Who was the first person to have the Holy Bible translated?

[wwolverine]

Who was the first person to translate the Holy Bible in the common man’s language?

As far as I have heard the Rome used the Holy Bible in Latin, but now we have it in so many languages, which makes us common people read it with ease. Why was it in Latin / greek earlier and who defied the rule to have it changed?

 

[scottywolf777]

If we’re talking the whole Bible that would be Saint Jerome who created the Vulgate about 354 A.D. if I remember right. Vulgatus being a Latin word referring to for the whole people of God. The Old Testament was translated into Greek because that was a commonly understood language especially after the Greeks conquered Israel in 4th century BC. That translation became known as the Septuagint and was done by 70 elders in Alexandria. The canon of the Catholic Bible is derived from the Septuagint Old Testament plus the New Testament giving 72 as oppossed to 66 books in the protestant Bible. The Protestant cannon as Martin Luther rendered it is based on a Hebrew cannon founded in about 2nd or 3rd century Palestine the Old Testament was only to include those books found in Hebrew. The deuterocanonicals were only found available in Greek but, not Hebrew. I’m surprised this question has never been answered before.

 

[aquabatix]

I believe (and forgive me if I’m a little off, I’m on my blackberry at work) that the first translations from the original greek were into Latin in the Verta Latina manuscripts. These were the prerunner to St Jerome’s Latin Vulgate which compiled and revised all of it into one codex. The name Vulgate came because it was in the common or “vulgar” language. After Latin it would be made into German under Luther’s time (the exact guys name I can’t recall at the moment) and then English under Wycliff I believe. Each time it was translated to give the common person access to the scriptures. The danger was though that when more people had the ability to read it, the more uneducated interpretations would arise and make many problems. This in essence led to an ecumenical “wild west” that Erasmus warned the Reformationists (including Luther) about. Now we have thousands of denominations. Go figure.

 

[DaveBj]

Which nationality of common man? To which of the “common man’s” 5000-odd languages are you referring?

DaveBj

 

[1ke]

Who was the first person to translate the Holy Bible in the common man’s language?

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people. Several hundred years BC, a group of Jewish scholars translated these scriptures into Greek.

Why Greek? Well, Greece was a major Mediterranean power and Alexander the Great conquered the entire Mediterranean in the 300s BC. Greek became the language of that entire region because it was the language of the rulers. Greek was the language of literature, commerce, law, business, etc for hundreds of years.

The New Testament was written in Greek because it was the common language of the entire Mediterranean. It was the language of all the educated people. Most Jews were bilingual, speaking Greek and Aramaic, and writing/reading Hebrew.

The Roman Empire began expanding, and the educated classes of Rome also spoke/wrote/read Greek. Over time, Latin became dominant.

So, by the 300s and 400s writing in the West was mainly in Latin. That is when St. Jerome translated the Bible from Greek into Latin. Latin remained the language of the educated classes for centuries.

Additionally, many, many priests and missionaries translated Scripture into hundreds of languages as they evangelized.

As far as I have heard the Rome used the Holy Bible in Latin, but now we have it in so many languages, which makes us common people read it with ease.

The “common people” of the Roman Empire spoke, read, and wrote Greek and Latin.

The missionaries going out into the territories translated into other languages. For example, Sts. Cyril and Methodius actually *created *the Cyrillic alphabet (the alphabet used in Russian and other Slavic languagegs) in order to transcribe the Bible into the slavic languages.

Why was it in Latin / greek earlier

Because those are the languages everyone read and spoke

and who defied the rule to have it changed?

No one “defied” anyone. There was no rule regarding the language of the Scriptures.

They began in Greek because that was the language spoken in first century Palestine and the Mediterranean region. They were translated into Latin because that became the language everyone read/spoke in the 300s and 400s. They were translated into various languages as Christian missionaries went out evangelizing and spreading the gospel. The Scriptures continued to be translated into various languages as they developed over time.

The Scriptures were in Latin for a very long time, and can still be found in Latin, because that was the common language that united ALL of the Roman Empire.

I’m not really understanding your question. What language would you have expected the Scriptures to be in during the first centuries?

