Sinai Publishing Company

The Tel-Aviv based "Sinai" Publishing has been printing the complete Tenakhim and parts of it in several European languages, for example German, French, Spanish and English, for decades. These editions are not new translations or ones taken from contemporary versions but re-prints that were first published in the mid- 19th century (for the German & English editions). Other than digitized reprints, "Sinai" had the old translations newly type- set with the orthography modernized. This job is - regrettably to say - not very carefully done, which is especially true for the German Psalms- Book. Also "Sinai" Publishing neglects to state who authored the translations they sell and when & where they originally had been printed.

The books listed here are an anonymous Pentateuch- Edition which has first been published in England in 1851 and was translated by Dr. Abraham Benisch (1811 - 1878), an anonymously translated Edition of »The Book of Psalms« which was first published in Philadelphia, PA in 1853 by Isaac Leeser (1806 - 1868) and a Tanakh done by Michael Friedlander (1833 - 1910), first published London 1884, also edited without a translator's name given.

The German counterpart to the Psalms (Die Psalmen - Tehillim) even gives – as an intentional “editorial error“ – a renowned (but false) translator‘s name.
One reason for not identifying the translators may be that the publishers could want to keep certain sensitive Jewish readers in the dark about the provenance of the Translation.

Click here for sample verses from the Sinai Publishing Versions

Pentateuch by Abraham Benisch

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Title: The Hebrew Bible with English Translation: The Five Books of Moses חמשה חומשי תורה and Haftorahs [translated by Dr. Abraham Benisch]
Date: © 1973. (Pentateuch first published by James Darling, London (England) 5611/ 1851)
Publisher: Tel- Aviv (Israel): “SINAI“ Publishing
Contents: Pentateuch with complete Haftoroth plus 25 Psalms (Hebrew/ English), Morning Prayers for Shabbath and Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
Images: Cover, Title page
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv- Birnbaum, Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany
Comments: Size 16°, 1400 pp. Masorah on the right and English translation on the facing page. Verse numbering in the margin, no annotations.

Psalms by Isaac Leeser

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Title: ספר תהלים The Book of Psalms Hebrew- English, [Translation by Isaac Leeser]
Date: © 1985. (Psalms first published Philadelphia, PA 5614/1853)
Publisher: Tel- Aviv (Israel): “SINAI“ Publishing
Contents: Psalms 1-150, prayers before saying Tehillim
Images: Cover, English Title page, Hebrew Title page
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv- Birnbaum, Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany
Comments: Size 3 x 2⅓ in. (7.5 x 5.5 cm) , 296 pp. Masorah on the right and English translation on the facing page. Psalm headings translated, verses numbered.
The Hebrew title reads:
Book of Psalms divided into five book(-parts) with seven sections for the weekday portions (&) the new moon apportionments with the latest improvements according to the Masorah.
Sinai Publishing, Tel- Aviv

Tanakh by Michael Friedlander

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Title: תורה נביאים כתיבים
The Holy Scriptures ✡ A Jewish Bible According to the Masoretic Text / Hebrew and English. [English Translation by Michael Friedlander ]
Date: ⓒ 1972. [First published London, England (U. K.) 5645–1884]
Publisher: Tel–Aviv (Israel): SINAI Publishing House
Contents: Hebrew Bible – Tanakh
Language: Hebrew and English

References:
Images:Cover, Title, Title
Location: Bibelarchiv-Birnbaum. Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany

Comments: Hardbound 18mo; thread stitching. (4) & 1884 pp. Scripture text in 2 columns, Hebrew on right, translation on left side of page; no extras. Table of Haftaroth in the appendix.
This ´Friedländer` translation is similar in style to the Authorized / KJ Version but diverges primarily in places where the AV / KJV reflects a Christian interpretation that is at odds with the traditional Jewish understanding. While it never gained wide popularity, it influenced the editors of the 1917 JPS edition and is cited as the basis for a revised translation found in the Koren Hebrew-English edition.
This small Tanakh is regrettably – as usual with SINAI Publications – edited without a translator‘s name given. The type setting is taken from the Friedlander Tanakh published by the Jerusalem based “Jerusalem Bible Publishing“, done presumably in the 1950s. For details see under Michael Friedlander .

The left photos shows, from smaller to larger, the Psalms ed., the Pentateuch (Torah) ed. and the Tenakh. The photo on the right shows Michael Friedlander's "Illustrated Jerusalem Bible", boxed, compared to the smaller, anonymously translated, "SINAI" Tenakh. The Hebrew on the front translates: Blessed (He) who has Given the Instruction (Torah) to His People Israel" adorned with the "Keter Torah", abbreviated "K" and "T": "Crown of the Torah". The word on the spine reads "T´´N´´K" for "Tenakh".


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