Christians Jews and the Bible
By SOLOMON GRAYZEL
Editor, The Jewish Publication Society of America
The Jews of this country are
certain to find considerable in-
terest in a celebration called.- for
Sept. 28 to Oct. 5 of this year by
the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the
UnitecF States. More or less 500
years ago, between 1450 and
1455, the Gutenberg Bible came
off the press. It was the first
edition of the Bible to be printed
and, therefore, the first of in-
numerable editions which have
appeared from that day to this
in every conceivable language.
Moreover, the publication of this
edition, though it was in Latin.
showed the way to making the
-Bible available to a great many
more people than had been able
to read it before. The Gutenberg
Bible thus marked the beginning
of Bible reading by the masses;
and such reading, we know, has
had a tremendous influence on
every modern language and lit-
erature as well as an many so-
cial and political aspects of
Western life.
This explains why the Na-
tional Council of Churches has
tied up the quinquecentennial
of the Gutenberg Bible with
the latest edition of the Bible
in translation which is sched-
uled to appear Sept. 30. The
new edjtion - will be known as
the Revised Standard Version,
and its publication will be the
fruit of 15 years of effort- by a
group of foremost Bible schol-
ars. Not since the King James
Version was completed in 1611
has so thoroughgoing a jolt._
been done.
Obviously, the Jews. while
congratulating our neighbors on
this achievement, cannot join in
the celebration. The new version
having been made by and for
Christians, it is bound to reflect
Christian attitudes wherever the
text lends itself to such inter-
pretation. The celebration is
therefore a Christian Simchah.
Nevertheless, it is in a sense a •
pity that we cannot at least
have a parallel festival; but no
appropriate anniversary pre-
sents itself in the history of the
Bible among the Jews. One could
perhaps force the Septuagint to
serve the purpose. If we assume
that the first installment of the
translation which bears that
name, the Penta teuch, pp d
in the year 248 Before the Corn-
mon Era, we can obtain for an
anniversary of our own the
round figure of 2200 years since
the first Bible translation ever
made. We can legitimately argue
that, had it not been for this
tr anslation into Greek whic h
made the Bible available to non-
Jews, no other translation would
have come into being, since
there probably would have been
no Christianity. Still, it will not,
do to use the Septuagint for this
purpose. Not only would it be
doing some violence to history,
since, after all, we do riot know
when during the third century
B. C. E. the Septuagint trans -
lation was done, but it might
also do some violence to Jewish
tradition which, for the past fif-
teen hundred years or more, has
not thought too highly of that
translation. We cannot base a
celebration on what to us is a
negative quantity.
Jewish translations of the
Bible into English also offer no
striking anniversary dates. For
a long time after English be-
came a spoken language
among a community of Jews,
they were satisfied with the
King James Version. At first
they certainly knew enough
Hebrew to be able to discount
the Christological implications
of certain passages which it
contained. By 1787, the situa-
tion in this respect in England
had evidently changed for the
worse, and a certain David
Levi issued an English trans-
lation of the Pentateuch for
use in the synagogue service.
It did not prove popular. A.
Benisch tried his hand at this
task in 1851-1856, again with
only moderate success. Isaac
Leeser was really the first to
achieve commendable results.
A quarto edition of his trans-
lation of the Bible appeared
in 1854 and a smaller-sized
edition two years later. He,
like his predecessors, based his
translation on the King James
Version, though making fre-
quent and substantial modifi-
cations. His translation there-
upon became popular among
the Jews and is used exten-
sively to this day. It will not
be amiss to celebrate its an-
niversary
niversary two years hence; but
at • the moment he, too, pro-
vides us with no excuse.
tion for its revision. The argu-
ments are worth noting. Beauti -
ful as is the English of the orig-
inal King James Version, it has
by now become outmoded, with
its thees and thous and shouldsts
and wouldsts. Bible scholars and
archaeologists have, in the past
50 years, gotten new insights
into the Bible words, phrases;
thoughts. The Christian church-.
es became convinced that revi -
Ision was a necessity.
