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 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 ...

in 1909 revised the earlier translation produced in 1569 by

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 D ...

.. This translation was known as the ''"Biblia del Oso"'' (in English: ''Bear Bible'') because the illustration on the title page showed a bear trying to reach a container of honeycombs hanging from a tree. Since that date, it has undergone various revisions notably those of 1602, 1862, 1909, 1960, 1977, 1995, and more recently in 2011.

History

Starting point

, a former Catholic monk of the Order of St. Jerome, and later an independent

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, with the help of several collaborators produced the ''Biblia del Oso'', the first complete Bible printed in Spanish. (Earlier translations, such as the 13th-century Alfonsina Bible, translated from Jerome's

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 ...

, had been copied by hand.) It was first published on September 28, 1569, in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Switzerland. The translation was based on the Hebrew

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. ...

(Bomberg's Edition, 1525) and the Greek

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 deno ...

(Stephanus' Edition, 1550). As secondary sources, de Reina used 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 numb ...

for the Old Testament and the Latin Edition of Santes Pagnino throughout. For the New Testament, he was greatly aided by the translations of

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 reforme ...

and

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 ...

. The 1569 version included the

deuterocanonical The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

books within the Old Testament and the 1602 version included the deuterocanonical books sandwiched between the Old and New Testaments.

Edition by Cipriano de Valera

In 1602 Cipriano de Valera, a student of de Reina, published a revision of the ''Biblia del Oso'' which was printed in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

in which the deuterocanonical books were placed in a section between the Old and New Testaments called the Apocrypha. Among the reasons for the revision was the fact that in the intervening period words had changed their meanings or gone out of use. For a time, it was known simply by de Valera's name."Versiones castellanas de la Biblia" en ''Nuevo Diccionario Bíblico'' Ediciones Certeza (1991)

Further revisions

The British and Foreign Bible Society, the

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...

and the

published a total of fifteen revisions between 1808 and 1995 of which those of 1909, 1960 and 1995 are the most significant today and remain in print and a further revision appeared in 2011. Modern editions often omit the Apocrypha. The principle behind these revisions has been to remain as close to the original Reina–Valera as possible without causing confusion or misunderstanding. Even the 1995 New Testament is based on the traditional

despite the fact that the United Bible Societies use modern critical Greek texts as the basis for other translations. It retains the traditional form of the name of God, " Jehová" (with the notable exceptions of the Nueva Reina Valera 1990, revision which replaces "Jehová" with "El Eterno" and the Reina Valera Contemporánea, revision of 2011 which replaces "Jehová" with "El Señor"). In addition, it uses for the second-person plural the pronoun "vosotros" (except for the Reina Valera Contemporánea which replaces "vosotros" with "ustedes"), which is obsolete outside Spain. Apart from updating the vocabulary where necessary, its major innovations lie in the area of visual presentation: Hebrew verse is printed in a way that reflects its structure rather than as if it were prose, and while the numbering of verses has been retained the text is laid out clearly in paragraphs. Since the resurgence of the

King James Only movement The King James Only movement asserts the belief that the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is superior to all other translations of the Bible The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Arama ...

in the United States (and its exportation to other countries), there has been much debate among Christian groups who use the Reina–Valera Bible. However, the 1960 revision became the common Bible of many millions of Spanish-speaking Protestants around the world, surpassing the 1909 in its reception. Almost all Hispanic churches use it, despite further attempts to revise it (for example, the unofficial Reina–Valera-Gomez revision). The Reina–Valera Bible is one of the Bible translations authorized to be used in Spanish-language services of the Church of Christ, Scientist, 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 ...

as well as by many religious groups.

Unofficial revisions

* The 1602 Purified Bible done in Monterrey, Mexico, by advocates of King James Onlyism. The First edition was printed in 2001, with the Second Edition in 2002. Their purpose was to create (or rather, to restore) a Spanish-language bible which honored and remained true to the old Reina-Valera Castellan Spanish. * The Reina–Valera 1865, made by Dr. Ángel H. de Mora of Spain, and subsequently printed by the

. The ABS continued to reprint this Valera edition until the 1950s. It was reprinted again in the year 2000 by the Local Church Bible Publishers of Lansing, Michigan, and the Valera Bible Society of Miami, Florida. * The Reina–Valera–Gómez Bible, a revision of the 1909, done in Matamoros,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, by advocates of King James Onlyism. * 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 ...

has been working on a revision of the Valera 1909. *

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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

s) published in 2009 their first official Spanish edition of the Bible based on the 1909 Reina–Valera edition, with "a very conservative update of outdated grammar and vocabulary".

References

External links

Text of the Biblia del Oso (1569)

Text of the Reina–Valera (1602)

Text of the Biblia Reina–Valera 1909

Text of the Reina–Valera Antigua

Text of the Reina–Valera 1960

Text of the Reina–Valera 1977

Text of the Reina–Valera 1995

Text of the Reina–Valera Contemporánea

LDS Text of the "Santa Biblia: Reina–Valera 2009"

History of Reina–Valera in Spanish by Baptist Church

Website of the Reina–Valera Contemporánea (in Spanish)
* * {{Librivox author , id=1875 Bible translations into Spanish 1569 books Early printed Bibles