The Reader's Hebrew Bible has been on the market for only a few months and looks set to become a "must" for everyone who has covered the basics of the language and wishes to progress to "real" Hebrew. You need, though, to have a good working vocabulary for it to enable you to read in extenso with fluency. The grey-scale shading of proper names is a good idea. The price is also exceptionally cheap for a product of this quality.
What would be really helpful is a Grammatical Analysis of the Old Testament similar to "Max and Mary" for the New.

The Reader's Hebrew Bible has been on the market for only a few months and looks set to become a "must" for everyone who has covered the basics of the language and wishes to progress to "real" Hebrew. You need, though, to have a good working vocabulary for it to enable you to read in extenso with fluency. The grey-scale shading of proper names is a good idea. The price is also exceptionally cheap for a product of this quality.
What would be really helpful is a Grammatical Analysis of the Old Testament similar to "Max and Mary" for the New.

I've got both the first and second editions of the Reader's GNT companion volume. Either is a great value for the money, but neither comes close to the quality and usefulness of the Reader's GNT published by UBS -- the real deal. So I was a bit hesitant to purchase Zondervan's Reader's Hebrew Bible.

My hesitation was overcome by the fact that I use my UBS RGNT on a daily basis for devotional use, but don't read the Hebrew text in the same way as frequently because of the need for a lexicon nearby. A reader's lexicon helps, but it's still a clunky way to read, and because Hebrew vocabulary is so much larger than NT Greek, there are few of us who will ever be able to simply read with no lexicon around. So seeing what a reader's GNT did for me, I ordered this.

I'm very pleased. It hast the same cheap binding and paper as the companion RGNT, but the fact that it's duo-tone (basically PVC plastic) does mean that despite being flimsy, it should hold up for a long time. They seem to have overcome the typeface problems present in both editions of the RGNT. This font is very easy to read. I have not found the proper names being in gray instead of black to be a problem -- they're not that light and the purpose is to make proper names used less than 100 times stand out so that the newbie doesn't waste time trying to parse them. That's the whole point: to gloss the words so the reader doesn't have to. The more you read, the more you learn, and the more often you read and learn the more Hebrew sticks in your mind.

The fact that this text is that of the Westminster edition of Leningradensis is great. They essentially cut and pasted from Bibleworks 4. There are minor variants between this and BHS/BHQ, but nothing significant and all differences are listed in the appendix. I also like the way they've dealt with Kethib-Qere readings -- something that should serve good training for the student just learning his way around the Hebrew Old Testament.

If Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft ever prints a readers edition of BHS or BHQ it will probably leave this in the dust just as the UBS RGNT leaves the Zondervan RGNT in the dust, but until then this is a great tool.

I received A Reader's Hebrew Bible with great anticipation and was not disappointed. I have found it to be a very well conceived and thoughtfully delivered Hebrew tool. It is perfect for someone like me who is trying to intergrate the Hebrew scriptures into my life in a practical manner. This tool has already allowed me greater ease of access and I recommend it to all.

Based on the success Zondervan had with A Reader's Greek New Testament, you knew it was only a matter of time before they'd put together a similar resource for the Hebrew Bible. To the delight of many, A Reader's Hebrew Bible was released this past March. I've been looking forward to writing this review and wanted to express a word of thanks to the folks at Zondervan for sending me a review copy. I'll be breaking this review into two parts. Part one will discuss the physical characteristics and also the packaging for this Bible. Part two will take a look at what's inside this Bible.

Let me start by talking about the physical characteristics of A Reader's Hebrew Bible. It has a very appealing look about it; one might go so far as to say it's beautiful. The binding is a light brown Italian Duo-Tone. You will find the title stamped on the front cover and the spine in silver lettering. The page edges match the lettering as they are also gilded silver. This volume measures 7.2 in. wide by 9.9 in. high by 2.1 in. deep, which makes it a bit larger than the other Hebrew Bibles I am familiar with. The paper used for this Bible is a bit thinner than the paper used in some of the other Zondervan Bibles in my library. It is slightly transparent as you're able to make out some of the text on the other side of each page. However, this in no way hinders the readability of the Hebrew text. I felt that the decision to go with this paper was probably design-related as it lends to the overall elegant look and feel of the Bible. In addition to the great look and feel of this Bible, Zondervan went the extra mile by creating great packaging for it. This Bible comes in what I would consider a presentation quality box. The front of the box is windowed to show the front cover with the title in silver lettering. The back of the box has a well laid out list of information that will be important to someone who is looking to buy this Bible.

Next, I wanted to take a look at the inside of A Reader's Hebrew Bible. There are 28 pages of worthwhile introductory material at the front of the Bible. This includes the Author's Preface, a Quick User's Guide, an Introduction, and Abbreviations & Sigla. I am very excited to note that all of the introductory material is written in English. Many of the Hebrew and Greek Bibles available in the bookstores of Bible Colleges and seminaries come from the German Bible Society. The difficulty for many American students is that the introductory material is written in German. Since most of the students are not fluent in German, they miss out on the introductory information, which will help them to make the best possible use of their new Bible. Following the introductory material is the actual Hebrew text. I really appreciate that the Hebrew text goes across the entire page, with all of the notes appearing at the bottom. This serves to make the text more readable as you don't have any notes or references in the margins, breaking up the text as you're trying to read it. I think this will be especially useful to first year students who are working on their Hebrew reading as it will minimizes the distractions on the page. When the reader comes across a word they're not quite sure about, they can refer to the notes at the bottom of the page which contain glosses and definitions of Hebrew words occurring 100 times or less and Aramaic words occurring 25 times or less. These notes will prove very useful to the 1st year student as well as the more casual reader whose Hebrew skills may be a bit out of practice.

