Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/50

BIBLE. man. A revision of this in 1605-07 was not popular. After the separation of Norway (in 1814), a revision tor Denmark alone was made in 18ld. In 1872 a second revision was pub- lished. In Norway revisions ^^ere published in 1830, 1857-69, and 18il0 (not yet complete). In Icelandic, a New Testament was issued in 1540, the whole Bible in 1584. This was revised in ltl44, and a number of times since. In Sweden a translation of the ^'ew Testament, made by Laurentius Andrese and Olaus Petri on the basis of Luther's version, was printed in Stockholm in 152(. Tarts of the Old Testament appeared in 1530, and in 1540-41 the entire Bible, tr.inslated by Laurentius Petri, Laurentius Andreoe, and Olaus Petri, was published in Stockholm. The most important revisions have been those by Johan Gezelius, father and son (1674-1724), Odman and Tingstadius (1774-93), and Tor^n, Lindcren. and Melin (1S53-79). The new ver- sion of the New Testament, which since 1883 is officially recognized by the Lutheran Church, is the work of Sundberg. Toren. and Johnson. Of independent translations, those by Thomsader and W'ahlerstrom of the New Testament, and by FjoUstedt and Melin of the whole Bible, have enjoyed the greatest popularity. Perhaps the most elegant and scholarly versions of biblical books are those by F. O. Myrbeig.

French. — The earliest versions on French soil were in the Teutonic dialects. Not until the Twelfth Century was any part of the Bible trans- lated into French. The first printed French Testament appeared in 1477 at Lyons. In 1487 a large edition of the Bible was issued, dedicated to Charles VIII. This was followed by other sump- tuous, expensive editions. Of a more popular character were the translations by J. Lef&bvre d'Etaples (New Testament, 1523, Old Testa- ment, 1.528, lacking the Psalt«r: Bible, 1530), all based on the Vulgate. In 1546 this Bible was placed on the Index. The Louvain Bible of 1550, though only a slightly altered Lef&bvre d'Etaples, became the generally tised Roman Catholic Bible of France. It was revised in 1608, 1621, and 1047. More modern versions, to keep pace with the devclo])ment of the French lan- guage, have appeared from time to time, such as the New Testament of Richard Simon, 1702. and the Port Royal Bible of 1607-87. Of modern Roman Catholic versions, Lassere's (lospeh, 1887, is excellent, though not approved by the Church authorities. On the Protestant side, Olivetan (Peter Robert), Calvin's cousin, made a transla- tion which was issued at 1535 at Serri&res at the expense of the Waldenses. In subsequent editions this version was greatly improved. It was revised in 1588 by the (Jeneva pastors. In 1724 and 1744, J. F. Ostervald made a more modern version, which succeeded Olivetan's as the Bible of French Protcstantis^n. Ostervald's version was revised, not verv successfullv, in 1805 (Old Testament) and 1835 (New Testa- ment). Better modern revisions of the same are those of St'gond, 1874 and 1880, and the New Testament of Oltramare, 1872, and that of the French Bible Society, 1881. Other good modern translations are those of Perret-CJentil, Neuchft- tcl, 1847tr. (Old Testament), Eug. Arnaud, 18.58 (New Testament), A. Rilliet, Geneva, 1859 (New Testament). E. Stapfer, Paris, 1889 (New Tes- tament), and E. Reuss. Paris, 1874IT. An offi- cial sjTiodical revision, undertaken at the sug- gestion of Bersier, is not yet complete. Italian. — The first Italian version was made probably by Waldensian missionaries, in North Italy in the Thirteenth Century. The first l)rinted Italian Hible was that of Nicolii de Malherbi, Venice, 1471. The better translation of Ant. Bruccioli, Venice. 1530-32. based on the Hebrew and Greek, was |irohil)ited. Other early versions were those of Zaccaria, 1532, and Giglio, 1551, both of Venice. From Protestant circles an Italian New Testament was issued at Lyons in 1551. and a Bible at Geneva in 1562. In 1607 Giovanni Diodati, of Lucca, issued a Bible at Geneva. In 1776 the Archbishop of Florence, Ant. ^Martini, published a Bible at Turin, which, being favored by the Church, was the version adopted by the British and Foreign Bible So- ciety in their Italian editions of the Sacred Scriptues. A Roman Catholic revision of the Martini Bible was issued in 1889.

Spanish. — In Catalonia, a version of the New Testament was made as early as the Fourteenth Century. A Bible was printed in Valencia in 1478. In Castile, on account of the large num- ber of Jews, Spanish versions of the Old Testa- ment were not uncommon in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth centuries. The first printed Spanish New Testament was issued at Antwerp. 1543, the second at Geneva, 1546. In 1553 an Old Testa- ment was printed at Ferrara, a double edition, the joint work of Jews and Christians. The first Spanish" Bible, translated by Cassiodoro Reyna, was published at Basel, 1569, revised at Amsterdam in 1602. These books circulated in the Netherlands and Italy, but were prohibited in Spain. In 1790 the Roman Catholic Miguel published a Bible at Valencia which became com- monly used, and was reprinted in 1828 by the British and Foreign Bible Society for distribu- tion in Spain.

In Portuguese, a New Testament was printed in 1681 at Amsterdam. In 1712-19, the same translator, >I. F. d'Almeida, published the Penta- teuch and Historical Books. In 1778, a Bible, the first printed in Portugal, was published at Lisbon, the work of A. P. Figueiredo. This ver- sion has been reprinted by the British and For- eign Bible Society.

Slavic 'crsion.s. — The beginnings of the Slavic versions go back to the efl'orts of Cyril and Jlethodius in the Ninth Centuiy. The first ver- sion for general use among the Slavs of Rus- sia was made in the Fifteenth Century. In 1581, under the auspices of Prince Constantino, a Bible was published at Ostrog. A revision of this was l)ublished in 1663 at Moscow. In 1753 a more thorough revision was made under the auspices of the Empress Elizabeth. In the early part of the Nineteenth Century, for linguistic reasons, the Holy Synf]il authorized another revision. This was partially published, 1S18-25, by the Russian Bililc Society, but o])position to the so- ciety prevented further progress luitil after the accession of Alexander 11. In 187(i the revision was completed and published. The dates of the first versions in the other Slavic languages are as follows: Czech (Bohemian), Fourteenth Century (first printed edition, 1488): Bulgarian. 1828; Croatian, 1495: Polish, Thirteenth Century (first jirinted in the Fifteenth Century) ; Servian, 1847; Sloven, 1555; Wend, 1547.