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Parts of the Bible have been translated into
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
since at least the 15th century, but the most widely used translation of the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
into
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
for several centuries was the 1588 translation by William Morgan, '' Y Beibl cyssegr-lan sef Yr Hen Destament, a'r Newydd'' as revised in 1620. The ''Beibl Cymraeg Newydd'' ("new Welsh bible") was published in 1988 and revised in 2004. Beibl.net is a translation in colloquial Welsh which was completed in 2013.


Historical versions


15th century version

Several 19th century sources quote the story that a translation from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...
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 ...
was in existence in 1470 (it is said that the 16th century Bishop Richard Davies claimed to have seen, as a boy, such a translation in a manuscript at Celydd Ifan, the house of an uncle; and another writer asserts that part of this private manuscript survived until the nineteenth century). However, Professor
Glanmor Williams Sir Glanmor Williams (5 May 1920 – 24 February 2005) was one of Wales's most eminent historians. Sir Glanmor was born in Dowlais, into a working-class family, and was educated at Cyfarthfa Grammar School in Merthyr Tydfil. He studied ...
dismissed the idea that the whole Bible had been translated into Welsh before William Morgan's Bible appeared in 1588.


William Salesbury, 1567

Following the
English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
, translations were made directly from the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
versions. In 1551 Salesbury was responsible for the publication of the first substantial portion of the Scriptures to appear in Welsh, entitled ''Kynniver llith a ban'', which was a translation of the Gospels and Epistles appointed to be read in Church on Sundays and Holy-days. (Full title: ''Kynniver llith a ban or yscrythur lan ac a ddarlleïr yr Eccleis pryd Commun y Sulieu a'r Gwylieu trwy'r vlwyddyn: o Cambericiat W.S.'' "As many lessons and verses from the holy scriptures as are to be read nchurch at the time of Communion on Sundays and holy days through the year: from the Welsh translation of William Salesbury") In 1563 a law was passed in the name of Queen Elizabeth I, which instructed the Anglican Bishops in Wales and Hereford to arrange for the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer to be translated into Welsh. The work was accomplished by Richard Davies, Bishop of St David's, his cantor
Thomas Huet Thomas Huet (died 19 August 1591) was a Welsh clergyman and translator of the Bible. Life Huet, who was probably from Brecknockshire, Wales originally, is recorded as being a member of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1544. He was Master of ...
, and
William Salesbury William Salesbury also Salusbury (c. 1520 – c. 1584) was the leading Welsh scholar of the Renaissance and the principal translator of the 1567 Welsh New Testament. Early life Salesbury was born some time before 1520 (possibly as early as 1 ...
. They worked at the Bishop's palace in Carmarthen, where they translated the New Testament from Greek. The First Epistle to Timothy, Hebrews, James, and 1 and 2 Peter were translated by Richard Davies, and Revelation was translated by Thomas Huet. However most of the work was by William Salesbury. William Salesbury translated the Book of Common Prayer from English, which was published, together with his translation of the Psalms from Hebrew, on 6 May 1567. The New Testament was issued on 7 October 1567. They were both published by Humphrey Toy and printed in London by Henry Denham. In 1850 Robert Griffith, a bookseller in Caernarfon, published a new edition of Salesbury's New Testament which was printed in Caernarfon by James Rees and probably edited by the clergyman, Isaac Jones (1804–50). This was faithful to the original but the orthography was updated, and it was printed in a modern font to make it easier to read.


William Morgan, 1588

Salesbury's New Testament was followed by William Morgan's translation of the whole Bible in 1588, ''Y Beibl cyssegr-lan sef Yr Hen Destament, a'r Newydd''. Morgan soon began work on a revision (or on a new translation) of his 1588 Bible, which had contained a number of printing errors; he revised Salesbury's New Testament and Psalms, and completed the rest of the books of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha. In 1821 Richard Jones published a new edition of William Morgan's Bible which was printed in Dolgellau. This was faithful to the original but the orthography was updated, and was printed in a more modern font to make it easier to read.


