Title page of John's gospel from Oddur Gottskálksson's 1540 translation of the New Testament into Icelandic

The history of

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

translations into Icelandic began with the country's conversion to Christianity around but efforts accelerated with the

Icelandic Reformation The Icelandic Reformation took place in the middle of the 16th century. Iceland was at this time a territory ruled by Denmark-Norway, and Lutheran religious reform was imposed on the Icelanders by King Christian III of Denmark. Resistance to t ...

in the mid-16th century. Since then, 11 complete translations of the Bible have been completed into Icelandic. Currently, the oversees translation and production of Icelandic-language Bibles with the most recent full translation completed in 2007.

Pre-Reformation

With the

Christianization of Iceland Iceland was Christianized in the year 1000 CE, when Christianity became the religion by law. In Icelandic, this event is known as the ''kristnitaka'' (literally, "the taking of Christianity"). The vast majority of the initial settlers of Icel ...

, so-called ''þýðingar helgar'' (weekend translations) were written in Old Norse/Old Icelandic to help explain the new religion and practices to the populace. These included religious interpretations alongside translations of Bible stories. The oldest Icelandic biblical texts date to when the

Old Icelandic Homily Book The Old Icelandic Homily Book (Stock. Perg. 4to no. 15), also known as the Stockholm Homily Book, is one of two main collections of Old West Norse sermons; the other being the Old Norwegian Homily Book (AM 619 4to), with which it shares eleven texts ...

, which compiled sermons, lessons, and prayers. During the following century, more systematic efforts were made to translate sections of the Bible, eventually being collected into the

Stjórn Stjórn is the name given to a collection of Old Norse translations of Old Testament historical material dating from the 14th century, which together cover Jewish history from Genesis through to II Kings. Despite the collective title, Stjórn is no ...

around 1350. By the early 16th century, the only Icelandic translation available was Catholic Bishop

Jón Arason Jón Arason (1484 – November 7, 1550) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic bishop and poet, who was executed in his struggle against the imposition of the Protestant Reformation in Iceland. Background Jón Arason was born in Gryta, educated at Mu ...

's translations of the

four Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

, although copies of this work have not survived.

Post-Reformation

When the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

reached Iceland in the mid-16th century, a full translation of the Bible into Icelandic was needed. This work began with a translation of the New Testament by

Oddur Gottskálksson Oddur Gottskálksson (1495/1496 – 1556) was the translator of the first book printed in Icelandic, the New Testament. Oddur was born in Hólar where his father, Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson was bishop. After his father died in 1520, Oddur ...

published in Roskilde in 1540 (tex
here
. Oddur's translation followed the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

with reference to

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

's 1552 German translation.

Guðbrandur Þorláksson Guðbrandur Þorláksson or Gudbrand Thorlakssøn ( – 20 July 1627) was bishop of Hólar from 8 April 1571 until his death. He was the longest-serving bishop in Iceland and is known for printing the '' Guðbrandsbiblía'', first complete Ice ...

, the Protestant bishop at Hólar, published the first complete translation, the

Guðbrandsbiblía The Guðbrand's Bible ( ; full title: ''Biblia þad er Øll heilog ritning, vtlögd a norrænu. Med formalum doct. Martini Lutheri. Prentad a Holum/Af Jone Jons Syne'') was the first translation of the full Bible into the Icelandic language. The ...

, in 1584. Guðbrandur's Old Testament translation was based on Luther's 1534 full German translation and

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

's 1550 Danish translation. The New Testament used Oddur’s translation with corrections. It is believed that Oddur translated the Psalms and

Gissur Einarsson Gissur Einarsson (c. 1512 – 24 March 1548; Modern Icelandic: ) was a bishop in Skálholt from 1540 to his death, and the first Lutheran bishop in Iceland. Gissur was the son of Einar Sigvaldason on Hraun í Landbroti and of Gunnhildur Jónsd� ...

translated the

Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs ( he, מִשְלֵי, , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different ...

and

Book of Sirach The Book of Sirach () or Ecclesiasticus (; abbreviated Ecclus.) is a Jewish work, originally in Hebrew, of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 BC, written by the Judahite scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his f ...

