sively circulated among the people, Luther's version produced sudden and almost incredible effects, and contributed more than any other cause, to extirpate the erroneous principles and superstitious practices of the church of Rome, from the minds of a prodigious number of persons. Since that time it has been printed times without number; and as the reformation spread, it served as the basis of several other translations, viz. 1. The Lower Saxon Translation was printed at Lubeck, in 1533-4. Its authors are not known.2 This version was undertaken at the suggestion of Luther himself, and under the direction of John Bugenhagius, who wrote a preface, and supplied short notes, and also arguments to the different books. 2. The Pomeranian Version was printed in 1588, in quarto, by the command of Bogislaus XIII. duke of Pomerania: it was made from the Wittemberg edition of Luther's Bible, printed in 1545. 3. The Danish Version was undertaken by command of Christian III. king of Denmark, and at the suggestion of Bugenhagius: it was printed at Copenhagen in 1550, and is of extreme rarity. Previously to the publication of this version, the New Testament had been translated from the Vulgate, as well as the Psalms, and the five books of Moses. The Danish version was subsequently revised and corrected, in the reigns of Frederick II. and Christian IV. kings of Denmark; the revision, made by command of the last-mentioned monarch, is, we believe, the standard of the succeeding editions of the Danish Scriptures, which, however, are said to vary considerably from Luther's German version.-In 1823 the gospel of Matthew was printed at Copenhagen, in the dialect of the Danish language spoken by the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands: the Danish and Faroese texts are printed in parallel columns. 4. The Icelandic Translation of the entire Bible was printed at Holum, in Iceland, in 1584, under the patronage of Frederick II. The New Testament had been translated by Oddur Gottshalkson (whose father filled the episcopal see of Holum,) and printed in Denmark, in 1539, at the expense of Christian III. This was followed by an Icelandic Version of the Epistles and Gospels, for all the Sundays in the year, published in 1562, by Olaf Hialteson, the first Lutheran Bishop of Holum; which may be considered as a second edition of certain portions of Oddur's New Testament, the compiler having availed himself chiefly of that version, in writing out the lessons of which the work consists. In 1580, the Proverbs of Solomon were translated by Gissur Eincerson, the first Lutheran Bishop of Skalholt, who also translated the book of Sirach, printed in the same year at Holum. At length, in 1584, as above noticed, the whole of the Old and New Testaments was printed in Icelandic, through the unremitting zeal and pious liberality of Gudbrand Thorlakson, Bishop of Holum, who not only contributed largely to the undertaking himself, but also obtained a munificent donation from Frederick II. with authority to raise a rix-dollar in aid of the work from every 1 Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 60. 2 Another Lower Saxon Version from the Vulgate was printed at Lubeck in 1494, in two folio volumes. The reader will find a bibliographical notice of it in the Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. pp. 55-58. church in Iceland. It is not known what share this eminent prelate had in the translation, which is considered as the production of different hands. Gottshalkson's version of the New Testament, as well of some parts of the Old Testament, was adopted, after having been revised by Gudbrand. This edition has always been very highly esteemed, on account of the purity of its diction; and, even at this day, it is preferred before more modern translations. A second edition of the Icelandic Bible appeared at Holum in 1644, under the editorial care of Thorlak Skuleson, bishop of that see; by whom it was carefully revised and corrected. This is the standard text from which the two most recent impressions of the Icelandic Version have been printed.1 5. The Swedish Version was made from the first edition of Luther's German translation: it was begun by Laurence Andreas, and finished by Laurence Petri, and was printed at Upsal, in 1541, by the command of Gustavus I., king of Sweden. 6. The Dutch Translation appeared in 1560, and after being repeatedly printed, was superseded by a new Protestant translation, of which an account is given in page 264. infra. 7-10. The Finnish Version was printed at Stockholm, in 16422, and again in 16443, the Lettish (or Livonian) at Riga 16894; the Sorabic or Wendish (a dialect spoken in Upper Lusatia), at Bautzen (Budissa), in 1728, and again in 1742; and the Lithuanian, at Königsberg (Regiomonti), in 1735. Valuable as Luther's German translation of the Scriptures confessedly is, it was severely attacked, on its publication, by the enemies of the reformation, whose productions are enumerated by Walchius.5 Luther's translation, reformed by the Zuinglians and Calvinists, was printed, in various editions at Neustadt, between the years 1679 and 1695; at Herborn in 1695, 1698, 1701-5-8, and 21; at Heidelberg in 1617 and 1618, and many times since; at Cassel in 1602; and at Basle in 1651, 1659, and in the last century very frequently. Between the years 1525 and 1529, Leo Juda published at Zurich a German-Swiss translation of the Scriptures. As far as he could, he availed himself of such parts of Luther's version as were then printed. In 1667 a new and revised edition of Leo Juda's translation was published at Zurich: the alterations and corrections in it are so nume 1 The above particulars are abridged from the Rev. Dr. Henderson's Historical View of the Translation and different editions of the Icelandic Scriptures,' in the second volume, (p. 249-306.) of his very interesting Journal of a Residence in Iceland, during the years 1814 and 1815, 8vo. Edinburgh, 1818. 