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:''This article surveys the general history of Bible translations. For translations of the Bible into numerous specific languages, see 'List of Bible translations'. For the Bible in English and its history, see 'English Bible translations'.''
'The Bible' has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. The very first translation of the Hebrew Bible was into Greek, the Septuagint (LXX), which later became the received text of the Old Testament in the church and the basis of its canon. The Latin Vulgate by Jerome was based upon the Hebrew for those books of the Bible preserved in the Jewish canon (as reflected in the masoretic text), and on the Greek text for the rest.
Other ancient Jewish translations, such as the Aramaic Targums, conform closely to masoretic text, and all medieval and modern Jewish translations are based upon the same. Christian translations also tend to be based upon the Hebrew, though some denominations prefer the Septuagint (or may cite variant readings from both). Bible translations encorporating modern textual criticism usually begin with the masoretic text, but also take into account possible variants from all available ancient versions.
The Christian New Testament is widely agreed to have originally been written in Greek, although some scholars hypothesize that certain books (whether completely or partially) may have been written in Aramaic before being translated for widespread dissemination. One very famous example of this is the the opening to the Gospel of John, which some scholars argue to be a Greek translation of an Aramaic hymn. Nevertheless, the received text of the New Testament is Greek, and nearly all translations are based upon the Greek text.

Contents

Approaches

History

Antiquity

Middle Ages

Reformation and Early Modern period

Modern translation efforts

National Missionary Movement

References

See also

External links

Approaches

Main articles: Bible version debate

A variety of linguistic, philological and ideological approaches to translation have been used, including:

★ Dynamic equivalence translation

★ Formal equivalence translation (similar to literal translation)

★ Idiomatic, or Paraphrastic translation, as used by late Kenneth Livingston
A great deal of debate occurs over which approach most accurately communicates the message of the biblical languages source texts into target languages. Despite these debates, however, many who study the Bible intellectually or devotionally find that selecting more than one translation approach is useful in interpreting and applying what they read. For example, a very literal translation may be useful for individual word or topical study, while a paraphrase may be employed for grasping initial meaning of a passage.
In addition to linguistic concerns, theological issues also drive bible translations.

History

Antiquity

Some of the first translations of the Jewish Torah began during the first exile in Babylonia, when Aramaic became the lingua franca of the Jews. With most people speaking only Aramaic and not understanding Hebrew, the Targums were created to allow the common person to understand the Torah as it was read in ancient synagogues.
The most well-known movement to translate books of the Bible appeared in the 3rd century BC. Most of the Tanakh then existed in Hebrew, but many had gathered in Egypt, where Alexander the Great had founded the city that bears his name. At one time a third of the population of the city was Jewish. However, no major Greek translation was sought (as most Jews continued to speak Aramaic to each other) until Ptolemy II Philadelphus hired a large group of Jews (between 15 and 72 according to different sources) who had a fluent capability in both Koine Greek and Hebrew. These people produced the translation now known as the Septuagint.
Origen's ''Hexapla'' placed side by side six versions of the Old Testament, including the 2nd century Greek translations of Aquila of Sinope and Symmachus the Ebionite. The canonical Christian Bible was formally established by Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem in 350 (although it had been generally accepted by the church previously), confirmed by the Council of Laodicea in 363 (both lacked the book of Revelation), and later established by Athanasius of Alexandria in 367 (with Revelation added), and Jerome's ''Vulgate'' Latin translation dates to between AD 382 and 420. Latin translations predating Jerome are collectively known as ''Vetus Latina'' texts.
Jerome began by revising the earlier Latin translations, but ended by going back to the original Greek, bypassing all translations, and going back to the original Hebrew wherever he could instead of the Septuagint.
The New Testament was translated into Gothic in the 4th century by Ulfilas. In the 5th century, Saint Mesrob translated the bible into Armenian. Also to dating the same period are the Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic and Georgian translations.

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, translation particularly of the Old Testament was discouraged. Nevertheless, there are some fragmentary Old English Bible translations, notably a lost translation of the Gospel of John into Old English by the Venerable Bede, which he is said to have prepared shortly before his death around the year 735. An Old High German version of the gospel of Matthew dates to 748. Charlemagne in ca. 800 charged Alcuin with a revision of the Latin Vulgate. The translation into Old Church Slavonic dates to the late 9th century.
Alfred the Great had a number of passages of the Bible circulated in the vernacular in around 900. These included passages from the Ten Commandments and the Pentateuch, which he prefixed to a code of laws he promulgated around this time. In approximately 990, a full and freestanding version of the four Gospels in idiomatic Old English appeared, in the West Saxon dialect; these called the ''Wessex Gospels''.
Pope Innocent III in 1199 banned unauthorized versions of the Bible as a reaction to the Cathar and Waldensian heresies. The synods of Toulouse and Tarragona (1234) outlawed possession of such renderings. There is evidence of some vernacular translations permitted while others were being scrutinized.
The most notable Middle English Bible translation, Wyclif's Bible (1383), based on the Vulgate, was banned by the Oxford Synod in 1408. A Hungarian Hussite Bible appeared in the mid 15th century, and in 1478, a Catalan translation in the dialect of Valencia.

