BIBLE. 
r 4 
die a ted to Hercules d’Efl duke of Ferrara. This verfion 
is very ancient, and was probably in ufe among the Jews 
ot Spain before Ferdinand and Ifabella expelled them out 
ot their dominions in the year 1492". 
• German Bibles. The molt ancient tranflationof the 
Bible into the German, is that of Ulphilas billtop of the 
Goths about the year 360. This bilhop left out the Book, 
of Kings, which treats chiefly of .war, left it lhould too 
much encourage, the martial humour of the Goths. An 
niipeitedt manufeript of this verfion was found in the ab¬ 
bey of Verden near Cologne, written in letters of filver, 
tor which teafon it is called Codex Argenteus ; and it was 
publifiied by Francis Junius in 1665. The oldefi Ger¬ 
man printed Bible extant is that of Nuremberg, printed in 
1447 i but who the author of it was is uncertain. John 
Lmzer, chaplain to George duke of Saxony, publifiied a 
verfion of the New Teflament in oppofition to Luther. 
There is a German Bible of John Eckius in 1537, with 
Emzer’s New Teflrinent added to it ; and one by Uleni- 
bergius of Weftphalia, procured by Ferdinand duke of 
Bavaria, and printed in 1630. Martin Luther having em¬ 
ployed eleven years in tranfiating the Old and New Tefla¬ 
ment, publifiied the Pentateuch in 1522, the lliflorical 
Books and the Pfalms in 1524, the Books of Solomon in 
1527, Ifaiah in 1529, the Prophets in 1531, and the other 
books in 1530 : lie publifiied the New Teflament in 1522. 
The learned agree, that his language is pure, and the 
verfion clear and free from intricacies : it was reviled by 
federal perfons of quality, who were mailers of all the 
delicacies-of the German language. The German Bibles 
which have been printed in Saxony, Switzerland, and elfe- 
where, are for the moft part the fame as that of Luther, 
with very little variation. In 1604 John Pifcator pub- 
liflied a verfion of the Bible in German, taken from that of 
Junius and Tremellius : but his turn of expreflionis purely 
Latin, and not at all agreeable to the genius of the Ger¬ 
man language : the anabaptifts have a German Bible 
printed at Worms in 1529. John Crellius publifiied his 
Verfion of the New Teflament at Racovia in 1630; and 
Felbinger his at Anifterdam in the year 1660. 
Flemish Bibi.es. The Fle'mifli Bibles of the Roman- 
ifis are very numerous, and for the moft part have no 
-author’s name prefixed to them, till that of Nicholas Vinck, 
printed at Louvain in 1548. The Flemifh verlions made 
ufe of by the Calvinifts till the year 1637, were copied 
principally from that of Luther. But the fynod of Doit 
having in 1618 appointed a new tranflation of the Bible 
into Flemifh, deputies were named for the work, which 
was not finiflied till 1637. 
Danish Bibles. The fir ft Bible in the Danifii lan¬ 
guage, was publifiied by Peter Palladius, Olaus Clirylo- 
iloin, John Synningius, and John Maccabasus, in 1350, in 
which they followed Luther’s firft German verfion. There 
are two other verlions, the one by John Paul Refenius 
billiop of Zealand, in 1605 ; the other, being the New 
Teflament only, by John Michel, in the year 1524. 
Swedish Bibles. In 1534 Olaus and Laurence pub- 
lifiied a Swedilh Bible from tlie German verfion of Martin 
■Luther. It was revifed in 1617, by order of king Guf- 
tavus Adolphus, and was afterwards almoft universally 
adopted. 
Bohemian, Polish, Russian or Muscovite, and 
'Sc lavonian, Bibles. The Bohemians have a Bible 
tranllated by eight of their doctors, whom they had fent 
to the fchools of Wirtenfiberg and Bafil on purpofe to 
-ftudy the original languages. It was printed in Moravia 
in the year 1339. The firft Polifh verfion of the Bible, it 
is faid, was that compoled by Hadeivich wife of Jagellon 
duke of Lithuania, who embraced Chriftianity in the year 
1390. In 1399 there was a Polifh tranflation of the Bible 
publifiied at Cracow, which was the work of feveral di¬ 
vines of that nation, and in which James Wick, a jefuit, 
had a principal fliare. The proteftants, in 1396, publifiied 
a Polifh Bible from Luther’s German verfion, and dedi¬ 
cated it to Uladillaus IV. king of Poland. The Ruffians 
or Mufcovites publifiied the Bible in their language in 
1381. It was tranllated from the Greek by St. Cyril, the 
apoftle of the Sclavonians; but this old verfion being too 
obfeure, Ernefi Gliik, who had been carried prifoner to 
M.pl'cow after the taking of Narva, undertook a new tran¬ 
flation of the Bible in Sclavonian ; who dying in 1703, the 
czar Peter appointed forge particular divines to finilh the 
tranflation ; but whether it was ever printed, is uncertain. 
