Several Spanish translations of the Bible have been made since approximately 700 years ago.

Jewish translations

Medieval Spanish Jews had a tradition of oral translation of Biblical readings into Spanish, and several manuscript translations were made, either for Jewish use or for Christian patrons, for example the 1430

Alba Bible The Alba Bible is a 1430 illuminated manuscript containing a translation of the Old Testament made directly from Hebrew into mediaeval Castilian. The translation was carried out under the direction of , rabbi of the Jewish community of Maqueda ...

. However, restrictions were placed on the private ownership of Spanish translations of the Bible, partly as a measure against Protestantism and partly for fear that

crypto-Jews Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden'). The term is especially applied historically to Sp ...

would use them as a resource for learning Jewish practices. Following the expulsion of Jews from Spain, the refugees took these versions with them. In 1553 a printed version, known as the

Ferrara Bible The Ferrara Bible was a 1553 publication of the Ladino version of the Tanakh used by Sephardi Jews. It was paid for and made by Yom-Tob ben Levi Athias (the Portuguese Marrano known before his return to Judaism as ''Alvaro de Vargas'',In a number ...

, was made in Latin characters for Duke

Ercole II d'Este Ercole II d'Este (5 April 1508 – 3 October 1559) was Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio from 1534 to 1559. He was the eldest son of Alfonso I d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia. Biography Through his mother, Ercole was a grandson of Pope Alexander ...

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

. In

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

and

Salonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

Bibles were printed in Hebrew, flanked by translations into

Ladino Ladino, derived from Latin, may refer to: * The register of Judaeo-Spanish used in the translation of religious texts, such as the Ferrara Bible *Ladino people, a socio-ethnic category of Mestizo or Hispanicized people in Central America especi ...

and

Judaeo-Greek Yevanic, also known as Judaeo-Greek, Romaniyot, Romaniote, and Yevanitika, is a Greek dialect formerly used by the Romaniotes and by the Constantinopolitan Karaites (in whose case the language is called Karaitika or Karaeo-Greek). The Romaniotes ...

in Hebrew characters, for the use of the

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

. Some later prints contained the Ladino text alone.

Reina-Valera translation

The classic Spanish translation of the Bible is that of

Casiodoro de Reina Casiodoro de Reina or de Reyna ( 1520 – 15 March 1594) was a Spanish theologian who (perhaps with several others) translated the Bible into Spanish. Early life Reina was born about 1520 in Montemolín in the Province of Badajoz. Hermann De ...

, revised by

Cipriano de Valera Cipriano de Valera (1531–1602) was a Spanish Protestant Reformer and refugee who edited the first major revision of Casiodoro de Reina's Spanish Bible, which has become known as the Reina-Valera version. Valera also edited an edition of Calvi ...

. It was for the use of the incipient Protestant movement and is widely regarded as the Spanish equivalent of the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

The first whole Bible in Spanish was printed in Basel in 1569, authored by Casiodoro de Reina, although some think that this Bible was a collective effort of some monks of the San Isidoro community in Spain, who, led by Casiodoro de Reyna, escaped

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

and persecution. This was the first version of the complete Bible in Spanish (including

Apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

), and is known as "Biblia del Oso" because of the honey-eating bear on its title page. Reina presented the University of Basel with some volumes, one of them with Reina's dedicatory and signature. For the Old Testament, the work was possibly based on the Ferrara Bible (printed 1553), with comparisons to the Masoretic Text and the Vetus Latina. The New Testament probably derives from the Textus Receptus of Erasmus with comparisons to the Vetus Latina and Syriac manuscripts. It is possible that Reina also used the New Testament versions that had been translated first by

Francisco de Enzinas Francisco de Enzinas (1 November 1518? – 30 December 1552), also known by the humanist name Francis Dryander (from the Greek ''drus'', which can be translated ''encina'' in Spanish), was a classical scholar, translator, author, Protestant reform ...

