SPANISH BIBLE. The first Spanish Bible that we hear of, is that mentioned by Cyprian de Valera, which he says was published about the year 1500. The Epistles and Gospels were published in that language by Ambrose de Montefin in 1512; the whole Bible by Cassiodore de Reyna, a Calvinist, in 1569; and the New Testament, dedicated
dedicated to the emperor Charles V. by Francis Enzinus, otherwise called Driander, in 1543. The first Bible which was printed in Spanish for the use of the Jews, was that printed at Ferrara in 1553, in Gothic characters, and dedicated to Hercules d'Est duke of Ferrara. This version is very ancient, and was probably in use among the Jews of Spain before Ferdinand and Isabella expelled them out of their dominions in 1492.
German Bible. The first and most ancient translation of the Bible in the German language, is that of Ulphilas bishop of the Goths, about the year 360. This bishop left out the books of Kings, which treat chiefly of war, lest it should too much encourage the martial humour of the Goths. An imperfect manuscript of this version was found in the abbey of Verden near Cologne, written in letters of silver, for which reason it is called Codex Argenteus; and it was published by Francis Junius in 1665. The oldest German printed Bible extant, is that of Nuremberg, printed in 1447; but who the author of it was, is uncertain. John Emzer, chaplain to George duke of Saxony, published a version of the New Testament in opposition to Luther. There is a German Bible of John Eckius in 1537, with Emzer's New Testament added to it; and one by Ulembergius of Westphalia, procured by Ferdinand duke of Bavaria, and printed in 1630. Martin Luther, having employed eleven years in translating the Old and New Testament, published the Pentateuch in 1522, the historical books and the Psalms in 1524, the books of Solomon in 1527, Isaiah in 1529, the Prophets in 1531, and the other books in 1530: He published the New Testament in 1522. The learned agree, that his language is pure, and the version clear, and free from intricacies: It was revised by several persons of quality, who were masters of all the delicacies of the German language. The German Bibles which have been printed in Saxony, Switzerland, and elsewhere, are for the most part the same as that of Luther, with very little variation. In 1604, John Piscator published a version of the Bible in German, taken from that of Junius and Tremellius: But his turn of expression is purely Latin, and not at all agreeable to the genius of the German language: The Anabaptists have a German Bible printed at Worms in 1529. John Crellius published his version of the New Testament at Racoia in 1630; and Felbinger his, at Amsterdam, in 1660.
Flemish Bible. The Flemish Bibles of the Romanists are very numerous, and for the most part have no author's name prefixed to them, till that of Nicolas Vinck, printed at Lovain in 1548. The Flemish versions made use of by the Calvinists till the year 1637, were copied principally from that of Luther. But the synod of Dort having in 1618 appointed a new translation of the Bible into Flemish, deputies were named for the work, which was not finished till the year 1637.
Danish Bible. The first Danish Bible was published by Peter Palladius, Olaus Chrysoform, John Synningius, and John Maccabaeus, in 1550, in which they followed Luther's first German version. There are two other versions, the one by John Paul Resenius bishop of Zealand, in 1605; the other, being the New Testament only, by John Michel, in 1524.
Swedish Bible. In 1534 Olaus and Laurence published a Swedish Bible from the German version of Martin Luther. It was revised in 1617, by order of king Gustavus Adolphus, and was afterwards almost universally followed.
Bohemian, Polish, Russian or Muscovite, and Sclavonian Bibles. The Bohemians have a Bible translated by eight of their doctors, whom they had sent to the schools of Wittemberg and Basil, on purpose to study the original languages. It was printed in Moravia in the year 1539. The first Polish version of the Bible, it is said, was that composed by Hadewich wife of Jagellon, duke of Lithuania, who embraced Christianity in the year 1390. In 1599, there was a Polish translation of the Bible published at Cracow, which was the work of several Divines of that nation, and in which James Wieck, a Jesuit, had a principal share. The Protestants, in 1596, published a Polish Bible from Luther's German version, and dedicated it to Uladislau IV. king of Poland. The Russians or Muscovites published the Bible in their language in 1581. It was translated from the Greek by St Cyril, the apostle of the Sclavonians; but this old version being too obscure, Ernest Glik, who had been carried prisoner to Moscow after the taking of Narva, undertook a new translation of the Bible in the Sclavonian; who dying in 1705, the Czar Peter appointed some particular divines to finish the translation: But whether it was ever printed, we cannot say.
