The Bible Society of Denmark has published a new Bible that removes Israel from the text. “The omission of the name ‘Israel’ was done in all the appearances in the New Testament except two,” General Director of the Bible Society in Israel Victor Kalisher told Israel Today.

Kalisher pointed to an example from Matthew 2:21, which usually reads: He got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. The new Danish translation informs us that they took the child simply “home.” Another example is from Matthew 15:31, where “they praised the God of Israel” has been changed to “they praised God.”

It was not clear to Kalisher, who’s offices are located in Jerusalem, what was behind the removal of the name Israel from the Bible. He pointed out that even in the Song of Ascents from Psalm 121:4 in the Hebrew Bible, a popular Shabbat hymn for Jews, “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” replaces Israel with the word “us.”