By Natalie Hanks, Lead Editor

The TBS Hebrew New Testament is currently being typeset and prepared for printing, if the Lord will. This is a revision of the Delitzsch Hebrew New Testament (known as DHNT), aimed at making it more faithful to the Greek Received Text, and in a more understandable form of Hebrew which can be readily understood by modern Hebrew speakers today.

While the Jews and Hebrew speakers have the Old Testament in Hebrew, the New Testament was written in Greek, meaning that it had to be translated into Hebrew for them to read it in their own tongue. The first edition of the Delitzsch New Testament was published in the 1870s by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and later the Trinitarian Bible Society published an edition for many years. But who was Delitzsch? And why was his work so important for the Jews?

An ordinary German family

Franz Julius Delitzsch was a Lutheran, born in Leipzig, Germany on 23 February 1813. Contrary to what you might expect, he was not born to a Jewish or Hebrew-speaking family. Instead his parents were Gentiles: Johann Gottfried Delitzsch, a peddler and craftsman, and his wife, Susanna Rosina. The family had three children, but only Franz Julius survived early infancy. The family was very poor; when Franz Delitzsch was a boy his father ran a second hand shop which brought in very little income.

The Delitzsch family were unusual from most German families in one respect—they had a Jewish lodger named Franz Julius Levy Hirsch. Levy Hirsch was an antique bookseller, and must have been very close to the family because he was asked to be godfather to the young Delitzsch, who was even named ‘Franz Julius’ after him. At that time it would have been unheard of for a Jew to be godparent to a Christian child. However, Levy Hirsch was to have a big impact on his godchild’s life. Delitzsch was a gifted child, and Levy Hirsch, seeing this potential, paid for him to have an education far beyond what his circumstances might ordinarily expect, including teaching him Hebrew and Jewish literature as a boy.

Delitzsch initially attended a boy’s school before attending a school in the town where he became a rationalist (an erroneous belief system which taught that your life should be based on human reason and logic, rather than religious belief). Later he wrote, ‘Here I became a decided rationalist. I felt myself drawn to God; but the person of Jesus Christ was to me involved in utter darkness.’¹ Delitzsch then went to university to study philosophy and philology.

Delitzsch’s conversion

One of Delitzsch’s friends, a man named Schütz, had a great concern for Delitzsch’s soul. Schütz had a great love towards Christ, and longed for Delitzsch to be delivered from the dangerous rationalism in which he had immersed himself. Delitzsch resisted for a long time, but then Christ delivered him. He later wrote,

This very day I could point out the place (in one of Leipzig’s) streets where a light from above put me into the same state as Thomas when he exclaimed ‘My Lord and my God!’ Henceforth I became a theologian, and familiar with students who had been awakened by the mercy of God … the years from 1832 to 1834, my last three years at the university, were the happiest of my life; they were the spring of my spiritual life, the days of my first love.²

The beginnings of a love towards the Jewish people

By a so-called ‘accident’ Delitzsch became acquainted with two men named Goldberg and Becker who were connected to the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews. These two men taught Delitzsch to love the Jews and pray for their conversion, kindling within him a flame of zeal of Israel’s evangelism. He had learnt some Hebrew at school and from Levy Hirsch, but now began to study it in greater depth. It became his favourite study, and the energy which he once gave to philosophy was now directed to Hebrew.

From 1835 to 1842 Delitzsch led the devotional gatherings of a circle of friends, while the rest of the time he was occupied learning Hebrew and the Old Testament. The first Rabbinical writing which he mastered was a tract called Light at Eventide. He received instruction from men such as Dr Julius Furst, who was a well-known Hebrew lexicographer.