2 This edition was accompanied with a translation in the Esthonian language, spoken in the province of Esthland or Esthonia. It is a totally distinct language, being closely allied to the Finnish. Bp. Marsh's History of Translations, p. 4. note. There is also a dialect of the Esthonian, called the Dorpatian Esthonian, into which the New Testament was translated and published in the year 1727. 3 A translation of the Scriptures into the Karelian language (spoken in Karelia, a province of East Finland), was printed in 1822 under the direction of the St. Petersburg Bible Society; but it is not known whether this version is made from the Finnish, or not. 4 An edition of the New Testament, both in Livonian and Esthonian, had been already printed at Riga, in 1685 and 1686. The Lettish or Livonian is a Sclavonian dialect. 5 Walchii Bibliotheca Theologica Selecta, vol. iv. pp. 79–81. rous, that it is considered as a new translation, and is commonly called the New Zurich Bible, in order to distinguish it from the Old Zurich version of Leo Juda. "It was undertaken by Hottinger, Müller, Zeller, Hoffmeister, and others, and conducted with great care and precision. As their plan seems to have had some resemblance to that pursued by our own admirable translators, and may, perhaps, have been copied from it, this version is more particularly deserving of notice. When these learned men met together, Hottinger and Müller had each of them the Hebrew text put into their hands; Zeller had the old Zurich version, Wasser took the Italian of Giovanni Diodati and Pareus' edition of Luther's Bible, Hoffmeister had the Septuagint and the Junio-Tremellian version before him, and Freitz the Belgian Bible. When any difference arose, the point was argued by them all; each was called upon to give his opinion of the translation which was in his hands: and that reading was adopted, which, after mature consideration, seemed most agreeable to the Hebrew."i As the Zurich version differs very materially from that of Luther, John Piscator undertook another, from the Latin version of Junius and Tremellius, which he has followed very closely. It appeared in detached portions between the year 1602 and 1604, and was repeatedly printed during the seventeenth century. Piscator's version, having become very scarce, has lately been revised by the Biblical and Divinity Professors, and three Pastors of the Helvetic church, who have corrected its orthography, and such words as have become obsolete, previously to an edition of 8000 copies of the entire Bible, and 4000 copies of the New Testament, which has been executed by the Bern Bible Society, aided by a pecuniary grant from the British and Foreign Bible Society of London. Besides the preceding German Versions made by Protestants, there are also translations made by Roman Catholic divines; some of them appeared almost as early as that of Luther, to which, however, they are greatly inferior in point of perspicuity. Three of these are particularly mentioned by Walchius, viz. 1. That of John Detemberger, whose translation clearly evinces that he was utterly unfit for the task he undertook, and who hesitated not to acknowledge that he was totally ignorant of Hebrew. He took much from Luther, against whom he vehemently inveighs. His translation was first published at Mayence in 1534, and has been several times printed since that time. 2. The Version, which bears the name of John Eckius. He translated only the Old Testament, the New being executed by Jerome Emser. It was first published in 1537, and has also been repeatedly printed. 3. The Version of Caspar Ulenberg, which was undertaken under the patronage of Ferdinand, archbishop and Elector of Cologne, is preferred by those of his own communion to all the other German Versions. He follows the Sixtine edition of the Latin Vulgate. This 1 Whittaker's Inquiry into the Interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures in Europe, p. 33,-Cambridge, 1819, 8vo. translation first appeared in 1630, and has undergone very numerous impressions. The three translations just noticed, include the Old and New Testaments. In addition to them, three new versions of the New Testament have, within a few years, been circulated very largely among the Roman Catholics of Germany, who have evinced an ardent desire for the Scriptures, notwithstanding the fulminations of the papal see against them. Of two of these versions, the Ratisbon edition, and that executed by M. Gossner, a learned Catholic priest, formerly of Munich, the author has not been able to obtain any authentic particulars; the third was executed about the year 1812, by the Rev. Leander Van Ess, professor of divinity in the university of Marburg, in conjunction with his brother. It is made directly from the Greek, and has been recommended by the first Protestant clergymen at Dresden and Zurich', as well as by several authorities among the Roman Catholic literati, as exhibiting a pure and correct version of the Sacred Original. There are also two translations of the Old Testament in the dialect spoken by the Jews in Germany, called the Jewish-German. One was made by Joseph Josel Ben Alexander, and was printed