This morning I am traveling to Israel and Jordan. In the past, I filled my bag with printed books and bibles, but these days I only bring my iPad. I have it loaded with my favorite books, religious and historical texts, and thanks to Accordance Bible Software I can choose from dozens of English Bibles, read my Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (tagged with critical apparatus), or search the entire library of Dead Sea Scrolls in Hebrew! My reading choices are endless. If I don’t have it and I want it, I go find it and download it. As I sat on my first flight this morning, scrolling through my library, I took another look at the Kindle version of my Amazon Best-Selling book The Moses Scroll.
The Kindle edition of The Moses Scroll is available for only $5.05 and is part of the Kindle Unlimited plan, which means that members of the plan can read the book for free! This blog post contains a Preview that allows you to read the foreword by Dr. James Tabor, my preface, and the first three chapters before you buy. What more can I do?
I guess you could call me a bibliophile. My library is filled with books of all sizes, in many genres. The shelves are packed with paperbacks and hardcovers, and prominently displayed in one special case with glass doors is a beautiful Sephardic Torah scroll. Admittedly, most of my books are related to the study of the Bible, but within this broad field are dozens of sub-categories.
Initially, I was not a fan of digital books. Bibliosmia is real, and most lovers of the printed page miss the smell of a good book when we download words into our handheld devices. Over time, however, I have come to appreciate the advantages of the modern eBook.
I used to sit for hours in libraries reading and researching or browsing the selections in my favorite bookstores (something I still enjoy), but the convenience of electronic books has become part of my reading experience. I love that I can simply go online from the comfort of my home or study and search for a book, and with the click of a button instantly purchase and download it to all of my devices.
The eBook has vastly improved since it was first introduced, and when a book is properly formatted for electronic publication (as The Moses Scroll is), the available features make it hard to beat. I published the paperback version of my book on 24 February 2021. I followed this with the release of the Kindle version on 31 May 2021, and the hardcover on 16 September of the same year.
The Kindle version provides some special features. First, the book is instantly delivered digitally to the reader’s device. There are plenty of eBook readers available as well as Apps for smartphones and tablets. These popular E-readers and Apps for iOS and Android devices provide the reader with options suited to one’s personal preferences. In settings, one can choose the page color, line spacing, font size, and style. The reader can search the text, highlight sections, and even create flashcards or add personal notes. Readers can choose between continuous scrolling and a simulated, page-turning animation that gives one the feel of a printed book. Readers of eBooks can mark their location with a bookmark and switch between synced devices with no need to remember the last page read on another device. The electronic book also provides the reader with estimates for the reading time remaining. To learn more of the features available in the Kindle edition, see the information here.
The Kindle edition of The Moses Scroll contains the text of the manuscript of my popular print editions, including footnotes and illustrations, but also allows the reader to set up the book according to personal preference.
The paperback sells for $17 and the hardcover is presently priced at $22.
The paperback is available for free delivery with a Prime account, and the Kindle version is instantly delivered to your favorite device. It is also available in Kindle Unlimited.
About The Moses Scroll
In 1878, a Jerusalem antiquities dealer named Moses Wilhelm Shapira acquired a curious biblical manuscript consisting of sixteen leather strips. The manuscript, written in ancient, Paleo-Hebrew contained what appeared to be a form of the Bible’s Book of Deuteronomy but with significant variations. It was allegedly discovered by Bedouin tribesmen around 1865, east of the Dead Sea, in a remote cave, high above the Wadi Mujib (biblical Arnon). Shapira believed that his manuscript was both ancient and authentic. In 1883, he presented his scroll to the leading scholars of Europe. Newspapers around the world covered the unfolding story as scholars debated the genuineness of the leather strips. Ultimately the scroll was deemed a forgery and Shapira the forger. However, beginning in 1947, ancient scrolls discovered in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea lead us to ask—were the critics wrong?
- The Moses Scroll documents the details of the entire saga based upon what we know today including a chronological telling of the fascinating story based upon 19th-century reports; an assessment of the genuineness of Shapira’s scroll;
- A new transcription of the manuscript as seen through the eyes of the 19th-century’s best Hebraists;
- And the author’s own translation of the original sixteen leather strips with a commentary and notes.