(printed in Antwerp 1543) and by

Juan Pérez de Pineda ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

(published in Geneva 1556, followed by the Psalms 1562). After the publication of the whole Bible by Reina, there was a version from

(printed in London 1596) which became part of the first

Reina-Valera The Reina–Valera is a Spanish translation of the Bible originally published in 1602 untilAnon. ''¡Refrescante y más brillante que nunca!'' Sociedades Bíblicas Unidas (1995) p.9 United Bible Societies in 1909 revised the earlier translation pro ...

print (Amsterdam 1602). This edition of the Reina-Valera Bible has been revised in the 17th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries (1602, 1862, 1865, 1909, 1960, 1977, 1989, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012). The discussion on these revisions especially concerning the 1960 version resulted in the "Monterrey Revision Project", as well as others, aiming at a revision of the original version of 1602 according to the

Textus Receptus ''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denomi ...

. The Reina-Valera Bible and most of its subsequent revisions, with the notable exceptions of the 2011 and 2015 revisions which uses "El Señor" (The Lord) and the 1990 revision which uses "El Eterno" (The Eternal), feature the divine name based on the Hebrew

Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew language, Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', ''he (l ...

rendered as "Jehová" (

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Latinization of the Hebrew , one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judais ...

) throughout the Old Testament starting at Genesis 2:4. The Reina-Valera Bible is one of the Bible Versions authorized to be used in Spanish language services of the Episcopal Church and the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

.The Canons of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church: Canon 2: Of Translations of the Bible

Catholic translations

Catholic Bibles contain the entire canonical text identified by Pope Damasus and the Synod of Rome (382) and the local Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), contained in St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation (420), and decreed infallibly by the Ecumenical Council of Trent (1570). Their official publication requires approval by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

conference of bishops An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

. The Bible was first translated into Castilian Spanish in the so-called Pre-Alfonsine version, which led to the Alfonsine version for the court of Alfonso X (ca. 1280). The complete Catholic Bible was printed in 1785, since the Inquisition had allowed Bible translations a few years earlier. A new version appeared in 1793. These were the first Spanish Bible translations officially made and approved by the Church in 300 years. The ' appeared in 1825.

Traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, Christian liturgy, liturgical forms, Catholic devotions, devotions, and presentations of Catholic Church, Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church befo ...

s consider this to be the best Spanish translation because it is a direct translation from

St. Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of 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 ...

, like the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

'' Douay-Rheims Bible''. Of more recent versions, the first official translation of the complete Catholic Bible was done by

Nácar-Colunga The Nácar-Colunga is a Spanish translation of the Bible originally published in 1944. This work was performed by Eloíno Nácar Fúster and Alberto Colunga Cueto. It constitutes one of the most popular Spanish versions in the Roman Catholic Chur ...

(1944), followed by Bover-Cantera (1947) and Straubinger (1944–51). The most widely accepted Catholic Bible is the

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

, known as "la Biblia de Jerusalén" in Spanish, translated from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek with exegetical notes translated from

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

into Spanish, first published in 1967, and revised in 1973. It is also available in a modern Latin American version, and comes with full introductory texts and comments. This particular Catholic Bible version has the interesting distinction of rendering the divine name based on the Hebrew Tetragrammaton as "Yahvé" (Yahweh) as opposed to the most common rendering of "El Señor" (The Lord) throughout the Old Testament text starting at Genesis 2:4. Other popular versions include Biblia Latinoamericana (1972), Nueva Biblia Española (1975), Cantera-Iglesia (1975), Sagrada Biblia (1978), Dios Habla Hoy (1979), La Biblia (1992), Biblia del Peregrino (1993), Biblia de América (1994) and La Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo (2006). In recent years several ecumenical versions that carry the deuterocanonical books, for example "Dios Habla Hoy" from the UBS, have been approved by the CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Council) for study purposes. Their acceptance, however, is limited and their use in liturgy avoided due to claims of inaccurate translations in key passages for Catholics like Luke 1:26-38, 40–45; John 20:22-23; 21:15-17. In 2010 the Conference of Spanish Bishops published an official version of the Holy Bible in Spanish for liturgical and catechetical use. Many of these Catholic translations are also the Bible Versions authorized to be used in Spanish language services of the Episcopal Church and the

