Until the 1990s, most Korean Bible translations used old-fashioned, antiquated language. This made it difficult for Christians that preferred colloquial terms to comprehend what the Bible said. By the 1990s, more colloquial and contemporary versions of the Korean Bible translations came about for Christians, which made it easier for them to comprehend and understand the words from the Bible in a more precise way.

Conventional

Prior to 1784

Prior to 1784, the small number of Christians in Korea had used Chinese Bibles, as those were written in Classical Chinese which are shared between the two countries.

Before 1945

*1784 - Literal Translated Bible (성경직해) - Roman Catholic. First all Korean language Bible. John the Baptist Choi Chang Hyun (최창현 세례자 요한)'s translation. The main text of ''The Occidental Sciences Books written in Chinese characters introduced in the Orient'' (東傳漢文西學書) by Portuguese Jesuit missionary Rev. E. Diaz *1887 - The Ross New Testament (all New testament Books) by John Ross et al., at

Dongguan Church Donguang Church (), located in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China, is one of the largest and oldest Protestant churches in Northeast China. It is also known as the cradle of Christianity of the Koreans in China and in the Korean Peninsula. ...

Mukden Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

*1900 -

Henry G. Appenzeller Rev. Henry Gerhard Appenzeller (February 6, 1858 – June 11, 1902) was a Methodist missionary. He and four other missionaries, including Horace N. Allen, Horace G. Underwood, William B. Scranton, and Mary F. Scranton introduced Protestant Christi ...

New Testament. Methodist Episcopal. Appenzeller's team includes

Horace Grant Underwood Horace Grant Underwood (19 July 1859 – 12 October 1916) was a Presbyterian missionary, educator, and translator who dedicated his life to developing Christianity in Korea. Early life Underwood was born in London and immigrated to the United ...

William B. Scranton William Benton Scranton (May 29, 1856 – March 23, 1922) was an American medical doctor and Methodist missionary in Korea. Biography William B. Scranton was born on May 29, 1856, in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of William Talcott Scranton, a ...

and

James Scarth Gale James S. Gale (February 19, 1863 – January 31, 1937; in modern Korean 제임스 스카스 게일, in old Sino-Korean characters 奇一 (기일)) was a Canadian Presbyterian missionary, educator and Bible translator in Korea. Early life Gale was ...

*1910 - Four Gospels (사사성경) by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Korea. Rev. Paul Han Gi Gun (한기근 바오로) and Rev. James Son Sung Jae (손성재 야고보) complete the Gospels from the

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 ...

Latin version. *1910 - Korean Bible.

William D. Reynolds William D. Reynolds (, 1867–1951) was an American Southern Presbyterian (PCUS) missionary and Bible translator in Korea. William Davis Reynolds was born 12 November 1867. He received his undergraduate education at Hampden-Sydney College in Virg ...

(레널즈) with Lee Seung Doo (이승두) and Kim Jeong Sam (김정삼) complete the Old Testament. *1922 - The Acts Of The Apostles by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Korea. *1925 - The Gale Bible. James Scarth Gale's private translation *1923 - Fenwick New Testament. Malcolm C. Fenwick (1863–1935) *1938 - Old Korean Revised Version (성경개역) KBS *1941 - The EpistlesㆍApocalypse (신약성서 서간ㆍ묵시편) by Rev. Arnulf Schleicher, O.S.B.

After independence

*1958 - Book Of Genesis by Rev. Lawrence Seon Jong Wan (선종완 라우렌시오) of Roman Catholic. *1959 - Books Of ExodusㆍLeviticusㆍNumbersㆍDeuteronomyㆍJoshuaㆍJudgesㆍRuthㆍ1&2 Samuelㆍ1&2 Kings and Prophecy Of Isaias by Rev. Lawrence Seon Jong Wan of Roman Catholic. *1961 - KRV Korean Revised Version (개역한글). This version used to be a standard version for several decades in most Korean Protestant denominations and it was replaced by the New Korean Revised Version in mainstream Korean Protestant denominations in the mid-2000s. However, it is still in use in some conservative minor Protestant denominations. Revised 1998 (성경전서 개역개정판). KBS *1963 - Prophecy&Lamentations Of Jeremias and Prophecy Of Baruch by Rev. Lawrence Seon Jong Wan of Roman Catholic. *1968 - Book Of Psalms by Rev. John Choi Min Sun (최민순 요한) of Roman Catholic. *1977 - CTB Common Translation Bible (공동번역성서 共同翻譯聖書). 1999 Common Translation with minor corrections (공동번역 성서 개정판) KBS. Worked by Catholic priests and liberal Protestant scholars or pastors. This ecumenical translation had been a standard bible for the Roman Catholic Church in Korea from 1977 to 2005. This revised version in 1999 is used by the

Anglican Church of Korea The Anglican Church of Korea (or Episcopal Church of Korea) is the province of the Anglican Communion in North and South Korea. Founded in 1889, it has over 120 parish and mission churches with a total membership of roughly 65,000 people. Hist ...

and the Orthodox Church of Korea. *1983/1984 - CTBP Common Translation Bible Pyongyang version (공동번역성서 평양교정본). Produced by the government controlled Korean Christian Association in North Korea, it is based on the CTB. The New Testament was printed in 1983 and the Old Testament in 1984. The revised edition from 1990 contains both in one volume.