Reformation and Early Modern period

In 1521, Martin Luther was placed under the Ban of the Empire, and he went into hiding at the Wartburg Castle. During his time there, he translated the New Testament from Greek into German. It was printed in September 1522.
Tyndale's Bible (1526) met with heavy sanctions, and William Tyndale was jailed in 1535 for translating the Old Testament. There was the 1530 translation of Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples. The Froschauer Bible of 1531 and the Luther Bible of 1534 (both appearing in portions throughout the 1520s) were an important part of the Reformation.
The missionary activity of the Jesuit order led to a large number of 17th century translation into languages of the New World.
See also: Early Modern English Bible translations

Modern translation efforts

The Bible continues to be the most translated book in the world. The following numbers are approximations. As of 2005, at least one book of the Bible has been translated into 2,400 of the 6,900 languages listed by SIL,^[1] including 680 languages in Africa, followed by 590 in Asia, 420 in Oceania, 420 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 210 in Europe, and 75 in North America. The United Bible Societies are presently assisting in over 600 Bible translation projects. The Bible is available in whole or in part to some 98 percent of the world's population in a language in which they are fluent.

National Missionary Movement

While Bible Societies such as Wycliffe continue their translation work around the globe, a new paradigm in both Bible translation and missions has been growing in acceptance. Many are now seeing the importance and necessity of training and supporting national missionaries to work among their own people and cultures. There are many reasons why this model is preferred to older missions models:

★ National Missionaries are already living with or near the people they hope to reach.

★ Individuals with a passion for God's work are also developing ways to begin their own ministries. Such as Reaching The Mano.com, the story on a missionary traveling to Africa to bring God's word to life among the Mano people of West Africa.

★ National Missionaries already know the customs of the people.

★ National Missionaries cost a fraction of what it costs to transport and maintain western missionaries in the field.

★ National Missionaries cannot be kicked out of their countries in times of war or unrest because they are citizens.
A few organizations that support National Missions and Bible Translation:
Bible Societies
Gospel for Asia
World Mission International
The Seed Company
According to their website SIL work with a number of organizations consisting of National Missionaries:^[2]

★ Association Centrafricaine pour la Traduction de la Bible et l'Alphabétisation (ACATBA) (Central African Association for the Translation of the Bible and Literacy)

★ Assoc Linguistica Evangelica Missionaria (ALEM), Brazil

★ Bible Translation Association (BTA), Papua New Guinea

★ Bible Translation and Literacy (East Africa) (BTL), Kenya

★ Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation^[3]

★ Indian Institute for Cross Cultural Communications (IICCC)

★ Nigeria Bible Translation Trust (NBTT)

★ Translation Association of the Philippines (TAP)

★ Vanuatu Christian Council, Translation and Literacy Program

References

1. The Bible in the Renaissance - William Tyndale
2. National Bible Translations organisations
3. Literacy Builds Hope

See also

★ List of Bible translations

★ English translations of the Bible

External links

★ Virtual Bible Versions

★ Bible Translation List Discussion Forum

★ English Bible Translations List

★ New Testament Gateway Bible Translation Doctor Mark Goodacre

★ bibleserver.com about 30 translations in about 15 languages

★ Bible Gateway

★ Bible Translations Doctor Kenneth Collins

★ Choosing Bible Translations

★ Quick List of Bible Versions

★ Bible Versions List for Daily Reading

★ Net Bible Translation

★ English Bible Translation Comparison Chart

★ World Bible Translation Center

★ "Versions of the Bible" by A.J. Maas. The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913.

★ Beibl Cymraeg Newydd (2004)

★ Welsh language Bible of 1588 View digital images of the entire Bible online (digital images of the actual book printed in 1588).

★ BBC news story on the Revised New Welsh Bible

★ Judaica Press Translation - Online Jewish translation of the books of the Bible. The Tanakh and Rashi's entire commentary at Chabad.org

★ Bible translation issues

★ United Bible Society - includes links and scholarly papers about current Bibical translation efforts

★ worldscriptures.org A database of all languages in which the Bible has been translated in (up to 1998).

★ WorldMAP - detailed maps of Bible translation for each country of the world - http://www.worldmap.org

★ Bibelarchiv-Vegelahn

★ Scholarly articles on Bible translations from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library

★ King James Bible Version