Parry revision, 1620

After Morgan's death, Bishop Richard Parry and Dr John Davies continued the work with the aims of polishing the literary language, replacing forms considered too
colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conve ...
, and bringing the text into greater conformity with the
King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
of the English Bible of 1611. The revised version of the Bible was published in 1620. This edition is still known as William Morgan's translation, and it is this rather than the previous edition which was the standard Welsh Bible until the late 20th century, and continues to be used to this day. It occupies a similar place in the Welsh language to that of the venerated ''King James Version'' in English. The early Bible editions were large volumes intended for use in churches; in 1630 a smaller edition called "Y Beibl Bach" ("the little bible"), intended for use in the home, was published, thus bringing scripture in Welsh into the hands of the laity. An original copy of the Welsh Bible is displayed in St Asaph Cathedral, in
St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a city and community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355, making it the second-smallest city in Britain in terms of population and urban ...
,
North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...
. It was used at the
investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian k ...
of
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
as
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...
in 1969. The translation of the Bible into Welsh was important to the survival of the Welsh language. It had the effect, along with the Welsh translation of the
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
, of conferring status on Welsh as a
liturgical language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Concept A sacr ...
and a vehicle for worship. This in turn contributed to the language's continued use as a means of everyday communication down to the present day, despite the pressure of English. The edition of the William Morgan Bible used today uses the modern orthography (spelling), updated by Professor Henry Lewis (1889-1968). He completed the New Testament in 1936 and the rest of the Bible in 1955. It was printed by the
British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The So ...
as "Y Beibl". He completed the Apocrypha in 1959, and this was printed by the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is t ...
as "Yr Apocrypha". These have now been digitised by the Bible Society and are included in their app called "ap Beibl". The most recent editions of the William Morgan Bible (1955 edition) were printed by the
Trinitarian Bible Society The Trinitarian Bible Society was founded in 1831 "to promote the Glory of God and the salvation of men by circulating, both at home and abroad, in dependence on the Divine blessing, the Holy Scriptures, which are given by inspiration of God and ...
using the 1955 orthography.


Psalters


William Middleton psalms, 1596

William Middleton, also spelt Midleton and Myddleton, was born about 1550 at Llansannan, Denbighshire in north Wales. From 1589 Middleton worked as a ship's captain for his cousin, the merchant Sir Thomas Myddelton. Meanwhile, he worked on his dream of translating the psalms into the strict, traditional Welsh poetic style of ''
cynghanedd In Welsh-language poetry, ''cynghanedd'' (, literally "harmony") is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of ''cynghanedd'' show up in the definitions of all formal Welsh ...
'', using a variety of metres. In 1595 he published ''Rhann o Psalmae Dauyd, a Phrophwyti eraill gweddi i kynghanedhu\'' in London. Then he set sail with Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hopkins, as captain of the ''Salomon Bonaventure'' in their abortive expedition to capture Panama city. He completed his version of the psalms on 24 January 1595 (now 1596) whilst anchored at the uninhabited island of Scutum (today called Isla Escudo de Veraguas), off the coast of Panama. He called his psalms ''Psalmae y Brenhinol Brophwyd Dafydh''. Middleton returned from Panama in 1596 and died shortly after his return at Falmouth in Cornwall. William Middleton's psalms were dedicated to his cousin Sir Thomas Myddelton who lived at
Chirk Castle Chirk Castle ( cy, Castell y Waun) is a Grade I listed castle located in Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. History The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Ed ...
in Denbighshire. In 1602, after Willliam Middleton had died, his cousin Thomas Myddleton advanced £30 to print the psalms. The psalms were collected by Thomas Salisbury, who also published other items in Welsh. In 1603 he had them published in London by the printer Samuel Stafford, as: ''Psalmæ y brenhinol brophvvyd Dafydh: gwedi i cynghanedhu mewn mesurau cymreig''. Middleton's psalms were the first full metrical Psalter in Welsh, and the only one in full ''
cynghanedd In Welsh-language poetry, ''cynghanedd'' (, literally "harmony") is the basic concept of sound-arrangement within one line, using stress, alliteration and rhyme. The various forms of ''cynghanedd'' show up in the definitions of all formal Welsh ...
''. Middleton's psalms remained at the British Library, where they came to the attention of Walter Davies. Rev. Walter Davies (1761-1849) was a Welsh poet, editor, translator, antiquary and Anglican clergyman, born in Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received his M.A. in 1803. As a poet he used the bardic name of Gwallter Mechain. In 1807 he became vicar of Manafon, where he remained for 30 years and did most of his literary work. From there he wrote an introduction (''Y Rhagymadrodd'') to the Middleton psalms in January 1827, and explained about their poetry. He arranged for them to be published by Robert Jones in Llanfair Caereinion in Montgomeryshire in 1827. He reprinted them as ''Psalmau Dafydd: wedi eu cyfansoddi ar amrywiol fesurau cerdd, gan Y Cabden William Middleton''. This was called the Second Edition (''Ail Argraphiad'').


