The ''Eliot Indian Bible'' ( alq, Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God; also known as the ''Algonquian Bible'') was the first translation of the Christian

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 an indigenous American language, as well as the first Bible published in

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestow ...

. It was prepared by English

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

missionary John Eliot by translating the

Geneva Bible The Geneva Bible is one of the most historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James Version by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th-century English Protestantism and was used by William Shakespea ...

into the

Massachusett language The Massachusett language is an Algonquian language of the Algic language family, formerly spoken by several peoples of eastern coastal and southeastern Massachusetts. In its revived form, it is spoken in four communities of Wampanoag people ...

. Printed in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, the work first appeared in 1661 with only 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 ...

. An edition including all 66 books of both the

Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

and New Testaments was printed in 1663. The inscription on the 1663 edition's cover page, beginning with ', corresponds in English to ''The Whole Holy His-Bible God, both Old Testament and also New Testament. This turned by the servant of Christ, who is called John Eliot.'' The preparation and printing of Eliot's work was supported by the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England (also known as the New England Company or Company for Propagation of the Gospel in New England and the parts adjacent in America) is a British charitable organization created to promote ...

, whose governor was the eminent scientist

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders ...

History

The history of '' Eliot's Indian Bible '' involves three historical events that came together to produce the Algonquian Bible.

America's first printing press

Stephen Daye Stephen Daye, Sr. (c.1594 – December 22, 1668) emigrated from England to the British colony of Massachusetts and became the first printer in colonial America. He printed the ''Bay Psalm Book'' in 1640, the first book known to have been printe ...

of England contracted Jose Glover, a wealthy minister who disagreed with the religious teachings of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

, to transport a printing press to America in 1638. Glover died at sea while traveling to America. His widow Elizabeth (Harris) Glover, Stephen Daye, and the press arrived at

, where Mrs. Glover opened her print shop with the assistance of Daye. Daye started the operations of the first American print shop which was the forerunner of

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

. The press was located in the house of

Henry Dunster Henry Dunster (November 26, 1609 (baptized) – February 27, 1658/59) was an Anglo-American Puritan clergyman and the first president of Harvard College. Brackney says Dunster was "an important precursor" of the Baptist denomination in America ...

, the first president of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

where religious materials such as the

Bay Psalm Book ''The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre'', commonly called the Bay Psalm Book, is a metrical psalter first printed in 1640 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was the first book printed in British North America. The ...

were published in the 1640s. Elizabeth Glover married president of Harvard College

on June 21, 1641.

Act of Parliament

In 1649 Parliament enacted ''An Act for the Promoting and Propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ in New England,'' which set up a Corporation in England consisting of a President, a Treasurer, and fourteen people to help them. The name of the corporation was "

The President and Society for the propagation of the Gospel in New England The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England (also known as the New England Company or Company for Propagation of the Gospel in New England and the parts adjacent in America) is a British charitable organization created to promote ...

," but it was later known simply as the New England Company. The corporation had the power to collect money in England for missionary purposes in New England. This money was received by the Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England and dispersed for missionary purposes such as ''Eliot's Indian Bible''. Thomas, 1874, Vol. I, p. 67

Arrival of John Eliot

Eliot came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England in 1631. One of his missions was to convert the indigenous

Massachusett The Massachusett were a Native American tribe from the region in and around present-day Greater Boston in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name comes from the Massachusett language term for "At the Great Hill," referring to the Blue Hil ...

to Christianity. Eliot's instrument to do this was through the Christian scriptures. Eliot's feelings were that the Indians felt more comfortable hearing the scriptures in their own language than in English (a language they understood little of). Eliot thought it best to translate the English Christian Bible to an Algonquian Bible rather than teach the Massachusett Indians English. He then went about learning the Algonquian Indian language of the Massachusett people so he could translate English to the Natick dialect of the Massachusett language. Eliot translated the entire 66 books of the English Bible in a little over fourteen years. It had taken 44 scholars seven years to produce 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 Christian Bible in 1611. Eliot had to become a

grammarian Grammarian may refer to: * Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE * Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language * Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...

and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretica ...

to devise an Algonquian dictionary and book of grammar. He used the assistance of a few local Massachusett Indians in order to facilitate the translation, including

Cockenoe Cockenoe (also known as Cockeno, Cockenow, Chachaneu, Cheekanoo, Cockenoe, Chickino, Chekkonnow, Cockoo) (born before 1630 and died after 1687) was an early Native American translator from Long Island in New York where he was a member of the Mon ...

John Sassamon John Sassamon, also known as Wussausmon (), was a Massachusett man who lived in New England during the colonial era. He converted to Christianity and became a praying Indian, helping to serve as an interpreter to New England colonists. In Januar ...

Job Nesuton Job Nesuton (died 1675) was a Native American translator who translated large parts of the Eliot Indian Bible, the first Bible printed in America. Job Nesuton was a Massachusett active in John Eliot's mission to the Indians of the Massachusetts ...

, and

James Printer James Printer, also known as Wowaus, (1640–1709) was a Native American from the Nipmuc tribe who studied and worked as a printer in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was one of the most famous early Nipmuc writers. Printer was the first Native Ameri ...

