The New Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh, first published in complete form in 1985, is a modern Jewish 'written from scratch' translation of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. It is based on revised editions of earlier publications of subdivisions of the Tanakh such as 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 ...

and

Five Megillot The Five Scrolls or The Five Megillot ( he, חמש מגילות , ''Hamesh Megillot'' or ''Chomeish Megillos'') are parts of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third major section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The Five Scrolls are the Song of Songs, ...

which were originally published from 1969–1982. It is unrelated to the original JPS Tanakh translation, which was based on the Revised Version and

American Standard Version The American Standard Version (ASV), officially Revised Version, Standard American Edition, is a Bible translation into English that was completed in 1901 with the publication of the revision of the Old Testament. The revised New Testament had ...

but emended to more strictly follow the Masoretic Text, beyond both translations being published by the

Jewish Publication Society of America The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by reform Rabbi Joseph Krausko ...

. This translation emerged from the collaborative efforts of an

interdenominational Interdenominationalism is an evangelical Protestant movement of cooperation among various Christian denominations. History The movement has its origins in the founding of the London Missionary Society, a missionary society, in 1795 by variou ...

team of

Jewish scholars Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...

and

rabbis A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

working together over a thirty-year period. These translators based their translation on the Masoretic Hebrew text, and consistently strove for a faithful, idiomatic rendering of the original scriptural languages.

History

The New Jewish Publication Society translation of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Jewish Publication Society (JPS), superseding its 1917 translation. It is a completely fresh translation into modern English, independent of the earlier translation or any other existing one. Current editions of this version refer to it as ''The Jewish Publication Society

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Masoretic text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

scrupulously, taking a conservative approach regarding conjectural emendations: It avoids them completely for the

, but mentions them occasionally in footnotes for

Nevi'im Nevi'im (; he, נְבִיאִים ''Nəvīʾīm'', Tiberian: ''Năḇīʾīm,'' "Prophets", literally "spokespersons") is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the '' Tanakh''), lying between the Torah (instruction) and Ketuvim ( ...

and

Ketuvim The Ketuvim (; hbo, , Modern: ''Kəṯūvīm'', Tiberian: ''Kăṯūḇīm'' "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), after Torah (instruction) and Nevi'im (prophets). In English translations of the Hebrew Bi ...

. Attested variants from other ancient versions are also mentioned in footnotes, even for the Torah, in places where the editors thought they might shed light on difficult passages in the Masoretic text. The order of the books is as found in published Tanakhim, rather than that of common English Bibles. In particular, it follows the traditional Jewish division into Torah (the five books of Moses),

(Prophets) and

(Writings). Furthermore, the division into chapters follows the conventions established by printers of the

Hebrew text Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, which occasionally differs from English Bibles. In 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 ...

, for instance, the titles are often counted as the first verse, causing a difference of one in verse numbering for these Psalms with respect to other English Bibles. The editor in chief of the Torah was

Harry Orlinsky Harry M. Orlinsky (14 March 1908 21 March 1992) was the editor-in-chief of the New Jewish Publication Society ( NJPS) translation of the Torah (1962). Early life and education Harry Orlinsky was born in 1908 to Yiddish-speaking parents in Owen S ...

, who had been a translator of the Revised Standard Version and would become the only translator of that version to work also on the

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.E. A. Speiser Ephraim Avigdor Speiser (January 24, 1902 – June 15, 1965) was a Polish-born American Assyriologist. He discovered the ancient site of Tepe Gawra in 1927 and supervised its excavation between 1931 and 1938. Speiser was married to Sue Gimbe ...

and H. L. Ginsberg. Associated with them were three rabbis: Max Arzt,

Bernard Jacob Bamberger Bernard Jacob Bamberger (May 30, 1904 – June 14, 1980) was an American rabbi, scholar, author, translator, head of major Jewish organizations, and congregational spiritual leader for over 50 years during the middle decades of the 20th century. ...

, and

Harry Freedman Harry Freedman (''Henryk Frydmann''), (April 5, 1922 – September 16, 2005) was a Canadians, Canadian composer, English hornist, and music educator of Polish birth. He wrote a significant amount of symphony, symphonic works, including the scores ...

, representing the Conservative, Reform, and Orthodox branches of organized Jewish religious life. Solomon Grayzel, editor of the Jewish Publication Society, served as secretary of the committee. The Torah appeared in 1962, with a second edition in 1967. The

h (Five Scrolls) and

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' Ben (Hebrew), son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria ...

appeared in 1969, the Book of Isaiah in 1973 and the Book of Jeremiah in 1974. Revised versions of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jonah appeared in

(1978), edited by Professor Ginsberg assisted by Professor Orlinsky. A separate committee was set up in 1966 to translate

. It consisted of

Moshe Greenberg Moshe Greenberg (Hebrew: משה גרינברג; July 10, 1928 – May 15, 2010) was an American rabbi, Bible scholar, and professor emeritus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. BiographyJonas Greenfield and

Nahum Sarna Nahum Mattathias Sarna (Hebrew: נחום סרנא; March 27, 1923 – June 23, 2005) was a modern biblical scholar who is best known for the study of Genesis and Exodus represented in his ''Understanding Genesis'' (1966) and in his contributions t ...

