Bible translations into Japanese

Main article: Christianity in Japan

Contents

Jesuit missions

Japanese Bible translation began when Catholic missionaries (Kirishitan) entered Japan in 1549, and Jesuits published portions of the New Testament in Kyoto, in 1613, though no copy survives. Exactly how much was translated by the Jesuit Mission is not confirmed. It would seem that at least Gospels for the Sundays of the year and other Bible pericopes were translated.[1][2] Shortly afterwards, however, Christianity was banned and all the missionaries were exiled. That translation of the Bible is now lost[3][4].

Protestant missionaries

Work on translation started outside of Japan in the 19th century by Protestant missionaries interested in Japan. Karl Gutzlaff of the London Missionary Society translated the Gospel of John in Macau in 1837, referring to the Chinese version of Robert Morrison (Chinese Shentian Shengshu 神天聖書). Bernard Jean Bettelheim, who had been a missionary in the Ryūkyū Kingdom (Okinawa) and who had been exiled, translated the Bible to Ryūkyūan and published the Gospel of Luke and John, Acts of the Apostles and the Epistle to the Romans in Hong Kong in 1855[5]. Japan re-opened in 1858, and many missionaries came into the country. They found that intellectuals could read Chinese texts easily, so they used Chinese Bibles at first. However, the proportion of intellectuals was not so high (about 2%) and there was a multitude to be enlightened. They needed a Japanese Bible.

Meiji Version, 1887

A translation was done by James Curtis Hepburn, of the Presbyterian Mission, and Samuel Robbins Brown, of the Reformed Church of America. It is presumed that Japanese intellectual assistants helped translate Bridgman and Culbertson's Chinese Bible (1861) into Japanese, and Hepburn and Brown adjusted the phrases. The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and John were published in 1872[6]. Hepburn's project was taken over by a Missionary Committee, sponsored by the American Bible Society, British and Foreign Bible Society and the Scottish Bible Society in Tokyo. Their New Testament and Old Testament, called the Meiji Version (Meiji genyaku 明治元訳), was published in 1880 and 1887 respectively. They translated from a Greek text as well as the King James version[7][8][9].

Taisho Revised Version, 1917

A revision of the New Testament, the Taisho Revised Version (Japanese: 大正改訳聖書 taisho kaiyaku seisho) appeared in 1917. This version was widely read even outside of Christian society. Its phrases are pre-modern style, but became popular in Japan. This was based on the Nestle-Aland Greek Text and the English Revised Version (RV)[10][11][12].

After World War II, the Japanese Bible Society translated a colloquial version of the Bible, the New Testament being ready in 1954, and the Old Testament in 1955. It was adopted by certain Protestant churches but never became really popular, perhaps because of its poor literary style. This translation was based on the Revised Standard Version (RSV)[13][14].

Catholic versions

In the Catholic Church, Emile Raguet of the MEP translated the New Testament from the Vulgate Latin version and published it in 1910. It was treated as the standard text by Japanese Catholics[15]. Federico Barbaro colloquialized it (published in 1957). He went on to translate the Old Testament in 1964[16].

The Franciscans completed a translation of the whole Bible, based on the Greek and Hebrew text, in 1978. This project was inspired by the Jerusalem Bible[17].

In the Orthodox Church, Nicholas and Tsugumaro Nakai translated the New Testament as an official text in 1901[18].

New Interconfessional Version, 1987

The Second Vatican Council decided to promote ecumenism and emphasized respect for the Bible. Consortia between the Catholic and the Protestant churches were organized and translation projects started in many countries, including Japan. The collaboration committee published the Interconfessional Translation Bible (Shinkyodoyaku Seisho) of the New Testament in 1978, but it was not widely supported by both congregations, Catholic and Protestant[19][20]. The committee then published a revised version, the New Interconfessional Translation Bible, in which the Old Testament was included, in 1987.[21][22] It has been distributed well, but most Evangelical churches refused it and continued to use Protestant revised Bible[23][24][25][26][27], the New Japanese Bible (Shinkaiyaku Seisho, 1970) from Biblia Hebraica and Nestle-Aland[28].

