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BIBLE. company. After long and painstaking labor, the Revised Xew Testament was published in 1881 and the whole Bible in 1885, by the Uni- versity Presses of Oxford and Cambridge. The sale of the Revised Xew Testament was at first immense. Many unauthorized reprints appeared in America. It is estimated that in less than one year after issue 3.000,000 copies were sold on both sides of the Atlantic. Though the Re- vised Bible has been subjected to severe criticism, it has steadily won favor among the more edu- cated circles in preference to the version of 1011. In 1902 it was announced that it would be issued by the British and Foreign Bible So- ciety. This should be the best proof of its general acceptance, as the Society is restricted to the issue of Bibles in current use in English. In 1901 the surviving members of the American t.'ommittee published an American Ra-ised Ver- sion (X'ew York), embodying the readings they had suggested to the British Committee, and such other improvement* as had occurred to. them in the interval.

Celtic Versions. — In the British Isles, there were no Celtic versions before the Reformation, An Irish Xew Testament was first published in 1595, the Old Testament in 1085. O'Kane's Irish Testament was issued in 1858. In Gaelic a Xew Testament appeared in 1690, the whole Bible in 1783-1801. It has since been revised in 1826, I860, and 1880. A ilan.x version was made in 1770-72. In CjTiiric a Xew Testament vAas printed in 1507. the whole Bible in 1588. A Breton Xew Testament was published in 1827, another in 1847, the Bible in 1860.

Germitn Versions. — The earliest Germanic ver- sions did not include the whole Bible, but gen- erally only the Psalter and the Gospels, The Monsee Fragments, of the year 738, rescued from old book-covers, belonged to a bilingual copy of the Gospels, Latin on the left, old Bavarian Ger- man on the right. The "German Tatian" is a harmony of the Xinth Century in the East- Frankish dialect. Such manuscript versions were numerous, and continued to be made even after the invention of printing. Of printed German versions before Luther's, a register has been made of 18 editions of the entire Bible. 22 of the Psalter, and 12 of other portions, all between 1466 and 1521. The earliest was the Bible pub- lished by Mantel. Strassburg, 1466. Xext ap- peared Eggstein's, Strassburg, 1470, and PHanz- niann's, Augsburg, 1473. Xone of these early editions became popular. They were all made from the Vulgate, and by translators who were not masters of the German tongue. It was Luther's translation that made an epoch in the history of both the German Bible and language. Luther began translating as early as 1517, but not until 1521 did he decide to make a new ver- sion of the entire Bible. The Xew Testament was completed during his confinement in the Wartburg 11.521-22). and published at Witten- berg by -Melchior Lotther, September 21, 1522. A second edition was issued in December of the same year. The Old Testament appeared gradu- ally, the Pentateuch in 1523, other parts later, until in .ugist. 1534, the first complete edition of Luther's Bible was published, probably by Hans Lufft of Uittenberg. The character of this version was such that its author has been called the German translator. It was based on inde- pendent study of the original Hebrew and Greek, coupled with marvelous exegetical insight and a remarkable ability to express ideas clearly Id strong, pure German, It was so popular that 10 editions of the Bible and 16 of the X^ew Testament were issued in Luther's lifetime, under his supervision, besides over 50 independ- ent and unauthorized reprints. Other German versions made during this period have been almost forgotten; though the excellent translation of the Prophets made by Denck and Hiitzer (1527-29), of which 10 editions in quick succession were published, deserves to be mentioned. From Roman Catholic circles versions were is- sued in opposition to Luther's, notably Speicr's, 1526, Ditenberger's, 1534, and the Cologne Bible of 1630 and 1632, commonly called the "Catholic Bible.' Of revisions of Luther's version, the ’Durcligesehene Bibel,' and an official revision of 1892tr., called the 'Probebitel,' are the most re- cent and important. Of the many independent German versions since Luther the most important are Piscator's, 1002, De Wette and Augusti's, 1809-69, E. Reuss's, 1892-94, E. Kautsch's (Old Testament) 1890-94 (2d ed. 1896), and C. Weizsiicker's (Xew Testament), 7th ed. 1894, In Switzerland, Luther's version became known at once. The delay in the publication of the fourth and fiftli parts of the Old Testament led to an independent translation of these portions at Zurich in 1529. The Zurich Bible, issued in 1530, was largely identical with Luther's. This has been revised from time to time, most recently in 1895 (Xew Testament and Psalms only).

Dutch Versions. — During the Fourteenth and Fifteenth centuries, a Dutch version, made per- haps as early as 1300, was represented in many manuscripts, none containing the whole Bible. On the basis of this version, a portion of the Bible was printed at Delft in 1477, In 1478 the 'Co- logne Bible,' the first complete Bible in Low German, was published. In 1522 a Dutch revi- sion of Luther's Xew Testament was printed at Basel and Amsterdam. In 1524 an independent Dutch translation of Erasmus's Greek Xew Testament, ''in goede plattc Duytsche," appeared at Delft. This was followed in 1526 at Antwerp by a Bible of the Reformation period. On the Roman Catholic side, a X'ew Testament was printed in 1527, the whole Bible in 1548, In Protestant Holland many Bibles were issued by the various branches of the Reformed Church, In 1032 the Dutch Bible w'as officially revised by order of the Stales-General and the S.ynod of Dort, This was i)ublished in 1036, and became known as the 'Staaten Bibel,' Of modern edi- tions, the most noteworthy is the revision under- taken at the request of the Synod by Kuenen and his disciples, known in Holland as the 'Synod Bibel' ( Xew Testament, 1866; Old Testa- ment, 1897-1902),

Scandinarian Versions. — Parts of the Bible existed in Old Xorwegian and Old Swedish as early as the Twelfth and Tliirteenth centuries, somewhat latei in Old Danisli. Under the auspices of Christian II. a Xew Testament was issued in Danish in 1524, but it was not well received. In 1529 a Danish Xew Testament and Psalms by Christen Pedersen (1480-1554) was published at Antwerp, in 1531 a new and improved edition, and in the same year a Danish translation of the Psalms, But it was not till 1550 that the whole Bible was printed in Danish, the version being based on Luther's Ger-