriptures, the product of Israel's contact with the Hellenistic civilization dominating the world at that time; to the Arabic translation by the Gaon Saadya, when the great majority of the Jewish people came under the sceptre of Mohammedan rulers; and to the German translation by Mendelssohn and his school, at the dawn of a new epoch, which brought the Jews in Europe, most of whom spoke a German dialect, into closer contact with their neighbours.

These translations are all historical products intimately connected with Israel's wanderings among the nations and with the great events of mankind in general.

Ancient and continuous as this task of translation was, it would be a mistake to think that there were no misgivings about it. At least it is certain that opinions were divided as to the desirability of such undertakings.

While Philo and his Alexandrian coreligionists looked upon the translation of the Seventy as a work of inspired men, the Palestinian Rabbis subsequently considered the day on which the Septuagint was completed as one of the most unfortunate in Israel's history, seeing that the Torah could never be adequately translated. And there are indications enough that the consequences of such translations were not all of a desirable nature. However, in view of the eagerness with which they were undertaken almost in every land and in every great epoch of the world's history, it is evident that the people at large approved of such translations, thinking them to be a heave-offering to the Lord of each newly acquired vernacular adopted in the course of the ever-changing conditions of history, and in particular a tribute to the beauty of Japheth dwelling in the spiritual tents of Israel.

The greatest change in the life of Israel during the last two generations was his renewed acquaintance with English-speaking civilization.

Out of a handful of immigrants from Central Europe and the East who saw the shores of the New World, or even of England and her colonies, we have grown under Providence both in numbers and in importance, so that we constitute now the greatest section of Israel living in a single country

"Don't Put That In Your Mouth -- You Don't Know Where It's Been".......2005-12-16

The Jewish Publication Society (JPS) did NOT produce this CD, according to the JPS publishing director, Carol Hupping (personal communication, 12/14/05).

This is NOT the same "JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh" as the one published by JPS (ISBN 0827606567).

Rather, this CD includes the translation published by the JPS in 1917. That translation is now in the public domain and can be found online for free.

Furthermore, not all versions of the Hebrew Bible are the same, and the one on this CD is of unknown provenance. Who knows where this "publisher" got what it claims to be the Bible text? Who can vouch for the text's accuracy and reliability as the actual words of the Bible (without scribal or typographical errors)?

In contrast, JPS itself has produced a newer translation (second edition, 1999), which is in modern English and draws upon the advances in biblical scholarship since 1917. It has also published that newer translation together with a Hebrew text whose editing is carefully documented. It titled that edition the "JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh."

That edition is available in three electronic versions, produced by Varda Books under license from JPS. Again, that is NOT what's on this CD. Don't be misled by the title.

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