Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #773911 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 412 pages

From the Publisher
"Under the editorship of David E. S. Stein, a gender-sensitive adaptation of the NJPS translation of the Torah recently appeared ... it is a thoughtful piece of work. In conjunction with the documentation Stein provides online, it will be treated as an inevitable point of departure in future discussions of gendered language used of human beings and God in the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament. More than anyone else before him, Stein tackles the issues faced in translating the gendered language of the Bible with sensitivity and verve. . . . Here's the question: are available translations sensitive to what Stein calls the grammar of social gender in Biblical Hebrew? Are they gender-accurate? If Stein is right, they are not, in hundreds of specific instances. That makes his revision of NJPSV of blockbuster importance." - Reverend John F. Hobbins, in his Ancient Hebrew Poetry blog

What a pleasure to read the creation story and finally see that God created humankind, which, at least according to the great biblical scholar Harry Orlinsky, is the most accurate translation anyway. That sentence and others warmed the cockles of my heart and earned this volume a place on my crowded bookcase. This easy to read translation is a great place to start one's daily or weekly reading of the biblical text." - From 'The Six Best Jewish Books of 2006' in an entry by Susan Grossman (Rabbi, Beth Shalom Congregation, Columbia, Maryland) in the "Virtual Talmud" on Beliefnet.com

From the Inside Flap
This ground-breaking work, an adaptation of the acclaimed JPS translation of the Torah (1962), will appeal to readers who are interested in a historically based representation of social gender roles in the Bible, as well as to those who have become accustomed to gender-sensitive English in other aspects of their lives.

In preparing this work, the editors undertook a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the Torah’s gender ascriptions, consulting both recent biblical scholarship as well as traditional Jewish sources. They selected language that judiciously portrays ancient gender roles in order to reflect a more nuanced understanding of the biblical world and its original audience. The result is a carefully rendered alternative to the traditional JPS translation, the most widely read English version of the Jewish Bible.

In most cases references to God are in gender-neutral language. The Tetragammaton, the unpronounceable four-letter name for the Divine, appears in this translation in unvocalized Hebrew to convey that the Name is something totally "other"—beyond translation, gender, speech, and understanding. In some instances, however, male imagery depicting God is preserved because it reflects biblical society’s view of gender roles.

Guided by principles set down by the original JPS translation committee, David Stein and the consulting editors found more inclusive ways of rendering "generic" terms—"humankind" for "mankind," "herders" for "herdsmen"—and replaced male pronouns in cases where gender was not germane or is now understood differently in light of new research about the biblical family, Israelite society, and neighboring cultures.

Stein’s preface explains the methodology used in this translation. A table with sample verses delineates typical ways that "God language" is handled, and occasional endnotes explain how gender has been treated in the case of certain key words. Longer supplementary notes at the end of the volume comment on special topics related to this edition.

From the Back Cover
The Contemporary Torah
A Gender-Sensitive Adaptation of the JPS Translation

An adaptation of the acclaimed JPS translation of the Torah that offers new insights into the role that gender plays in the Bible.

"Far from pandering to contemporary tastes at the expense of the ancient text of the Hebrew Bible, revising editor David Stein and his co-workers have exhaustively mined the ancient Near Eastern world for literary examples that help us better understand the role gender played more than three thousand years ago. The Contemporary Torah is often thought provoking and even startling, while at the same time remaining deeply and thoroughly rooted in Jewish exegetical traditions. This volume merits a place alongside the earlier NJPS and other English-language versions of the highest caliber and most abiding value."
——Leonard Greenspoon, Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization, Creighton University

"In the past, translators and interpreters of the Torah have assumed that its language and content have strongly favored men over women. The new Contemporary Torah of the JPS goes a long way toward shaking up and hedging that assumption. The new "gender-sensitive" translation is based on original and responsible scholarship and is performed with grace and thoughtfulness. It is an important and exciting work that should engage anyone interested in the Torah, Jew or Gentile, female or male, English reader or Hebrew reader."
——Edward L. Greenstein, Professor of Bible, Tel Aviv University

