The translation of Saadia Gaon often does not correspond to our chapter divisions, which did not exist in his day. More noteworthy is the readiness with which he joined separate verses of the Hebrew text (whose authority he did not question) into single sentences when the sense required it. Thus, in joining Genesis 7.24 and 8.1 into a single sentence, or combining the last part of 1 Kings 6.38 with 7.1, the present translation is following the example of Saadia. The attentive reader will discover other instances in which the translators have followed what they considered to be the logical units of meaning even when they did not coincide with the conventional chapters and verses. The latter, how- ever, are marked and numbered throughout.
The preface to the first edition of The Torah was dated September 25, 1962, Erev Rosh Ha-Shanah 5723. A second edition, incorporating some changes by the translators, came out five years later. The committee also produced translations of The Five Megilloth and Jonah (1969), Isaiah (1973), and Jeremiah (1974). The latter two books and Jonah were incorporated, with some corrections and revisions, into the complete translation of The Prophets (Nevi’im).
For this volume, which was published in 1978, Pro- fessor Ginsberg served as editor, in association with Professor Orlinsky. Whereas Professor Orlinsky had initially prepared a draft translation of the entire Torah, individual members of the committee undertook to prepare a draft of an entire prophetic book or part of a book; but, as in translating the Torah, everyone had an opportunity to criticize the draft and to offer detailed suggestions at periodic committee sessions, which were presided over by Rabbi Bamberger. Differences of opinion were settled by majority vote.
In preparing the translation of The Prophets, the translators faced a recurring problem that deserves special mention. The prophetic books contain many passages whose meaning is uncertain. Thus, in order to provide an intelligible rendering, modern scholars have resorted to emending the Hebrew text. Some of these emendations derive from the ancient translators, especially of the Septuagint and the Targums, who had before them a Hebrew text that sometimes differed from today’s traditional text. Where these ancient versions provide no help, some scholars have made conjectural emendations of their own. Many modern English versions contain translations of emended texts, sometimes without citing any de- parture from the traditional Hebrew text.
Like the translation of The Torah, the present translation of the pro- phetic books adheres strictly to the traditional Hebrew text; but where the text remains obscure and an alteration provides marked clarification, a footnote is offered with a rendering of the suggested emendation. If the emendation is based on one or two ancient versions, they are mentioned by name; if more than two versions agree, they are summed up as “ancient versions.” Conjectural emendations are introduced by “Emendation yields.” Sometimes, however, it was deemed sufficient to offer only a change of vowels, and such modifications are indicated by “Change of vocalization yields.” In all cases, the emendation is given in a footnote, which may be readily disregarded by those who reject it on either scholarly or religious grounds. The only exceptions involve such changes in grammatical form as those, say, from second person to third or from singular to plural. In such rare instances, the change is incorporated in the text, and the tra- ditional Hebrew is translated in a footnote.
The committee of translators for The Writings (Kethuvim), the third part of the Hebrew Bible, was set up by the Jewish Publication Society in 1966. It consisted of Moshe Greenberg, now Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University, Jonas C. Greenfield, now Professor of Semitic Lan- guages at the Hebrew University, and Nahum M. Sarna, Professor of Biblical Studies at Brandeis University, in association with Rabbis Saul Leeman, Martin S. Rozenberg, and David Shapiro of the Conservative, Reform, and Orthodox movements. Chaim Potok, then editor of the Society, served as secretary of the committee.
The present English rendering of Kethuvim, like Torah and Nevi’im, is based on the traditional Hebrew text—its consonants, vowels, and syn- tactical divisions—although the traditional accentuation occasionally has been replaced by an alternative construction. Following the approach of the original committee, the entire gamut of biblical interpretation, ancient and modern, Jewish and non-Jewish, has been consulted, and, whenever possible, the results of modern study of the languages and cultures of the ancient Near East have been brought to bear on the biblical text. In choosing between alternatives, however, just as antiquity was not in itself a disqualification, so modernity was not in itself a recommendation.
