Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/47

BIBLE. of the Apocrypha from the Latin Vulgate, the bulk of the Bible from a Greek text of the Luci- anic recen-iion. This Old Slavonic Bible was printed at Ostrog (1581).

X. Arabic. — (1) There is some evidence that the Law and the Prophets were knoTi through Arabic versions at the end of the Seventh and in the Eighth Century, but nothing has beefi pre- served of them.

(2) The first extant version is that of Saadia ben Joseph al Fayyumi, who was gaon in Sura, and died a.d. 942. Of this translation, written in Aral)ic with Hebrew letters, the Pentateuch, Isaiah, and Proverbs have been published by .Jo- seph and Hartwig Derenbourg (1803-96). Frag- ments of other versions also made by .Jews have been found. Important are the translations of Japhet ben AH, the Karaite, of which the Psalter and Daniel have been published.

(3) Abu Said, a .'Samaritan, made a transla- tion of the Pentateuch c.lOTO a.d.

(4) In many Coptic manuscripts the text is accompanied with an Arabic translation, and other Arabic MSS. have manifestly been trans- lated from the Coptic.

(5) An .rabic version of the Latin Vulgate appeared in 1071.

(6) The Arabic text in the Paris and London polyglots is, in certain books, a translation of the Syriac Peshita, made in the Thirteenth Cen- tury, Books translated from the Hexaplar Sy- riac have been edited by Lagarde and Baudis- sin,

(7) Certain parts of the Arabic Bible in the Paris and London polyglots are translated from a Greek text similar to Codex Alexandrinus. For versions of the New Testament in ancient languages, see section '"The Text of the New Testament."

(B) Veb.sions in Modern Languages. With the development of the different nationalities and languages of modern Europe, versions of the Bible in the vernacular became a necessity. The history of these different versions, in most cases, exhibits the same general features. In each country, one or two out of a' number of indepenilent translations became most conunonly used, and, either formally or informally, adopted by the national Church. Successive revisions of these national versions liave been made necessary by the progressive changes in the vernacular and by the constant improvement in biblical scholar- ship. Furthermore, in nearly all European lan- guages, independent versions, "of various gi-ades of accuracy and popularity, have been frequently published. The following account does not regis- ter all the very numerous versions that have been made. It attempts to indicate merely the main ])oints in eadi national version, with only inci- dental reference to the most important of the many indcpemlent private translations. Enfilinh Versions. — The translation of the Scriptures into the Anglo-Saxon tongue began as early as the Eighth Century. Cjedmon put parts of the Scripture narrative into ver.se. Bede (d.c.7.1.5) translated the Gospel of John. Aldhelm and others made metrical versions of the Psalms. In King Alfred's time, other por- tions, as the Conmiandments and the Psalter, were translated. .Elfric (c.lOOO) translated parts of both Testaments. There was, however, previous to the Norman Conquest, ^o complete and generally used Anglo-Saxon Bible, After the Conquest (10G6), under the influence of the Normans, the old Anglo-Saxon became English. During the Thirteenth Century, a revival of relig- ious interest in England led" to a number of at- leiii))ts to translate the Latin Bible into the com- mon tongue. Orm, an Augustinian monk, wrote the Ornuilum, a metrical paraphrase of the Gos- pels and Acts. Others treated Genesis and E.o- dus in the same way. Later, by William of Shoreham (c.I320), Richard Rolle, and others, prose versions of the Psalter were made. But these efforts did not produce an English Bible. Down to 1300, only the Psalter had been trans- lated. Twenty-five years later, the whole Bible was circulating in a popular English version that common people could easily understand. This great achievement was mainly due to John Wiq- lif (d.l3S4), With his fellow-workers, Nicholas of Hereford and John Purvey, Wiclif completed the entire Bible by 1382. the New-Testament part was probably Wiclif's own work. In 1388 the whole was revised by Purvey and made pub- lic. The work was, of course, based on the Vul- gate. Its avowed purpose was that "pore men' might be able to read the truth. It was wel- comed by such, and its effect on the religious life of England was profound. Vet it did not become a national version. Its popularity led to at- tempts to suppress it, and besides the language was changing so rapidly that many words soon became obsolete. But "the seed had been sown, and in due time the Reformation was in progress in England. The adherents of the Reformation keenly felt the need of a translation, especially of the New Testament, in the English of the day. But, though jjrinting was invented in 1450, "it was not until 1525 that any part of the English Bible was put into type, and this was done on the Continent. In this "respect England was far be- hind Germany and other countries. The printed English Bible began its history with the New Testament of William Tyndale. His evangelical views compelled him to flee from England to the Continent, and during 1524 and 1525 he was at Wittenberg, Cologne, and Worms. His New Testament was published at Worms, 1525-26, after an unsuccessful attempt to bring it out at Cologne. Copies of the edition at once began to find their way into England. Their sale was prohibited by Parliament.^ Tyndale published a corrected edition in 1534. Before his death, in 1536, five or more reprints had been issued by Antwerp publishers, some of which were quite inaccurate. This large circulation shows how ineffectual was Parliament's prohibition. In 1530 Tyndale published, probably at Wittenberg, a translation of the Pentateuch. He also translated the historical books from .Joshua to 11. Chronicles, but did not live to publish them. His translations were made from the Hebrew and Greek originals. He was very careful in his choice of English words, and the value of his version is mainly due to the fact that its English was the English of the people, not Anglicized Latin. It was also truthful, impartial, and fearless. Because of its intrinsic excellence it became a standard or model text by which all subsequent English versions, as well as the English language, have been most profoundly influenced. This version, especially because of its annotations, was heartily disliked by the King and many of the clergy. But something had to be done "to meet the demand for an English Bible. Miles Cover-