A HEBREW EDITION OF THE “NEW TESTAMENT”

Hutter also printed what is commonly called the New Testament, with the text in 12 languages. This edition was published in Nuremberg in 1599 and is often referred to as the Nuremberg Polyglot. Hutter wanted to include a Hebrew-language translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. But he said that even if he “had been willing to pay a fortune” for such a Hebrew translation, the search would have been in vain.b So he decided to translate the New Testament from Greek into Hebrew himself. Laying all other undertakings aside, Hutter finished the whole translation project in just one year!

How good was Hutter’s Hebrew translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures? Noted 19th-century Hebrew scholar Franz Delitzsch wrote: “His Hebrew translation reveals a grasp of the language rare among Christians and it is still worth consulting, for in instance after instance he has been most fortunate in striking on precisely the right expression.”

A LASTING INFLUENCE

Hutter did not become rich from his translation work; evidently his editions did not sell well. Nevertheless, his work has had an important and lasting influence. For example, his Hebrew New Testament was revised and reprinted in 1661 by William Robertson and again in 1798 by Richard Caddick. In translating from the original Greek, Hutter appropriately rendered the titles Kyʹri·os (Lord) and The·osʹ (God) as “Jehovah” (יהוה, JHVH) where the text is a quotation from the Hebrew Scriptures or where he felt it referred to Jehovah. This is of interest because although many translations of the New Testament do not use God’s personal name, Hutter’s translation does and thus adds evidence in favor of restoring God’s name in the Christian Greek Scriptures.

The next time you see God’s name, Jehovah, in the Christian Greek Scriptures or look at a footnote in the Reference Bible, remember the work of Elias Hutter and his remarkable Hebrew Bibles.