. The Psalms appeared in 1973 and the Book of Job in 1980. Revised versions of both, and the Megilloth, appeared in the complete

in 1982. The 1985 edition listed the Ketuvim translation team as also including Saul Leeman, Chaim Potok, Martin Rozenberg, and David Shapiro. Since 2017, the bilingual Hebrew-English edition of the JPS Tanakh (1985 translation) has been digitalized and is available online for free on the website Sefaria.

Revisions

* The first one-volume edition of the NJPS translation of the entire Hebrew Bible was published in 1985 under the title ''Tanakh''. It incorporates a thorough revision of the translation's sections previously issued individually. * A third edition of ''The Torah'' (the first section of the NJPS ''Tanakh'') was published in 1992. * A bilingual Hebrew-English edition of the full

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Masoretic The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

Hebrew text as found in the Leningrad Codex. * The recent series of JPS Bible commentaries all use the NJPS translation. * The Jewish Study Bible, published in 2003, contains the NJPS translation in one volume with introductions, notes, and supplementary material.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, * ''The Contemporary Torah: A Gender-Sensitive Adaptation of the JPS Translation'', published in 2006, includes the

Five Books of Moses 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 a supplementary “Dictionary of Gender in the Torah.” Its version of NJPS, which goes by the abbreviation CJPS, is “contemporary” in its use of gendered language only where germane, and in its drawing upon recent scholarship about gender roles in the ancient Near East. With regard to human beings, the CJPS adaptation sets out to represent the gender implications of the Torah's language as its composer(s) counted on the original audience to receive them, given the gender assumptions of that time and place. With regard to

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

, the CJPS adaptation employs gender-neutral language except where certain poetic passages invoke gendered

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory im ...

Adoption by Jewish denominations

The NJPS is the basis of the translation used in the official Torah commentaries of both

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

and Conservative Judaism. Jews in Reconstructionist Judaism and the Chavurah movement also use both

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Torah commentaries, so the NJPS is effectively the primary translation for all forms of English-speaking Judaism outside of

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 ...

. Orthodox Jews use a wider variety of translations, but many use the NJPS as well. * ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary'', the

Humash ''Chumash'' (also Ḥumash; he, חומש, or or Yiddish: ; plural Ḥumashim) is a Torah in printed and book bound form (i.e. codex) as opposed to a Sefer Torah, which is a scroll. The word comes from the Hebrew word for five, (). A more f ...

published by the Reform Movement in 1974–1980, with a one-volume edition in 1981, includes the NJPS translation. :A revised edition of this work was issued in 2005, which includes a version of the NJPS translation for the books of

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

through Deuteronomy, newly adapted for gender accuracy. (The translations of Genesis, and the prophetic books in this edition, come from a different source.) * " Etz Hayim Humash," the

published by the Conservative Movement in 2001, incorporates the NJPS translation (with minor modifications). All of these Jewish denominations use their respective Torah commentaries non-exclusively. Within their synagogue libraries, and in use in their adult education classes, one also may find a wide variety of other Torah commentaries, including many from

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Jewish authors and editors.

Usage

* The JPS Torah Translation and excerpts from Prophets is used in ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary'', the Commentary of the Reform Movement. * The JPS Torah Translation, excerpts from Prophets, and an edited version of its 5-volume Torah and 1-volume Haftorah Commentaries are used in the Etz Hayim, the Commentary of the Conservative Movement. * The JPS TANAKH Translation is used in the

Jewish Study Bible. * The JPS TANAKH has been selected as the official Bible for the

International Bible Contest The International Bible Contest ( he, חידון התנ"ך; ''Hidon HaTanakh'' also spelled ''Chidon HaTanach'' or ''Jidon Hatanaj'' mong Spanish and Portuguese speaking Jews is a worldwide competition on the Tanakh (Jewish Bible) for middle scho ...

. * The JPS TANAKH has been selected as the official Jewish version to be used in its “Bible as Literature” curriculum for American public schools as well as its Jewish Bible website. * The JPS TANAKH was selected by

Quality Paperback Book Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members c ...

for its “Old Testament” edition in its 5-volume Sacred Writings Series.

References

External links

Tanakh (Hebrew-English)
online full text of the bilingual JPS Tanakh (1985) on Sefaria {{DEFAULTSORT:Jps Tanakh 1985 books Jewish printing and publishing Hebrew Bible versions and translations Bible translations into English 1985 in religion