DEXTER RECREATION
THE JEWISH NEWS-19
predation of its relevance t)
Friday, September 19, 1952
daily life.
Fortunately, the tradition of Society recently announced its
Bible study has not altogether • embarkation upon a -program of
disappeared from our midst. The • publishing books on the Bible by
number of Jews writing on the a ftind to be established in
honor of the Rev. Dr. Samuel
Bible, both scientifically and in- Schulman. It hopes that the
terpretively, has of late in - Jewish community will respond
creased considerably. Example.: to this challenge.
of the interpretive kind—such as
could be called commentaries
4
I
written in the spirit of the 20th
century — are Solomon's solid
• and informative volumes (The
au
h'
anon
Book of Books and Genesis) and
D a El U
the beautiful discussion of Ke- 0 0
he-- leth by Robert Gordis. En- I
couraging also is the proof we
have had recently of popular in- --
terest in easy approaches to the
Bible. -Witness the popularity of
the Hebrew-English Pentateueh
with comments by the late Chief '• After deadline—you'll be as
Rabbi Joseph Hertz of England. sad as the cat!
Witness, too. the enthusiasm
with which the public has re -
ceived Mortimer J. Cohen's
But the same holds true for
the Jews. As the Bible now
stands, its very English needs
a translation into a speech
which the average person will
understand. This does not
mean treating the Bible with
indignity. It does not even
mean discarding the efforts of
the committee which produced
the Jewish Publication Society
Version. All it needs is mod-
ernization in terms of greater
comprehension. Nor can we
yield to the philistine argu-
ment that we take advantage
of the work of the Christians. Pathways Through the Bible.
To do so would be not only un-
The reception of these volumes
dignified, but highly injurious, indicates the need for more of
since the Christians naturally I their kind. On the other hand
utilize certain phrases and there are books representing a .
passages in a sense all their Jewish interpretation of the
own. The Bible is a product of [Bible, which, like the Commen-
the Jewish genius; it is part of tary Series initiated years ago by
our literature and relates our the Jewish Publication Society
past. We must assume, in
(Numbers, Deuteronomy, Prov-
self-respect, that it can be erbs), have been neglected to an
rendered authoritatively into a extent that our ancestors would
non-Hebraic language only by have been horrified to see. And
those who understand that there are vast areas of biblical
genius and follow in that tra-
research a n d interpretation
dition. The Jewish scholars which Jews have not even
are on hand; the machinery is
touched, leaving to Christians
available; what is quite evi-
that which we should long ago
dently lacking are the laymen have proudly and jealously de-
who have the vision, the cul-
clared our own. To meet this
tural interests, and the reli- situation, the Jewish Publication
gious loyalty to devote their
means to this task.
For Jews, however, a transla-
tion is not enough. Even the
original text was never consid-
ered sufficient. There was a dif-
ference in the way the Jews and
the Christians used to read the
Bible. Among Christians, espe-
cially among Protestants, the
reading of the Bible has been
and still is a religious obligation .
—the sort of thing we Jews
would call a mitzvah. Special
merit attaches to it. It is a come
The Jewish Publication Soci- pliment to God to read His
ety translation of the Bible re- words, a means of coming close
sulted from groWing dissatisfac- to Him, like visiting the church.
tion with Leeser's work. The It is an act of submission, equiv-
committee which was called into alent to prayer. Among Jews,
being represented every religious only the Book of Psalms has
grouping in American Judaism. held a similar place. One turned
The King James Version re- to it in time of sorrow or when
mained the basis for their work one felt in a prayerful mood
—quite properly, since it exem- outside of regular services. Te-
plifies the English language in hillim sagen, "to recite psalms,"
classical form—but the great has an entirely different conno-
Bible scholar, Prof. Max L. Mar- tation from tenach lernen, "to
golis, who was the guiding spirit study Bible." One does not "re-
in the effort, subjected every cite" or "say" Bible; and, except
word and phrase to the test of in the classroom, one does not
the Hebrew original and of Jew- "study" psalms.
THE DETROIT
ish traditional interpretation.