. It is possible Guðbrandur himself translated other books of the Old Testament. Afterwards, a number of other translations followed, such the 1644 ' overseen by Bishop Þorlákur Skúlason and printer Halldór Ásmundsson in Hólar and the 1747 '' Waysenhússbiblía'' printed by

Det Kongelige Vajsenhus (The Royal Orphanage) is a private primary school in Copenhagen in Denmark. The school has around 300 students and 25 teachers. The school has the right to print ''Den Danske Salmebog'' (The Danish Psalmbook). The school was originally a combined ...

in Copenhagen. In 1813, in the same city, the British Bible Society published the ' (or ''Hendersonsbiblía''), just two years before the founding of the Icelandic Bible Society by the British Bible Society's

Ebenezer Henderson Ebenezer Henderson (17 November 178417 May 1858) was a Scotland, Scottish minister and missionary. He spent the early part of his life in Scandinavia, was an accomplished linguist and translator. Life Born at the Linn near Dunfermline, Henders ...

. A new translation, the ', was released in 1841 and revised in 1863 by

Pétur Pétursson Guðlaugur ''Pétur'' Pétursson (born 27 June 1959 in Akranes) is a retired Icelandic footballer who was active as a forward. Club career Pétur made his professional debut at ÍA and also played for Feyenoord Rotterdam, RSC Anderlecht (35 ...

and Sigurður Melsteð, who compared it with the Greek and Hebrew originals and with the Norwegian, Danish, English and French versions. This edition (just the New Testament and Psalms) was edited by

Eiríkur Magnússon Eiríkr or Eiríkur Magnússon (1 February 1833 – 24 January 1913) was an Icelandic scholar at the University of Cambridge, who taught Old Norse to William Morris, translated numerous Icelandic sagas into English in collaboration with him, and ...

and reprinted in 1866 in two editions: a single volume with the New Testament and Psalms and a set with the full Old and New Testaments. Both the 1863 and 1866 editions were printed by the British Bible Society at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. These translations were used for the 1903 illustrated New Testament of the

Scripture Gift Mission Lifewords (formerly Scripture Gift Mission) is a Christian mission based in London, but with offices worldwide. It exists to promote the positive influence of the Bible on everyday life. This has been done traditionally through literature distribu ...

(

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Akureyri Akureyri (, locally ) is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's fifth-largest municipality, after Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður, Reykjanesbær and Kópavogur, and the largest town outside Iceland's more populated southwest corner. Nicknamed ...

). By 1906, the British Bible Society was printing in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

a new New Testament translation based on the original texts by and, in 1908, the entire Bible. The current publisher of the Icelandic Bible is the Icelandic Bible Society, which was founded on 10 July 1815 with the goal of making the Bible widely available and accessible in Iceland. In 1859 it printed the so-called ', essentially the ''Viðeyjarbiblía'' from 18 years earlier. By 1899, the society was printing the Old Testament translations of Þórir Kr. Þórðarson, which were used into the early 21st century. The latest full translation, a new complete translation by Guðrún Guðlaugsdóttir, was published in 2007.

List of translations

In total, 11 Icelandic versions of the Bible have been published with revisions made with each new version. Translations of the full Bible: *

, Hólum, Norway 1584 * , Hólum 1637–1644 * , Hólum 1728 (1734) * Waysenhússbiblía, Copenhagen 1747 * , (Hendersonsbiblía), Copenhagen 1813 * , Viðey 1841 * , Reykjavík 1859 * , London 1866 * , 1908-1912 Reykjavík (reprinted) * , Reykjavík 1981 * , Reykjavík 2007 New Testament translations include: * Nýja testamenti Odds Gottskálkssonar Roskilde, Denmark 1540 * Nýja testamenti Guðbrands, Hólum, Norway 1609 * Waysenhúss-Nýja testamenti, Copenhagen 1746 and 1750 * Nýja testamenti, Copenhagen 1807 * Nýja testamentið, Viðey 1825 and 1827 * Nýja testamentið, Reykjavík 1851 * Nýja testamentið, Oxford 1863 and 1866 * Nýja testamentið, Akureyri and London 1903 * Nýja testamentið (Ný Þýðing), Reykjavík 1906 and 1914 (reprinted)

Comparison of text

References

External links