biblical literature

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Written by Robert M. Grant

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Hungarian versions

The spread of Lutheranism in the Reformation period gave rise to several vernacular versions. János Sylvester (Erdősi) produced the first New Testament made from the Greek (Sárvár, 1541). The Turkish occupation of much of Hungary and the measures of the Counter-Reformation arrested further printing of the vernacular Bible, except in the semi-independent principality of Transylvania. The first complete Hungarian Bible, issued at Vizsoly in 1590, became the Protestant Church Bible.

In the 20th century, a new standard edition for Protestants was published, the New Testament appearing in 1956 and the Old Testament (Genesis to Job) in 1951 and following. A new modernized Catholic edition of the New Testament from the Greek appeared in Rome in 1957.

Italian versions

The vernacular Scriptures made a relatively late appearance in Italy. Existing manuscripts of individual books derive from the 13th century and mainly consist of the Gospels and the Psalms.

These medieval versions were never made from the original languages. They were influenced by French and Provençal renderings as well as by the form of the Latin Vulgate current in the 12th and 13th centuries in southern France. There is evidence for a Jewish translation made directly from the Hebrew as early as the 13th century.

The first printed Italian Bible appeared in Venice in 1471, translated from the Latin Vulgate by Niccolò Malermi. In 1559 Paul IV proscribed all printing and reading of the vernacular Scriptures except by permission of the church. This move, reaffirmed by Pius IV in 1564, effectively stopped further Catholic translation work for the next 200 years.

The first Protestant Bible (Geneva, 1607, revised 1641) was the work of Giovanni Diodati, a Hebrew and Greek scholar. Frequently reprinted, it became the standard Protestant version until the 20th century. Catholic activity was renewed after a modification of the ban by Pope Benedict XIV in 1757. A complete Bible in translation made directly from the Hebrew and Greek has been in progress under the sponsorship of the Pontifical Biblical Institute since the 1920s.

Portuguese versions

The first Portuguese New Testament (Amsterdam), the work of João Ferreira d’Almeida, did not appear until 1681. The first complete Bible (2 vol., 1748–53) was printed in Batavia (in Holland). Not until late in the 18th century did the first locally published vernacular Scriptures appear in Portugal. A revision of d’Almeida was issued in Rio de Janeiro (in Brazil), the New Testament in 1910 and the complete Bible in 1914 and 1926; an authorized edition in modernized orthography was published by the Bible Society of Brazil (New Testament, 1951; Old Testament, 1958). A new translation of the New Testament from Greek by José Falcão came out in Lisbon (1956–65).

Scandinavian, Slavic, Spanish, and Swiss translations

Scandinavian versions

In pre-Reformation times, only partial translations were made, all on the basis of the Latin Vulgate and all somewhat free. The earliest and most celebrated is that of Genesis–Kings in the so-called Stjórn (“Guidance”; i.e., of God) manuscript in the Old Norwegian language, probably to be dated about 1300. Swedish versions of the Pentateuch and of Acts have survived from the 14th century and a manuscript of Joshua–Judges by Nicholaus Ragnvaldi of Vadstena from c. 1500. The oldest Danish version covering Genesis–Kings derives from 1470.

Within two years of publication, Luther’s New Testament had already influenced a Danish translation made at the request of the exiled king Christian II by Christiern Vinter and Hans Mikkelsen (Wittenberg, 1524). In 1550 Denmark received a complete Bible commissioned by royal command (the Christian III Bible, Copenhagen). A revision appeared in 1589 (the Frederick II Bible) and another in 1633 (the Christian IV Bible).

A rendering by Hans Paulsen Resen (1605–07) was distinguished by its accuracy and learning and was the first made directly from Hebrew and Greek, but its style was not felicitous and a revision was undertaken by Hans Svane (1647). Nearly 200 years later (1819), a combination of the Svaning Old Testament and the Resen–Svane New Testament was published. In 1931 a royal commission produced a new translation of the Old Testament with the New Testament following in 1948 and the Apocrypha in 1957.

The separation of Norway from Denmark in 1814 stimulated the revival of literature in the native language. The Old Testament of 1842–87 (revised, 1891) and New Testament of 1870–1904 were still intelligible to Danish readers, but the version of E. Blix (New Testament, 1889; complete Bible, 1921) is in New Norwegian. A revised Bible in this standardized form of the language, executed by R. Indrebö, was published by the Norwegian Bible Society in 1938.

The first Icelandic New Testament was the work of Oddur Gottskálksson (Roskilde, Denmark, 1540), based on the Latin Vulgate and Luther. It was not until 1584 that the complete Icelandic Scriptures were printed (at Hólar), mainly executed by Gudbrandur Thorláksson. It was very successful and became the Church Bible until displaced by the revision of Thorlákur Skúlason (1627–55), based apparently on Resen’s Danish translation. In 1827 the Icelandic Bible Society published a new New Testament and a complete Bible in 1841 (Videyjar; 1859, Reykjavík), revised and reprinted at Oxford in 1866. A completely new edition (Reykjavík, 1912) became the official Church Bible.

Soon after Sweden achieved independence from Denmark in the early 16th century, it acquired its own version of the New Testament published by the royal press (Stockholm, 1526). Luther’s New Testament of 1522 served as its foundation, but the Latin Vulgate and Erasmus’ Greek were also consulted. The first official complete Bible and the first such in any Scandinavian country was the Gustav Vasa Bible (Uppsala; 1541), named for the Swedish king under whose reign it was printed. It utilized earlier Swedish translations as well as Luther’s. A corrected version (the Gustavus Adolphus Bible, named for the reigning Swedish king) was issued in 1618, and another with minor alterations by Eric Benzelius in 1703. The altered Bible was called the Charles XII Bible, because it was printed during the reign of Charles XII. In 1917 the church diet of the Lutheran Church published a completely fresh translation directly from modern critical editions of the Hebrew and Greek originals and it received the authorization of Gustaf V to become the Swedish Church Bible.

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