The Power New Testament: Revealing Jewish Roots

I have been looking into the new upsurge in Christian interest in our Jewish roots for many years now, and have found many good products on the market. Comparatively, The Power New Testament ranks as good, but it seems just a little shaky in certain areas. I know that Mr. Morford has spent decades on this project, but it's as if he spent far too much time on some things (like adding opinionated footnotes) giving them a crowded 'overworked' feeling, and too little time on others (like delving into further Jewish research). Maybe I'm too critical since I also own many works by Messianic Jews and Christians whose scholarship is breathtaking. (I suppose I am spoiled.) I'll list my observations of this translation in no particular order.I love the way Mr. Morford translated the Greek verbs, that is of course the top reason to get this translation. Many of those 'old familiar' verses really pop out when the reader can 'think greek' and feel the dynamic movement and force of the words as they were intended to be read. English is such a static, detached, dry language that we often lose the urgency in most of these passages. This helps to restore that. The dynamic verbs alone makes this translation worth getting as a supplement to your library.I would not recommend it as your ONLY New Testament, however, because in my opinion it falls a little short of its stated goal. The goal was noble: "to bring a greater understanding of and appreciation for the Jewish roots of Christianity," as the translator writes. However, the majority of what he actually accomplished was a greater understanding and appreciation for the Greek language version of the New Testament. I find the translation just a touch weak on the Jewish roots of Christianity theme, as if Mr. Morford didn't finish researching Judaism before he put the manuscript out to be published.The Glossary, however, is worth reading all by itself. In it Mr. Morford addresses in mini-treatises many of the serious issues confronting the anti-semetic version of Christianity today.I give him kudos for translating the word "Law" as "Instruction" or "Torah," since that is what the word 'Law' actually means. This helps a lot to erase the typical Christian fear of "The Law" as some kind of great evil in the world that must be avoided at any cost. (Since when did God write an evil book?)Kudos also on how the chapters are broken into actual themes, instead of following the old midevil numbering system! (Numbers are included for reference, but do not hinder the reading flow.) Thank you Mr. Morford! This is one of the best points in favor of this book, since grouping the lessons and teachings by subject keeps the flow of reading even and logical.On the other hand, I don't know if Mr. Morford is aware of the latest linguistic and archaeological research that has confirmed that the New Testament was originally written in Hebrew. He seems to avoid this issue entirely in his Preface, which makes me think that he has not come across this information yet. Thus he treats the Greek as the 'original,' the most common mistake of New Testament translations for the last few centuries. A New Testament that strives to restore the lost Jewishness of the N.T. and yet isn't aware that it was written in Hebrew first strikes me as a little out of the loop.As other reviewers have commented, he also does not translate the names of Jesus and the Apostles into their original Hebrew within the actual text (although there is a Glossary in the back which does this). Jesus, Paul, Barnabas etc. all remain Romanized, and of course there is no mention of the fact that Yeshua (Jesus) didn't actually have an apostle named 'James' (It was Jacob, or Yakov. 'James' was substituted for Jacob to honor King James, but the name James is in honor of the god 'Janus').He did get several of the Hebraisms (phrases that mean something different than their literal translation in Hebrew: like 'it rained cats and dogs' would be in English). Many Hebraisms seriously effect the way a scripture can be understood, like for instance when Jesus mentioned the "evil eye." (Mt. 6:23 and Lu. 11:34) Mr. Morford makes mention in a footnote that the "evil" or "dark" eye is an idiom for being stingy and refusing to give to those in need. Thus, Jesus said whomever is not stingy and gives freely to those in need, his whole body will be full of light.There is however little mention of the Hebrew Festivals that are constantly referred to in the New Testament. My biggest issue with this was the fact that "manger" as translated in the King James (Jesus was born in a "manger") is a word that really means "booth" or "stall", and Mr. Morford went ahead and translated it 'manger' according to tradition. But since the season of Jesus's birth took place in late Autumn, it is almost a given that we should really translate this, "Jesus was born in a Booth," which means during the Festival of Sukkot (Feast of Booths/Tabernacles). During this Festival, every public sleeping or eating place such as an Inn is required by Law to build a temporary dwelling, or a "booth," outside for the customers to eat in. The Booths are in no way filthy and disgusting such as a manger would be, and would be a perfectly fine place to sleep extra guests that there was no room for inside the building. And, of course, the bible says that Jesus took on flesh or 'tabernacled' among us, which of course the Festival of Booths was foreshadowing. Thus the fulfillment of the ancient Feast of Booths in Yeshua taking 'a tent of flesh' wasn't mentioned.Also I think he relies a little too heavily on Jewish "Oral Tradition" books such as the Talmud, Mishna, Midrash and Zohar. There is a sense that he himself isn't saturated in the study of these works, but he relies on Jews who are, and takes their word for it. There is a little problem with this, since it takes the indwelling Holy Spirit to separate out truth from error as we read through these works, and most Jews are not born-again. Thus, weird myths and bizarre little comments sneak in that I sense are incorrect, yet they are presented as "Jewish" and therefore authoritative. Lest we forget, everything we love that is "Jewish" was given from Heaven on Mt. Sinai and did not originate with man at all. They are not "Jewish" traditions (as in from the Tribe of Judah) but God-traditions from Heaven given to men. And a lot of weird things snuck in later as the Heavenly traditions were being passed along by error-prone human beings. Knowledge of the oral traditions are really the most helpful when interpreting the actions and words of Jesus and his disciples (talmidim) because they grew up with this culture.Despite this, Mr. Morford makes an excellent point that Paul was probably not a "tentmaker," but a "tallit maker" (Prayer shawl maker) since the word "tent" in Hebrew is often used to refer to the Prayer Shawl (our own personal "tent of meeting" with God.) Major kudos for that observation, even the  Complete Jewish Bible : An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'Rit Hadashah (New Testament)  by David Stern missed that one. (Stern translates the names of the Apostles and various Hebraisms correctly, however. I recommend getting the two New Testaments together, as they fill out one another's weaknesses.)My final quibble is the footnotes. Although a lot of them are purely linguistic and helpful, Mr. Morford evidentially accepted a lot of suggestions from readers of the first couple editions, and in many places inserted their comments on various verses as footnotes. Many of these are annoying and preachy, attempting to overlay a teacher's opinion of a verse over the actual verse (most of which I totally disagree with, yet they are presented as fact; a lot of the "preachy" footnotes are recognizably "Churchian" in theology). I think for these footnotes, he should have published a small companion study guide full of his teachings and interpretations, and left them out of the N.T. translation.One final note: the 6x9" size of the book makes it a little difficult to carry around as a "pocket reader." It's also a full inch thick, making it a somewhat hefty book. (I own the soft cover version.) I recommend 'desktop only.'Summary: Excellent as an addition to an existing study library for those interested in the Jewish roots of Christianity. Not a stand-alone New Testament. I recommend buying it along with the  Complete Jewish Bible : An English Version of the Tanakh (Old Testament) and B'Rit Hadashah (New Testament)  by David Stern, or the  Jewish New Testament  by Stern.