 

[Nine_Two]

If we’re talking the whole Bible that would be Saint Jerome who created the Vulgate about 354 A.D. if I remember right. Vulgatus being a Latin word referring to for the whole people of God. The Old Testament was translated into Greek because that was a commonly understood language especially after the Greeks conquered Israel in 4th century BC. That translation became known as the Septuagint and was done by 70 elders in Alexandria. The canon of the Catholic Bible is derived from the Septuagint Old Testament plus the New Testament giving 72 as oppossed to 66 books in the protestant Bible. The Protestant cannon as Martin Luther rendered it is based on a Hebrew cannon founded in about 2nd or 3rd century Palestine the Old Testament was only to include those books found in Hebrew. The deuterocanonicals were only found available in Greek but, not Hebrew. I’m surprised this question has never been answered before.

An addition though, the NT was written in the Koine dialect of Greek, Koine meaning “common”, as it was the commonly understood dialect of the Greek world, which originated as a simplification of the Attic (Athenian) dialect.

So basically the Bible started out in the language of the people, the recent innovation is people re-translating the bible to keep up with the language of the people, after all 2,000 years is a longer time than the majority of civilizations can accurately trace back their history, let alone keep their language intact.

 

[Jon_Hus]

The greeks didn’t “defeat” Israel, the deutros were not the only other works besides the Hebrew OT text in the LXX, Jerome wasn’t the first to translate the Bible into Latin, Luther wasn’t the first to translate the Bible into german, (parts of) the Bible were first translated into English in the 9th century, by that time Latin was long since obsolete in the Roman Empire, the Roman Church did not allow or provide the scriptures in the vulgar language until the reformation forced it on them. Although the Popes grant indulgences to faithful Catholics who read the Bible many don’t take him up on this and fewer know the history of the written word, although some do, even of this board.

BTW, the RCC didn’t allow an English translation of the Bible direct from the Hebrew and Greek until the 20th century. Latin is still the official language of the RCC although it is considered a dead language in secular usage.

 

[wwolverine]

If we’re talking the whole Bible that would be Saint Jerome who created the Vulgate about 354 A.D. if I remember right. Vulgatus being a Latin word referring to for the whole people of God. The Old Testament was translated into Greek because that was a commonly understood language especially after the Greeks conquered Israel in 4th century BC. That translation became known as the Septuagint and was done by 70 elders in Alexandria. The canon of the Catholic Bible is derived from the Septuagint Old Testament plus the New Testament giving 72 as oppossed to 66 books in the protestant Bible. The Protestant cannon as Martin Luther rendered it is based on a Hebrew cannon founded in about 2nd or 3rd century Palestine the Old Testament was only to include those books found in Hebrew. The deuterocanonicals were only found available in Greek but, not Hebrew. I’m surprised this question has never been answered before.

Thanks Scott for your enlighting answer. I would actually like to know when it got translated in English and other languages?

I know that Latin was how the masses were celebrated in most Catholic Churches than,

 

[wwolverine]

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people. Several hundred years BC, a group of Jewish scholars translated these scriptures into Greek.

Why Greek? Well, Greece was a major Mediterranean power and Alexander the Great conquered the entire Mediterranean in the 300s BC. Greek became the language of that entire region because it was the language of the rulers. Greek was the language of literature, commerce, law, business, etc for hundreds of years.

The New Testament was written in Greek because it was the common language of the entire Mediterranean. It was the language of all the educated people. Most Jews were bilingual, speaking Greek and Aramaic, and writing/reading Hebrew.

The Roman Empire began expanding, and the educated classes of Rome also spoke/wrote/read Greek. Over time, Latin became dominant.

So, by the 300s and 400s writing in the West was mainly in Latin. That is when St. Jerome translated the Bible from Greek into Latin. Latin remained the language of the educated classes for centuries.

Additionally, many, many priests and missionaries translated Scripture into hundreds of languages as they evangelized.

The “common people” of the Roman Empire spoke, read, and wrote Greek and Latin.

The missionaries going out into the territories translated into other languages. For example, Sts. Cyril and Methodius actually *created *the Cyrillic alphabet (the alphabet used in Russian and other Slavic languagegs) in order to transcribe the Bible into the slavic languages.

Because those are the languages everyone read and spoke

No one “defied” anyone. There was no rule regarding the language of the Scriptures.