Messianic translations

''Las Sagradas Escrituras, Versión Israelita Nazarena'' The Old and New Testaments have been translated into Spanish by Messianic translators, edited by Editorial Hebraica and published by El Candelero de Luz, Inc. with an introduction by J.A. Alvarez under the title Las Sagradas Escrituras, Versión Israelita Nazarena (The Sacred Scriptures, Israelite Nazarene Version) in Puerto Rico in 2012. The Old Testament books follow the same order as the

Jewish Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

while the New Testament is based on the Novum Testamentum of Westcott & Hort (

The New Testament in the Original Greek ''The New Testament in the Original Greek'' is a Greek-language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (18 ...

). This translation uses the divine name of the Hebrew

tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew language, Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', ''he (l ...

which renders it as

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...

and/or Elohim throughout the text, while the Messiah's name is rendered Yahoshua as opposed to the more common and popular form of Yeshua or Jesus. The Holy Spirit is rendered Espíritu de Yahweh or Santidad (Spirit of Yahweh or Sanctity) as opposed to the more common Espíritu Santo (Holy Spirit). This translation utilizes Hebrew names for people and places as opposed to the more common Greek/Spanish equivalents. Bible names are in italicized Hebrew (transliterated in the Roman alphabet) alongside their equivalent Spanish names. This edition comes with an appendix and a Hebrew glossary to aid the reader in interpreting Hebrew names and words for people, places, objects and concepts such as the Hebrew word ''malakhim'' which is rendered ''mensajero'' (messenger) as opposed to the more common Spanish word ''ángel''. This Spanish language Messianic Bible was geared and oriented towards the growing Messianic Jewish movement in Latin America, Spain and Israel, where there is a Sephardic Jewish presence, as well as a growing number of Hispanic and Sephardic members in the Messianic Jewish movement in the United States of America and Canada. ''Nuevo Testamento Judío'' The "Nuevo Testamento Judío" is a 2011 re-translation into Spanish of Dr. David H. Stern's 1989 English translation known as the Jewish New Testament (''B'rit Hadashah'') . Published by Messianic Jewish Resources International.

List of Spanish translations

*''Biblia Alfonsina'', 1280. *'' Biblia del Duque de Alba'', 1430. *''Antiguo Testamento del rabino Salomón'', 1420. *''Antiguo Testamento de traductor anónimo'', 1420. *''Nuevo Testamento de

'', 1543. *''

'', 1553. *''Nuevo Testamento de Juan Pérez de Pineda'', 1556. *''Reina o "Biblia del Oso"'' (RV), 1569, revised in 1602 by

(see

). *''Biblia del padre Scío de San Miguel'', 1793. *''Valera1865'', Valera 1602 reprinted by the America Bible Society, revised by Dr. Ángel de Mora, 1865. *''Versión Moderna'', 1893. *''Biblia de Petisco y Torres Amat''
1º Tomo
��

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Arka ...

)
5º Tomo
��

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

Ezekiel Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is acknow ...

, 1825. *''Nuevo Testamento versión hispanoamericana'', 1916. *''Biblia Nácar-Colunga'', 1944. *''Biblia Bóver-Cantera'', 1947. *''Nuevo Testamento de monseñor Straubinger'', 1948. *''Biblia Reina-Valera'', 1960. Revised in 1602 by

and

(see

), published by the

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...

. *''Biblia de Jerusalén'', 1966. Translation from French. *''Biblia traducción del Nuevo Mundo'', 1967. Translation from English. *''Biblia de Editorial Labor'', 1968. *'' Biblia Latinoamericana'', elsewhere called "Biblia edición pastoral para Latinoamérica", 1972. *''La Biblia de editorial Herder'', 1975. *''Nueva Biblia Española'', 1976. *'' Sagrada Biblia de Magaña''. 1978 *''Biblia Interconfesional'', 1978. *''Dios Habla Hoy o Versión Popular'' (DHH), 1979. *''La Biblia al Día'', 1979. *''Biblia el libro del pueblo de Dios'', 1980. *''Biblia de la Universidad de Navarra'', 1983–2004. *''La Biblia de las Américas'' (LBLA), published by the

Lockman Foundation The Lockman Foundation is a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian ministry dedicated to the translation, publication, and distribution of Bibles and other biblical resources in English and other languages. The foundation's core products are t ...

