Publisher's Synopsis
Genesis Retold is a single volume that contains four individual books: 1 Enoch, Jasher, Jubilees, and The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (T12P). All translations have been emended and edited for accuracy, and brought closer in line with the source texts that we have available to us today. In the case of Enoch and Jubilees, the English version set forth here is a major revision of the monumental work by Dr. R. H. Charles. His work was revised to bring it closer in line with the Aramaic and Hebrew texts uncovered at Qumran which were not available to him. Likewise the existing Ethiopic, Latin, and Greek texts were also consulted. Similarly, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs was also highly revised and emended from Charles' English translation, including some fragments from an Aramaic Testament of Levi from the Cairo Genizah, and a Hebrew Testament of Naphtali which was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Book of Jasher set forth here is a major revision of J. H. Parry & Co.'s English translation which has been emended and brought closer in line with the Hebrew source text that underlies it. It was discovered in this process that numerous entire sections present in the Hebrew text have been omitted from the current English versions for more than a century. The version available in Genesis Retold includes these sections. Above all else, Genesis Retold has treated the Name of the Almighty with special care. As further explained in the Preface, the Name is written in Paleo-Hebrew letters as yod-hey-vav-hey, also called the Tetragrammaton. This should avoid dogmatic debate over pronunciation. However, placing the Name into the English text was not an arbitrary process. The underlying source texts were carefully examined and compared to see where placeholders were used, to determine where the Name would be if it were a Hebrew original. All other names have likewise been restored to a Hebraic pronunciation when possible. All Elizabethan English style terms (thee, thou, thine, dost, etc.) have been revised into modern English, and thousands of entire sentences have been rewritten and/or reworded to flow better in Modern American English. Multiple appendices fill the back of the book, including an etymological breakdown of the names of the key angels in Enoch. The final appendix includes a list of more than 130 verses in the New Testament, and corresponding passages in the books of Genesis Retold. Many of these show direct correlation and even quotes between these books and the New Testament. There are also nearly 600 footnotes that further elaborate on word definitions, provide cross-references between the books (and Biblical books), provide variant readings, and highlight other possible translations. This is more than just a Restored Name version. This is a Critical Edition, with Names Restored, keeping in the tradition of the Literal English Version family of books.
