The history of Bible translations into Albanian can be divided into early and modern translations.
Albanian priest Gjon Buzuku translated selected Scripture portions into Albanian which were printed in the first known Albanian book, The Missal ( Meshari ), composed in the Gheg dialect of Albanian. The Apostolic Library in the Vatican holds the only known copy of the book. Dr. Thoma Qendro prepared the Biblical text from Buzuku's Missal for the Albanian Interconfessional Bible Society's reprint in 2010. [1]
Earlier attempts have been recorded such as the 18th century Elbasan Gospel Manuscript. [2]
Vangjel Meksi translated the New Testament in 1821 with the support of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This work was edited by bishop Gregory IV of Athens. [3] The book of Matthew was published in 1824 and the full New Testament in the Tosk form of Albanian in 1827, in both a full volume and a split two-volume set because "the Albanians had the custom of carrying their books with them near their heart." [4] An Albanian Translation of the Transcript was done by Dr. Thoma Qendro. The book was printed and published in spring of 2016 by SHBSHA.
Kostandin Kristoforidhi [5] translated the New Testament into Albania's two dialects, of Gheg and Tosk.
The New Testament in Gheg was published in 1872, and the New Testament in Tosk in 1879, and he also translated portions of the Old Testament into Tosk (Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, The Psalms, The Proverbs, and Isaiah). His work was also supported by the British and Foreign Bible Society. [6] These works are being reprinted by the Albanian Interconfessional Bible Society in a ten volume set which includes Kristoforidhi's Albanian Grammar (1882) and manuscript facsimiles.[ citation needed ]
Kristoforidhi's New Testament was revised in 2005. The revision has been prepared by Mr. Thoma Qendro with the blessing of the Archbishop of the Albanian Orthodox Church his grace Anastas and was published by the Interconfessional Bible Society of Albania.
Dom Simon Filipaj who was from Montenegro, worked with the Belgrade office of the United Bible Societies (UBS) in Yugoslavia, to produce a Bible translation in Standard Albanian. The New Testament was published in 1977, which makes it the first New Testament in modern Albanian, rather than a dialect like Tosk or Gheg. One of the translation Consultants was Dayrell Oakley-Hill who had served in Albania with the Gendarmerie in the 1930s. In 1994, [7] Drita re-produced Dom Simon Filipaj's Bible which includes the Apocrypha. The version is used by Albanian Roman Catholic churches.
In 1993, European Christian Mission produced the first bound copy of the entire Bible in Standard Albanian, prepared by Stephen Etches. [8] Bible smuggler Brother Andrew came personally to Albania to present this Bible to the country's president and people. [9] This version which was a dynamic equivalent translation similar to the English Good News Bible or German Gute Nachricht translation is now out of print. [10] In 2003 this was reprinted by the Albanian Interconfessional Bible Society.[ citation needed ]
In 1993, the Albanian Bible Society finished work on a translation of the complete Old Testament and by 1994 they finished the entire Bible. The Society had been preparing literature with Biblical content since 1974 and originally published its Bible with the name "Lajmi i Mirë" (LIM). The work was translated from the Italian text of the Textus Receptus -based Nuova Diodati Revision 1991 and checked against the original languages and the English King James Version. [11] By 2002 the Society produced a revision of the New Testament which was "completely revised and compared in detail with the original text." [12] This version continues to circulate widely among evangelical churches and is presented in various formats including the "Bibla e Studimit" (The New Thompson Study Bible, Albanian version 2009). In websites and apps this version is accessed as "ALBB Albanian Bible." This text is copyright the Albanian Bible Society (ABS) although it is misleadingly labelled as public domain on various websites.
This translation was published by Botime Çabej MÇM. According to the version's foreword, the textual basis is the Textus Receptus but also makes use of Nestle-Aland's Novum Testamentum Graece for several passages. Lea Plumbi-Frenzcke translated it with the help of Biblical Greek scholars. The literary editing was done by Gjergj Zheji. The language is slightly Tosk and the proper names reflect that (Joani instead of Gjoni, etc.). The stated purpose of this translation was to make a faithful, word-for-word translation that is understandable for the Albanian people.[ citation needed ]
In 2000, Albanian linguist Vladimir Dervishi (1958-2010) produced a New Testament translation called the CHC (Christian Heritage College) Version and is based on Nestle-Aland's Novum Testamentum Graece with comparisons from the Textus Receptus.
In 2000, the Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released in Albanian (Shkrimet e Shenjta Përkthimi Bota e Re); [13] the entire New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in Albanian was released in 2005. [14] According to the JW website their Bible translations are translated from English.
In 2007, Shërbimi Informues Biblik (SHIB) produced a text of the New Testament reportedly based on the 1912 German Luther Bibel. It was translated into Albanian by Marcel Steiner and edited by Kujtim Drizari, and called Besëlidhja e Re, Zëri i Zotit. [15]
In 2007, the Albanian Interconfessional Bible Society (or "Shoqëria Biblike," a division of the United Bible Societies) produced a new translation of the New Testament based on The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition by the UBS. It was printed with a short concordance and names index. The Old Testament was then translated from the original Hebrew. As reflected in its title, Së bashku, which means altogether in Albanian, this is "the fruit of the co-operative work of all the Christian confessions present in Albania" i.e. Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox. In websites and apps this version is accessed as "AL Së bashku". The full Bible was completed in 2020, and published in 2022. This translation is true and faithful to the original languages, is clear and natural sounding and in modern standard Albanian, and is not theologically biased to any denominational interpretations. It is accepted across all the denominations. It is available in print and online in the YouVersion app and other platforms. It was published by the Interconfessional Bible Society of Albania also engages in reproducing the earliest known Albanian versions or portions of the Bible.[ citation needed ]
The BiblaPRO version ("Përkthimi i Ri i Biblës nga Origjinali", or "New Translation of the Bible from the Original") is currently in translation and seeks to fulfill three aims: 1) to be true and faithful to the original languages in both semantic and stylistic aspects; 2) to be as clear and flowing as possible within the boundaries of today's standard Albanian; and 3) to be faithful in the presentation of theological content and historical/cultural information. It will be offered in both an interlinear (the first of its kind in Albanian) and a standard reading version, in both print and electronic formats. [16]
Textus Receptus refers to the succession of printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's Novum Instrumentum omne (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denominations.