Delitzsch’s concern for the Jews became very pressing. In 1838, aged twenty-five, he wrote in a book for the Jewish people,

In order to preach to you the Gospel of Christ crucified, for no other purpose and with no other motivation, that I have begun to learn your languages and examine your literature. And now too, apart from the supreme purpose of my studies which is to serve the church of God, I know no other goal than to exhort you untiringly, with confident reasoning, to accept Jesus Christ, the one whom you rejected.³

Professor of Theology

Delitzsch qualified, aged twenty-nine, in 1842 as a university teacher, with a thesis on the prophet Habakkuk, but had to wait some time for a suitable appointment. In 1846 he was called to a Professorship of Theology in Rostock, before moving in 1950 to Erlangen, where he taught for sixteen years and by all estimations had a brilliant academic career. Erlangen was a centre for theological activity and scholars at this time came from all over the world. In 1867 Delitzsch moved back to his hometown, Leipzig, where he took a professorship and stayed until his death in 1890, becoming one of the most popular and respected teachers at the university.

Translating the New Testament into Hebrew

Delitzsch’s greatest achievement is undoubtedly his translation of the Hebrew New Testament, which he called one of the greatest and holiest tasks of his life, and on which he laboured for more than twenty-five years. It was particularly remarkable because Delitzsch produced his translation before the revival of the modern Hebrew language which did not take place until the end of the nineteenth century with the work of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858–1922), and was not adopted as the official language of the State of Israel until 1948. The Hebrew language was not a living language at the time of Delitzsch and was mainly used for the reading of the Old Testament and prayers in the synagogues rather than in everyday life. Delitzsch had to almost create a living useable language from comparing the writings of rabbis and the Old Testament, without realising how important this work would be in the future.

Delitzsch began work on his translation in 1864, initially translating what he thought of as the ‘Jewish’ Christian books of the New Testament: the Gospel according to Matthew, the epistles of James and Hebrews, and Revelation. In 1870 his translation of the Epistle to the Romans was published with a forty-page introduction to the project, and in 1874 the New Testament was completed. In 1875 the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) agreed to publish this edition, which was finally published in 1877.

Delitzsch was not fully happy with his first edition, writing to BFBS that it was a very incomplete work and that the second edition would remove ‘any incorrectness, adjust many hardnesses and unevenness, and reproduce the original text more faithfully and clearer here and there’.⁴ The first edition had also been translated from the Critical Greek Text rather than the Received Text, and BFBS asked him to revise it to bring it into more conformity with the Received Text. Delitzsch worked hard on revising this edition, and over time multiple new, refined editions were published with help and feedback from other renowned Hebrew scholars from across the world. Delitzsch’s translation was typically very literal, in places sacrificing eloquence for faithfulness, weighing every word, letter, and vowel form.

By 1890 ten successive editions of the Hebrew New Testament had been published, and just before his death Delitzsch entrusted his friend Gustaf Dalman with the preparation of an eleventh edition, published in 1892.

Delitzsch’s main aim was to provide the Jews with the Word of God in their own language. In his preface to Romans he wrote that,

The great practical aim we had before our eyes is to provide to Israelites knowledge and experience of the New Testament writings in a more attractive, easier, more thorough manner than before … We hope that the persuasive power of the Gospel will prove effective on one or other of these noble spirits who will read it in the Hebrew tongue, but we leave this up to God and renounce unworthy tricks in order to force such an outcome.⁵

Delitzsch believed that the New Testament needed to be translated into Hebrew in order for the Jews to view the New Testament as connected to the Hebrew Bible, and that reading the New Testament in Hebrew would also make them view it as Jewish and as a natural continuation of the Old Testament. He great desire was their salvation, writing that,

But it shall come to pass in the last days, that they shall acknowledge Him whom they have so long despised … Jacob shall then take root, Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit … O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord and His Christ! Their light is one, light of the only One, the heavenly source of life, as Christ has said: This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.⁶

A friend of the Jews

During the late nineteenth century hostility towards Judaism was on the rise in Germany. For example, in 1871 a Roman Catholic theologian named August Rohling wrote Der Talmudjude against the Jews which became popular. Delitzsch was one of the foremost opponents of Rohling, writing against him and defending Judaism against the attacks.

Delitzsch started producing a magazine for the Jews in 1863. This was called the Saat auf Hoffnung: Zeitschrift für die Mission der Kirche an Israel (Seed in Hope: Journal for the Church’s Mission to Israel). This quarterly publication included articles on the exegesis of the Messianic sections of the Old Testament. He also wrote a longer book titled Serious Questions to the Educated Members of the Jewish Religion in 1888. Delitzsch was very concerned about strengthening mission work to the Jews and revived the ‘Institutum Judaicum’ in the 1880s. This was an academic course for those who were preparing themselves for mission work amongst the Jews.

Delitzch’s character

Delitzsch wasn’t just a Hebraist, although that is what he is best known for. He wrote many books and articles on the interpretation of Scriptures, textual criticism, devotional studies, historical works, commentaries of the Bible, and more, such as a book of prayers titled The Sacrament of the True Body and Blood of Jesus Christ: Confession and Communion Prayers. A contemporary wrote, 

His writings have so marked a character that is easy to distinguish anything of his among a hundred others. They bear the unmistakable stamp of a mind of a distinct and peculiar order—wide in its range, restless in its movements, quick to take speculative flights, inspired by poetic feeling and chastened by reverence.⁷

Delitzsch was described in later life as of ‘medium stature, but full of force and vitality, with the quick step, the keen eye, the white locks. He has led a life laborious and useful beyond the ordinary measure’.⁸ It was written that this has perhaps done more than any other single agency for the evangelism of the Jews.

During his last illness, Delitzsch was found propped up in bed working: he had been well known to always make careful use of his time. One writer described him as having

a singularly warm and sympathetic disposition; he was in the habit of meeting his pupils informally in both social and religious gatherings; and he loved to make, and succeeded in making many friends. His personality was an impressive one, and exerted a wonderful charm upon all who came within its influence. He loved England; and there are many both in this country and America who still retain the vivid memory of kindnesses received from him in past years.⁹

Delitzsch was not without his detractors. A harsh and disparaging criticism was written of his commentary on the Psalms by a critic. Delitzsch responded to the attack in an article which he wrote in pained but courteous language. The critic read this and was so moved by Delitzsch’s words that he wrote a letter apologising,

I have just seen your complaint of my judgment … the complaint is so gentle in its tone, it partakes too little of the bitterness of my verdict, and, at the same time, so strikes chords which are not yet deadened within me, and which have not yet forgotten how to bring back an echo of happier times of common research, and to revive the feeling of gratitude for faithful companionship, that it has touched my heart and conscience.¹⁰

Delitzsch’s family

While much about Delitzsch’s father remains unknown, we do know that Delitzch’s mother was the daughter of a musician. When her husband died she started a second hand book shop in order to support herself. Delitzsch wished to support her once he was a professor, as the contrast grieved him, but she wished to be independent. Delitzsch said of her,

She took very little pleasure in this world; and when she died in my arms, December 7, 1857, she was happy to pass away … she was a faithful cross-bearer, of whom the words ‘Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much’ (Luke 7.47) may well be applied.¹¹

Delitzsch married his wife on 27 April 1845, and they had four sons. The eldest, Johannes, was a professor of theology, but died in 1876. His second son, Ernest, was assistant surgeon in the Franco-German war, but died from a pulmonary attack in 1872. The third son, Hermann, worked for a bank, and the youngest, Friedrich, became a professor of Assyriology at the British Museum in London.

Delitzsch was very concerned for the soul of his Jewish godfather, Levy Hirsh, and to his joy he was converted to Christianity, being baptised in 1843 shortly before he died in 1845.

The legacy of Delitzsch’s Hebrew New Testament

Delitzsch’s translation wasn’t the only Hebrew New Testament in the late nineteenth century, but was one of the best and most widely used. In 1882 a man named Isaac Salkinson formed an association with the TBS to produce the Hebrew Bible with the New Testament, which was completed by Dr C. D. Ginsburg after his death. For many years the TBS published the Ginsburg-Salkinson New Testament and the Ginsburg Old Testament separately, before publishing the whole Bible in 1937 together.

