Spanish translations of the Bible
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It is practically impossible to mention all the Spanish translations of the Bible.
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[edit] Jewish translations
Medieval Spanish Jews had a tradition of oral translation of Biblical readings into Spanish, and several manuscript translations were made, either for Jewish use or for Christian patrons. However, restrictions were placed on the private ownership of Spanish translations of the Bible, partly as a measure against Protestantism and partly for fear that crypto-Jews would use them as a resource for learning Jewish practices.
Following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the refugees took these versions with them. In 1553 a printed version, known as the Ferrara Bible, was made in Latin characters for Duke Ercole II d'Este of Ferrara. In Constantinople and Salonica Bibles were printed in Hebrew, flanked by translations into Ladino and Judaeo-Greek in Hebrew characters, for the use of the Sephardi Jews. Some later prints contained the Ladino text alone.
[edit] Reina-Valera translation
The classic Spanish translation of the Bible is that of Casiodoro de Reina, revised by Cipriano de Valera. It was for the use of the incipient Protestant movement and is widely regarded as the Spanish equivalent of the Authorised Version.
The first whole Bible in Spanish was printed in Basel in 1569, authored by Casiodoro de Reina, although some think that this Bible was a collective effort of some monks of the San Isidoro community in Spain, who, led by Casiodoro de Reyna, escaped Inquisition and persecution. This was the first version of the complete Bible in Spanish (including Apocrypha), and is known as "Biblia del Oso" because of the honey-eating bear on its title page. [1] Reina presented the University of Basel with some volumes, one of them with Reina's dedicatory and signature.
For the Old Testament, the work was possibly based on the Ferrara Bible (printed 1553), with comparisons to the Masoretic Text and the Vetus Latina. The New Testament probably derives from the Textus Receptus of Erasmus with comparisons to the Vetus Latina and Syriac manuscripts. It is possible that Reina also used the New Testament versions that had been translated first by Francisco de Enzinas (printed in Antwerp 1543) and by Juan Pérez de Pineda (published in Geneva 1556, followed by the Psalms 1562). After the publication of the whole Bible by Reina, there was a version from Cipriano de Valera (printed in London 1596) which became part of the first Reina-Valera print (Amsterdam 1602).
This edition of the Reina-Valera Bible has been revised in the 19th and 20th century (1862, 1865, 1909, 1960, 1995). The discussion on these revisions especially concerning the 1960 version resulted in the "Monterrey Revision Project" aiming at a revision of the original version of 1602 according the so-called Textus Receptus.
From bibleresourcecenter.com: This widely used revision of the Spanish Bible, prepared by a group of Latin-American Scholars, is a revision of the sixteen-century translation made by Casiodoro de Reina and revised by Cipriano de Valera in 1602. There have been many other revisions to the Reina Valera including the one of 1862, 1909, and most recently, the 1995 revision. Originally translated from the Hebrew texts and the Greek manuscripts of both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, many believe that it maintains fidelity to these texts and to the elevated linguistic and literacy style of its original Castilian translation while evolving with the changes in Spanish language. This has made this revision a classic and most acclaimed Bible among millions of people in Spanish speaking countries around the world.
Editions are as follows:
[edit] Reina Valera Antigua
From biblegateway.com: The Reina-Valera Antigua was first translated and published in 1569 by Casiodoro de Reina, after twelve years of intensive work, and later put out in 1602 in revised form by Cipriano de Valera, who gave more than twenty years of his life to its revision and improvement.
[edit] Version by Cipriano de Valera 1602
[edit] Reina Valera 1862
[edit] Version by Cipriano de Valera 1865
The 1865 Valera Bible is actually a minor revision of the original Spanish Bible printed by Doctors Casiodoro de Reina (1569) and Cipriano de Valera (1602). For the most part the revision was limited to typography, orthography and minor textual corrections. The textual corrections were made by Dr. Angel de Mora of Spain, in conjunction with Dr. H. B. Pratt of Bogota, Colombia. The revision was commissioned by the American Bible Society. The original Valera Bible is the only Spanish Bible that was produced in Europe during the time of the Protestant Reformation and was subsequently banned and burned by the Catholic Church.
[edit] Reina Valera 1909
[edit] Reina Valera 1960
The queen of all queens, the Reina-Valera, a unique translation in its class.
In the history of Bible translations in Spanish, this is the one that has won the heart of several generations: Reina-Valera, a classic among the classics.
