“Only the Word of God does it!”

Franz Delitzsch (1813 - March 4, 1890) was a unique man of God. Widely respected and known as a “Christian Hebraist” he was a pioneer in the area of Jewish studies of the New Testament.

Delitzsch was a prolific writer, translator, and biblical commentator. His greatest and most enduring work is his New Testament translation into Hebrew. It was said of Delitzsch that, “The ideal aim of his spirit was to awaken a dead people, to strengthen the dying in Israel.” And that, “His Hebrew New Testament was the most effective missionary among the Jews … he was the soul of missions among Israel in all of Christendom.”

As an accomplished Hebraist and student of rabbinic literature, Delitzsch was able to re-contextualize the Gospels back into their Hebraic matrix. He understood and revealed the Hebrew / Jewish underpinnings of the Gospels. He devoted his entire life to restoring Yeshua back to his people. Delitzsch wrote, “We have cause to say, that our new translation has contributed somewhat to bring the New Testament nearer to the Jews as a prominent work of their literature…the New Testament [is] the highest work that the Jewish genius has produced.”

The New Testament contains the greatest “Jewish” story ever told. Our prayer at Vine of David is that we are able to continue the good and fruitful work of Franz Delitzsch through this proposed publication. We live in a world that is ready to see Yeshua placed back in his Jewish context. The Delitzsch Gospels go a long way toward that goal and the goal of returning the Messiah of Israel to the people of Israel.

In the effort to bring Jewish people to faith in Messiah, Delitzsch believed, “Only God’s word does it.” It is with this same mantra that we at First Fruits of Zion and Vine of David have put our hand to the plow to help all of God’s people see, consider, and follow the Jewish Jesus. We believe that the simple word of God is the most clear and effective communication tool available to deliver that message.

Will you help us bring the “Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels: a Hebraic Translation” into reality? Your contribution toward this work will ripen into permanent fruit.

At his eulogy, Delitzsch was memorialized with the following words:

Indeed, not only in the Christian, but also in the Jewish world the name of Delitzsch has shone. For he was at home in the literature of the Rabbis as none other among the living, and perhaps as none before him. We may say the truest friend of Israel is dead. A great man has fallen in Israel.

May the love and devotion of Franz Delitzsch not be lost in the days to come.

We pray that the everlasting God, will give us the grace and strength to reveal Yeshua as the light to the nations and as the hope and glory of the people of Israel.

Unique Features of This Publication

• Hard cover, embossed text and decorations, gold foil, placement ribbons, etc.
• Full Hebrew/English with selective transliteration (facing pages)
• Pagination right to left
• Illuminated text page(s)
• Reading berachah (blessing/thanking God prior to reading or study)
• Textually sensitive section headers (rather than doctrinally driven)
• Transliterated Hebrew rendering of all name and places
• Maps of historic Israel specifically related to the Gospel narratives
• Introductions to each Gospel by Rabbi Yehiel Tzvi Lichtenstein
• Translator’s Introduction
• Hebrew idiom indication (in text)
• Delitzsch critical notes
• Poetic / Tanakh formatting (in text)
• Cross references
  • Gospel reference to the Tanakh
  • Harmonizing the Gospel accounts (in text)
• Glossaries:
  • Glossary of Hebrew idioms
  • Glossary of proper nouns
  • Glossary of Hebrew terms

The Life of Delitzsch and the Translation

Learn more about the history of Franz Delitzsch, and the translation of the Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels in this new 4-part video. Total running time: approx 1 hour.

Watch the videos

• Introduction [4 min]
• The History of Franz Delitzsch [24 min]
• Purpose of Translation [11 min]
• Principles of Translation [20 min]

Download a Preview

This project is currrently underway, with the four Gospels already translated and under editing and review. We hope to complete this project towards the end of 2010.

Below you can download a sample of this work, which is an excerpt from Matthew, or you can email us and request a printed version of this sample. The sample represents a preview of the larger work currently underway, the translation and creation of a unique presentation of the life and teachings of Yeshua in the four Gospels. It is our intention, prior to the close of 2010, to formally publish this critical work.

Delitzsch_HebrewGospels_Extract.pdf | Size: 960K | (36 Pages)

Franz_Delitzsch.pdf (Info flyer)| Size: 2MB | (1 Page)

Why Translate a Translation?

Delitzsch’s View of the New Testament as Jewish Literature

Anything can be translated into Hebrew, from Homer’s Odyssey to National Geographic, but that does not make it Jewish literature. Some Hebrew translations of the New Testament are just that—an attempt to take a piece of important literature and make it available to Hebrew readers. They may be written in beautiful and poetic Hebrew, but yet they are missing something because they do not recognize the inherently Jewish nature of the work and translate accordingly.

Delitzsch’s work is different because he started with an awareness that he was dealing with a Jewish document.

Delitzsch’s Familiarity with Jewish Literature

Willingness to see the New Testament as Jewish is not enough to produce a more authentically Jewish translation. The translator must also be intimately familiar with Jewish literature and thought in order to perceive and detect Jewish idioms, Semitisms, proverbs, symbols, allusions, philosophies, and spiritual concepts inherent in this work.

Delitzsch was an expert in post-biblical Hebrew and Rabbinic texts, becoming known as the “Christian Talmudist.” This knowledge enabled Delitzsch to produce a translation that highlights resonance and overlap with other texts that are held in high regard by Judaism.

Delitzsch’s Interaction with Scholarship

Delitzsch was a part of a growing and vibrant network, living at a time when many knowledgeable and educated Jewish people, even rabbis, were coming to faith in Yeshua the Messiah. These colleagues, such as Dr. Joachim Heinrich Biesenthal and Rabbi Yechiel Tzevi Lichtenstein, reviewed his translation and suggested numerous improvements based on their knowledge of Hebrew and Judaism. Delitzsch’s translation was improved over the course of numerous revisions.

Delitzsch’s Hebraic/Restorative Approach

All of those factors combined together to produce not merely an attempt to put the New Testament into Hebrew words, but to restore these ancient Jewish teachings to their original linguistic context. So Delitzsch’s work is on some level an attempt to reconstruct the actual Hebrew teachings of Yeshua.

Support this Project with a Donation

We are graciously asking those who identify with this resource to share the monumental task of creating it. The cost of translation, editing, research, design, and publication is significant. Every contribution will assist us in the creation and publication of this unique Gospel edition.

Click here to make a donation online,
or send your donation to:

Vine of David
PO Box 649
Marshfield, MO 67506
United States.

All donations are tax deductible in the United States. Please earmark all contributions: “VoD Gospel.”, or click on the Donations link. Please earmark all contributions: “VoD Gospel.”