The Biurists were a class of Jewish Biblical

exegete Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...

s, of the school of

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...

. Most of the Biblical commentators immediately preceding Mendelssohn had interpreted the Biblical passages from an individual point of view, and Mendelssohn was concerned to obtain clarity as to the actual meaning of the passages.

Biurists in Europe

German translation and reaction Mendelssohn compiled for his children a literal German translation of the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...

; and to this Solomon Dubno, a grammarian and Hebraist, undertook to write a ''bi'ur'' or commentary. As soon as a portion of this translation was published, it was criticized by rabbis of the old school, including Raphael ha-Kohen of Hamburg,

Ezekiel Landau Yechezkel ben Yehuda HaLevi Landau (8 October 1713 – 29 April 1793) was an influential authority in halakha (Jewish law). He is best known for the work ''Noda Biyhudah'' (נודע ביהודה), by which title he is also known. Biography Land ...

of Prague,

Hirsch Janow Josef Hirsch Janow (1733 – 13 November 1785) was a Jews of Poland, Polish rabbi, who, on account of his great keenness in Talmudical discussions, was commonly called ''"Hirsch Ḥarif"'' (the acute). When in 1776 his father-in-law, Raphael Kohn, w ...

of Posen, and Phineas Levi Horwitz of Frankfort-on-the-Main. Fearing that the charm of the German language would lead young Jews to study the translation rather than the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

itself, and believing that they would thus be led away from

orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

, the rabbis united forces, and in June, 1779, issued a ban against "the German Pentateuch of Moses of Dessau." Netibot ha-Shalom This act led Solomon Dubno to give up his work after having finished Genesis; but, in order that the undertaking might be completed, Mendelssohn himself undertook the commentary. Finding, however, that the work was beyond his strength, he committed to Naphtali Herz Wesel (Hartwig Wessely) the biur to Leviticus, to Aaron Jaroslav that to

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

, and to

Hertz Homberg Naphtali Herz Homberg (; September 1749 – 24 August 1841) was a Bohemian ''maskil'', educator, and writer. Biography Heerz Homberg was born at Lieben in 1749. He studied Talmud at Prague, Presburg, and Glogau, and began the study of general ...

that to twenty-two of the middle chapters of

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

. The work was completed in March, 1783, under the title ''Netibot ha-Shalom'' (The Paths of Peace). It is preceded by an introduction in Hebrew, written by Mendelssohn, in which he discusses the history of the work and the rules of idiom and syntax followed in his translation. Mendelssohn wrote, also, a German translation of the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

, with a Hebrew introduction ("mebo") on Biblical poetry, for which

Joel Löwe Joel Löwe (; 1760 – February 11, 1802, Breslau), best known by the pen name Joel Bril (; Bril being an acronym for "son of R. Judah Löb"), was a German-Jewish Biblical commentator. Biography At the age of twenty he went to Berlin, where he re ...

(Joel Bril), conjointly with

Aaron Wolfsohn Aaron Halle-Wolfssohn (; 1754 or 1756, in probably Halle – 20 March 1835, in Fürth) was a German-Jewish writer, translator, and Biblical commentator. He was a leading writer of the ''Haskalah''. Biography He was born in Halle and died in Fü ...

(Aaron of Halle, a translator of the Song of Solomon), wrote the ''biur''. The biur to Kaplan Rabe's translation of Ecclesiastes was written by Mendelssohn. Further biurist translators and commentators In the nature of the biurist movement was the undertaking of Moses Landau, who in 1806 published a biuristic Bible. Mendelssohn's biuristic school extended from Poland to

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, from Italy to Amsterdam, London, and Copenhagen; and it had many imitators, such as: * Samuel Israel Mulder, who translated into Dutch the Pentateuch, five Megillot, and the former Prophets * G. A. Parsen, who translated and commented in Hebrew on the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

* I. Neufeld, who translated the Bible into Polish * J. L. Mandelstamm, who translated the Bible into Russian.

Isaac Samuel Reggio Isaac Samuel Reggio (YaShaR) (Hebrew: , ) (15 August 1784 – 29 August 1855) was an Austro-Italian scholar and rabbi. He was born and died in Gorizia. Reggio studied Hebrew and rabbinics under his father, Abraham Vita, later rabbi of Gorizia, acq ...

also followed in the footsteps of the Biurists with an Italian translation and Hebrew commentary to the

, and an Italian translation of Isaiah;

Samuel David Luzzatto Samuel David Luzzatto ( he, שמואל דוד לוצאטו, ; 22 August 1800 – 30 September 1865), also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal (), was an Italian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. Early ...

translated the Bible into Italian, and wrote ''biurim'' to Job, Isaiah, and the Pentateuch, and some glosses to Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Proverbs, and Job; and M. Rosenthal, J. Mannheimer, and

M. Stern ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of resp ...

translated the Psalms into Hungarian. In

Ludwig Philippson Ludwig Philippson (28 December 1811 – 29 December 1889) was a German rabbi and author. Early life and education Ludwig Philippson was born in Dessau, the son of , a printer, writer, teacher, translator, publisher and a member of the Haskalah. H ...

's German Commentary, 1827, the commentator groups and examines critically the most important exegetical explanations of the Bible expounders; penetrating into the actual import of the Holy Scripture and searching the spiritual context, so as to explain the Bible by the Bible itself. As regards grammar and

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...

, Philippson touches these only in so far as is necessary to the comprehension of the text.

Biurists in America

The movement later crossed the Atlantic, and

Isaac Leeser Isaac Leeser (December 12, 1806 – February 1, 1868) was an American Orthodox Jewish religious leader, teacher, scholar and publisher. He helped found the Jewish press of America, produced the first Jewish translation of the Bible into English, ...

of Philadelphia translated the Bible into English according to the interpretations of the Biurists; while in Europe steps were taken toward the perpetuation of the movement, in the foundation of the Ḥebra Doreshe Leshon 'Eber (Society of Investigators of the Hebrew Language) by

Isaac Abraham Euchel Isaac Abraham Euchel ( he, יצחק אייכל; born at Copenhagen, October 17, 1756; died at Berlin, June 14, 1804) was a Hebrew author and founder of the "Haskalah-movement". He was born in Copenhagen on October 17, 1756. After his bar mitzvah ...

and Mendel Breslau, and in the establishment of the periodical " Ha-Me'assef" (The Gleaner).

References

* {{JewishEncyclopedia, article=Biurists, url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1112&letter=B ** Winter and Wünsche, ''Die Jüdische Litteratur'', iii. 724-751 ** A. Goldschmidt, in ''Lessing-Mendelssohn-Gedenkbuch'', Leipsic, 1879 ** ''

Allg. Zeit. des Jud. ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums'' (until May 1903: ''Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums'') was a Jewish German magazine devoted to Jewish interests, founded in 1837 by Ludwig Philippson (1811–89), published first in Leipzig and later in Berli ...

i.'' 324 ** Graetz, ''History of the Jews'', iii. 288, 370, 607; v. 328-335, 395 Haskalah Bible translators