Edward Kyffin metrical psalms, 1603

was born in
Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough ...
in about 1558. He attended
Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes ...
, but it is thought that he did not graduate. He was ordained an Anglican
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
in London in 1585 and a priest in Bangor in 1590. He was a
curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy ...
at
St Martin Outwich St Martin Outwich was a parish church in the City of London, on the corner of Threadneedle Street and Bishopsgate. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt at the end of the 18th century and demolished in 1874. Early history A church of St Martin w ...
in London. He died in 1603, probably in London from
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...
. Whilst in London Kyffin enjoyed singing the psalms in the Church of England tradition. He wanted to translate the Welsh psalms into metre, so that they could be sung as the English metrical psalms were. It is believed that he versified around 50 of the psalms from William Morgan's Welsh translation, but only a handful have survived. The surviving psalms were collected by Thomas Salisbury. In 1603 he had them published in London by the printer Samuel Stafford, as: ''Rhann o Psalmae Dafydd Brophwyd - iuu canu ar ôl y dôn arferedig yn Eglwys Loegr.'' This includes 12 full psalms and the first 5 verses of Psalm 13. These are set in 4 line stanzas, set to the traditional Welsh poetic style known as ''awdl gywydd''. In his introduction Kyffin argues that his work was merely an experiment, to motivate others to do a better job. The metrical psalms were published side by side with the biblical psalms, with Kyffin's psalms in black letter Gothic type on the left and William Morgan's psalms in plain type on the right. The text included a preface to the reader (''At y Darllenudd'') from Edward Kyffin. Kyffin's psalms were republished in 1930 by the University of Wales Press in Cardiff when it was entitled: ''Rhann o Psalmae Dafydd Brophwyd - I’w canu ar ol y don arferedig yn Eglwys Loegr''.


Metrical psalms, 1621

''Salmau Cân'' (Metrical Psalms) is a translation of the 150 Psalms into free Welsh verse, suitable for congregational singing. It was the work of
Edmund Prys Edmund (Edmwnd) Prys (1542/3 – 1623) was a Welsh clergyman and poet, best known for Welsh metrical translations of the Psalms in his ''Salmau Cân''. Life Prys was born in Llanrwst, Denbighshire 1542 or 1543, son of Siôn ap Rhys ap Gruff ...
(also spelt Edmwnd Prys) (1544-1623), a poet, rector of Ffestiniog and Archdeacon of Merioneth. They were printed in London and first published with the 1621 Book of Common Prayer. Edmund Prys is mentioned by William Morgan as one of three who helped him in the preparation of his translation of his 1588 Bible. Many of the Psalms are still sung in Welsh places of worship.


Morris Williams' metrical psalms, 1850

Morris Williams (1809-1874) was a bard known as Nicander. He was ordained as an Anglican clergyman in 1836. He produced his own Metrical Psalms in 1850.


William Rees' psalms, 1875

William Rees (1802-1883), known as Gwilym Hiraethog, was a poet and author. He rendered the William Morgan edition of the Psalms into verse titled in 1875.


Lewis Valentine's psalms, 1936

Whilst he was Baptist pastor at Llandudno, Rev Lewis Valentine translated a selection of Psalms called ''Detholiad o'r Salmau'', which was published by Gwasg Ilston in 1936.


New metrical psalms, 2008

''Salmau Cân Newydd'' (New Metrical Psalms) is a new metrical version of the Psalms, based on the 2004 Welsh translation of the Bible, but also having regard to the original Hebrew, by Gwynn ap Gwilym (1950-2016), an Anglican priest in the
Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The pos ...
. A variety of metres are used and appropriate tunes suggested. It was published by
Gwasg Gomer Gomer Press (Welsh: ''Gwasg Gomer'') is a family printing (and formerly publishing) company based in Llandysul, west Wales. It was the largest publishing house in Wales. History The company was first established in 1892 and began as a general sto ...
(Gomer Press) in 2008.


Modern translations


Thomas Briscoe translation, 1853-1894

Thomas Briscoe (1813-1895) translated Isaiah, Job, Psalms and Proverbs from Hebrew in Welsh, which were published between 1853 and 1855. His translation of the New Testament was published in 1894.


