The Zohar
Pritzker Edition, Volume One
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Stanford University Press
Published:28th Oct '03
Should be back in stock very soon
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£54.00(9780804783057)
The first two volumes of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, translated with commentary by Daniel C. Matt, cover more than half of the Zohar's commentary on the Book of Genesis (through Genesis 32:3). This is the first translation ever made from a critical Aramaic text of the Zohar, which has been established by Professor Matt based on a wide range of original manuscripts. The extensive commentary, appearing at the bottom of each page, clarifies the kabbalistic symbolism and terminology, and cites sources and parallels from biblical, rabbinic, and kabbalistic texts. The translator's introduction is accompanied by a second introduction written by Arthur Green, discussing the origin and significance of the Zohar.
For ancillary materials, including the Aramaic text, please visit SUP's Zohar Home Page www.sup.org/zohar/.
Further information on the Zohar:
Sefer ha-Zohar, "The Book of Radiance," has amazed and overwhelmed readers ever since it emerged mysteriously in medieval Spain toward the end of the thirteenth century. Written in a unique Aramaic, this masterpiece of Kabbalah exceeds the dimensions of a normal book; it is virtually a body of literature, comprising over twenty discrete sections. The bulk of the Zohar consists of a running commentary on the Torah, from Genesis through Deuteronomy. This translation begins and focuses here in what are projected to be ten volumes. Two subsequent volumes will cover other, shorter sections.
The Zohar's commentary is composed in the form of a mystical novel. The hero is Rabbi Shim'on son of Yohai, a saintly disciple of Rabbi Akiva who lived in the second century in the land of Israel. In the Zohar, Rabbi Shim'on and his companions wander through the hills of Galilee, discovering and sharing secrets of Torah.
On one level, biblical figures such as Abraham and Sarah are the main characters, and the mystical companions interpret their words, actions, and personalities. On a deeper level, the text of the Bible is simply the starting point, a springboard for the imagination. For example, when God commands Abraham, Lekh lekha, Go forth... to the land that I will show you (Genesis 12:1), Rabbi El'azar ignores idiomatic usage and insists on reading the words more literally than they were intended, hyperliterally: Lekh lekha, Go to yourself! Search deep within to discover your true self.
At...
"Slow and meticulous study of the original text along with Matt's brilliant translation and extensive commentary will prove ultimately rewarding. The Pritzker Edition should find its place in any serious Judaica library together with all of the other major texts of Judaism."—Paul Howard Hamburg, Associaition of Jewish Libaries
"[Matt's] text is the most authoritative English translation and the only English edition that goes directly to the source, unearthing many of the major surviving manuscripts of the original language."—Library Journal
"Daniel Matt's translation of, and commentary to, the Zohar is a powerfully poetic rendition of this spiritual masterpiece. It is a book to be studied, not read. As one who has pondered and taught the Zohar for many years, I found Matt's interpretation learned, insightful, and very beautiful. Often, his translation and commentary changed my understanding of passages I thought I had already mastered."—David R. Blumenthal, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"Pinchas of Koretz once said that the Zohar saved his soul, and a great many other Jews down through the centuries would agree. The Zohar was considered by many pious Jews to be part of the holy triad by which they lived: the Bible, the Talmud, and the Zohar. And so it is good to have it accesible to a new generation of Jews, who will learn much from it, if they are willing to confront it, to wrestle with it, and to engage in the study of it with mind and soul."—Rabbi Jack Riemer
"At last, we have an authoritative version of one of the most significant, misunderstood, brilliant, difficult texts in the whole of the Jewish tradition, a translation that fulfills the wishes and scholars and seekers alike."—The Forward
"...Thanks to Matt's achievement the English reader is able, for the first time, to appreciate the depth and complexity of this innovative and, at the same time, canonical mystical text."—Journal of Jewish Studies
"While translation may be an art, it can also be genuine scholarship of the highest order. . . . Restoring the Zohar to our comprehension, these volumes are a monumental contribution to the history of Jewish thought."—Koret Jewish Book Award,Philosophy and Thought, 2003-2004,The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, Volumes I and II
"A powerfully poetic rendition of this spiritual masterpiece. . . . Matt's new Zohar is a classic already in its first two volumes. The edition alone, or the translation alone, or the commentary alone would be a major contribution. The whole is a work of art."—Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"More than a translation, this projected twelve-volume Pritzker edition amounts to an encyclopedia of the Zohar and is set to become one of the single most important contributions to the topic in teh English-speaking world."—Times Liiterary Supplement
"Daniel Matt's landmark translation of the Zohar from the original tongues into English is a tour de force of scholarship and linguistic imagination—in the service of heaven."—Laurance Wieder, University of Virginia in Charlottesville
- Winner of National Jewish Book Award (Jewish Thought) 2004
ISBN: 9780804747479
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 1179g
584 pages