Rabbi Tuly Weisz. (Courtesy Israel 365)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Each Hebrew Bible edition must confront problems caused by the chapters and verses. The verse divisions are ancient and of Jewish origin, but the chapter divisions (and the individual numbers assigned to the verses) are significantly later and of Christian provenance. Modern scholarship has shown that both the ancient verses and the medieval chapters sometimes incorrectly divide sentences or join together multiple sentences.<\/p>\n
Consider Genesis<\/em> 2:4 in the King James translation (completed in 1611): \u201cThese are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens\u2026\u201d. Scholars now understand that Gen<\/em>. 2:4 contains two sentences, as shown in the NJPS translation: \u201cSuch is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When the LORD God made earth and heaven\u2014\u201d. The change from comma to period is small, but it radically alters the meaning of the verse in its ancient context.<\/p>\nThe Israel Bible<\/em> visually separates the Hebrew text and English translation according to the ancient verse divisions, thereby making the text easier to read and study but also perpetuating millennia-old textual misunderstandings, such as in Gen<\/em>. 2:4.<\/p>\nRelatedly, the Tanakh contains numerous names for God, and both traditional Jewish exegetes and modern biblical scholars see great significance in when the Bible refers to God as El or Elohim (a title meaning \u201cGod\u201d) verses as Yud<\/em>–Hey<\/em>–Vav<\/em>–Hey<\/em>, the Tetragrammaton, the ineffable name of God (usually vocalized with the euphemism \u201cAdonai,\u201d meaning \u201cmy Lord\u201d). However, “The Israel Bible” translates El, Elohim, and Adonai all as \u201cHashem<\/em>,\u201d depriving the English reader of the chance to contemplate the spiritual and historical implications of God\u2019s different names and titles. (Confusingly, when Elohim appears with a pronominal suffix [\u201cyour God\u201d], the editors do not use Hashem<\/em>.)<\/p>\nOne-third of Tanakh is poetry, and reading through these poetic sections was my biggest disappointment. “The Israel Bible” presents the poetic sections also verse-by-verse, even though the parallel line, the basic building block of ancient Hebrew poetry, is frequently mismatched to verse divisions. NJPS indicates poetic cola varyingly through indentions, line breaks, and capital letters. “The Israel Bible” deletes the indentions and breaks but retains the capitals:<\/p>\n
1<\/sup> Comfort, oh comfort My people, Says your God.<\/p>\n 2<\/sup> Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, And declare to her<\/p>\n That her term of service is over, That her iniquity<\/p>\n
is expiated; For she has received at the hand of<\/p>\n
Hashem <\/em>Double for all her sins. (Isaiah<\/em> 40:1-2)<\/p>\nThese stray capital letters are distracting at best.<\/p>\n
However, my quibbles with certain editorial decisions do not detract from the fact that “The Israel Bible” is a monumental achievement, a labor of love containing the best of Orthodox Jewish teachings. Its publication coincides with the State of Israel\u2019s 70th anniversary, and it is a moving gift to Israel and all who love her.<\/p>\n
Jason M. H. Gaines, Ph.D., is a visiting assistant professor and undergraduate advisor of Jewish Studies at Tulane University. His book on poetry in the Torah, \u201cThe Poetic Priestly Source,\u201d was recently published by Fortress Press.<\/em><\/p>\n
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