If you said the name Julia E. Smith today, few would know of her historic contributions both as an abolitionist and the first woman to translate the Bible into English. From 1845 to 1860, Julia E. Smith translated the Old and New Testaments five times from the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin into English. She did not initially intend to publish her work, so it was twenty-two years before the translation was finally published in 1876 in Hartford, Connecticut.
She'd learned Latin and Greek in school, but it was a friend and scholar, Samuel Jarvis, who urged her to study Hebrew. She wrote, "I cannot express how greatly I enjoy the work of translating, and how the real meaning of different texts would thrill through my mind." Seeing Julia E. Smith's Bible is but one of a thousand ways to engage with the Bible at Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC.
She'd learned Latin and Greek in school, but it was a friend and scholar, Samuel Jarvis, who urged her to study Hebrew. She wrote, "I cannot express how greatly I enjoy the work of translating, and how the real meaning of different texts would thrill through my mind." Seeing Julia E. Smith's Bible is but one of a thousand ways to engage with the Bible at Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC.
Share
More Book Minute Features
April 06, 2020
With a Mighty Hand
The Haggadah is one of the most popular texts in Jewish tradition.Hebrew for “telling,” the Haggadah is the guidebook for the Seder, the ceremonial me...
March 30, 2020
Nebuchadnezzar’s Inscription
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned several times in the Bible including
his dramatic story of repentance in the Book of Daniel, Chapter...
March 16, 2020
Miserere mei Deus - Psalm 51
Miserere mei Deus (“Have mercy on me, O God”) by Gregorio Allegri, using the words from Psalm 51, is one of the most beautiful compositions ever writt...