The Mishnah: A New Translation

Rating:
Summary: Great Translation
Review: Jacob Nuesner's translation of the Mishnah is very good, and it's words are readable by the layman. However, you would want to have a basic understanding of Jewish Tradition before studying it.

My only complaints about the book are 1) There isn't a hardcover version, and 2) It isn't internlinear

Rating:
Summary: It's not bad, but I'd go for Danby or Blackman.
Review: Neusner has compiled the translations of several of his students in this work. There is an unevenness to the quality of translation. Some tractates are well-translated and others seem to lack the idiomatic quality which one who reads Hebrew understands in the original. Prof. Neusner is to be complemented for arranging the mishnayot in each perek in such an manner that they resemble the way they were learned in the oral academies of old and are still learned among students in modern yeshivot. As a second edition to compliment an already existing translation on your booksehlf I would heartily recommend it. If you're looking for that first copy of the Mishnah for your library get Danby's translation (Oxford Univ. Pr.) or Blackman's Hebrew/English (Judaica Pr.).

Rating:
Summary: Good for the beginner
Review: The great advantage of this work is that it has the entire Mishnah in one volume. It is also by and large readable. However it is no substitute for the Hebrew original and certainly not a proper tool for in- depth learning. The translation is not always completely accurate. I do not want to show ingratitude for at one point this work helped me a lot. I do however believe it is a tool for a stage in ' learning' and that the deeper understanding awaits those who will at some point be able to meet with the Hebrew original and its many great commentators.

Rating:
Summary: Complimentary..
Review: This book's greatness is a quantitative one [ie a single volume;] it's attempts to offer an extremely literal translation of the original hebrew text, and emulate the terseness that the hebrew has, can lead the uninitiated reader to many dead-ends in understanding. The truth is that minor literal variations from the actual intent of the hebrew simply do not appear to the all-english reader; nothing can make up for looking back to the actual hebrew when a difficulty arises in the presentation of the text. So, if you have a knowledge of hebrew, hebrew grammar, and are looking for a text to either compliment your library or saturate the desires of the completely uninitiated individuals you come into contact with until they realize that they need to work on their hebrew comprehension, then this book could be what you're looking for; if, on the other hand, you speak/read only english and are trying to get close to the text despite your current difficulty, then you should realize that to become a "master of the mishna" you will eventually have to learn hebrew, something you should be working on continually anyway, and until you have learned hebrew [,a thing that happens gradually,] you'll want a book, or a set of books, that addresses your growing needs and potentials, something this book does not, something The Philip Blackman Set certainly does as well as providing a form of the text of the mishna that's incredibly easier to follow, by means of notation and blocked-text and the orginal hebrew [to reference increasingly as your comprehension of the language increases,] than the bulleted form offered by Neusner. Lastly, if you're Just looking for the cheapest way to get an entire english translation of the mishna into your hands, then you have the wrong attitude, one you'll regret as your learning increases. So, While this book, [Neusner's Mishna,] is wholly a translation of the text, in combination with another book [or set of books] containing English commentary on the Mishnah and then another book, [or set of them,] containing a completely hebrew version of the Mishnah, it could prove itself to be of substantial value. Neusner's scholarship and skill as an intensely technical and descriptive author, and thoroughly learned individual, shouldn't be questioned for an instant; he's a wonderfully intellegent man [ something that's evidenced in the introduction and foreward he provides in the book, to the book. But, this is simply a translation -- something that doesn't allow his true understanding of these issues to shine through to one who can't understand the myraid meanings and implications that abound in the entire canon of Jewish Religious Literature.] Ultimately, I feel as though this translation's truest value is when it's in the author and his immediate students' own hands, [eg as a sort of classroom text, referrenced in conference and consort with the other book(s) I mentioned.]