Customer Reviews

Gender-Sensitive is Different from Gender-Neutral
The Contemporary Torah is an adaptation with respect to social gender of the NJPS (New Jewish Publication Society) translation (1962, 1985, 1999) of the Torah (first five books of the Bible). Therefore, this translation (as the subtitle states) is gender-sensitive, not gender-neutral. This is a significant distinction. A gender-sensitive rendition means approaching the text on its own terms with the aim of rendering an accurate and clear translation without passing judgment.

David Stein, the revising editor, and his consulting editors have done an admirable job of achieving their goal. Stein formed a mental model of the original audience and its view of society and adapted the translation. He kept the following important issues in mind:

1. The prevailing social roles and expectations, that is, what ancient Israelite society noticed and valued.

Social gender involves more than physical characteristics.

In addition, lives are determined by more than gender alone.

2. The inclusivity or exclusivity of the language and how the audience understood the text.

If the meaning of the text dictates the inclusion of both men and women, then the translation must reflect that meaning.

If the meaning of the text signals a specific gender, then the translation should indicate the gender.

3. The divine is beyond gender.

The four-letter personal (but unpronounced) name of God is rendered by four Hebrew letters, a gender-neutral rendition that reflects the monotheistic view of God. However, this perspective does not forbid translations that reflect male characteristics when required for poetic license (for example, God as a warrior).

Angels are rendered according to their function, for example, emissary, agent, envoy, and so forth.

The editors analyzed the original audience thoroughly, consulting modern biblical research as well as traditional sources and the role of literary genre (for example, legal texts). Then, Stein identified where social gender was an issue and translated into idiomatic English. He kept in mind not only the audience of the ancient world but also the audience of today and how it would construe a translated word.

For example, where the NJPS version translated a Hebrew word as herdsmen, the editors of The Contemporary Torah translated it as herders. This was not for the sake of gender neutrality but because those occupied in this type of work in the ancient Near East included both men and women (as evidenced by Rachel and Zipporah), and a contemporary audience might assume from herdsmen that only men practiced that occupation.

I liked this translation because it combines the best of what I expect from a translation of an ancient Hebrew text. It is faithful to the original text and audience yet acknowledges the sensitivity of a contemporary audience to language. It speaks to the readers of today without making judgments or ignoring ancient realities.

Despite its title, it is not PC. That's good.
This is a "gender-sensitive" version of the standard Jewish Publication Society (JPS) Tanakh. Normally I tune out whenever someone rewrites segments of the Torah or Siddur to be "gender sensitive" or "gender neutral". When I have seen such approaches in liberal Jewish writings, I've often found rewriting of the Bible itself in order to serve current modern-day political correctness (which is short sighted, since the politically correct positions of today may not resonate with readers in the next few generations!)

However, once I read the introduction of this new work, I was heartened to find a responsible, academic approach to the issue. Instead of retranslating the Bible for promoting current social and political purposes, the emphasis here is on the peshat, translating the text as it was meant to be understood by the original audience. This is done in a way that the translator hopes will remove unconscious or misleading gender errors. In the introduction to this volume David Stein notes that the current JPS Torah and Tanakh (New JPS, or NJPS) already engaged, to some extent, in gender-accuracy and sensitivity. Stein writes:

"Where the Torah's language suggested a neutral sense, NJPS avoided misleadingly ascribing gender, not only by rendering inclusively some "male" nouns, but also by rendering masculine inflections and pronouns idiomatically rather than literally. Thus, for example, what kjv had rendered as "thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause" appears in NJPS as "you shall not subvert the rights of your needy in their disputes" (Exod. 23:6). In short, NJPS inadvertently led the way among contemporary translations in "gender-sensitive" rendering. Limitations of NJPS Despite its overall strengths, the gender ascriptions in NJPS can still be called into question on a number of counts...."