What was the first language spoken in the Bible?
23269621#3
The Bible was translated into various languages in late antiquity; the most important of these translations are those in the Syriac dialect of Aramaic (including the Peshitta and the Diatessaron gospel harmony), the Ge'ez language of Ethiopia, and, in Western Europe, Latin. The earliest Latin translations are collectively known as the Vetus Latina, but in the late fourth century, Jerome re-translated the Hebrew and Greek texts into the normal vernacular Latin of his day, in a version known as the Vulgate ("Biblia vulgata") (meaning "common version", in the sense of "popular"). Jerome's translation gradually replaced most of the older Latin texts, and also gradually ceased to be a vernacular version as the Latin language developed and divided. The earliest surviving complete manuscript of the entire Latin Bible is the Codex Amiatinus, produced in eighth century England at the double monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow. By the end of late antiquity the Bible was therefore available and used in all the major written languages then spoken by Christians.
Bible translations in the Middle Ages
35328411#14
The first translation of parts of the Bible into Swahili was accomplished by 1868, with a complete New Testament translation following in 1879 and a translation of the whole Bible in 1890. Since that time, there have been several translations into different dialects of Swahili as spoken in different regions of East Africa; these include the "Union Translation" published by the Bible Society of Tanzania in 1950 and the "Swahili Common Language" version.
Henry Hare Dugmore, a Methodist, translated into Xhosa language. Tiyo Soga (1829–1871) was ordained the first African Presbyterian minister in 1856 and also translated.
"Ndandililo ni Kutyoka" is a translation of the books of Genesis and Exodus from the Old Testament into the Yao language published by The Bible Society of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi 2004.
Bible translations into the languages of Africa
10255670#30
The first translation of the Bible ("Alkitab") in Indonesian language was Albert Corneliszoon Ruyl's translation of the book of Matthew (1629). Between then and now at least 22 other translations exist, excluding the translations to local languages of Indonesia (out of more than 700 local languages of Indonesia, more than 100 languages have portions or whole Bible translated, while some, like Javanese and Batak, have more than one version). In 1820, Gottlob Brückner (1783–1857) translated the Bible into Javanese, the most widely spoken language of Indonesia.
Christianity in Indonesia
4021646#5
The written form of Bora was developed by Wycliffe Bible Translators Wesley and Eva Thiesen with the help of the natives of the village of Brillo Nuevo on the Yaguasyacu river. Wesley and Eva Thiesen's daughter Ruth is also the first recorded non-native to learn the language. First, Bora to Spanish school books were developed. Then the New Testament Bible was translated. Finally, a comprehensive dictionary and grammar book was developed to document and preserve the language's grammar rules. This has since facilitated more text books so that speakers can be taught to read and write in their own language, rescuing it from extinction due to the prevalence of Spanish and Portuguese in the regions where it is spoken.
Bora language
7765173#5
In the last years of Augustus’ life, Hans Stern was a bookbinder in Lüneburg, a city in Lower Saxony where Low German was spoken. Hans Stern became a bookseller, and later, a book publisher. His first book as a publisher was the Low German Bible, with Johann Vogt in Goslar as printer. In his letter of dedication after the title page, Hans Stern wrote that he wanted to print the Low German language in a Bible with "a beautiful clear type, good paper, elegant illustrations, very useful tables, concordances and summaries, and other features put in the finest and most careful order.” Hans Stern began printing Low German bibles, but after 1621 he only printed High German bibles, for by that time Low German was disappearing as a written language. Hans Stern’s family in Lüneburg today carries the oldest family-owned printing house in the world, and the original woodcut blocks for illustrations in his 1614 Bible have been on display in the Lüneburg Library.
1614 Low German Bible
40285077#6
Eliot made his first text for the "Corporation for the propagation of the Gospel in New England" into the Massachusett language as a one volume textbook primer catechism in 1653 printed by Samuel Green. He then translated and had printed in 1655-56 the Gospel of Matthew, book of Genesis, and Psalms into the Algonquian Indian language. It was printed as a sample run for the London Corporation to show what a complete finished Algonquian Bible might look like. The Corporation approved the sample and sent a professional printer, Marmaduke Johnson, to America in 1660 with 100 reams of paper and eighty pounds of new type for the printer involved to print the Bible. To accommodate the transcription of the Algonquian Indian language phonemes extra "O's" and "K's" had to be ordered for the printing press.
Eliot Indian Bible
5359259#6
The earliest uses of the word God in Germanic writing is often cited to be in the Gothic Bible or Wulfila Bible, which is the Christian Bible as translated by Ulfilas into the Gothic language spoken by the Eastern Germanic, or Gothic, tribes. The oldest parts of the Gothic Bible, contained in the Codex Argenteus, is estimated to be from the fourth century. During the fourth century, the Goths were converted to Christianity, largely through the efforts of Bishop Ulfilas, who translated the Bible into the Gothic language in Nicopolis ad Istrum in today's northern Bulgaria. The words "guda" and "guþ" were used for God in the Gothic Bible.
God (word)
4072818#4
When Martin Luther translated the Bible (the New Testament in 1522 and the Old Testament, published in parts and completed in 1534) he based his translation mainly on this already developed language, which was the most widely understood language at this time. This language was based on Eastern Upper and Eastern Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German (unlike the spoken German dialects in Central and Upper Germany that at that time had already begun to lose the genitive case and the preterite). In the beginning, copies of the Bible had a long list for each region, which translated words unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics rejected Luther's translation at first and tried to create their own Catholic standard ("gemeines Deutsch") — which, however, differed from 'Protestant German' only in some minor details. It took until the middle of the 18th century to create a standard that was widely accepted, thus ending the period of Early New High German.
History of German
17369505#1
As Christianity spread through Europe, so did Latin. Native speakers of Celtic or Germanic languages were rapidly becoming exposed to Latin: the language of the Church and international communication. In West Europe, from 400 until the late middle ages, the Bible and its commentaries were only available in Latin. Although some regions in West Europe were introduced to Latin centuries earlier by the Romans, these spoken languages evolved differently from the Latin of the written Bible. To properly understand the Bible, and its commentaries, and the works of figures such as St. Augustine, knowledge of written Latin was a must. East of the Rhine, the people spoke an ancestor to today's German language because the Roman empire did not stretch that far. Learning Latin was challenging to peoples who were often not literate in their own native language. Another problem was posed by the inadequacy of the (outdated) teaching material that was available to instructors and missionaries. The materials were often designed for more advanced, native Latin speakers, or possibly Roman students. An example of this could be the Ars Maior by Donatus. Younger clergy in, for instance, Frankia or Germania, could see the study of Latin as a better way to understand the Bible, its commentaries, and prayers.
Peter of Pisa
35288841#56
The first portion of the Bible in Haida language (Language isolate) of Alaska, 500 copies of Matthew, became available in 1891. It was translated by Charles Harrison (missionary), a Church Missionary Society missionary at Masset. Harrison was sent out in 1882, and returned to England in 1891, being succeeded by the Rev. John Henry Keen. Harrison also published a book entitled "Old Testament Stories in the Haida language", this was published after he had already returned to England, in 1893. In 1897 Keen's version of the Acts was published: till then Matthew was the only printed book in the language. Keen also prepared Luke, John, 1 Corinthians, Psalms, and parts of Genesis. (see account of his method of translation, Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1898, p. 317); Luke and John were published in 1899. It is unclear what happened to Keen's manuscripts for Genesis, Psalms, and 1 Corinthians, as they were never published.
Bible translations into Native American languages