They began in Greek because that was the language spoken in first century Palestine and the Mediterranean region. They were translated into Latin because that became the language everyone read/spoke in the 300s and 400s. They were translated into various languages as Christian missionaries went out evangelizing and spreading the gospel. The Scriptures continued to be translated into various languages as they developed over time.

The Scriptures were in Latin for a very long time, and can still be found in Latin, because that was the common language that united ALL of the Roman Empire.

I’m not really understanding your question. What language would you have expected the Scriptures to be in during the first centuries?

Thanks 1ke. You have done a fantastic job of educating me.

Actually i dont know why, But i was always under the impression that it was Martin Luther who first translated the book as a defience to the Pope’s authority, and after that maybe the other translations came in being. But now I know that I was wrong in my assumption

thanks to you and all others who responded to this question.

 

[Smber2c]

When it comes to assessing why the Bible was translated, where, and by whom, it is important to OT is over 2000 years old, the new testament was compiled about 1700 years ago from letters and writings dating back to the 1st and 2nd century.

So, 1st let us all be mindful that “modern english” is dated as originating around 1550. Old Engilsh developed between the 8th-11th centuries. Many other ‘common languages’ French (1100s), Spanish (10th century), etc…weren’t around for 100’s of years after the Bible and these early versions of each language changed rapidly, and were often only the spoken tongue in a region, while latin or greek were a written preference (not just for Bibles but for contracts or gov’t documents).

After all, one could imagine if English had evolved in the USA (and it didn’t) that as new words evolved the people in Florida could have far different understanding of a term in their new common tongue than people in Georgia, Alabama, and especially states further off. Thus for clarity of understanding sticking to a more established and standardized language would help prevent misunderstandings of Christ’s teachings until the local tongue ‘grew-up’.

The 2nd issue is who of these people could read or write the language they wrote. There were scribes back then which were an entire occupation based on the ability to read/write. These weren’t simply journalists or paralegals, these were a small minority who were actually literate in an illiterate world. In searching literacy rates just not, I found an estimate of literacy in ancient greece and rome as between 5-10%…and these were 2 of the most intellectual and modern of ancient cultures. I would be quite suprised to see huge increases over that level b/f the invention of the printing press in the 1400’s.

Basically, I just wanted to offer the suggestion that “common man’s language” was often seldom written for any reason and initially written forms may not have existed. As literacy rose, as cost of priting dropped, and as new languages were more stable and articulate - that is when the flood gates of dozens or hundreds of Biblical translations started pouring out (though there are many earlier translations as well, but never read by commen men - who couldn’t read).

 

[Jon_Hus]

The New Testament was written in Greek because it was the common language of the entire Mediterranean. It was the language of all the educated people. Most Jews were bilingual, speaking Greek and Aramaic, and writing/reading Hebrew.

Could you be so kind as to educate us on the ramifications of Acts Ch 2 vs. 7-12 with your teachings above?

 

[DaveBj]

Could you be so kind as to educate us on the ramifications of Acts Ch 2 vs. 7-12 with your teachings above?

I’m not 1ke, but I can answer that. Every ethnic group, many of whom are listed in the verses that you reference, had its own language, but in addition they all used koine Greek to talk to people from other ethnic groups. In many respects, Greek was then what English has become in our days.

DaveBj

 

[1ke]

Could you be so kind as to educate us on the ramifications of Acts Ch 2 vs. 7-12 with your teachings above?

There are no ‘ramifications’.

I did not state that there were no other languages. Certainly, there were.

I simply stated that Greek was the common language among most in the Mediterranean. This is a fact. Commerce, business, learning, etc, were all conducted primarily in Greek.

Local languages still continued to exist to a greater or lesser degree. Egyptian, for example, became extinct. While the language of the Arabs, obviously, did not.

When Latin became the dominant language of the entire Roman Empire other languages continued to exist in local populations.

The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostles to speak in the various languages also spoken in specific locales that these visitors to Jerusalem-- Jew and gentile- knew.

I don’t see what your problem is with that.

 

[1ke]

Thanks 1ke. You have done a fantastic job of educating me.

Actually i dont know why, But i was always under the impression that it was Martin Luther who first translated the book as a defience to the Pope’s authority, and after that maybe the other translations came in being. But now I know that I was wrong in my assumption

thanks to you and all others who responded to this question.

You might find this article in the Catholic encyclopedia interesting:

newadvent.org/cathen/15367a.htm