Characteristics and benefits • The Reina-Valera 1960 version is unique in its class, for its faithfulness to the basic biblical text and for having retained the beauty and elegance of style that characterized the original translation. • The revision of the basic biblical text can be grouped into four categories: 1. Spelling: Especially the elimination of obsolete accents and the simplification in the writing of proper names. 2. Terms that are unknown or that could be interpreted erroneously, of which there were an abundance due to the radical changes in the Spanish language over the years. 3. Grammatical construction that showed little elegance, that confused the reader and made the public reading of Scriptures more difficult. 4. Inadequate exegesis of certain passages.
• The queen of all queens has exercised a very significant influence in the growth of the Spanish-speaking evangelical church around the world. • Several generations of evangelical Christians have come to know God through this incomparable version and have enjoyed reading its pages. • All this has enabled the Reina-Valera to become a classic translation and the preferred Bible text of millions of readers in the Spanish-speaking world.
Positioning For the evangelical church and especially for use in their worship.
For more information about this version, please visit www.labibliaweb.com
[edit] Reina Valera 1995
Always the jewel, now more brilliant than ever. Considered a classic of the Spanish language, the Reina-Valera revision has become the one most often used in the Spanish-American protestant world. Its language forms part of the speech of evangelical Christians, who have memorized phrases, verses and entire passages. Toward the end of the twentieth century, motivated by the changes and advances in grammar, lexicon and style of the language, the United Bible Societies did a revision of the Bible text, maintaining the clarity, authority, literary beauty and faithfulness to the manuscripts used by Casiodoro de Reina and Cipriano de Valera. Its various stages of research, review and production have been in the hands of prominent and veteran biblical scholars and specialists in the field, who have watched over the Bible text with zeal, good taste and precision. This revision is known as Reina-Valera 95.
The dynamic nature of the language means that words that are much used and well known at one moment, cease to be used and even sometimes acquire new meanings. Therefore words have been eliminated or substituted in the case of those that today are unknown by the majority of people, the same as others that might, for phonetic reasons, lend themselves to mistaken interpretation. In its pages, poetry and narration acquire a refreshing beauty and its message is easier to understand. The presence of dialogs and quotes has been improved, and contemporary practices in spelling have been incorporated.
The Bible, the most widely-read book in the world, is brought up to date so that its current and immutable message might remain clear for the new generations. The revised Reina-Valera 95, combines both classic and modern style, gives greater brilliance to a jewel profoundly appreciated by Christians. Characteristics and benefits 1. Lexical issues • All the changes were made within the strictest faithfulness to the source texts and are limited to those cases in which the translation of Reina-Valera was confusing or difficult to understand. • Words that are no longer used have been replaced. Examples: RVR 1960 RVR 95 «arquilla de juncos» «canasta» «áspid» «víbora» «grosura» «grasa» «saeta» «flecha» «sajarse» «hacerse incisiones» • The word «Jehová» is kept where it is proper, to designate God’s name in the Old Testament. This has been one of the distinctive elements of the Reina-Valera throughout its history. • It keeps the term «Verbo» in the texts corresponding to John’s authorship. 2. Spelling • Punctuation: Use of the comma Without changing in any way the meaning of the text, the excessive use of commas has been eliminated in very long paragraphs, in which the phrases were separated only with commas. This helps the reading to be more fluid and gives clarity to the text.
• Capital letters Some practical norms have been established so that the use of capital letters might be congruent throughout the Bible text.
3. Style • Paragraphs This revision has incorporated the division of the text into paragraphs. Thus the reader can immediately perceive where the Bible passages that are unified begin and end.
• Numbering of verses It is a characteristic of the Reina-Valera that the initiation of each verse be on a new line, at the left margin of the column, even when the former verse does not conclude with a period and end the paragraph. This breaks up the natural cadence of the text. In the Reina-Valera 95, by organizing the material in paragraphs to help in the comprehension of the text, the verses are presented in a consecutive manner if they belong to the same paragraph.
• Poetic texts The poetic structure remains intact where the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts require it, to facilitate reading and comprehension.
• Quotation marks In the Bible there are not only quotations; we also find quotations within quotations, even to the third level. For the purpose of facilitating the reading of these texts, the following system is used: Quotations of the first level are included within quotation marks known as Spanish or angular («»); the second level is indicated by regular or English quotation marks (" "); and the third, with singular marks (‘’).
• Dialogs The long dash is used to distinguish those who are speaking in a dialog, or to indicate the beginning of a discourse.
4. Questions of syntax (grammatical) • Modifications in the grammatical structure (syntax) are used to facilitate comprehension of the text, which have been incorporated without affecting the meaning of the text.
Positioning The Bible for evangelical churches and especially for use in public worship.