Di- vergences of the present translation from recent renderings reflect the committee’s judgment that certain innovations, though interesting, are too speculative for adoption in the present state of knowledge. The as yet imperfect understanding of the language of the Bible, or what appears to be some disorder in the Hebrew text, makes sure translation of many passages impossible. This uncertainty in Kethuvim is indicated in a note; and, where the Hebrew text permits, alternative renderings have been offered. However, emendations of the text of Kethuvim—except for the five Megilloth—were not proposed, and notes were kept to a minimum.
Some passages in Kethuvim are identical or very similar to passages in Torah and Nevi’im. The rendering of these passages in Kethuvim generally follows the wording in the earlier books; on occasion, however, owing to various considerations, divergences in style and translation will be found. For example, in the presentation of the poetry of the Psalms, it was deemed fitting, because of their liturgical use, to indicate the thought units through appropriate indentation.
The text of Kethuvim frequently presented the translators with extraordinary difficulties, for it is hardly possible to con- vey in English the fullness of the Hebrew, with its ambiguities, its over- tones, and the richness that it carries from centuries of use. Still, it was their goal to transmit something of the directness, the simplicity, and the uniquely Israelite expressions of piety that are so essential to the sublimity of the Hebrew Bible.
The committee’s translation of The Psalms appeared in 1973; of The Book of Job, in 1980. The two were incorporated, with revisions, into the complete translations of The Writings (Kethuvim), which appeared in 1982.
For this one-volume edition of Tanakh, the translation of The Torah, first published twenty years earlier, has undergone more revision than the more recent publications of The Prophets and The Writings. A number of the changes had already been projected in Notes on the New Translation of the Torah, edited by Harry M. Orlinsky and published by the Society in 1969. Subsequent research on the text has led to further revisions in the translations of Torah and some revisions in Nevi’im as well.
Ephraim Speiser, of the original committee, died in June 1965. Max Arzt, also an active member of the original committee, died in 1975, when the work of translating the prophetic books was almost complete. Since the appearance of The Prophets and The Writings, Bernard J. Bam- berger, Solomon Grayzel, and Harry Freedman have also passed on. Their memory, and their scholarship, will be for a blessing.
The Jewish Publication Society joins the members of the committees of translators in the hope that the results of our labors will find favor with God and man.
The Jewish Publication Society
September 15, 1985
Glossary for the Footnotes
Akkadian An ancient Semitic language spoken in Mesopotamia; its chief dialects were Babylonian and Assyrian.
Aquila A second-century convert to Judaism who made a literal translation of the Bible into Greek.
Berakhot One of the treatises of the Mishnah and the Talmud.
Ibn Ezra Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, a Bible commentator and gram- marian who lived in Spain in the twelfth century.
Kethib The way a word, usually unvocalized, is written in the Bible; see qere.
Kimhi Rabbi David Kimhi (Radak), a Bible commentator and grammarian who lived in Southern France in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.
Masorah The text of the Bible as transmitted, with vowel signs and accents.
Mishnah The code of Jewish law prepared by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi about 200 C.E. The word is usually followed by the name of the relevant treatise.
Peshitta A translation of the Bible into Syriac, parts of which are said to have been made in the first century C.E.
Qere The way the Masorah requires a word to be read, especially when it diverges from the kethib.
Qumran The site of the caves where Bible manuscripts were found in 1949/50. The manuscripts are identified by such symbols as 4QSama (for manuscript a of Samuel, found in the fourth cave of Qumran); 1QIsa (for manuscript a of Isaiah found in the first cave of Qumran).
Rashbam Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir, a grandson of Rashi, who com- mented on the Torah.
Rashi Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, the best-known Jewish commen- tator on the Bible. He lived in France at the end of the eleventh century.
Saadia A gaon, i.e., a head of a Babylonian talmudic academy, in the early part of the tenth century. His works include the famous translation of the Bible into Arabic.
Septuagint The oldest Jewish translation of the Bible, into Greek. The Torah translation dates from the third century B.C.E; other books of the Bible were translated somewhat later.
Syriac See Peshitta.
Targum A Jewish
