Slavonic Versions. Under this head we shall have to speak of difi'erent versions, all belonging to one and the same family. The oldest of; these is —
1. The Slavonic Version, which was executed during the 9th century by Cyril (q. v.) and Methodius (q. v.), the first missionaries to the Slavonians, and who, con- trary to the course pursued by Xavier, but anticipating the labors of modern and Protestant missions and Bible societies, conferred on that half-savage nation the ines- timable blessing of a valuable translation of the Bible.
SLAVONIC VERSIOXS
804
SLAVONIC VERSIONS
The first portion of the Slavonic version which was printed was tlie Psalter, publishetl in 1-191 at Cracow, Poland, and reprinted in 1495 in Montenegro. The four gospels were printed in 1512 at Ugrovallacliia, which edition was followed by another in 1552 at Bel- grade, and a tliird, in Montenegro, in 15(52. In 1581 the first edition of tlie Slavonic Bible was published at Ostrog. a number of (ireek MSS. having been used for this edition. In ItJoS a second edition of the Bi- ble was published at Moscow. In 1712 the czar Pe- ter the (ireat issued a ukase ordering the printed Sla- vonic text to be carefully compared with the Greek of the Sept.. and rendered in every respect conformable to it. The revision was not completed till the year 1723, having occupied nearly twelve years. In the following year Peter the Great ordered the revised copy to be put to press, but his death in that year greatly retarded the progress of its ])ublication. Besides the death of the czar, other obstacles occasioned still further delay, and it was not till 1751 that this revised edition was pulilislied in a ponderous folio form, contain- ing, besides tlie text, long and elaborate prefaces, with tables of contents and other useful additions. This edi- tion, which served as the basis of all subsequent ones, has often been printed by the Kussian Bible Society; and up to the year IS it! ncjt fewer than twenty-one editions of the whole Bible, besides many others of the New Test., were put into circulation. According to the last report (1878) of the British and Foreign Bible Society, about 24(5,418 copies of the Bible have been dis- tributed. Owing to the comparatively late date of this version, it has no claim as a critical autliority. Of late, parts of the Xew Test, have been published based on the oldest manuscript text, as Ostromirovo Evangelie, edited after a MS. of 1(15(5 by Yostokov (St. Petersburg, 1843) ; Eranf/eliiim Afatt/ui-i Palwodovenice, e codd. ed. Fr. Miklo'sich (Viudob. 18.iG) ; I\Iark i-x, by the same, in Altslovenische Formenkhre (ibid. 1874); John, by Leskien, in Ilamlbuch der altbiihiarischen Sprache (Weimar, 1871). See the Introdi(dii>iis by Hug, Eich- horn, Kaulen, Scholz; the art. ".Slavonic Version" in Kitto's Cudop. and Smith's Did. of Ihe Bible; David- son, Biblical Cri/iri.<i7), p. 238 sq. ; Kohl, Introductio in Hilt, et Rem Lilt. Slavoriun ; Dobrowslvv, Slarin : Bei- trage zur Kenntniss der slavischen Lileriitur (Prague, 1808) ; The Bible of Every Land, p. 292 sq. ; Dalton, Lias Oebet des f/errn in den Spruchen Russlands, p. 37 sq.
2. Russian Version {i\. v.).
3. Polish Version. — A translation of the Scriptures into Polish is said to have been made prior to 1390 by order of queen Hedwig, the first wife of .Jagello. Since the middle of the 16th century no fewer than six differ- ent versions have been executed. The first in order of time was a translation of the New Test., made by Sek- lucyan, a Lutheran, and a competent Greek scholar. It was i)rinted at Konigsberg in 1551. and was thrice re- printed iK'fore 1555. The first version of the entire Old Test, appeared at Cracow in 15(51. It was translated from the Vidg. by Leonard, and reprinted in 1575 under the title Biblia, to jest Ksiet;i Stareip y iXower/o Zakomi, na Polski jezyk, etc.; w Krakowie. w druk. Jlik. Szdrf- fenbergerA (1575, and again in 1.577). Although designed for Roman Catholics, it never received the sanction of the jjope, because many passages had been taken from the Bohemian Bible. It is known as the " Old Cra- cow Bible,"' anil coi)ies are now very rare. The New Test, of this version first appeared at Cracow in 155G, and in the course of time other translations were pub- lished. Thus in 15(53 the famous Radziwill Bible was published at Brzesc, under the title Biblia Sirieta, to jext, Ksiei/i Stareyn y iXoirez/o Zakonu, wlasnie z Zydow- skieyo, (jreckieyo, y Laliiiskieyo, mnro na Polski jezyk z pilnosria y vriirnie vylotoiie. This edition was exe- cuted from the original texts by an anonymous trans- lator for the Calvinists, and printed at the expense of prince Uadziwill; but his son, who became a Roman Catholic, carefully bought up all the coiiies he could
find and burned them. In 1570 the Socinian Bible, translated from the original texts by Budny, a Unita- rian clergyman, was published at Nieswicz, in Lithuania, and was reprinted at the same place in 1572. Only three copies are said to be extant. The authorized Po- lish Bible was first printed in Cracow in 1599, with the title Biblia, to jest Ksieiji Sturego y Nowego testatnento ; przez D. .lak. Woyka, w Krakowie, w druk. Lfizarzo- wey (1599, fol.). This edition, having been designed for Roman Catholics, was sanctioned by Clement VIII. The translation is accounted one of the best of European versions of the Vulg., the language being pure and clas- sical, though in some places slightly antiquated. It was executed by the Jesuit Jacob Wuyck. At present a copy of this edition is sold at Leipsic for 360 marks, or about iij90. Two other editions followed in 1740 and 1771. In 1632 the Dantzic Bible, translated by Paliu- rus, Wengierscius, and Micolaievius, from the original texts, was sent forth by the Reformed Church at Dant- zic, under the title Biblia Sacra, to jest Ksifgi Starego y Nowego Przymierzu z Zydoviskiego y Greckiego jezyka na Polski piliiie y wiernie przetlumaczone ; we Gdansku w druk. Andrzeja Hunefelda. This Bible had passed through many editions before the British and Foreign Bible Society commenced its operations. In 1808 the Berlin Bible Society projected an edition of the Polish Scriptures. The text selected was that of the Dantzic edition. In 1813 the St, Petersburg Bible Society com- menced an edition of the New Test, from the text of Jacob Wuyck. Other editions from both of the above texts were issued by the Berlin society with the aid of the British and Foreign Bible Society, which are at present in circulation. According to the latest report (1878) of the latter society, a revision committee is en- gaged to prepare a translation of the New Test, from the original, the work to be completed in three years.