However, in 1963 the General Secretary of the time (the Rev. Terence Brown) advised the TBS General Committee that the Ginsburg-Salkinson Hebrew New Testament was actually still in conformity with the Critical Text, whereas the Delitzsch version was based on the Received Text (Textus Receptus). Therefore, the Society made the decision to stop circulating the Ginsburg-Salkinson Hebrew New Testament, and used the Delitzsch instead, which it has done until today.

Why does the Delitzsch New Testament need revising now?

When the Delitzsch New Testament was first published it was used by most Christians in Israel and was very popular. However, over time the majority have moved to using a modern version of the New Testament which is translated from the Critical Text and uses a more modern language and style. The main reason people use this rather than the Delitzsch translation is because the Hebrew that Delitzsch used has changed a lot; not all words mean the same today, and some are not used anymore as they didn’t come into the Modern Hebrew language, so young people have trouble understanding it. Also, many new believers in Israel are from other countries such as Russia, and don’t know Hebrew very well. Instead, they know a street Hebrew, a colloquial form, so find the modern version easier to follow. Modern versions also use the Old Testament Hebrew for Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, rather than actually translating the words from the Greek, so they are not using formal equivalence. This trend highlighted the need for a sound edition of the New Testament in the Hebrew language, but which also retains the excellent qualities of the Delitzsch edition.

As mentioned earlier, Delitzsch first of all produced his Hebrew New Testament based on the Critical Text of the Greek New Testament, and then later had to revise it to bring it into conformity to the Received Text. These alterations were not always made in the best way: some changes to represent the Received Text were left in brackets, a number of alterations to represent the Received Text correctly were not made, and in some instances the changes were made without ensuring that the alterations flowed well with the rest of the text.

The TBS project

The changes to the Hebrew language used today, along with the unsatisfactory textual changes, meant that it was clear that the Delitzsch New Testament needed revising. The aim of the TBS project is to produce an edition that maintains the Delitzsch Hebrew, but also improves its conformity to the Greek Received Text, while amending Hebrew words that have changed significantly or are difficult for Hebrew speakers today to understand. Where it is possible, the words that are being changed are being replaced with words from the Hebrew Old Testament and Mishnaic Hebrew, in order to increase the uniformity in style and language between the Old and New Testaments. We hope that this fresh rendering will provide the Hebrew-speaking peoples with a more trustworthy, reverent and more widely accessible copy of the New Testament.

Here is an example of a change that has been made to the Delitzsch in John 5.18, a crucial verse for understanding the Deity of the Messiah. The original Greek phrase reads:

καὶ πατέρα ἴδιον ἔλεγε τὸν Θεόν, ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ Θεῷ.

A literal translation would be: ‘He also called God His Own Father, [thus] making Himself equal with God.’

Delitzsch originally translated this phrase into Hebrew as:

This literally translates as, ‘He also said that God was His Father, and made Himself like God.’

In the new TBS edition, this is translated as:

This means, ‘He also said that God was His Father, and thus he made Himself equal with God.’ This clarifies that when Christ calls God His Own Father, He is declaring His equality with the Father. This is important in a translation aimed at the Jewish people because they deny Christ is the Son of God.

Conclusion

The TBS Hebrew project commenced in 2010. Since its beginning, the work has been almost entirely carried out by a team based in Israel, with the help of Hebrew experts. Over the past year since the attack on 7 October 2023 the team have been working in difficult and often dangerous circumstances. Please pray that the team, their families, and churches would be kept safe. The Jewish people need the Word of God accurately in their own language in a way that they can understand, and it is our prayer that this New Testament would be the means of many people being brought to see Christ as the true Messiah. In God’s providence this revised New Testament has come at a particularly crucial time, because the war has brought much despair and hopelessness, and the only hope that we have in this life and the life to come is to be found in Christ.

First published in Quarterly Record 649. Last updated 17 October 2024.

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