Although Onderwijzer published little, he gained a great reputation for his Dutch translation of the Pentateuch, as well as a Dutch explanatory translation of Rashi's Pentateuchal commentary . In this five-volume work, published between 1895 and 1901, he aimed to provide the most faithful translation possible of the biblical text, understandable to the layman. This work, still in use today, has been called the "most important monument" of Dutch-Jewish scholarship before 1940 and met a great need.