by Joseph Athias at Amsterdam, in 1679: previously to publication it was revised by Rabbi Meir Stern, chief rabbi of the synagogue at Amsterdam. The other Jewish-German translation was executed by Rabbi Jekuthiel Ben Isaac Blitz, and was printed by Uri Veibsch Ben Aaron, also at Amsterdam, in 1679. Kortholt terms this translator a blasphemous impostor, and charges him with having disguised certain prophecies relative to the Messiah, in consequence of his Jewish predilections. Of these two semi-barbarous, unfaithful, and now almost universally neglected translations, which can be of no use whatever in scripture criticism, Carpzov has given an account, with specimens. And as the German Jews are at this time animated by a spirit of candid inquiry, a Jewish German translation of the New Testament has lately been printed for their benefit, at the expense of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews. II. OF THE VERSIONS IN THE LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN THE BRITISH 1. ENGLISH VERSIONS. ISLES. Although it is impossible, at this dis 1 The late Rev. Dr. Reinhart, first chaplain to the court of Saxony, and the present venerable superior of the Zurich clergy, Antistes Hess. 2 Owen's History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, vol. ii. p. 229. From the Seventeenth Report of that Society, it appears, from the month of September 1812 to December 31st 1820, that the learned and pious professor Van Ess has distributed not fewer than three hundred and ninety-four thousand and sixty-seven copies to persons of his own communion, who have received them with the liveliest gratitude; besides which, he has distributed 5,394 New Testaments of other Roman Catholic and Protestant Versions, in various languages, and 8,749 Roman Catholic and Protestant Bibles. In all, 408,210 copies of the Holy Scriptures have been put into circulation through the professor and his friends. 3 Carpzovii Critica Sacra Veteris Testamenti, pp. 757-786. 4 Our account of English Translations is drawn from Lewis's History of the translations of the Bible, perfixed to his edition of Wickliffe's New Testament, tance of time, to ascertain when or by whom Christianity was first planted in this island, as well as the earliest time when the Scriptures were translated into the language of its inhabitants, yet we know that, for many hundred years, they were favoured with the possession of part, at least, of the sacred volume in their vernacular tongue. The earliest version of which we have any account, is a translation of the Psalms into the Saxon tongue by Adhelm or Adelme, the first bishop of Sherborne, about the year 706. A Saxon version of the four Gospels was made by Egbert, bishop of Lindisfern, who died, a. D. 721; and, a few years after, the venerable Bede translated the entire Bible into that language. Nearly two hundred years after Bede, King Alfred executed another translation of the Psalms, either to supply the loss of Adhelm's (which is supposed to have perished in the Danish wars), or to improve the plainness of Bede's version. A Saxon translation of the Pentateuch, Joshua, part of the books of Kings, Esther, and the apocryphal books of Judith, and the Maccabees, is also attributed to Elfric or Elfred, who was archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 995. A chasm of several centuries ensued, during which the Scriptures appear to have been buried in oblivion, the general reading of them being prohibited by the papal see. The first English translation of the Bible, known to be extant, was executed by an unknown individual, and is placed by Archbishop Usher to the year 1290 of this there are three manuscript copies preserved, in the Bodleian library, and in the libraries of Christ Church and Queen's Colleges at Oxford. Towards the close of the following century, John de Trevisa, vicar of Berkeley in the county of Gloucester, at the desire of his patron, Lord Berkeley, is said to have translated the Old and New Testaments into the English tongue. But as no part of this work appears ever to have been printed, the translation ascribed to him is supposed to have been confined to a few texts, which were painted on the walls of his patron's chapel at Berkeley Castle, or which are scattered in some parts of his works, several copies of which are known to exist in manuscript. Nearly contemporary with him was the celebrated JOHN WICKLIFFE, who, about the year 1380, translated the entire Bible from the Latin Vulgate into the English language as then spoken, not being sufficiently acquainted with the Hebrew and Greek languages to translate from the originals. Before the invention of printing, transcripts were obtained with difficulty, and copies were so rare, that, according to the registry of William Alnewick, bishop of Norwich, in 1429, the price of one of Wickliffe's folio 1731; Johnson's Historical Account of the several English Translations of the Bible, originally published in 1730, in 8vo. and reprinted in the third volume of Bishop Watson's Collection of Theological Tracts; Archbishop Newcome's View of the English Biblical Translations, Dublin, 1792, 8vo.; and Mr. Whittaker's learned and elaborate Inquiry into the Interpretation of Hebrew Scriptures, pp. 38-114. The New Testament of Wickliffe was published in folio by Mr. Lewis in 1731; and was handsomely re-edited in quarto, in 1810, by the Rev. Henry Hervy Baber, one of the librarians of the British Museum, who prefixed a valuable memoir of this "Apostle of England," as Wickliffe has sometimes been called. 30 |