Daniah Greenberg loves the Bible. When we asked her about her favorite book within it, she could hardly say. Then, clutching her Bible close, she said, “It depends on what week you catch me because I LOVE the Bible!”
In 2008, Daniah’s love for God’s Word sent her on an adventure she never expected. She and some other pastors’ wives recognized a disconnect in the lives of their Messianic families. Children growing up in Messianic Jewish homes went to their congregations and heard the rabbi speak of “Yeshua Messiah,” but during family Bible time or when they read the Bible on their own, they read “Jesus Christ.” Daniah and the other women set out to create a children’s Bible that referred to Jesus with His Hebrew name and title as well as restore the Jewish order of books in the Old Testament (or Tanakh).
As big as that vision was, God had something even bigger in mind. As work began on what seem now like simple starting goals, the call to develop a brand new translation unfolded. Seven years later with the work of thirty-two scholars, the Tree of Life Version (TLV) and Messianic Jewish Family Bible were complete. The TLV translation also restores key names and terminology to the Hebrew language and provides a broader cultural understanding of the Jewish roots from which the Bible was written.
Like with a favorite book, Daniah couldn’t narrow down her favorite feature of the Messianic Jewish Family Bible. She’s excited about so many of them, mentioning the Shabbat prayers, the Parsha reading cycle, modern and ancient maps of Israel, and the informative book introductions.
Daniah does have a book of the Bible that tends to remain an ongoing treasure – Psalms. But as soon as she mentioned it, she was reminded of how much the book of Proverbs is blessing her lately as well. She reads from it every day and has a great suggestion for all of us.
She notes that there are 31 books in Proverbs, and no month has more than 31 days. Daniah reads every day from the chapter in Proverbs that corresponds to the date of the month. If it’s the 16th of the month, she reads from Proverbs chapter 16. It doesn’t have to be the whole chapter; it can be just a few verses.
“It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you’ve read your Bible,” Daniah encourages, “start… ‘cause that’s what changes lives!”