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As of September 2022 all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and smaller portions of the Bible have been translated into 1,248 other languages according to Wycliffe Global Alliance. Thus, at least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 3,589 languages.
The Albanian alphabet is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters:
The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) of the Bible is a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version. It was the first and remains the only officially authorised and recognised revision of the King James Version in Great Britain. The work was entrusted to over 50 scholars from various denominations in Great Britain. American scholars were invited to co-operate, by correspondence. Its New Testament was published in 1881, its Old Testament in 1885, and its Apocrypha in 1894. The best known of the translation committee members were Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort; their fiercest critics of that period were John William Burgon, George Washington Moon, and George Saintsbury.
Gjon Buzuku was an Albanian Catholic priest who wrote the first known printed book in Albanian. Commonly referred to as the Missal, this book is considered an important monument of Albanian studies, being the oldest source for studying the Albanian language.
The King James Only movement asserts the belief that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other translations of the Bible. Adherents of the King James Only movement, mostly members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Conservative Anabaptist, traditionalist Anglo-Catholics, Conservative Holiness Methodist and some Baptist churches, believe that the KJV needs no further improvements because it is the greatest English translation of the Bible which was ever published, and they also believe that all other English translations of the Bible which were published after the KJV was published are corrupt.
Partial Bible translations into languages of the English people can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into Old and Middle English. More than 100 complete translations into English have been written.
The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the NKJV relies on a recently published critical edition for the Old Testament, while opting to use the Textus Receptus for the New Testament.
Novum Testamentum Graece is a critical edition of the New Testament in its original Koine Greek, forming the basis of most modern Bible translations and biblical criticism. It is also known as the Nestle–Aland edition after its most influential editors, Eberhard Nestle and Kurt Aland. The text, edited by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research, is currently in its 28th edition, abbreviated NA28.
Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener was a New Testament textual critic and a member of the English New Testament Revision Committee which produced the Revised Version of the Bible. He was prebendary of Exeter, and vicar of Hendon.
Several Spanish translations of the Bible have been made since approximately 700 years ago.
There are two main translations of the Bible into Japanese widely in use today—the New Interconfessional Version and the New Japanese Bible. New Interconfessional Translation Version is published by the Japan Bible Society and the New Japanese Bible is published by Inochinokotoba-sha. The New Japanese Version aims to be used as a literal translation using modern Japanese while the New Interconfessional Version aims to be ecumenically used by all Christian denominations and must therefore conform to various theologies. Protestant Evangelicals most often use the New Japanese Version, but the New Interconfessional Version is the most widely distributed and the one used by the Catholic Church, the United Church of Christ, Lutheran Church factions and many Anglicans in Japan.
Novum Instrumentum omne was the first published New Testament in Greek (1516). It was prepared by Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) and printed by Johann Froben (1460–1527) of Basel. Although the first printed Greek New Testament was the Complutensian Polyglot (1514), it was the second to be published (1516). Erasmus used several Greek manuscripts housed in Basel, but some verses in Revelation he translated from the Latin Vulgate.
Kostandin Nelko, known as Kostandin Kristoforidhi, was an Albanian translator and scholar. He is mostly known for having translated the New Testament into Albanian for the first time in the Gheg Albanian dialect in 1872. He also provided a translation in Tosk Albanian in 1879 thereby improving the 1823 tosk version of Vangjel Meksi. By providing translation in both dialects, he has the merit of founding the basis of the unification of both dialects into a national language.
Although the biblical themes have been an essential formative substance of the Portuguese culture, composition in that language of a complete translation of the Bible is quite late when compared with other European languages. The beginnings of the written transmission of the sacred text in Portuguese, parallel to its traditional liturgical use in Latin, are related to the progressive social acceptance of the vernacular as a language of culture in the low-medieval period. And even though the official language of the Portuguese monarchy dates back to the end of the thirteenth century, during the reign of D. Dinis, the writer Carolina Michaëlis de Vasconcelos (1851-1925), for example, was able to state categorically that, in the medieval period, "Portuguese literature, in matters of biblical translations, is a poverty Desperate "- a judgment that remains valid, experts say.
Bible translations in Norway date back to the late 13th century. Since the first spread of Christianity in Norway, numerous translations of the Bible have been published. Translations have appeared in several of the official languages that Norway has had throughout its history, including editions in Old Norse, Danish, and both current standard forms Nynorsk and Bokmål.
Textual criticism of the New Testament is the identification of textual variants, or different versions of the New Testament, whose goals include identification of transcription errors, analysis of versions, and attempts to reconstruct the original text. Its main focus is studying the textual variants in the New Testament.
Constantine of Berat, known among Albanians as Kostandin Jermonak Berati or shortly Kostë Berati, was an Albanian writer and translator of the 18th century.
The Abetare is a children's textbook written in the Albanian language. It was created to help teach the basic language to children and young adults throughout Albania and the surrounding region where Albanians live. Abetare has played a significant role in the history of Albanian education and laid the groundwork for literary Albanian which helped raise the national consciousness for future generations. By learning to read and write, young Albanians were introduced to the history and culture of their homeland.