Early/Old Yiddish > Yiddish Bible
p. 1 of introduction
p. 2 of introduction
First leaf of main text
Torah, Neviʼim u-khetuvim : bi-leshon Ashkenaz
Amsterdam, 1676-1679
B893.1BJ C79
By the mid-17th century, Amsterdam was the undisputed center of Ashkenazi printing. Presses in Poland included “be-otiyot Amsterdam” (after the letters of Amsterdam) to indicate the high quality of their printing. This Bible was an extraordinary edition, entirely in Yiddish, intended (as with so many Dutch Yiddish books) for export to Eastern Europe. The preface notes that Dutch Yiddish idioms were carefully removed from the translation so Eastern European Jews could easily understand the language (see LCAAJ section for more in distinguishing between Yiddish dialect). The book also includes approbations of King John Sobieski of Poland and the Council of Four Lands.