History of Bible translation

Eugene Nida divides the history of Bible translation into three ages: the Greco-Roman period, the Reformation and the modern period. The Greco-Roman period is from 200 BC to 700 AD and covers the ancient phase when the text was still young. The earliest translation was from Hebrew to Greek in the second century BC, known as the Greek Septuagint version. This became the basis for all future translations including into Latin. St. Jerome who translated the Bible into Latin in the 4th century AD, was a great influence not just in the case of Bible translation, but in translation as a whole. He advocated ‘sense for sense’ translation because he felt that was the best way to convey the message of the text. His Latin translation is called the Vulgate which became the source text for translations into many other languages. The Bible was also translated into other languages like Syriac,Arabic and Gothic during this period.

The Bible became an important text during the turbulent times of the Reformation in Europe which was around the 14th century. The Bible which was believed to be the exclusive privilege of the educated clergy began to have vernacular versions, thanks to the work of religious reformers who felt that even the common man had the right to the word of God. Issues of translation into different languages also got tied up with issues of nationality, as we have already seen in the case of England. This continued up to the 17^th-18^th centuries.