Information about Jewish Publication Society Of America Version

This article is about the bible translation published by the JPS. For the organisation itself, see Jewish Publication Society of America.

The Jewish Publication Society of America Version (JPS) of the Tanakh (also known as the Hebrew Bible) was the first Bible translation published by the Jewish Publication Society of America and the first ever translation of the Tanakh into English by a committee of Jews (though there had been earlier solo attempts such as that of Isaac Leeser). The full publication title is The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text: A New Translation with the Aid of Previous Versions and with Constant Consultation of Jewish Authorities.



It first appeared in 1917. While heavily indebted to the Revised Version and American Standard Version, its English is rather more modern than these versions. It differs from them in many passages where Jewish and Christian interpretations differ, notably in Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 14, where it replaces virgin by young woman.

The translation was initiated by the Jewish Publication Society in 1892, and a new translation of each book was requested from individual scholars, which was then to be placed in the hands of an editorial committee. The committee was then expected, through correspondence with each individual translator, to harmonize the whole and come up with a final version. In 1901 a decision was made that this method of proceeding would cause a substantial delay in the production of the finalized translation, so a revised plan was agreed upon by JPS and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. This plan involved having the entire work done by a board of editors rather than simply harmonized by them. A board of editors including Solomon Schechter, Cyrus Adler and Joseph Jacobs was formulated, and Max Margolis was chosen to be Editor-in-Chief. The work was accordingly completed in November of 1915 and published two years later.

The translators state their reason for a new version in their "Preface," in a passage that suggests the emotional as well as rational need they felt for a Bible of their own:

"The repeated efforts by Jews in the field of biblical translation show their sentiment toward translations prepared by other denominations. The dominant feature of this sentiment, apart from the thought that the christological interpretations in non-Jewish translations are out of place in a Jewish Bible, is and was that the Jew cannot afford to have his Bible translation prepared for him by others. He cannot have it as a gift, even as he cannot borrow his soul from others. If a new country and a new language metamorphose him into a new man, the duty of this new man is to prepare a new garb and a new method of expression for what is most sacred and most dear to him."

The translation follows the Hebrew or Masoretic text scrupulously. It generally follows the edition of Seligman Baer. The books of Exodus to Deuteronomy never appeared in Baer's edition, so here C. D. Ginsburg's Hebrew text was used.

The order of the books is that in published Hebrew Bibles, rather than the usual English order. In particular, it has the traditional Jewish division into Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). Further, the division into chapters, following Hebrew tradition, occasionally differs from other English Bibles, and in the Psalms the titles are often counted as the first verse, causing a difference of one in verse numbering for these psalms from other English Bibles.

This translation was superseded by the JPS Tanakh, which appeared in a complete form in 1985. However, the 1917 version is still widely disseminated through its appearance in the commentaries of the Soncino Books of the Bible and the Torah commentary edited by Joseph H. Hertz. Further, it has influenced many subsequent 20th Century translations by drawing attention to the Jewish view of many passages.

See also

• Jewish English Bible translations
• Complete Jewish Bible translated by Messianic Jewish theologian David H. Stern.

External link

• Online text of 1917 JPS version and Text of its "Preface."

Reference

• The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text: A New Translation with the Aid of Previous Versions and with Constant Consultation of Jewish Authorities. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1955 (reprint of 1917 ed.). No ISBN. ("Preface" on pp. v through x utilized for history and quotation from translators.)