Welsh Bible

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first translation of the Bible into Welsh was the New Testament translation of William Salesbury in 1567, closely followed by William Morgan's translation of the whole Bible in 1588.

Morgan soon began work on a revision (or a new translation) of his 1588 Bible, which contained a number of printing errors. After Morgan's death, Bishop Richard Parry and Dr John Davies continued the work with the aim of polishing the literary language, replacing forms considered too colloquial, and to bring the text into greater conformity with the Authorized Version 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 became the standard Welsh Bible until the 20th century and continues to be used to this day. This occupies a similar place in the Welsh language to that of the King James Version in English. The early Bible editions were large volumes intended for use in churches; in 1630 a smaller edition was published intended for use in the home, thus bringing scripture in Welsh into the hands of the laity.

An original copy of the Welsh Bible is displayed in St Asaph Cathedral, north Wales. It was used at the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales 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, of conferring status on Welsh as a liturgical language and vehicle for worship. This in turn led to its continued use as a means of everyday communication down to the present day despite the pressure of English.

A new translation, y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd was published in 1988 and has largely replaced the William Morgan translation, although there is some disagreement as to the accuracy of the translation. A revision of y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd (Revised New Welsh Bible) was released in March 2004.

Both versions are in very literary Welsh and a translation in a more colloquial register is being made by Arfon Jones as part of the beibl.net project.

**A Comparison of John 3:16 in Welsh Translations**
Translation	Ioan 3:16
Beibl William Morgan, 1588	Canys felly y carodd Duw y byd fel y rhoddodd efe ei unig-anedig Fab, fel na choller pwy bynnag a gredo ynddo ef, ond caffael ohono fywyd tragwyddol.
Y Beibl Cymraeg Newydd, 1988	Do, carodd Duw y byd gymaint nes iddo roi ei unig Fab, er mwyn i bob un sy'n credu ynddo ef beidio â mynd i ddistryw ond cael bywyd tragwyddol.