. Eliot made his first text for the ''Corporation for the propagation of the Gospel in New England'' into the Massachusett language as a one volume textbook primer

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adul ...

in 1653 printed by Samuel Green. He then translated and had printed in 1655-56 the Gospel of Matthew, book of Genesis, and Psalms into the Algonquian Indian language. It was printed as a sample run for the London Corporation to show what a complete finished Algonquian Bible might look like. The Corporation approved the sample and sent a professional printer, Marmaduke Johnson, to America in 1660 with 100 reams of paper and eighty pounds of new type for the printer involved to print the Bible. To accommodate the transcription of the Algonquian Indian language

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...

s extra "O's" and "K's" had to be ordered for the printing press. Johnson had a three-year contract to print the entire Bible of 66 books (Old Testament and New Testament). In 1661, with the assistance of the English printer Johnson and a

Nipmuc The Nipmuc or Nipmuck people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who historically spoke an Eastern Algonquian language. Their historic territory Nippenet, "the freshwater pond place," is in central Massachusetts and nearby part ...

named James Printer, Green printed 1,500 copies of the New Testament. In 1663 they printed 1,000 copies of the complete Bible of all 66 books (Old Testament and New Testament) in a 1,180 page volume. The costs for this production was paid by the Corporation authorized by the Parliament of England by donations collected in England and Wales. John Ratcliff did the binding for the 1663 edition.

Description

Eliot was determined to give the Christian Bible to them in their own Massachusett language. He learned the Natick dialect of the Massachusett language and its grammar. Eliot worked on the Indian Bible for over fourteen years before publication. England contributed about 16,000 pounds for its production by 1660. The money came from private donations in England and Wales. There was no donations or money from the New England colonies for Eliot's Indian Bible. The translation answered the question received many times by Eliot from the Massachusett was "How may I get faith in Christ?" The ecclesiastical answer was "Pray and read the Bible." After Eliot's translation, there was a Bible they could read. Eliot translated the Bible from an unwritten American Indian language into a written alphabet that the Algonquian Indians could read and understand. To show the difficulty of the Algonquian language used in Eliot's Indian Bible

Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting H ...

gives as an example the Algonquian word ' (32 characters) which means "our lusts". He said that the Indian language did not have ''the least affinity to or derivation from any European speech.'' Some ecclesiastical questions given to Eliot by the Natick Indians that were to be answered by the new Algonquian Bible and Indian religious learning were: * ''If but one parent believe, what state are our children in?'' * ''How doth much sinne make grace abound?'' * ''If an old man as I repent, may I be saved?'' * ''What meaneth that, Let the trees of the Wood rejoice?'' * ''What meaneth that, We cannot serve two masters?'' * ''Can they in Heaven see us here on Earth?'' * ''Do they see and know each other? Shall I know you in heaven?'' * ''Do they know each other in Hell?'' * ''What meaneth God, when he says, Ye shall be my Jewels'' * ''If God made hell in one of the six dayes, why did God make Hell before Adam had sinned?'' * '' Doe not Englishmen their souls, to say a thing cost them more then it did? and is it not all one as to steale?''

Legacy

In 1664 an especially prepared display copy was presented to King Charles II by

, the Governor of the New England Company. Many copies of the first edition (1663) of ''Eliot’s Indian Bible'' were destroyed by the British in 1675-76 by a war against Metacomet (war chief of the Wampanoag Indians). In 1685, after some debate, the New England Company decided to publish another edition of ''Eliot’s Indian Bible''. The second edition of the entire Bible was finished in 1686, at a fraction of the cost of the first edition. There were 2,000 copies printed. A special single leaf bearing a dedication to Boyle placed into the 1685 presentation copies that were sent to Europe. The first English edition of the entire Bible was not published in the colonies until 1752, by Samuel Kneeland. Newgass, 1958, p. 32 Eliot's Indian Bible translation of the complete Christian Bible was supposedly written with one pen. This printing project was the largest printing job done in 17th-century

Colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

. The Massachusett Indian language Natick dialect that the translation of Eliot's Bible was made in no longer is used in the United States. The Algonquian Bible is today unreadable by most people in the world. ''Eliot's Indian Bible'' is notable for being the earliest known example of the translation and putting to print the entire 66 books of the Christian Bible into a new language of no previous written words. Eliot's Indian Bible was also significant because it was the first time the entire Bible was translated into a language not native to the translator. Previously scholars had translated the Bible from Greek, Hebrew, or Latin into their own language. With Eliot the translation was into a language he was just learning for the purpose of evangelization. In 1709 a special edition of the Algonquian Bible was authored by

Experience Mayhew Experience Mayhew (1673–1758) was a New England missionary to the Wampanoag Indians on Martha's Vineyard and adjacent islands. He is the author of Massachusett Psalter (a rare book like the Bay Psalm Book and Eliot Indian Bible). Experience was ...

with the Indian words in one column and the English words in the opposite column. It had only Psalms and the Gospel of John. It was used for training the local Massachusett Indians to read the scriptures. This Algonquian Bible was a derivative of ''Eliot's Indian Bible''. The 1709 Algonquian Bible text book is also referred to as ''The Massachuset psalter''. This 1709 edition is based on the King James Bible just like ''Eliot's Indian Bible'' (aka: ''Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up Biblum God''). A second edition printing of ''Eliot's Indian Bible'' was an instrumental source for the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project where it was compared to the King James Bible in order to relearn Wôpanâak (

Wampanoag The Wampanoag , also rendered Wôpanâak, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Island," p. ...

) vocabulary and grammar.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Further reading * *

External links

{{Commons category, Eliot Indian Bible
Stories of Eliot and the IndiansComplete Algonquian Indian Bible 1663Complete Algonquian Indian Bible 1685Education And Harvard's Indian CollegePsalms of David with the Gospel according to John, in columns of Indian and EnglishA Sketch of the Life of the Apostle Eliot: Prefatory to a Subscription for Erecting a Monument
1663 books 1685 books Early printed Bibles History of Christianity in the United States 17th-century Christian texts Massachusett language Wampanoag tribe