Let me summarize by saying that I think Zondervan did a great job with A Reader's Hebrew Bible. It's a very attractive and high quality Hebrew Bible at a reasonable price. The layout and notes will be invaluable for the 1st year student or the more casual reader. It will make a great gift for students, pastors, or the layperson interested in Biblical Hebrew.

The concept is great. But my major complaint with this book is the printing. A very common problem is that entire words in the text are faded (this is done intentionally to indicate less frequent vocabulary -- e.g. words used in the OT less than 100 times). Since these words are printed only in a very light ghost gray, they look washed out as if there were some sort of inking problem in the printing. Perhaps this is a usefule tool to some, but I found it less than appealing. Other than that, this Hebrew Bible makes for a pleasant alternative to awkward interlinear versions.

The concept is great. But my major complaint with this book is that the publisher did not flunk his printer. This should never have gone to market with such defective printing. A very common problem is that entire words in the text are faded randomly (and did I mention often). Sometimes in black, other times printed only in a very light ghost gray. There obviously was some sort of inking program problem somewhere in the printing, and whoever the proofreaders and editors were for this project, I hope they are looking for other careers.

Just a beautiful Hebrew Bible for general reading! I'm frankly not sure how they could make it any better. If you are learning Hebrew, be sure to get this one. It will aid your general reading!

I really like this hebrew OT - the type is clear, the footnotes complete and the binding good. I recommend this for pastors who want to keep up on Hebrew and advance in this Biblical language.

Pastor Wayne Steury
Church of the Nazarene

This is a most excellent resource for Hebrew scholars. It not only gives you the Hebrew text but it gives you clear references as to the varying meaning of the words in the text when there is differening opinions. A good resource for a Hebrew scholar. A must buy.

My hermeneutics prof. recommended the Greek Readers' Bible so I thought I would see if there was a Hebrew version. I ordered it on that basis and was extremely pleased. After struggling with the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, I found the font to be much easier to read. Also, the addition of word translations (if word occurs less than 100 times) meant I wasn't going back and forth to Hebrew dictionary - made translation so much more enjoyable I found myself wanting to read beyond assigned passages! Perhaps more advanced students might find it lacking in scholarly references, but 2nd semester students agree - Reader's makes reading Hebrew fun!

"A Reader's Hebrew Bible" is the sort of book that one is either proud to have in one's collection, or a bit embarrassed to own. Put simply, it's a crutch, a learning tool for rapid reading that exists for developing students or students whose skills are on the mend. It's also an obviously confessional book that would not fit in a non-confessional classroom. However, for Hebrew Bible tools to facilitate rapid reading, it's a very helpful book at a very accessible price.

Consider the mechanics of rapid reading practice (or as I like to term it: "rehearsing text"). You need a Hebrew text, a vocabulary resource, and (usually) and English translation to check yourself. You can actually construct such a tool through the magic of word processors and text exporting, but even at best it's a painfully slow process. An alternative is to figure out a way to incorporate either Armstrong, Busby, and Carr's "Reader's Lexicon" or Owen's "Analytical Key" into your technique, but you're still left with juggling three books just to practice your rapid reading, which is rapidly becoming less rapid. (Some of my peers use software programs such as BibleWorks to get around this issue, but I can't stand that much computer screen time.) This is where "A Reader's Hebrew Bible" really shines; two of those books have been compressed into one.

This in not to say that the format of "A Reader's Hebrew Bible" is perfect. The vocabulary notes are lumped at the bottom of the page rather than arranged in columns, so one has to search to find the gloss for a particular term. The reason for this arrangement is, of course, size; the physical size of "A Reader's Hebrew Bible" is already bigger than 6x9 inches at about 1.75 inches think. I would ideally like a format for the notes that is more easily consulted, but then I also prefer to do my weightlifting at the gym and not while I lug around my book bag.

Quick Pros:
(1) Ready made tool containing words of frequency 100x or less. Sources of glosses are accepted standard lexicons (usually BDB and HALOT).
(2) Personal names are indicated through gray font.
(3) Readable size of text.
(4) Use of text that you will likely see (virtually same as BHS, and the font is similar to BHS).
(5) Nice price point.

Quick Cons:
(1) The physical book is created for a confessional setting (tan faux leather cover, silver edged pages). I'm not sure who made that choice (I suspect it's the publisher), and I don't know what to make of that since it's hard to imagine someone bringing this book to a church or other religious service to follow along when Bible is read.
(2) The execution of the binding is suspect in one way--the boards under the "Italian Duo-Tone" are quite light and take a crease quite readily. Otherwise, it's o.k. (the binding is Smyth sewn and the paper isn't excessively thin; one can see some printing from the other side of the page, but it's not bad).

Personal Gripes:
The authors/editors are unabashedly confessional in their prefaces (with Smith's being the more helpful statement in my estimation; he explains that the process of making the book helped him recover some of his waning Hebrew proficiency). The presence of confessional commitments isn't the issue I'm concerned about in itself. The work of the editors is really the creation and verification of vocabulary notes. I would like to see a commitment on the editors' part to keeping their work accessible to all readers of the Hebrew Bible rather than implicitly driving away those who don't share their commitments. This book could help a lot of people, and it's likely not going to reach those people because teachers in non-confessional (or differently-confessional) environments will bypass the book because of the editors' stated commitments and the physical appearance of the book.