is there a special messianic jewish bible i can get a hold of? if so, who publishes it, and what is it called?

Question

paperback_writer: i already knew everything you told me. you should realize though, that i see messianic ''whatever-you-wanna-call-it'' as both the completion of my christian faith, and the abolition of anti-semitism. it can't hurt me, can it?

Answer 1

Messianic Judaism is a branch of Christianity, so you'll need a Christian Bible. A "Jewish Bible" by definition consists of the Torah (i.e. the Pentateuch), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings), and hence is known by the acronym TaNaKh. To Christians the Hebrew Bible is known as the "Old Testament," and the Christian writings are called the "New Testament." A Messianic may refer to them as the Old and New Covenant, to make it sound more "Jewy". It's really all a matter of packaging. Also, the Hebrew Bible was written in Hebrew, and the Christian New Testament was written primarily in Greek. So while there exist Hebrew translations of Christian texts (I've even heard of Messianic "Synagogues" that have the Gospels written in Hebrew on a scroll so as to resemble a Sefer Torah), these are not authentic. For the Jewish scriptures, the Hebrew is original and the English is a translation. For Jewish scriptures, the Greek is original and the Hebrew is a translation.

Also, a Jewish Bible will not give translations sufficiently slanted towards Christian or "Messianic" theology. Christian translations like the King James Version, the New International Version, and others, rely on inaccurate translations in a lot of places, to make the Jewish scriptures fit better with Christian belief. Assuming you want a Messianic bible that doesn't contradict messianic belief, you'll need one of these Christian editions of the Bible, and not something that's overly true to the original Hebrew.

If you want to be a Christian, be happy being a Christian. But calling it Judaism, even with an extra word before it, is only going to confuse others, and ultimately, yourself. Be Jewish or be Christian - just be honest about which one you are.

Answer 2

If you are messianic, you are not Jewish. You need to understand this most basic fact.

Messianics believe and adhere to beliefs that go directly AGAINST Judaism. That's why you are not recognized as Jewish by members of the Jewish worldwide community, nor the leaders of the main movements within Judaism: Reform, Conservative, etc.

That's also why you can't get Israeli citizenship under the Law Of Return, because it's only for Jews.

Jews do not believe that Jesus was the messiah. Since you do believe this, and since you also believe in the new testament, you can't claim to be Jewish.

Answer 3

There is the Complete Jewish Bible.It's published by Jewish New Testament Publications,Inc.

Answer 4

http://www.messianicjewish.net/jntp/complete-jewish-bible.html

http://www.cmy.on.ca/store2002/iframe/lobby/BIBLESANDCOMMENTARIES.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Jewish-Bible-Testament-Hadashah/dp/9653590154

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?ean=9789653590151&z=y

http://www.messianicjewish.net/webstore.html