Victor Danielsen (28 March 1894 – 2 February 1961) was the first Faroese

Bible translator The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and ...

and Plymouth Brethren missionary. Victor Danielsen played a pivotal role in the Plymouth Brethren's establishment in the Faroe Islands after it was introduced there by William Gibson Sloan in the late nineteenth century.

Biography

Victor Danielsen was born in the settlement of

Søldarfjørður Søldarfjørður ( da, Solmundefjord) is a village in the south of the Faroese island of Eysturoy in Runavík Municipality. The 2002 population was 344. Its postal code is FO 344. References External linksPersonal Danish site with photographs ...

on the island of

Eysturoy Eysturoy (pronounced estroimeaning 'East Island') is a region and the second-largest of the Faroe Islands, both in size and population. Description Eysturoy is separated by a narrow sound from the main island of Streymoy. Eysturoy is extremely ...

. In 1911, Danielsen started training as a teacher in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

and completed his course in 1914. He was appointed teacher at the schools in Søldarfjørður,

Glyvrar Glyvrar ( da, Glibre) is a village located on Eysturoy, in the Faroe Islands. It is one of several villages on the east side of the Skálafjørður fjord that have grown into a 10-kilometre-long conurbation. In Glyvrar there is a museum calle ...

and Lamba. He quit his teaching positions, however, after only six months to pursue his vocation as a missionary. Danielsen quit the established Faroese People's Church in 1916 and attached himself to the Brøðrasamkoman (Faroese Plymouth Brethren). He married in 1920 and moved with his wife to Fuglafjørður, where he worked as a full-time worker in Siloa Assembly and itinerary missionary for the Faroese Plymouth Brethren. In 1930, the assembly of the Plymouth Brethren in Tórshavn requested Danielsen translate the Epistle to the Galatians into the Faroese language. The resulting translation so enthused the congregation that Danielsen was requested to translate the entire

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

as well. This translation was published in March 1937, a few weeks before the publication of

Jákup Dahl Jákup Dahl (English and German ''Jacob Dahl'') (5 June 1878 – 5 June 1944) was a Faroese Provost and Bible translator. In 1908 he became known as a linguist with the first Faroese grammar lessons for school students. Life and work Dahl w ...

's translation, which had been authorised by the Faroese People's Church. Upon the completion of the translation New Testament, Victor Danielsen pushed forward with the translation of the Old Testament, a task he completed in 1939. Danielsen's translation, however, based itself on other modern languages whereas Dahl's translation was based on the original

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

text. Because of the Second World War, Danielsen translation wasn't published until 1949. The translation of Dahl and Kristian Osvald Viderø wasn't published until 1961. Victor Danielsen was known as an extraordinarily energetic and productive man. Apart from his Bible translations, he versified 27 Psalms and translated 800 Psalms and hymns, as well as writing two novels of a religious nature. Victor Danielsen died at

Fuglafjørður Fuglafjørður is a village on Eysturoy's east coast in the Faroe Islands. Its name means "fjord of birds". The village is at the edge of a bay and expands into the surrounding steep hills. The town centre is located close to the harbour and ...

References

Anker Eli Petersen Anker Eli Petersen (born 7 June 1959 in Tvøroyri) is a Faroese writer and artist. He is most known for his many Faroe Islands postage stamp designs under the name Anker Eli. Many of his stamps depict scenes from Norse mythology, Christianity, ...

: '' Bibelübersetzer' (in German)
Biblian.fo – Danielsens Bibel
(in Faroese)

Biography

References

See also