Jews from all ages have translated the Bible for their particular timesand needs, but what does the act of translation mean? Aaron W. Hughes believestranslation has profound implications for Jewish identity. The Invention of JewishIdentity presents the first sustained analysis of Bible translation and its impacton Jewish philosophy from the medieval period to the 20th century. Hughes examinessome of the most important Jewish thinkers -- Saadya Gaon, Moses ibn Ezra, Maimonides, Judah Messer Leon, Moses Mendelssohn, Martin Buber, and Franz Rosenzweig-- and their work on biblical narrative, to understand how linguistic and conceptualidioms change and develop into ideas about the self. The philosophical issues behindBible translation, according to Hughes, are inseparable from more universal sets ofquestions that affect Jewish life and learning.