There are many other Japanese translations of the Bible by various organizations and individuals.

Comparison

Translation John 1 (verses vary)
Gutzlaff (1837) John 1:1-2
ハジマリニ　カシコイモノゴザル、コノカシコイモノ　ゴクラクトトモニゴザル、コノカシコイモノワゴクラク。ハジマリニ　コノカシコイモノ　ゴクラクトトモニゴザル。
Betterlheim (1855) John 1:1-2
はじめに　かしこいものあり　かしこいものハ　神と　ともにいます　かしこいものハすなわち神
Hepburn (1872) John 1:1-4
元始(はじめ)に言霊(ことだま)あり　言霊は神とともにあり　言霊ハ神なり。この言霊ハはじめに神とともにあり。よろづのものこれにてなれり　なりしものハこれにあらでひとつとしてなりしものハなし。これに生(いのち)ありし　いのちは人のひかりなりし。
Meiji version (1880) John 1:3
万物(よろづのもの)これに由(より)て造(つく)らる造(つくら)れたる者に一つとして之に由(よ)らで造られしは無(なし)
Taisho Revised Version (1917) John 1:1-3
太初(はじめ)に言(ことば)あり、言(ことば)は神と偕(とも)にあり、言(ことば)は神なりき。この言(ことば)は太初(はじめ)に神とともに在(あ)り、萬(よろづ)の物これに由(よ)りて成り、成りたる物に一つとして之によらで成りたるはなし。
Shinkeiyaku(Nagai)version (1928) John 1:1-4
初に言(ことば)ありき、また言は神と偕(とも)にありき、また言は神なりき。 此の者は初に神と偕にありき。 すべての物、彼によりて刱(はじ)まれり、また刱まりたる物に、一つとして彼を離れて刱まりしはなし。 彼に生(いのち)ありき、また此の生は人の光なりき。
Colloquial version (1954) John 1:1-3
初めに言(ことば)があった。言(ことば)は神と共にあった。言(ことば)は神であった。この言(ことば)は初めに神と共にあった。すべてのものは、これによってできた。できたもののうち、一つとしてこれによらないものはなかった。
Barbaro (1957) John 1:1-3
はじめにみことばがあった。みことばは神とともにあった。みことばは神であった。かれは、はじめに神とともにあり、万物はかれによってつくられた。つくられた物のうち、一つとしてかれによらずつくられたものはない。
Shinkaiyaku Seisho (1973) John 1:1-3
初めに、ことばがあった。ことばは神とともにあった。ことばは神であった。この方は、初めに神とともにおられた。すべてのものは、この方によって造られた。造られたもので、この方によらずにできたものは一つもない。
Franciscan (1978) John 1:1-3
初めにみ言葉があった。／み言葉は神と共にあった。／み言葉は神であった。／み言葉は初めに神と共にあった。／すべてのものは、み言葉によってできた。／できたもので、み言葉によらずに／できたものは、何一つなかった。
The New Interconfessional Translation (1987) John 1:1-3
初めに言(ことば)があった。言(ことば)は神と共にあった。言(ことば)は神であった。この言(ことば)は、初めに神と共にあった。万物は言(ことば)によって成った、成ったもので、言(ことば)によらず成ったものは何一つなかった。