Eng lish-Saxon Bibles. On an inquiry into the ver- 
fions of the Bible of our own country, it has appeared, that 
Adelm bifhop of Sliireborn, who lived in 709, made an 
Englifli-Saxon verfion of the Pfalms ; and that Eadfrid, 
or Ecbert, bifliop of Lindisferne, who lived about the 
year 730, tranflated feveral of the books of Scripture into 
the lame language. It is laid, likewife, that venerable 
Bede, who died in 785, tranflated the whole Bible into 
Saxon. But Cuthbert, Bede’s dilciple, in the enumera¬ 
tion of bis mafter’s works, (peaks only of his Tranflation of 
the Gofpel; and fays nothing of the reft of the Bible. 
Some pretend, that king Alfred, who lived in S90, tranf- 
lated a great part of the Scriptures. We find an old ver¬ 
fion in the Anglo-Saxon of feveral books of the Bible, 
made by Elfric abbot of Malmfbury : it was publifiied at 
Oxford in 1699. There is an old Anglo-Saxon verfion of 
the four Gofpels, publifiied by Matthew Parker archbilhop 
of Canterbury in 1571, but the author is unknown. Dr. 
Mili obferves, that this verfion was made from a Latin 
copy of the old Vulgate. 
Saxon Bibles. There are writers who aflert, that 
the whole Scripture was tranflated into the Anglo-Saxon 
by Bede about the year 701, though others contend he 
only tranflated the Gofpels. We have certain books or 
parts of the Bible by feveral other tranflators ; as, 1. The 
Pfalms, by Adelm bilhop of Sliireborn, contemporary 
with Bede ; though by others this verfion is attributed to 
king Alfred, who lived 200 years after. Another verfion 
of the Pfalms in Anglo-Saxon, was publifiied by Spelman 
in 1640. 2. The Evangelifts, (till extant, done from the 
ancient Vulgate, before it was revifed by St. Jerom, by an 
author unknown, and publifiied by Matthew Parker 1571. 
An old Saxon verfion of feveral books of the Bible, made 
by Elfric abbot of Malmelbury, feveral fragments of which 
were publifiied by William Lilly in 1638, the genuine copy 
by Edmund Thwaites in i6goj at Oxford. 
Indian Bible. In 1683, a tranflation of the Bible 
into the North American Indian language was publifiied 
in 4to at Cambridge by Elliot. 
English Bibles. The firft Englifh Bible we read of 
was that tranflated by J. Wickliffe about the year 1360 ; 
but never printed, though there are manufeript copies of 
it in feveral of the public libraries. J. de Trevifa, who 
died about the year 1398, is alfo faid to have tranllated the 
whole Bible ; but whether any copies of it are remaining, 
does not appear. The firft printed Bible in our language 
was that tranflated by William Tindal, affifted by Miles 
Coverdale, printed abroad in 1326 ; but moft of the copies 
were bought up and burnt'by bilhop Tunftal and Sir Tho¬ 
mas More. It only contained the New Teflament, and 
was revifed and republiftied by the fame perfon in 1330. 
The prologues and prefaces added to it reflect on the bi- 
fliops and clergy; but this edition was alfo fupprefied, 
and the copies burnt. In 1532, Tindal and his aflbeiates 
finiflied the whole Bible, except the Apocrypha, and 
printed it abroad ; but, while he was afterwards preparing 
for a fecond edition, he was taken up and burnt for herefy 
in Flanders. On Tindal’s death, his work was carried on 
by Coverdale, and John Rogers fuperintendant of an Eng. 
liHi church in Germany, and the firft martyr in the reign- 
of queen Mary, who tranflated the Apocrypha, and re¬ 
vifed Tindal’s tranflation, comparing it with the Hebrew, 
Greek, Latin, and German, and adding prefaces and notes 
from Luther’s Bible. He dedicated the whole to Henry 
VIII. in 1337, under the borrowed name of Thomas Mat¬ 
thews ; whence this has been ufually called Matthews ' 1 s 
Bible. It was printed at Hamburgh, and licence obtained 
