5. Amongst the various sects various transla- tions circulated, each after a time preferring its own. Thus the Lutherans, who had used Lies- veldt’s Bible, in 1558 adopted one based on a Magdeburg edition, and the 1558 edition was many times revised and reprinted. The Memnonites used an edition of the Bible published by Viestkens in 1560, and of the New Testament published in 1562. A few years earlier the Reformed Churches acquired a translation printed at Emden in 1556. This was
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the work of Jan Gheylliart. In the earlier half of the Bible, down to and including Job, he used the text of Liesveldt, revised by the help of the Ziirich edition of 1548-9; the rest of the Bible was a translation of this Ziirich text. A separate edition of the New Testament was published in 1556, and this was many times revised. A few years later, in 1562, a translation based on Luther’s version was adopted, the so-called Dewa 4s or Eulenspiegel Bible. The Remonstrants for a long time used the version made by order of the States General, and first published in 1637. This sect was opposed to the views of those who took part in the transla- tion just mentioned, but after careful examination they were so satisfied as to its accuracy that they adopted it, and have used the Old Testament ever since. A version of the New Testament was made for their use by Christian Hartsoeker, an Arminian minister; but, although it professes to be a new translation, it follows in the main the version hitherto used.
6. The first attempt to revise the existing Dutch version by use of the original texts seems to have been made by W. Baudartius of Ziitphen, who in 1614 produced such a revised text, with the help of various scholars and earlier editions. Any such individual or private attempts were dwarfed by the combined effort in the same direction made by the States General, which resulted in the edition of 1637, to which reference has been already made. The necessity of procuring an improved version based on the original texts was generally recog- nized some time before any steps were taken to deal with the need. In 1594 the States General determined on undertaking such a work, and en- trusted it in the first instance to Philip Marnix. The matter was discussed at several sittings of the Synod of Dort in 1618-9, but it was not till ten years later that the work was begun by six translators and eight revisers for the Old Testament and the same number for the New, the scholars being selected by the Synod, and paid by the States General. The translation was finished in 1632, and the revision in 1635. The first edition was printed in 1636, and published at Leyden in the following year. In the next thirty years many editions appeared at different places, and with slight revisions and changes in ortho- eraphy (such as the unsuccessful revision contained in the edition of Henry Cats of 1834) it has been adopted up to the present day.
7, About the middle of last century (1848) an attempt was made to combine the various Pro- testant sects in the work of revision, and members of various theological faculties were entrusted with the task; but jealousy and distrust prevented a successful completion of the plan, and when the New Testament was ready in 1866 it was not welcomed. The work on the Old Testament, after an abrupt cessation, was resumed in 1884, and its publication at Leyden began in 1897.
8. The only modern translation not based on the edition of 1637 which need be mentioned is that of Professor Van der Palm of Leyden, published in 1825. This enjoyed great popularity during the thirty years after its publication, but was never adopted in churches.
LIreRATURN, — Isaac le Long, Boekzaal der nederduitsche Bybels, 1732; Bagster, Bible of Every Land; Nestle, Urteat und Uebersetzungen, p. 179 ff., and literature there mentioned.
vii. DANISH (AND NORWEGIAN) VERSIONS.—1. The earliest translation of the Bible into Danish is found in a 15th cent. MS now at Copenhagen. This contains the OT as far as 2 Kings, and is based on the Vulgate, which it follows very closely. The MS has been edited by Molbech at Copen- hagen in 1828. The version belongs to the 15th or
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possibly the 14th century. This appears to be the only MS containing any large section of the Bible which has survived of the many which, according to the statement of Hvitfeldt (died 1609) in his Danish Chronicle, were to be found in the mon- astic libraries in his time. Of the Psalter there are several MSS of about the same date, and fragments of Biblical translations are also to be met with.
2. At the time of the Reformation, Denmark was the earliest of the Scandinavian kingdoms to pos- sess a complete version of its own in the vernacular. The king, Christian 11., entrusted the work of translation to his secretary, John Michaelis,— or Hans Mikkelsen,—who had heard Luther at Wittenberg. The NT appeared at Leipzig in 1524, and was reprinted at Antwerp in 1529. The translation of the Gospels was based on the Latin version of Erasmus, and the rest of the NT follows very closely Luther’s German translation. The language into which Mikkelsen translated was not pure Danish, but a mixture of Danish and Swedish, and the work was not very well received.