Contemporary

*1985 - KLB Korean Living Bible (현대인의성경). A Korean re-translation of the

Living Bible The Living Bible (TLB or LB) is a personal paraphrase, not a translation, of the Bible in English by Kenneth N. Taylor and first published in 1971. Taylor used the American Standard Version of 1901 as his base text. Origin In a 1979 interview ...

(생명의 말씀사) *1991 - 200th Year Anniversary Edition of the New Testament (200주년 신약성서) -

Waegwan Abbey Saint Maurus and Saint Placidus Abbey, Waegwan, Chilgok, North Gyeongsang, South Korea is a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien. Established in 1952 by Korean monks who had survived the dissolut ...

, revised in 1998 *1991 - TKV Today's Korean Version (현대어성경) (성서원) *–1993 - NKSB New Korean Standard Bible, (표준새번역) Its literary style is contemporary. However, due to disputes by conservative evangelicals, it failed to gain the status as the standard lectionary bible in mainstream Korean Protestant churches. rev. 2001 (새번역개정: Revised New Korean Standard Bible) 2004 KBS. *1994 - Agape Easy Bible (아가페 쉬운 성경) Agape Publishers (아가페 출판사) *1998 - NKRV New Korean Revised Version (개역개정) KBS. Some archaic words are revised into contemporary words, but the old-fashioned literary style of the Korean Revised Version is still retained. It is the standard Bible in use in most Korean Protestant denominations, replacing the Korean Revised Version. *1999 -

New World Translation The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. The New Testament portion was released first, in 1950, ...

(신세계역 성경), abbreviated NWT, produced by

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

in contemporary language. *2004 - Woorimal Bible (우리말 성경) (두란노서원) *2005 - (Catholic)

Holy 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 ...

(성경) -

Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea is the Catholic episcopal conference of Korea. List of presidents * Thomas F. Quinlan, S.S.C.M.E., Bishop of Chunchon (1959–1964) *Paul Roh Ki-nam, Archbishop of Seoul (1964–1967) * Victorinus Youn ...

(CBCK: 한국천주교주교회의) 2005 This version is the standard Bible for the Roman Catholic Church in Korea since 2005, replacing the Common Translation Bible. *2005 - North Korean Bible (북한말 성경), Cornerstone Ministries (모퉁이돌선교회) *2006 - Braille Bible (점자 성경) -

(CBCK: 한국천주교주교회의) 2006 *2008 - Pyongyang Bible (평양말 성경).

DPRK North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tu ...

orthography and vocabulary differs from ROK usage. *2008 - True Bible (바른 성경), Korean Society of Holy Bible(KSHB : 한국성경공회) *2014 - Revised

(신세계역 개정판), produced by

Authorization by major denominations

The Holy 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 v ...

(성경), translated by the Catholic Bishop's conference in 2005, which became the standard Bible for the Catholic Church in Korea. *Protestant denominations authorize NKRV New Korean Revised Version (개역개정), KRV Korean Revised Version (개역한글), RNSV Revised New Korean Standard Version (새번역), and CTB Common Translation Bible (공동번역) (the order of popularity) for their services. *The conservative denominations in the

Christian Council of Korea The Christian Council of Korea (CCK) is a national evangelical alliance, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The CCK is one of the alliances of churches in South Korea, comprising 69 denominations and 20 Christian organizations, which toget ...

commonly authorize KRV Korean Revised Version (개역한글) and NKRV New Korean Revised Version (개역개정). NKRV is more popular for liturgical uses, but due to its old-fashioned

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

, other versions with the contemporary language are frequently read in the youth services. *Other mainstream denominations with the liberal affiliations choose RNSV (새번역) as well. *The ecumenical CTB (공동번역), once used in the Catholic Church and a number of protestant churches in the 1990s, lost its popularity as the Catholic Church moves out from using it for liturgical purposes. CTB is now authorized by the Anglican Church of Korea and Korean Orthodox Church.

Comparison

References

{{reflist

External links

Online * ''Holy Bible (성경)'' (Catholic)
at CBCK.or.krCTB Common Translation Bible (공동번역성서)

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

Korean literature