Joseph ben Abraham Athias

Joseph Athias was a merchant and book printer in Amsterdam. A Jewish refugee from Portugal, he lived for a while in Germany before settling in Amsterdam around 1654. There, he established a Hebrew print shop, where he published some 450 books. In 1661, he was the first Jewish printer to be accepted as a member of the Amsterdam Bookprinters Guild. He is best known for his edition of the Hebrew Bible, the first to use Arabic numerals for numbering chapters and verses, which he prepared in consultation with Christian scholars from the University of Utrecht. He also produced Christian Bibles for the non-Jewish market.