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TheJewish Publication Society of America Version (JPS) of theTanakh (theHebrew Bible) was the first Bible translation published by theJewish Publication Society of America and the first translation of the Tanakh into English by a committee of Jews (though there had been earlier solo efforts, such as that ofIsaac Leeser).[1] The full publication title isThe Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text: A New Translation with the Aid of Previous Versions and with Constant Consultation of Jewish Authorities.
The translation, which appeared in 1917, is heavily indebted to theRevised Version andAmerican Standard Version.[2] It differs from them in many passages where Jewish and Christian interpretations differ, notably inIsaiah 7:14, where it has "young woman" as opposed to the word "virgin" which is used in most Christian Bibles.
The translation was initiated in 1892 by theCentral Conference of American Rabbis, the organization ofReform rabbis, and the original intention was to assign different books of the Bible to individual rabbis and scholars. A committee of editors would ensure quality and consistency. It became clear after several years that this method was hard to implement, and after more than a decade only theBook of Psalms had been sent to press. In 1908 the Jewish Publication Society agreed to take over the project.[1][3]
The Jewish Publication Society's plan called for a committee of seven editors who would be responsible for the entire translation. They includedSolomon Schechter,Cyrus Adler andJoseph Jacobs, from the Society, andKaufmann Kohler,David Philipson, andSamuel Schulman, from the Central Conference of American Rabbis. They were led by Editor-in-ChiefMax Margolis. The editorial committee comprised an equal number of faculty fromHebrew Union College inCincinnati,Jewish Theological Seminary inNew York City, andDropsie College for Hebrew inPhiladelphia.[4] The work was completed in November 1915 and published two years later.[1]
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.[5]
The translation is based on theHebrewMasoretic Text. It follows the edition ofSeligman Baer except for the books ofExodus toDeuteronomy, which never appeared in Baer's edition. For those books,C. D. Ginsburg's Hebrew text was used.[6]
The order of the books isTorah (the five books ofMoses),Nevi'im (Prophets) andKetuvim (Writings). Christian readers would note differences in the order of the books from the Christian Bible, as well as some breaks in where chapters begin and end (such as Deuteronomy 12:32 vs. 13:1), and also in Tehillim (Psalms) where the titles are often counted as the first verse, causing a difference of one in verse numbering for these psalms as they appear in Christian Bibles.
This translation was superseded by theJPSTanakh (NJPS), which appeared in a complete form in 1985. However, the 1917 version is still widely disseminated through its appearance in the commentaries of theSoncino Books of the Bible and the Torah commentary edited byJoseph H. Hertz. Further, it has influenced many subsequent 20th century translations by drawing attention to the Jewish view of many passages.
