Category:Masoretic Bible Translations (text)

Masoretic Bible Translations

• See also Hebrew Bible Translations

Overview

In modern times the Masoretic Texts of the Hebrew Bible was translated by Jews into Arabic (), Spanish (Ferrara Bible) and Yiddish (1676-78)

With the Enlightenment and the Emancipation, European Jews assimilated into the newborn national States. The first translation of the Hebrew Bible by a Jewish author into a major European "national" language was published by Moses Mendelssohn in 1783. The language was German, even though out of respect for the tradition, the translation was still printed in Hebrew characters, similarly to the previous Yiddish translations.

Following Mendelssohn's path, translations of the Hebrew Bible soon appeared in all major European "national" languages and alphabets:

English (1787), by David Levi (limited to the Pentateuch) Dutch (1), by Samuel Israel Mulder Polish, by I. Neufeld Italian (1821), by Isaac Samuel Reggio German (1827-36), by Joseph Johlson (Asher ben Joseph of Fulda) French (1833-46), by Samuel Cahen German (1833-37), by Moses Landau American English (1845; and 1853), by Isaac Leeser English (1851-56), by Abraham Benisch Italian (1858-60), by Samuel David Luzzatto French (1860), by Samuel Wouge (Pentateuch only) Russian (1872), by Leon J. Mandelstamm (Pentateuch and Psalms) French (1899), by Zadok Kahn At first these translation met strong opposition by many orthodox Jews and were the product of individual authors. By the end of the 19th century, however, the presence of such translations was more commonly accepted and Jewish institutions began sponsoring the production of authorized versions.