, 1986, 1995, 1997. *''Biblia, versión revisada por un equipo de traductores dirigido por Evaristo Martín Nieto''. 1989. *''Reina-Valera Actualizada'' (RVA), published by the Editorial Mundo Hispano, 1989. *''Biblia Casa de la Biblia'', 1992. *''Biblia del Peregrino'', 1993. *''Nuevo Testamento versión Recobro'', 1994. *'' Nueva Versión Internacional'' (NVI), 1999. *''Nuevo Testamento traducción de Pedro Ortiz'', 2000. *''Nuevo Testamento la Palabra de Dios para Todos'' (PDT), 2000. *
VALERA1865
', revised by Dr. Ángel de Mora, 1865, reprinted by the Valera Bible Society, 2000. *''Traducción en lenguaje actual'' (TLA), 2003. *''Traducción del Nuevo Mundo de las Escrituras Griegas Cristianas'', 1963. Based on English/Original Text. Published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. *''Traducción del Nuevo Mundo de las Santas Escrituras,'' 1987. Based on English/Original Text. Published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. *''La Biblia. Traducción del Nuevo Mundo,'' 2019. Based on English/Original Text. Published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. *
Reina Valera Gómez
' 2004 Publicada por Iglesia Bautista Libertad. *''Biblia la Palabra de Dios para Todos'' (PDT), 2005. *''Nueva Biblia de las Américas'' (NBLA), published by the

, 2005. Formerly known as Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy (NBLH), Nueva Biblia de los Hispanos (NBH), y Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana (NBL) *''Nueva Biblia al día'' (NBD), 2008 Published by Thomas Nelson. *''Nueva Traducción Viviente'' (NTV), 2010 Published by Tyndale Español. *''Santa Biblia: Reina-Valera 2009'', 2009 Published by

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. *''Santa Biblia: Nueva Reina-Valera Versión Siglo XXI'', 2009 Published by Sociedad Bíblica Emanuel. *''Sagrada Biblia. Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española'', 2010.
SagradaBibliaCEE.com
Printed editions include = paperback, and = reforzada.) *''Reina Valera Contemporánea'', 2011 Published by Sociedades Biblicas Unidas (United Bible Societies). *''Nuevo Testamento Judío'', 2011 by Dr. David H. Stern published by Messianic Jewish Resources International. *''Las Sagradas Escrituras, Versión Israelita Nazarena'', 2012 Published by El Candelero de Luz, Inc. in Puerto Rico. *La Santa Biblia Rey Jacobo, 2017 Available at Www.reyjacobo.com *La Biblia Traducción del Nuevo Mundo 2019 Available in Digital format for free at JW.ORG

References

External links

{{wikisource, es:Biblia Reina-Valera, Revisión 1909, Reina-Valera Bible, 1909 revision
Valera Bible Society
Rejects all Reina-Valera revisions after 1865.
Biblia Latinoamericana (Sobicain)

Nueva Versión International (International Bible Society)

Biblia Reina-Valera, 1602 version
(Project Gutenberg)
Santa Biblia Valera 1602 Purificada

Santa Biblia Valera 1602 Purificada (2007)

Bible Versions (biblegateway.com)Biblia de JerusalemSpanish Bible PDT versionEl Libro del Pueblo de Dios (vatican.va)
*https://archive.today/20130120061033/http://www.dailyaudiobible.com/Groups/1000043454/Daily_Audio_Bible/Hidden_Home_Page/Listen_Now/Listen_Now.aspx
Santa Biblia: Reina-Valera 2009 (LDS edition)

La Biblia más antigua en castellano
(Spanish)
Santa Biblia en Audio
: Free Audio Bible in Spanish
La Biblia. Traducción del Nuevo Mundo (revisión del 2019)