Offers readers new perspectives on the role gender plays in Bible
translation This adaptation of the JPS translation of the Torah
(1962) will appeal to readers who are interested in a historically
based picture of social gender roles in the Bible as well as those
who have become accustomed to gender-sensitive English in other
aspects of their lives. Many contemporary Bible scholars contend
that the Bible’s original audience understood that the references
to God as male simply reflected gendered social roles at the time.
However, evidence for this implicit assumption is ambiguous.
Accordingly, in preparing this new edition, the editors sought
language that was more sensitive to gender nuances, to reflect more
accurately the perceptions of the original Bible readers. In places
where the ancient audience probably would not have construed gender
as pertinent to the text’s plain sense, the editors changed words
into gender-neutral terms; where gender was probably understood to
be at stake, they left the text as originally translated, or even
introduced gendered language where none existed before. They made
these changes regardless of whether words referred to God, angels,
or human beings. For example, the phrase originally translated in
the 1962 JPS Torah as “every man as he pleases” has been
rendered here “each of us as we please” (Deut. 12:8).
Similarly, “man and beast” now reads “human and beast”
(Exod. 8:14), since the Hebrew word adam is meant to refer to all
human beings, not only to males. Conversely, the phrase “the
persons enrolled” has been changed to “the men enrolled”
(Num. 26:7), to reflect the fact that only men were counted in
census-taking at this time. In most cases, references to God are
rendered in gender neutral language. A special case in point: the
unpro-nounceable four-letter name for the Divine, the
Tetragammaton, is written in unvocalized Hebrew, conveying to the
reader that the Name is something totally “other”—beyond our
speech and understanding. Readers can choose to substitute for this
unpronounceable Name any of the numerous divine names offered by
Jewish tradition, as generations have before our time. In some
instances, however, male imagery depicting God is preserved because
it reflects ancient society’s view of gender roles. David
Stein’s preface provides an explanation of the methodology used,
and a table delineates typical ways that God language is handled,
with sample verses. Occasional notes applied to the Bible text
explain how gender is treated; longer supplementary notes at the
end of the volume comment on special topics related to this
edition. In preparing this work, the editors undertook a thorough
and comprehensive analysis of the Torah’s gender ascriptions. The
result is a carefully rendered alternative to the traditional JPS
translation.
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