For further information on this version please visit: www.labibliaweb.com
[edit] Monterrey "1602 TR" Revision Project
El proyecto de revisión fue iniciado desde hace más de 15 años, publicado primeramente sólo el Nuevo Testamento y conocido como TR haciendo referencia al Textus Receptus. La dirección del proyecto a cargo de Guillermo Park, estuvo siempre bajo la sujeción de alguna iglesia local (primero en la zona metropolitana de Monterrey, Nuevo León y posteriormente en la ciudad de Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas). La edición completa con ambos testamentos se terminó en el 2007 y fue publicada al siguiente año primeramente por el ministerio independiente de El Sembrador de la Semilla Incorruptible, en los talleres de impresión de Bible & Literature Missionary Foundation, en Shelbyville-TN, Estados Unidos; llevando el título: "Santa Biblia Valera 1602 Purificada". Esta revisión restaurada de Cipriano De Valera 1602 fue hecha enteramente por hermanos de la iglesia local (bajo la justificación doctrinal del Real Sacerdocio del creyente) y no por las Sociedades Bíblicas, está basada en el texto Masorético Hebreo de Jacob ben Chajim ben Isaac Ibn Adonijah publicado por Daniel Bomberg Venecia, 1524 para el Antiguo Testamento y para el Nuevo Testamento según el Texto Recibido de Teodoro Beza, 1598. A pesar de que la publicación cuenta con copyright internacional, se permite su libre reimpresión siempre y cuando no se altere su contenido ni se haga con fines de lucro.
[edit] Modern Protestant or inter-denominational translations
[edit] Nueva Versión International (NVI)
[edit] Traducción en lenguaje actual
Clear message Dependable faithfulness
The United Bible Societies has taken into account the change that is evident in the language with the passing of time and has produced a Translation in current language, that retains the literary beauty adapted to the modern world. With this translation the reader will have a new alternative to approach the word of God in a fresh, creative and simple way. The translation has been done in such a way that its message is equivalent to the original text, but can be read aloud easily, and can be understood without problems.
The Translation in current language seeks to reach children, adolescents, youth and adults. This translation is also ideal for the vast adult population that has not had access to a formal secondary education, as well as for those to whom Spanish is their second tongue.
With the new Translation in current language, clear and contemporary, every member of the family, no matter what his age, will easily understand God’s message, awakening his interest so as to deepen his knowledge of the Scriptures.
Characteristics and benefits
1. Translation team – The team of translators and reviewers was composed of men and women from a variety of Christian confessions, from various regions of the Spanish-speaking world and from different disciplines. Besides the work done by this team, the text has been reviewed by Christian representatives of the different countries of the Spanish-speaking world.
2. Faithfulness - The Translation in current language retains faithfulness to the sense and the message of the biblical text. This translation is not an adaptation of any existing Spanish version on the market. It is a translation directly from the original languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, done in such a way that the reader can also catch the different emotional, devotional and spiritual aspects of the message, taking into account the new advances in modern linguistics and contemporary biblical exegesis.
3. Naturalness – Translation is normally considered as the task of decoding the language source and transcribing the content into the receptor language. In the Translation in current language, translation is conceived as communication. The receptor is the one who determines the translation, to a great extent. Only when pertinent adaptations and modifications are made the text is able to communicate something significant to the receptor. Some of the criteria taken into account in this translation are listed below:
a) Special attention has been given to the focus, the transition, the diverse situations in which the persons appear, the relation that exists between old and new information, the way in which a sentence is concluded and the following begun, changes in nouns and pronouns, distance between the subject and the predicate, the accent of the syllables, the rhythm of the grammatical constructions and the sounds of the syllables and the words.
b) The paragraph is given precedence over other minor units, so that in the construction of these, the chronological order of events is followed. To avoid long and complex sentences, without falling into a style that is «cut short» and childish, a simple and transparent structure is employed. As a general rule, sentences are limited to two or three clauses, and parenthetical clauses are avoided.
c) Explicit and implicit information has been taken into consideration. In some cases, to avoid unnecessary repetition, explicit information is left implicit. In other cases, implicit information is made explicit. This has been done when it is considered that the information is important for the reader or hearer to understand easily the total sense of the paragraph or the sentence.
d) Idiomatic expressions have been taken into account, as well as figures of speech and, in a good number of cases, the deeper significance of a text, whose proper sense can only be perceived through exegesis —known as «exegetical translation».
e) Figurative language has also been taken into consideration and, as far as possible, metaphors, similes and other figures of speech have been retained. Yet there are cases in which the translation has had to make some adjustments to avoid distortion in comprehension of the message.
4. Simplicity without puerility a) Affected or unnatural words – So as to avoid unnecessarily difficult words, two very important guidelines have been followed: • It is better to use a difficult word rather than employ an elaborate phrase or fall into the temptation glossing the text excessively. • When necessary to introduce a word of difficult meaning, some helps are provided in the contexts that enable the reader to understand the word.
b) Inclusive language – Without abusing the unavoidable historical, geographic and cultural «distances», neutral language is used when the context does not refer specifically to «men».
