Book of Job Front Cover

Announcing:


Robert D. Sacks,

The Book of Job: a New Translation with In-Depth Commentary.

Publication date: October 7, 2016.

Rich in obscure words and phrases—richer still in difficult moral and philosophical concepts—the Book of Job has been said to challenge the efforts of translators more broadly than any other book of the Hebrew Bible.

Robert D. Sacks has ventured to render the bold and vivid poetic imagery of the Hebrew original in English prose that is equally bold and equally vivid—while remaining solidly grounded in the nuances of meaning and diversity of resonances present in the Hebrew text.

The result is a translation often startling in its power and insight, opening the way to a deeper undertanding of this profound and unsettling book. Numerous notes provide enlightening but unobtrusive explanation of many of the translator's choices. In a separate chapter-by-chapter commentary, Sacks offers sustained original reflection on the several characters, their intentions, and their core beliefs.

Robert D. Sacks' distinctive translation of and commentary on the Book of Job gained the affectionate esteem of the small coterie of readers fortunate enough to have come upon it in an earlier version. Now the editors at Kafir Yaroq Books are pleased to announce a new edition of this work, extensively revised by Dr. Sacks, and with expanded commentary expressly designed to provide a window onto the often strange and difficult Hebrew text of Job.

Robert Sacks's previous books include A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Edwin Mellen Press, 1990) and Beginning Biblical Hebrew: Intentionality and Grammar (Kafir Yaroq Books, 2011).

What They are Saying about
Robert Sacks's The Book of Job:

Sacks's prose is eminently approachable and has the effect of bringing the reader into intimate contact with the characters in the book. Sacks introduces us to Job and each of Job's friends as individuals. We get to know what each holds to be important and what are the motivations that underlie their questions and arguments. The complicated interplay of interlocutors becomes sensible and lucid in Sacks's capable hands. Sacks's knowledge of the Hebrew language and tradition further brings the book to life and adds depth to the reader's understanding.

Susan Paalman, St. John's College, Annapolis

Reading Robert Sacks's translation and commentary on The Book of Job is a wonderful experience, both for its delicate and penetrating exploration of the book's language and for its powerful illumination of the book's meaning. In coming to see the world as a cosmos beyond the reach of human justice, Sacks argues, Job learns to recognize natural right, and in particular the equality of men and women.

Abraham Anderson, Sarah Lawrence College

Robert Sacks's translation and commentary combines a lucid translation that respects the strangeness of the origi­nal with a compelling philosophical reading of The Book of Job. At the heart of his extensive commentary is an account of the discovery of nature—of  "a world beyond man." Scholars and students alike will benefit from this remarkable book.

Frank Hunt, St. John's College, Santa Fe

Those of us whose understanding of the Bible has been immensely enriched by Robert D. Sacks's The Lion and the Ass and Beginning Hebrew: Intentionality and Grammar are now able to learn from his translation and discussion of The Book of Job. Sacks's insights into this extraordinary biblical book, especially his astute critical judgment that Job is the book of the Hebrew Bible that most puts us in contact with the question of the relation between Greek philosophy and the Hebrew Bible, makes his book an enduring source of wisdom pertaining to the time-honored inquiries of our civilization.

Terence J. Kleven, Central College, Pella, Iowa

6" x 9", 328 pages.
Biographical notes, bibliography, index.
Sewn Softcover binding.

 

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Kafir Yaroq Books

An imprint of Green Lion Press

Books for the study of source texts of the Hebrew tradition.