The Power New Testament is a colorful portrayal of the Jewish idom's found in the N.T. (Brit Hadashah). However, I was disappointed that many N.T. authors continue to use the name Jesus, instead of Yeshua. In an interview with Sid Roth, Willian Morford emphasized his desire to have the Hewbrew overtones and idioms be present in his work, yet, the key character is still "Romanized."Morford, however, did a tremendous job at presenting his translation with many footnotes and explainations of Jewish idioms. This book is one step closer to authentic first century ideaology regarding the Messiah (Christ), and should be highly insightful for those that are seeking a non-antiSemetic translation. This being said, any potential buyer should be delighted in their purchase of this item.The last negative, if you can call it that, is that it would be nice to get this translation with a well-respected Tenach (Old Testament) translation combined, and leather bonded. Perhaps, one day it will be done?Adrian A. Bernal

I love this New Testament for its easy reading and many notes to help understand the context and meaning of the Scriptures in light of the Hebrew language and culture that resulted from God calling Israel to follow him. The author uses titles to help the reader know what is happening next in the text, I found myself reading several chapters at a time without it seeming to take any time at all because it is so engaging.

I read the reviews on this book and saw the author on Zola Levit's TV program. I love David Stern's version "The Complete Jewish Bible" which is more of a paraphrase than this work, but I found that though this version uses the english renditions instead of the Hebrew names for the characters it is still a very worthwhile purchase. The translation is more literal and done in such a way as being encouraging and very informative. I highly reccomend this translation to both Christians and Messianic Jewish Believers. This book is not titled "Power" New Testament for no reason. Darrell D. Neet

The footnotes in THE POWER NEW TESTAMENT help me to better understand the meaning of the Word. Tools like this are great for those of us who haven't had the opportunity to study Hebrew and Greek! I chose to purchase this item because I saw an interview with the author on television. I especially like the Glossary in the back (over 60 pages) - food for thought, and the basis for future studies in the Word.

In order for any new testament to be good, it must be true to the original greek, and it must be true to the original meaning and thought of Jesus and his disciples. The Power New Testament does that, plus it adds the extra dimension that is lacking in most new testament versions. I would highly recommend this version. I also enjoy buying from Amazon because they have such good service. LGV

The Power New Testament explains Jewish customs and gives a betterunderstanding of Statements like Matthew 4: 3. In the English Bible It says "Blessed are the Meek, but in the Power New Testament it explains Meek."Blessed are the Rependant" because theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.Therefore there is no confusion what a "meek" person is. A Meek person is a Repentant person.

I purchased this book and like it very much. I am a theology student and have found that it is best to read at least three translations in order to get the closest meaning to the message in the original language. This one is especially good in my opinion.

nice book, nice price....first things first, I did not like the layout (which just seemed poor)...things i did like, where the extensive glossary. But what i liked even more where the cross references, which did not only include OT quotes and allusions but allusions and quotes from the deutero-canonical works. It would have been nice if he had gone a step further, by citing relevant Mishnah and Talmudic passages, but still you cannot have everything in life can you (maybe someone else will take up the challenge).either way, a very good new testament, the section on head coverings is worth reading as are many other passages.All in all a good reference piece (but i would not read it every day due to layout)

A translation with an emphasis on the Jewish background of the New Testament. I don't refer to it much I must confess but it is one of those books which one occasional takes down to get some clarification on a point. It is interesting but not vital for my library.