5. Footnotes – Footnotes are used to explain difficult terms and words that may not be clear while seeking to retain faithfulness to the original languages. The notes include, moreover, key cultural, geographic and historical matters important to the comprehension of the text. Notes are also used when there are important differences in the textual variants and in matters of textual criticism.
Positioning • For the new generations. • For evangelism. • For adults that prefer a Bible that is easy to read. • Clear message, dependable faithfulness.
For further information on this translation please visit: www.labibliaweb.com
[edit] La Biblia de Las Americas
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[edit] Dios habla hoy (1979)
Originally published in its entirety in 1979 by the ecumenical United Bible Society, the Version Popular is an interconfessional or ecumenical effort to communicate the word of God at a literary level understood by the Spanish speaking population at large. Its main translating principle for achieving a faithful sense of the Hebrew and Greek texts is to render the Hebrew and Greek texts in commonly used expressions and literacy forms. This methodology is known in translation science as functional equivalence. This version has been widely accepted by Christian communities and is officially approved by the Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM).
Dios habla hoy
Clear like spring water
The Bible, or some part of it, has been translated into more than 2,300 languages and hundreds of other translations continue to be done. The purpose is so that God’s message might reach all people with clarity, in all places, including all cultures and languages, so that God can continue speaking to humans in a language they can read and understand. Upon reading the Bible, many still find themselves in the situation in which, even though they read in their own language, there are terms, idiomatic expressions and gramatical constructions they do not easily comprehend. The Holy Scriptures are the product of a culture that is different from ours; the original language containing the narrations and poetry is not Spanish, in which we are accustomed to express our feelings; the customs and daily experiences presented differ greatly from ours of the 21st century. The United Bible Societies have completely dedicated themselves to the translation, production and distribution of God’s Word, and do everything they can so that this message might reach everyone; this is the reason that translations have been done for different audiences. Characteristics and benefits
1. The translation DIOS HABLA HOY was done directly from the original languages: Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, and, while seeking divine direction, they were done in the light of the best understanding of the biblical sciences.
2. This translation is targeted to everyone, with the simplicity of the Spanish language and for the purpose of helping the reader to effectively receive God’s message in a Latin American language that is easy to understand by the majority of current readers in Hispanic America.
3. The simplest structure. Whenever possible, the paragraphs have been structured in the shortest way, avoiding an excess of subordinate phrases. This makes reading and comprehension of the message easier.
4. Clearest sense. In other translations, there are many passages where some confusion exists, for in the desire to keep the text literal the sense of it is not always clear. Dios habla hoy, while staying faithful to the original texts, uses terms that are clearer to today’s reader, avoiding confusion in the interpretation. 5. Use of expressions native to the language. Every language has its idiomatic expressions, twists and catch phrases, which are difficult, if not impossible, to translate. The Bible languages are no exception. Therefore, at times it has been necessary to use other forms of expression to communicate the message in a clearer way to the Spanish-speaking reader.
6. Dios habla hoy is ideal for evangelistic programs.
Positioning
This Bible for evangelism and for the Catholic Church.
For further information on this translation please visit: www.labibliaweb.com
[edit] Roman Catholic translations
Official Catholic Bibles must carry a Vatican imprimatur to ensure they contain the entire canonical text identified by Pope Damasus and the Synod of Rome (382) and the local Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), contained in St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation (420), and decreed infallibly by the Ecumenical Council of Trent (1570).
Apparently the first official translation from the complete Catholic Bible was done by Nácar-Colunga (1944), followed by Bover-Cantera (1947) and Straubinger (1944-51).
Although there are several accepted versions, traditionally, the most widely accepted Catholic Bible is the "Biblia de Jerusalen". Its first Spanish translation was published in 1967 and was revised in 1973. It is also available in a modern Latin American version, and it comes with full introductory texts and comments.
Other popular versions include Biblia Latinoamericana (1972), Nueva Biblia Española (1975), Cantera-Iglesia (1975), Sagrada Biblia (1978), La Biblia (1992), Biblia del Peregrino (1993), and Biblia de América (1994) and La Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo (2006).
In recent years several ecumenical versions that carry the Deuterocanonical books, for example "Dios Habla Hoy" from the UBS, have been approved by the CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Council) for study purposes. Their acceptance, however, is limited and their use in liturgy avoided due to the inaccurate translations in key passages for Catholics like Luke 1,26-38, Luke 1,40-45, John 20,22-23 and John 21,15-17.
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