Answer: I lost count years ago...

And somehow life would not have been the same without it. My kids request this one over and over and over again.

This has got to be THE classic little girls' story for ANY Jewish home.

And what a glorious book this is! I bought it as much for the incomparable Cambridge goatskin binding as for the text. It feels and smells and MOVES so beautifully that I enjoy just holding it! It's well worth every penny. I wish Cambridge published all versions of the Bible. The only problem is that it's too lovely to carry around unprotected, and nobody makes a Bible cover big enough to hold it.

1) that the Revised Version is the closest thing to the Greek you'll see in English, even more so than the New American Standard (which was based on its American Printing, the ASV).

2) You can reconstruct the ASV from the changes list supplied in the helps. There are not that many changes.

3) This translation is also accompanied by extensive cross-references, which are not just lists of verses as they are in every other Bible, but they have semantic tags attached:

a) no tag means exact or close parallel;
b) "Cited" or "Cited from" means actual quotation;
c) "Cp." means references, when the parallel is less exact;
d) "See" means either a passage where the main references have been collected, like the NIV Cross-Reference System does it, or it means a longer passage, parallel or explanatory;
e) "al" means all the parallels are not given;
f) "?" is placed after a reference which may or may not be applicable;
g) "mg" refers to references to marginal readings

In addition, the references are given in a certain order:
1. Quotations or exact verbal parallels;
2. Passages with similarity of idea or expression;
3. Explanatory or illustrative
4. Historical or geographical
5. Illustrating differences of rendering from the KJV

So if you like the NAS cross references, or the NIV cross references, I believe you'll like these even more.

4) There are other fun things in this Bible; a through-the-Bible calendar you can use in a one- or three-year format; blank note sheets of high quality paper; wide margins!

This is a must for anyone who wishes to find out more about the quintessence of Old Testament piety and scepticism as found in Ecclesiastes with its famous cry "Vanity, vanity all is vanity".

A breathtaking one volume achievement which takes the reader through the pre-history of the book and allows one to make ones own informed interpretation for today. I have yet to find anything to match it.

Before praising such a controversial book highly, I ought to point out how non-partisan I am. Professor Gordis is my arch-enemy in an old religious war. I wouldn't drink his wine or eat his food, and if I ever met him, we would probably come as close to a fist- fight as our aged dignities would allow. In addition, I attempted several times to read one of his books on has own religious philosophy, and always died of boredom before page 8.

So much for entertainment. Now to get down to business.

Ecclesiastes is one of the most difficult books of the Bible to understand, and in fact, one of the most difficult books of philosophy ever written. The reaction of most modern commentators has been to emend the text so much that there's really nothing left to either edit or comment on, as Prof. Gordis also notes. Gordis himself manages to understand the Masoretic text by placing it in context, and by reading it as a whole, making no assumptions in advance as to what it should say. He solves many of the contradictions by pointing out that the Biblical wisdom books often present a statement not as a simple truth, but as a subject for discussion or refutation, or even ironically. He solves the problem of Koheleth's own personal philosophy, his knowledge of the evils of this world and lack of knowledge and comfort from another, by making him an existentialist. It works, but for an explanation, you'd better read the book.

Gordis' attempts at dating and identifying Koheleth are less convincing. His argument that we know of very few philosopher-kings doesn't work: statistical arguments break down completely long before N=1. In addition, the totality of the evidence is that the courts of David and Solomon were centers of philosopical thought. As to his evidence for the date of the book from a few Persian linguistic influences, there are many American books which include the verb "to boomerang", but they weren't written after the conquest of the United States by Australian aborigines. Again, his sample is too small. His etymological researches are a pleasure, though, in a book which greatly gains from them: look, for example, at 'hevel', 'amal' and 'anah'.

His new translation aids greatly in understanding the book; printing it facing an unvowelled Masoretic text was a smart move. The bibliographical work is also excellent.

(This review is based on the old Schocken edition. Even if you had to hunt for that, it would be worth the trouble and expense.

Authors Capodagli and Jackson cheer Rick Roscitt and his maverick AT&T Solutions team as they Dream, Believe, Dare, and Do their way to phenomenal start-up success. AT&T CEO Mike Armstrong is praised for blessing and nourishing the breakaway unit, and he is also fairly and frankly assessed for re-shaping the corporation into a global communications one-stop shop, and then recently dividing it into four parts. Throughout, Capodagli and Jackson are passionate but clear-eyed observers, and masterful teachers, too. This will be no surprise to readers of their previous books THE DISNEY WAY and THE DISNEY WAY FIELDBOOK which established their business-as-show business approach. In the close, overstuffed warehouse of business books today, Capodagli and Jackson are a welcome and invigorating breath of fresh air.

Gileadi is a believer, and quite openly consults Isaiah as an eschatological work, a guide to the last days. Even if you don't believe Isaiah's prophecies, you should read this book as part of any study of Isaiah, because the complex, consistent and unified structure of the book of Isaiah, as explicated carefully by Gileadi, provide probably the best argument of single authorship.

I find myself, with the Bible and Gileadi's book spread out across the table, gaining new insights that I thought I would never have. It is not a book for the faint hearted and requires time and patience. But then, what can we expect when the topic is Isaiah?

If you enjoy Texas history you'll really enjoy this book.

They provide great insight into the origin of those animals and their importance to people who lived in those times.

Another excellent Dobie book is "I'll Tell You a Tale," with excerpts from these two books and others. The anthology includes tales of gold, stories of irony, Old West characters, and saddle stories.