15. The German translations made in the interests of Roman Catholics have not been very numerous or very important. The earliest is a translation of the NT by Beringer, published at Spires in 1526. This was almost a reprint of Luther’s version. In the next year Emser, who has been mentioned as one of Luther’s first critics, published a NT at Dresden, which also differs very little from Luther’s save that glosses have been added in places, and the text of the Vulgate in some instances pre- ferred. Emser’s version has been many times re- printed. A few years later, in 1534, Dietenburger, a Dominican, printed a Bible at Mainz. In his translation he followed Luther in the OT, though he sometimes adopted the Vulgate rendering. The Apocrypha is a reproduction of the translation of Leo the Jew made for the Ziirich Bible. The NT closely follows Emser’s version. The version of J. Eck, Luther’s famous antagonist (Ingolstadt, 1537), was in the NT only a reproduction of Emser, but in the OT the pre-Lutheran translation was followed as arule. It does not seem to have been successful, and Nestle says of it that the ‘German is beneath criticism.’ In the 17th cent. the only Catholic version of importance is that of Ulenberg, based on the Sixtine edition of the Vulgate. This was published at Cologne (1630), and afterwards, as revised by the theologians of Mainz (Cologne, 1662), was known as the Catholic Bible. In the 18th cent. several translations appeared, that of Erhard (Augsburg, 1722) being perhaps the most often reprinted. At the end of the century appeared the work of Braun (Augsburg, 1788- 1805) in thirteen volumes. This was afterwards revised by Allioli (1830). These and other Roman Catholic versions kept the Vulgate mostly in view, but_a free rendering of the Greek of the NT was made by Brentano (1790). His translation of the OT from the Hebrew he did not complete himself, but his work was continued by others. The 19th cent. Roman Catholic versions are, like the earlier ones, based on the Vulgate, though the Hebrew and Greek texts are not neglected. The version of Kistemaker (1825) was the Roman Catholic version which was adopted by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
LITERATURE.—W. Walther, Die deutsche Bibeliibersetzung des Mittelalters, Brunswick, 1889; Nestle in Herzog’s RE3 iii. 61ff.,
where a full bibliography is given; Vigouroux, art. ‘ Allemandes Versions’ in Dictionnaire de la Bible.
vi. DutcH VERSIONS.—1. The earliest transla- tion of the substance of any part of the Bible into Dutch is to be found in metrical versions of the Biblical narrative ; but these do not represent literal translations of the text of Scripture.
2. Of literal translations of the whole or of parts of the Bible, Isaac le Long in his Boekzaal der
nederduitsche Bybels enumerates twenty-four MSS ; and to these Walther, in his work on the German The
translation (see p. 721 ff.), has added others.
CONTINENTAL VERSIONS
oldest MS, according to Walther, is a Vienna MS in two volumes (MSS 2771-2), which he assigns to the second half of the 14th century. Among other early MSS are a MS at Paris of the historical books of the OT, two MSS in the Bodleian Library, one (dated 1472) of the Gospels, and another of the Acts, St. Paul, and the Apocalypse. All these contain a version made from the Latin, probably about 1300, by a Fleming, for the benefit of those unlearned in that language. Such a translation, according to the unnamed translator, was desirable in spite of ‘the opinion of many clergy that the mysteries of the Bible should be kept from the ordinary man.’ To the translation are added ex- planations based mainly on the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor; but these are distinguished from the text by being written in a different char- acter. Moreover, some parts which it was thought undesirable to popularize (e.g. Dt 22) are left out, and for these the reader is referred to the ori- ginal Latin. The first edition of this translation, but without the Psalms and New Testament, was printed at Delft in 1477.
3. It was inevitable that Luther’s version should be translated very soon into Dutch, in spite of the opposition of the Inquisition and the edicts of Charles v., and an edition appeared at Antwerp in 1522, for which so much of this version as was avail- able was used. In 1525 and 1526 other editions appeared of the New Testament at Basle, and in 1525 the whole Old Testament was published at Antwerp in four small volumes, the Pentateuch and Psalms being based on Luther, the rest on the Delft Bible. The first complete Bible was printed at Antwerp by Jacob van Liesveldt, and in the second edition of 1532 Luther’s version of the Prophets was adopted as a basis. Several editions followed before 1546, when the printer was con- demned and put to death for unorthodox state- ments in the notes. Liesveldt’s Bible was revised by Vorsterman with the help of the Complutensian Polyglott.
4. It was only to be expected that efforts should be made by the Roman Catholics to secure a trans- lation for their own needs. Editions of the New Testament appeared in 1527 and in later years, a Latin-Dutch version in 1539, and finally in 1548 editions of the whole Bible were published at Cologne and at Louvain. The first was the work of a Carmelite, the second of a Canon of Louvain, Nicholas von Wingh. This last, which contained a vigorous preface dealing with the mistakes of Protestant Bibles, was approved by the Theological Faculty at Louvain, and published with the sanction of Charlesv. It has passed through many editions, was revised in 1599 after the Vulgate of 1592, and issued by the Plantin press at Antwerp, and has been many times reprinted. A later revision of this version dates from 1717, and is the work of Agidius Wit, a Ghent divine. This is in the idiom of Flanders and Brabant, and follows the Vulgate, though in certain parts the original texts have been used. In 1820 permission was given to circulate a translation without note or comment for the benefit of Roman Catholics, and the edition of 1599—the so-called Moerentorf Bible—was re- printed at Brussels in 1821, and to its circulation the British and Foreign Bible Society contributed.