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THE ZOHAR (lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah that has enthralled, confounded, challenged, and enraptured readers ever since it emerged mysteriously in Castile, Spain, toward the end of the 13th century. Composed mostly in lyrical Aramaic, it is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The Zohar contains discussions of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of Ego to Darkness and "true self" to "The Light of God". Its scriptural exegesis can be considered an esoteric form of the rabbinic literature known as Midrash, which elaborates on the Torah.
And yet, until now, there has never been a fully reliable comprehensive, scholarly English translation of this revered work with line-by-line commentary. In a monumental undertaking, Daniel C. Matt, one of the world's foremost authorities on Jewish mysticism, has spent 20 years creating this 12-volume, annotated English translation of the Zohar. This is the first translation ever made from the critical Aramaic text, which has been established by Professor Matt based on a wide range of original manuscripts. The extensive commentary, appearing at the bottom of each page, clarifies the kabbalistic symbolism and terminology, and cites sources and parallels from biblical, rabbinic, and kabbalistic texts.
I have also supplemented the English translations with corresponding Aramaic texts for each volume. Three files of the Aramaic text for each volume are provided, consisting of the same reconstructed Aramaic text based on manuscript variants. These three files present respectively (1) the text in simple format, (2) the identical file with emendations underlined so that readers can identify them easily, and (3) as above with several user-friendly features, including corresponding page numbers to the English translation, biblical verses in italics, and citations to these verses.
"Daniel C. Matt is giving us what I hardly thought possible: a superbly fashioned translation and a commentary that opens up the Zohar to the English-speaking world. The great tradition of Kabbalistic scholarship, particularly as embodied in Gershom Scholem and Moshe Idel, has nurtured the lucidity and overwhelming relevance of Matt's Zohar, which will provide both common and uncommon readers with access to a work capable of changing the consciousness of those who enter it." — Harold Bloom
The following books are in ePUB format (with the supplemental Aramaic volumes in PDF):
Volume 1: Genesis (Stanford, 2004). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 2: Genesis (Stanford, 2004). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 3: Genesis (Stanford, 2006). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 4: Exodus (Stanford, 2007). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 5: Exodus (Stanford, 2009). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 6: Exodus (Stanford, 2011). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 7: Leviticus (Stanford, 2012). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 8: Leviticus-Numbers (Stanford, 2014). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 9: Numbers-Deuteronomy (Stanford, 2016). D. Matt, trans.
Volume 10: Midrash ha-Ne'lam (Stanford, 2016). N. Wolski, trans.
Volume 11: Midrash ha-Ne'lam & Zoharic Compositions (Stanford, 2016). J. Hecker, trans.
Volume 12: Zoharic Compositions (Stanford, 2017). N. Wolski & J. Hecker, trans.