References

  1. ^ Handbook of Christianity in Japan: Mark Mullins - 2003 Among these writings were the Gospels for the Sundays of the year and other Bible pericopes, such as Passion ... Captain John Saris, an English adventurer who spent about two years in Japan, made the following entry in his diary while in Kyoto on October 9, 1613: In this cittie of Meaco, the Portingall Jesuitts haue a verie statelie Colledge
  2. ^ The Bible translator 18 United Bible Societies - 1967 "In his diary for October 9th, when he visited Miako (Kyoto), we find the entry : In this cittie of Meaco, the Portingall Iesuitts ... which identifies one volume as 'A Japanese New Testament printed in Miako by the Jesuits in 1613'."
  3. ^ Arimichi Ebizawa, "Bible in Japan --A History of Japanese Bible Translation,"(In Japanese) Kodansha, 1989, ISBN 4-06-158906-7, Section 1
  4. ^ Norihisa Suzuki, "Japanese in the Bible, A History of Translation,"(In Japanese) Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-5, Section 1
  5. ^ Arimichi Ebizawa, "Bible in Japan --A History of Japanease Bible Translation,"(In Japanese) Kodansha, 1989, ISBN 4-06-158906-7, Section 3
  6. ^ Arimichi Ebizawa, "Bible in Japan --A History of Japanease Bible Translation,"(In Japanese) Kodansha, 1989, ISBN 4-06-158906-7, Section 4
  7. ^ Arimichi Ebizawa, "Bible in Japan --A History of Japanease Bible Translation,"(In Japanese) Kodansha, 1989, ISBN 4-06-158906-7, Section 6,7
  8. ^ Norihisa Suzuki, "Japanese in the Bible, A History of Translation,"(In Japanese) Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-5, Section 4
  9. ^ Kenzo Tagawa, "New Tastement as a Text," (In Japanese) Keisoshobou, 1997, ISBN 4-326-10113-X,pp.620-621
  10. ^ Arimichi Ebizawa, "Bible in Japan --A History of Japanease Bible Translation,"(In Japanese) Kodansha, 1989, ISBN 4-06-158906-7, Section 12
  11. ^ Norihisa Suzuki, "Japanese in the Bible, A History of Translation,"(In Japanese) Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-5, Section 5
  12. ^ Kenzo Tagawa, "New Tastement as a Text," (In Japanese) Keisoshobou, 1997, ISBN 4-326-10113-X,p.622
  13. ^ Norihisa Suzuki, "Japanese in the Bible, A History of Translation,"(In Japanese) Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-5, Section 6
  14. ^ Kenzo Tagawa, "New Testement as a Text," (In Japanese) Keisoshobou, 1997, ISBN 4-326-10113-X,p.623-633
  15. ^ Arimichi Ebizawa, "Bible in Japan --A History of Japanease Bible Translation,"(In Japanese) Kodansha, 1989, ISBN 4-06-158906-7, Section 10
  16. ^ Kenzo Tagawa, "New Testament as a Text," (In Japanese) Keisoshobou, 1997, ISBN 4-326-10113-X,pp.648-649
  17. ^ Kenzo Tagawa, "New Tastement as a Text," (In Japanese) Keisoshobou, 1997, ISBN 4-326-10113-X,pp.649-650
  18. ^ Arimichi Ebizawa, "Bible in Japan --A History of Japanease Bible Translation,"(In Japanese) Kodansha, 1989, ISBN 4-06-158906-7, Section 11
  19. ^ Norihisa Suzuki, "Japanese in the Bible, A History of Translation,"(In Japanese) Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-5, pp.148-168
  20. ^ Kenzo Tagawa, "New Tastement as a Text," (In Japanese) Keisoshobou, 1997, ISBN 4-326-10113-X,pp.651-661
  21. ^ Norihisa Suzuki, "Japanese in the Bible, A History of Translation,"(In Japanese) Iwanamishoten, 2006, ISBN 4-00-023664-5, pp.168-177
  22. ^ Kenzo Tagawa, "New Tastement as a Text," (In Japanese) Keisoshobou, 1997, ISBN 4-326-10113-X,pp.661-692
  23. ^ 日本福音同盟 - Japan Evangelical Association
  24. ^ 日本福音同盟『日本の福音派』Japan Evangelical Association
  25. ^ 新改訳聖書刊行会『聖書翻訳を考える』
  26. ^ 中村敏『日本における福音派の歴史』ISBN 4264018269
  27. ^ 尾山令仁『聖書翻訳の歴史と現代訳』
  28. ^ 『聖書翻訳を考える』