William Edwards New Testament, 1894-1915

William Edwards (1848-1929), a Baptist College Principal, revised the William Morgan New Testament by reference to the Greek, which he called ''Cyfieithiad Newydd'' ("New Translation"). It was published in four volumes in 1894, 1898, 1913 and 1915.


Guild of Graduates New Testament, 1921-1948

A project was started by the Theological Branch of the Guild of Graduates (alumni) of the University of Wales, to translate the Bible into modern Welsh. A team of 53 scholars worked on New Testament book by book, and the results were printed in portions between 1921 and 1948. Additionally Amos and Hosea from the Old Testament were published in 1924. It was never published as a whole.


Islwyn Ffowc Elis, 1961

The Welsh author and one time Calvinist Methodist minister, Rev
Islwyn Ffowc Elis Islwyn Ffowc Elis (; 17 November 1924 – 22 January 2004) was one of Wales's most popular Welsh-language writers. Born Islwyn Ffoulkes Ellis in Wrexham and raised in Glyn Ceiriog, Elis was educated at the University of Wales colleges of Bangor ...
translated the Gospel of Matthew into modern Welsh, which was published in Caernarfon in 1961. It was called ''Efengyl Mathew'' and subtitled ''Trosiad i gymraeg diweddar''.


Y Ffordd Newydd, 1971

In 1969 the Bible Society produced a Gospel of John in Popular Welsh called Y Ffordd. This was followed by the translation of all 4 Gospels in 1971 as Y Ffordd Newydd. The publications included illustrations by Annie Vallotton and it was done in the style of the English Good News Bible.


New Welsh Bible, 1988

A new translation, ''Y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd'' (BCN), was published in 1988 (including the revised New Testament published in 1975 and the Psalms in 1979) and has largely replaced the William Morgan translation, although its publishers stated that it was not intended to supplant Morgan's translation, but merely as an alternative. It also included the Apocrypha. Professor John Tudno Williams and Professor S.I. Enoch were members of the
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 Chris ...
Panel.


Duw ar waith, 1990

In 1990, a translation of the
Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...
() for use in schools was adapted from the New Welsh Bible by Edwin C. Lewis.


Revised New Welsh Bible, 2004

A revision, ''Y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd Diwygiedig'' (BCND) (the Revised New Welsh Bible), was released in March 2004, and the Apocrypha (called Yr Apocryffa) was printed in 2008. The revision received attention after it was revealed that the new Bibles were printed and typeset in Korea and Scotland, respectively. This led Welsh Assembly member
Nick Bourne Nicholas Henry Bourne, Baron Bourne of Aberystwyth (born 1 January 1952) is a Conservative Party politician who served as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Party and Member of the Senedd for Mid and West Wales from August 1999 until May 201 ...
to wonder why production wasn't carried out in Wales. In 2005 an audio version of the BCND was produced by the Bible Society called "Y Llais". The parts of Jesus Christ and Paul are played by two well-known professional actors - Richard Elfyn and Rhys Parry Jones - and other prominent Welsh voices also feature, including Lisabeth Miles.


beibl.net, 2015

beibl.net is a new translation of the Bible into simple colloquial Welsh by Gobaith i Gymru. The New Testament was published online in 2002 and the entire bible was published online in 2013 and in print in 2015.


New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, 2022

On June 25, 2022, the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Welsh was released in digital form by the
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 ...
, with a printed edition to follow in December 2022.


Language comparison


See also

*
Mary Jones (Bible) The story of Mary Jones and her Bible inspired the founding of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Mary Jones (16 December 1784 – 28 December 1864) was a Welsh girl who, at the age of fifteen, walked twenty-six miles barefoot across the count ...
*''
Y Beibl cyssegr-lan , by William Morgan, was the first complete translated version of the Bible to appear in Welsh in 1588. Background It took some years for the translation to be completed in printed form between the Act of Parliament of 1563 and its publicat ...
''


References


External links

The Bible in Welsh/Beibl Cymraeg: * scanned copy of William Morgan's 1588 Bible * Website with several digitised translations of the Bible into Welsh in text and some in audio. * Translation of the Bible into modern colloquial Welsh. Other articles: * * {{Authority control 1567 books 1588 books Early printed Bibles
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
History of Christianity in Wales
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...