It is significant that the Jews,
This translation was published
FRUIT VENDORS
in 1917, so that its 35 years af- too, took advantage of the print-
ford no striking occasion for an ing process soon after its inven-
ASSOCIATION
tion. But in those early years
anniversary celebration.
•
they never printed the Bible
Extend greetings on the New Year
* * *
text alone; it was always ac-
to all their members and to the
The first thing that strikes companied by commentaries.
Jewish Community.
one more is the eagerness of our The first part of the Bible to be
Morris Goldberg. Pres.
Christian neighbors to have the .printed (1477) for Jews was the
Bible read and understood. The Book of Psalms, an indication
Mrs. Molly Kalb. Pres,
Standard American Version was of its extensive use for pious
Ladies Auxiliary
published in 1901. Only. 30 years reading; yet, in typically Jewish
later there was already agita.- fashion, it was accompanied by
a commentary, that of David
Kimhi. The first complete Bible
to be edited by a Jew (155) took
Our Sincerest Thanks for the Patronage/Given
the name Mikraot Gedolot,
us by the Readers of The Jewish News — We
which, whatever its literal-
Wish to Extend to Them A Very Happy, and
meaning, has the sense of "En-1
Prosperous New Year.
larged Scriptures," for it was ;
provided with a considerable !
number of commentaries along -
side the text and its Ararni3
translations. It was left to the
5440 GRAND RIVER -
Central and especially the East
TY. 6-8220
European Jew characteristically
3 Blocks South of Olympia
to carry this attitude to an ex:-
treme. He reversed the procesS,
and learned the Bible text
through commentaries and tal-
mudic discussion. The old-
Holiday Greetings from
fashioned heder taught only
enough Bible—always, of course,
Herman Fenton, Prop.
with the commentary of Rashi-
to.serve the child as a prepara-
tion for the study of Talmud
Yet it is not surprising that the
Open Bowling : Monday, Tuesday, .Friday Nights `-
product of this educational sy3--
STOP - SHOP - EAT - PLAY - -The Dexter Recreation Way
tern had an overwhelming rev-
erence for the Bible. He knew
SOME DATES FOR LEAGUE BOWLING STILL OPEN
it too; perhaps not consecutive-
ly—except for the Pentateuch
9840 DEXTER BLVD.
TY. 5-9483
which he read as part of the
Sabbath service—but thoroughly
UNION TIRE COMPANY
Vi and with a deep and moving ap-
ter Deadline
The
ODESSA
PROGRESSIVE
AID SOCIETY
Wishes to extend best wishes to
their members, their families and
to the Community, for a year of
Health and Happiness.
D. Teitelbaum, Pres.
•••-• •♦ ••
The Officers and
i •
SISTERS OF
ZION MIZRACHI
Best Wishes to our
Relatives and Friends
MR. 5- MRS.
JOSEPH M. DAVIDSON
and FAMILY
Board Members of
•
wish to extend sincerest wishes
to members, their families
and friends for a very
Happy New'Year
19340 Coyle, Detroit 35
Formerly 2745 Burlingame
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rtzlt rf:e7
LUTZKER WOLINER SOCIETY
Extends heartiest greetings on the New Year to all its members and
friends and to the entire Detroit Jewish Community.
LE'SHONO TOVO T1KOSEVU
Louis Lyons, President
Joseph Linden, Vice-President
Heartiest New Year Greetings and Best Wishes for a Pros-
perous Neu, Year to All Chaverim of the Branch and to the
Labor Zionist Movement in the United States and to our
Pioneers in Israel,
ARLAZAROFF BRANCH 137
Farband.
Harry Schumer, president;- David Silver, Maurice Baker ; Philip Imber,
Vice-Presidents; William Gayman, Fin. Sec.; Gertrude Levine, Corr.
Sec. ; Adele Mondry, Rec. Sec.; Harry Mondry, Chairman; Executive
Board; Leo J. Cohen, Treasurer.
4,11,011 .1111..111.111
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Start the
New Year Rig/ t
with
aNew NASH From
Charlies
BE SURE TO STOP IN AND ASK ABOUT OUR
HOLIDAY SPECIAL, WE WILL GIVE YOU THE
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