Evening star., 1909-06-06
Task OF MANY YEARS
New Hebrew Translation of
the Old Testament.
WORK NEARLY COMPLETED
More Faithful Reproduction of the
Scriptures Sought.
STATEMENT BY DIR. ADLER
Tells Of the Difficulties of the Under
taking and What Is Sought by
Those Engaged Upon It.
STATEMENT BY DIR. ADLEB
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald


Chicago Record Herald.
PHILADELPHIA, June 5. 1909
For twelve years or more a learned
group of Hebrew scholars have been al
| work upon new translation of the Old
Testament. which has been very nearly
completed. and will be published within
the next year or two by the Jewish Pub
lication Society Of the United States. The
chief editor. who has done the greater
part of the work, is DR.. Max L. Margolis
of Philadelphia, and he has been as
sisted by a committee Of three repre-
sentatives from the Jewish Publication
Society and three from the Central Con-
ference of American Rabbis. as follows:
DR.. F. Schechter, president of the He
brew Seminary. 124th street. New York;
DIR. Joseph Jacobs. professor in the He
brew Seminary. 124th street. New York
city; DR.. Daniel F. Schulman, rabbi of
,ne of the big congregations in New
Jrk city,. Dr. X. kohler. president He
brew Union College. Cincinnati: DR..
Envid Philippson of Cincinnati, DR.. Cy-
rus Adler Of Philadelphia.
The object of making this new transla-
don is to secure more perfect English
version of the Scriptures. Jewish
scholars are not satisfied with the trans
lation OF certain passages in the revised
version published in 1854 by committee
Of Christian scholars. of wnom the Rev.
greater fault has been found with a
translation made by DR.. Isaac Lesser of
Philadelphia more than forty years ago.
That is the only Jewish translation avail
able. and the revised version published
by the American Bible Society Is very
generally used in the synagogues and by
the Jewish families.
A Conservative Effort
When l asked DR.. Cyrus Adler how
the new Jewish translation will differ
from the Christian translation now in
use. he said:
1.-THE new translation of the Scriptures
may be characterized as a conservative
effort. 1t aims. in the first place. at con-
serving the form which the Scriptures
have assumed in the English tongue
through the two great historical YER
sions-the authorized of 1911 and the re-
vised of 1884; but in a more particular
manner. and above all. 1t purposes to ad-
here faithfully to the form In which the
synagogue has handed down the original
text. From the point of view Of its f1del-
ity to the English versions. 1t does not
lay claim to being a new translation, but
merely revision of its predecessors.
1t is an interesting fact In the history
of Bible translations that. once a trans
lation had been put forth there was
little attempt at creating IN that par
ticular tongue an absolutely novel trans
lation: the old translation was always
subjected to revision. Thus Aauila and
translation of the Seventy; the Vulgate
represents recasting of the old Latin
translation antedating Jerome; and our
own authorized version was a revision
translations seem to share in the sacred
ness of the original. they become re-
igiously sacred through the religious as
sociatiQns. In the case Of the older
English version, 1t is we'll known how
it has become an English classic, part
ature; its phraseology has entered the
very English language, and cannot be
severed therefrom with impunity.
Hence 1t is that the new translation
phrases. unless in the Judgment of the
revisers they fail to do justice to the
Hebrew original But even in such cases
the familiar renderings will be recorded
in the margin. Nor will there be any
attempt at undermining the diction.
Biblical English has ring and a force
which the up-to-date language cannot
equal. Some archaisms will have to go:
such as in our own days have assumed
meaning quite at variance from the
sense attaching to. them in the seven
teenth century. But on the whole. the
archaisms, though no longer in use. are
intelligible: and there is no need for
modern substitutes. The literary language
is always much behind the spoken Ian
guage-it is the spoken idiom of a past
generation; but 1t is standardized by gen.
erations of writer's. and kept pretty much
intact, no matter how much the speech
OF the people may choose to follow diff
ferent ways The quaintness of the Eng
lish Bible is a charm that must not be
sacrificed to an exaggerated desire for
inteligibility. The errors of translation
must at all hazards be corrected; alb
solutely unintelljgible or misleading words
must be discarded: but care must be
taken to preserve the beauty of the
Biblical English For the English Bible,
as classic. is dear to all English-speak-
ing men. whether Jews or Christians.
Must Be Faithful Reproduction.
But the new translation is above all
to be as faithful a reproduction Of the
original as is consonant with the genius
of the English language. Not that any
attempt will be made to produce literal
version. AS a matter of fact. literal
translations and faithful translations are
not one and the same thing. A literal
translation may render words, even syl-
lables: but as men do not speak in de-
tached words, but in sentences, that
translation is the most effective which
aims at conveying the sense rather than
the words. While the English versions