“This gender-sensitive translation will transform our understanding of the Tanakh and our place within it. It invites the reader to envision the Divine and the main actors of the Bible in a more expansive way.”—Rabbi Angela W. Buchdahl, Central Synagogue, New York City
“This revised translation is not only gender sensitive; it is also gender sensible. Every decision regarding gender has been carefully considered to produce a faithful rendering of the Bible that is finely tuned to contemporary sensibilities. The explanations of the principles that direct these decisions are a welcome bonus; they enhance our understanding of the workings of biblical Hebrew and modern English.”—Adele Berlin, Robert H. Smith Professor Emerita of Biblical Studies at the University of Maryland
“As we strive for utmost fidelity in how we render the eternal words of Tanakh, greater gender inclusivity in how we talk about people, and greater gender sensitivity in how we speak about God, JPS’s new gender-sensitive translation offers us a momentous contribution to biblical study—a massive and crucial step forward. A must-have for every Jewish library and for every contemporary student of Torah.”—Rabbi Shai Held, president and dean of Hadar
“Gender norms have so dramatically changed since the completion of the JPS Tanakh translation in 1985 that it is both a necessity and a pleasure to have this new translation, which pays deliberate and careful attention to issues of gender. Because this is
gender sensitive rather than
gender inclusive, it does not simply paper over the ways in which the text assumes male dominance, but tries to discern whether particular usages of male pronouns and terms were meant to be inclusive or not. In so doing, the translation both enlightens and disturbs, challenging many fixed assumptions and allowing readers to come to the Tanakh with fresh eyes.”—Judith Plaskow, author of
Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective “Mining advances in ancient Near Eastern scholarship, rooted authentically in Jewish exegetical traditions, and paying exceptionally fine-tuned attention to contemporary English-language usage, this gender-sensitive translation is startling, thought-provoking, and equally well situated for the synagogue, the traditional classroom, and community adult education programs, among other settings.”—Leonard Greenspoon, author of
Jewish Bible Translations“The rabbis of the Talmud taught that ‘the Torah speaks in human terms,’ but this can only be the case if the Tanakh is translated and re-translated to reflect shifts in our manner of speaking.
The JPS TANAKH: Gender-Sensitive Edition allows all of us to see ourselves created in the image of God and reflected in the Bible’s teachings.”—Ilana Kurshan, author of
If All the Seas Were Ink
