JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

the Bible, the National Bible Society of Scotland 4,000,000,
and the American Bible Society 7,000,000. In China, before
the accession to power of the Communists, 9,000,000 copies
of biblical texts were distributed annually. Owing to the low
prices they charge, these societies frequently succeed in selling
their Hebrew editions of the Bible, with or without translation,
to Jews. The issue of equally low-priced Hebrew Bibles
by Jewish authorities or institutions, with or without translations,
to counteract this disguised missionary activity of the
Bible societies is a relatively recent undertaking. The edition
of the New Testament in Hebrew translation is more openly
designed for missionary work among Jews. The first New Testament
in Hebrew was published in 1817 by the London Society
for Promoting Christianity among Jews (better known as
the London Jews’ Society). The translation of the New Testament
by F. *Delitzsch appeared between 1877 and 1892 in at
least 13 editions. Other translations openly intended for Jews
have been published in Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Persian,
and Ladino.
Bibliography: T.H. Darlow and H.F. Moule (comps.), Historical
Catalogue of the Printed Editions of Holy Scripture in the Library
of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 2 vols. in 4 (1903–11, repr.
1963); S. de Dietrich, Le Renouveau Biblique (19492), 89ff.; Bouyer, in:
Bible et Vie Chrétienne, 13 (1956), 7–21.
[Bernhard Blumenkranz]
°BIBLIANDER (Buchmann), THEODOR (1504–1564),
Swiss Hebraist and theologian. In 1531, Bibliander succeeded
Zwingli as lecturer in Septuagintal studies, but his denial of
absolute predestination cost him his post. His publications include
a Hebrew grammar (1535), a commentary on the Hebrew
text of Nahum (1534), and a treatise interpreting Ezra with reference
to Roman history (1553?). Bibliander left Basle with a
projected translation of the Koran (of which he published an
interpretation, 1543) when the enterprise encountered local
difficulties; he was also a collaborator of Leo Juda in his Latin
version of the Bible (1543).
Bibliography: J.J. Christinger, Theodor Bibliander (Ger.,
1867); Dictionnaire historique et biographique de la Suisse (1921–34); J.
Prijs, Die Basler hebraeischen Drucke, 1492–1866 (1964), 102, 128.
[Raphael Loewe]
BIBLIOGRAPHY. As in general bibliography, the development
of Hebrew bibliography is characterized by the transition
from brief listings to more detailed catalogues. The listing of
the books of the Bible which appears in the Talmud (BB 14b,
15a) had as its purpose the fixing of an authoritative order for
the biblical books as a guide for the copyists. Lists of books for
broader purposes, among them those of the Cairo Genizah,
have come down from the 11th century. Sometimes these listings
contain only the name of the book; in other cases, the
author’s name is also included. In some of the later booklists,
short annotations also appear. Bibliographical lists within the
biographical listings are found in genealogical works of the
16th century, as in Sefer Yuḥasin by Abraham *Zacuto and in
bibliography
Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah by Gedaliah *Ibn Yaḥya. In the early
part of the 17th century several important ventures in the field
of bibliography were undertaken. Johannes *Buxtorf the elder
published De abbreviaturis hebraicis, liber novus et copiosus
(Basle, 1613) in which he included a section on rabbinic
literature entitled Bibliotheca rabbinica ordine alphabetico
disposita. This listing of 324 works, arranged in alphabetical
order by titles, is the first bibliographic catalogue of rabbinic
literature. *Manasseh Ben Israel, in his listing of sources used
by him in the first part of his Conciliador (Frankfurt, 1632),
distinguished six categories of Hebrew literature: Talmud and
Midrash; commentaries on these; commentaries on the Bible;
Kabbalah; posekim and responsa; sermons, grammar, chronology,
and legal literature. The first, however, to compile a true
bibliography of Hebrew literature was Giulio *Bartolocci in
his Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica (4 vols., Rome, 1675–93; repr.
1969). The Christian scholar Carlo Giuseppe Imbonati added
a fifth volume, Bibliotheca Latina Hebraica (Rome, 1694).
Bartolocci’s work is arranged in alphabetical order of authors,
supplemented by a list of subjects in Latin and an abridged listing
in Hebrew. Leone *Modena assisted the bishop of Lodève,
J. Plantavit de la Pause; in his Bibliotheca Rabbinica (appended
to his Florilegium Biblicum, 1645) by supplying him with a
list of 500 names of rabbis, which he used for his alphabetic
dictionary of 780 Hebrew books. The first Jewish bibliographer
was Shabbetai *Bass whose Siftei Yeshenim (Amsterdam,
1680) contains a bibliography arranged by title, followed by
the name of the author, the date and place of publication, the
format, and some indication of content. The approximate
number of listings in this bibliography is 2,200, including
manuscripts. The third important pioneer bibliographer was
another Christian, Johann Christoph *Wolf. He utilized the
two previous bibliographies in compiling his own four-volume
work, Bibliotheca Hebraea (Hamburg, 1715–33; repr. 1969).
He corrected some of the material found in the earlier works,
using the library of David b. Abraham *Oppenheim. The genealogical
reference work of David *Conforte Kore ha-Dorot
(1746, 18462) contains much valuable bibliographic material.
It should be noted, also, that Jehiel *Heilperin included in
his Seder ha-Dorot (Karlsruhe, 1769) the names of the books
which are referred to in Bass’ bibliography, though generally
he omitted the place and year of publication, even when these
were included in the Siftei Yeshenim. Especially valuable from
a bibliographical standpoint is the H.J.D. *Azulai’s Shem ha-
Gedolim (1774–86, 1853, 1876), which contains an alphabetical
listing of Hebrew books and manuscripts. Azulai noted every
unusual Hebrew book or manuscript, even those in non-
Jewish collections, which came to his notice in the course of
his extensive travels without, however, always giving the date
and place of publication. The major work of the Christian
scholar G.B. *de’ Rossi, Annales Hebraeo-Typographici Seculi
XV (Parma, 1795), dealing with Hebrew incunabula, together
with his Annales Hebraeo-Typographici ab anno 1501 ad 1540
(Parma, 1799), and the Dizionario storico degli autori Ebrei e
delle loro opere (2 vols., Parma, 1802), as well as assorted lists
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 681