English-Saxon, and modern English Bibles. If we inquire into the versions of the Bible of our own country, we shall find that Adelm bishop of Sherburn, who lived in 709, made an English-Saxon version of the Psalms; and that Eadfrid, or Ebert, bishop of Lindisferne, who lived about the year 730, translated several of the books of scripture into the same language. It is said likewise, that venerable Bede, who died in 785, translated the whole Bible into Saxon. But Cuthbert, Bede's disciple, in the enumeration of his master's works, speaks only of his translation of the Gospel; and says nothing of the rest of the Bible. Some pretend, that king Alfred, who lived in 890, translated a great part of the scriptures. We find an old version in the Anglo-Saxon of several books of the Bible, made by Elfric abbot of Malmesbury: It was published at Oxford, in 1699. There is an old Anglo-Saxon version of the four Gospels, published by Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, in 1571, the author whereof is unknown. Dr Mill observes, that this version was made from a Latin copy of the old Vulgate.
As to the English versions of the Bible, the most ancient is that of John de Trevisa, a secular priest, who translated the Old and New Testament into English, at the request of Thomas lord Berkley: He lived in the reign of Richard II. and finished his translation in the year 1357. The second author, who undertook this work, was the famous Wickliff, who lived in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II. The manuscript of his version is in several libraries in England. In the year 1534, an English version of the Bible, done partly by William Tindal, and partly by Miles Coverdale, was brought
brought into England from Antwerp. The bishops found great fault with this translation; upon which a motion was made in convocation for an English translation of the Bible to be set up in all churches. This motion, though opposed by bishop Gardiner and his party, succeeded at last. The king gave orders for setting about it with all possible haste, and within three years the impression of it was finished. Cromwell procured a general warrant from the king, allowing all his subjects to read it; for which Cranmer wrote his thanks to Cromwell, 'rejoicing to see the work of reformation now risen in England, since the word of God did now shine over it all without a cloud.' Cromwell likewise gave out injunctions, requiring the clergy to set up Bibles in all their churches, and to encourage the people to read them. In 1542, an act passed for restraining the use of the Bible. The preamble sets forth, that 'many seditious and ignorant people had abused the liberty granted them for reading the Bible; and that great diversity of opinions, animosities, tumults, and schisms had been occasioned by perverting the sense of the scripture. To retrieve the mischiefs arising from hence, it is enacted, that a certain form of orthodox doctrine be set forth, as a standard of belief; and that Tindal's false translation of the Old and New Testament be suppressed, and forbidden to be read in any of the king's dominions.' In the reign of Edward VI. Fuller mentions another translation of the Bible, printed in two editions; the first in 1549, the other in 1551, but neither of them divided into verses.
In the reign of queen Elizabeth came out the Bishops Bible, so called, because several of that order were concerned in that version. The work was divided into several parcels, and assigned to men of learning and character. Most of the divisions are marked with great initial letters, signifying either the name or the titles of the persons employed. Archbishop Parker had the principal direction of this affair; he revised the performance, and perhaps put the finishing hand to it. He likewise employed several critics in the Hebrew and Greek languages, to review the old translation, and compare it with the original.
The last English Bible is that called King James's Bible, which proceeded from the Hampton-court conference in 1603, where many exceptions being made to the Bishops Bible, king James gave orders for a new one, not, as the preface expresses it, for a translation altogether new, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one, but to make a good one better; or of many good ones, one best. Fifty-four learned persons were appointed for this office by the king, as appears by his letter to the archbishop, dated in 1604, which being three years before the translation was entered upon, it is probable seven of them were either dead, or had declined the task, since Fuller's list of the translators makes but forty-seven, who, being ranged under six divisions, entered on their province in 1607. It was published in 1610, with a dedication to king James, and a learned preface, and is commonly called king James's Bible. After this all other versions dropped, and fell into disuse, except the Epistles and Gospels in the Common-prayer book, which were
still continued, according to the bishops translation, till the alteration of the Liturgy in 1661, and the Psalms and hymns, which are to this day continued as in the old version.
The judicious Selden, in his Table-Talk, speaking of the Bible, says, 'The English translation of the Bible is the best translation in the world, and renders the sense of the original best, taking in for the English translation the bishops Bible, as well as king James's. The translators in king James's time took an excellent way. That part of the Bible was given to him who was most excellent in such a tongue, (as the Apocrypha to Andrew Downs) and then they met together, and one read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some Bible either of the learned tongues, or French, Spanish, Italian, &c. If they found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read on.'
King James's Bible is that now read by authority in all the churches in England.
Irish Bible. Towards the middle of the sixteenth century, Bedell, bishop of Kilmore, set on foot a translation of the Old Testament into the Irish language; the New Testament and the Liturgy having been before translated into that language. The bishop appointed one King to execute this work, who, not understanding the oriental languages, was obliged to translate it from the English. This work was received by Bedell, who, after having compared the Irish translation with the English, compared the latter with the Hebrew, the LXX. and the Italian version of Diodati. When this work was finished, the bishop would have been himself at the charge of the impression, but his design was stopped upon advice given to the lord-lieutenant and the archbishop of Canterbury, that it would prove a shameful thing for a nation to publish a Bible translated by such a despicable hand as King. However, the manuscript was not lost, for it went to press in the year 1685.