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Bible translations into French

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After a number of French Bible translations in the Middle Ages, the first printed translation of the Bible into French was the work of the French theologian Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples in 1530 in Antwerp, Belgium. This was substantially revised and improved in 1535 by Pierre Robert Olivétan. This Bible, in turn, became the basis of the first French Catholic Bible, published at Leuven in 1550, the work of Nicholas de Leuze and François de Larben. Finally, the Bible de Port-Royal, prepared by Antoine Lemaistre and his brother Louis Isaac Lemaistre, finished in 1695, achieved broad acceptance among both Catholics and Protestants. Jean-Frédéric Ostervald's version (1724) also enjoyed widespread popularity.

Contents

Among Catholics, the most notable contemporary French translation is La Bible de Jérusalem, available in English as The Jerusalem Bible, which appeared first in French in 1954 and was revised in 1973. Its copious but concise footnotes and apparatus have won respect among both Protestant and Catholic readers. This translation has served as the basis for versions in many other languages besides French.

Many Francophone Protestants now use the Louis Segond version, which was finished in 1880, and revised substantially between 1975 and 1978. The Revised Louis Segond Bible is published by the American Bible Society. In 2007 the Geneva Bible Society published an updated edition of the Segond text called Segond 21. It is described by its sponsors as "L’original, avec les mots d’aujourd’hui" (the original, but with today's words).

Another modern French Bible is the Bible du Semeur, finished in 2000. This is a more thought-for-thought translation than Segond's, and it uses more contemporary language. It is published by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). Another similarly translated Bible that is very popular with French readers is the Bible en français courant, published in 1987 by the Alliance Biblique Universelle.

The chief Jewish version of the Hebrew Scriptures in French is La Bible du rabbinat français, which was finished in 1906 and was revised in 1966.

André Chouraqui has published a version designed for use by both Jews and Christians; though Jewish himself, he included the New Testament.

Jehovah's Witnesses have translated their New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures into French.

Chronological list

The following list was translated from the French Wikipedia article Traductions de la Bible en français

Manuscript translations

  • 1226–1250, translation of Jean le Bon of the University of Paris
  • 1297 the Bible historiale of Guyart Desmoulins or Guyart des Moulins
  • 1377, Bible de Charles V

    • 15th century

  • 1476, le Nouveau Testament
  • 1487, la Bible de Jean de Rély

    • 16th century

  • 1523, Nouveau Testament by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples
  • 1528, Ancien Testament by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples.
  • 1535, Bible d'Olivétan: first translation made from the original Hebrew and Greek
  • 1543, Cinquante psaumes avec mélodies: anonymous translation of Psalms done by Clément Marot.
  • 1551, Bible en latin et 1555 en français of Sebastian Castellion: translated from the Hebrew and Greek. Condemned by John Calvin.
  • 1560, Bible de Genève of Jean Calvin: follows the Bible d'Olivétan
  • 1588, Révision de la Bible de Genève (Bible de « l'Epée ») by Theodore Beza and Corneille Bertram.
  • 1550‑1608, La Bible de Louvain: a revision of the Bible by Lefebvre d'Étaples.
  • 1566, traduction de René Benoist: from the Vulgate (Paris). Suspected of Calvinism, it caused numerous controversies.

    • 17th century

  • 1667, Nouveau Testament of Antoine and Isaac Lemaître de Sacy: from the Greek
  • 1696, Translation by the Jansenist abbey of Port-Royal de Paris, translated between 1657 and 1696.
  • 1696, Le Nouveau Testament by David Martin: revision of the Bible de Genève accompanied by notes.

    • 18th century

  • 1702, New Testament of Richard Simon, an Oratorian who devoted his life to many works of exegesis and critical research on the Bible text. He was knowledgeable in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic (the language spoken by Christ), and traditional Jewish methods of exegesis.
  • 1707, La Sainte Bible by David Martin: revision of the Bible de Genève accompanied by notes. Available online at Martin 1707
  • 1741, Bible of Charles de Cène, a pastor and refugee in the Dutch Republic
  • 1744, revision of Jean-Frédéric Osterwald of the Bible de Genève.
  • 1744, revision of David Martin by the pastor Pierre Roques

    • 19th century

  • 1820–1824, Sainte Bible (traduction nouvelle), by Antoine Eugène Genoud (also known as the abbot of Genoude), Paris, Imprimerie royale.
  • 1831–1851, La Bible, Traduction Nouvelle by Samuel Cahen: Jewish Bible, Hebrew and French bilingual edition.
  • 1843, Sainte Bible by Jean Jacques Bourassé and Pierre Désiré Janvier, also called Bible de Tours, translated from the Vulgate. Published in 1866 in a deluxe version illustrated by Gustave Doré, re-edited in 1985 by Jean de Bonnot.
  • 1846, translation of the Gospels by Felicite Robert de Lamennais. It is this text that was read by, notably, Victor Hugo and Arthur Rimbaud.
  • 1847, Ancien Testament, H.-A. Perret-Gentil: in 2 volumes, following the Hebrew text
  • 1855, Revision of La Sainte Bible of David Martin
  • 1859, La Sainte Bible of John Nelson Darby (originator of dispensationalism): from the Greek and Hebrew. Darby also translated the Bible into English and German. Very literal.
  • 1860, Ancien Testament by Lazare Wogue: with the collaboration of Ben Baruk de Crehange, or B. Mosse of Avignon
  • 1872, the Nouveau Testament by Jean-Hugues Oltramare: who has the distinction of giving in his notes all Greek variants in Nestle-Aland and weighing them
  • 1872, l'Ancien Testament by Pierre Giguet: translated from the Septuagint
  • 1873, La Sainte Bible by Jean Baptiste Glaire, commentary by F. Vigouroux: translated from the Vulgate, reprinted in 2002 by éditions DFT.
  • 1874, L'Ancien Testament by Louis Segond
  • 1877, the Nouveau Testament selon la Vulgate : translated into French with notes by Jean Baptiste Glaire, P. Didot.
  • 1880, Le Nouveau Testament and La Bible by Louis Segond : the original version is no longer readily available since it underwent a revision in 1910 (after the death of Louis Segond). The new version (Segond-1910) was (and still is) the most widely used by French Protestants
  • 1881, Bible de Reus by Edouard Antoine Reus, inspired by German translations.
  • 1881, Sainte Bible by Antoine Arnaud, from the Vulgate, intended for seminarians
  • 1885, Ancien Testament by John Nelson Darby (originator of dispensationalism): from Hebrew and without scientific pretensions but with the desire to render the original language as literally as possible.
  • 1886–1896, Bible rationaliste by Eugène Ledrain: from the Hebrew and Greek texts, Paris.
  • 1887, Les Saints Évangiles, traduction nouvelle: by Henri Lasserre. Received an imprimatur
  • 1899, L'Ancien et le Nouveau Testament with a French translation in the form of a paraphrase by R.P. de Carrières and commentary by Ménochius of the Jesuits
  • 1900, La Bible annotée translation and commentary of the Old Testament; collective work by a group of theologians in Neuchatel, under the direction of Frederic Godet (translation by Felix Bovet)

    • 20th century

  • 1902, La Bible du Rabbinat by Zadoc Kahn: with numerous collaborators. Published as a bilingual Hebrew–French edition.

    • 21st century

    2013, "La Bible, Traduction officielle liturgique" coordinated by Father Henri Delhougne, O.S.B., with numerous collaborators.

    References

    Bible translations into French Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA