Bible translations into French

From Textus Receptus

See Also Bible translations into the languages of France

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.

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.

Comparison

Translation	Genesis (Genèse) 1:1–3	John (Jean) 3:16
Louis Segond (LSG)	Au commencement, Dieu créa les cieux et la terre. La terre était informe et vide: il y avait des ténèbres à la surface de l'abîme, et l'esprit de Dieu se mouvait au-dessus des eaux. Dieu dit: Que la lumière soit! Et la lumière fut.	Car Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu'il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne périsse pas, mais qu'il ait la vie éternelle.
La Bible du Semeur (BDS)	Au commencement, Dieu créa le ciel et la terre. Or, la terre était alors informe et vide. Les ténèbres couvraient l'abîme, et l'Esprit de Dieu planait au-dessus des eaux. Et Dieu dit alors: Que la lumière soit! Et la lumière fut.	Oui, Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu'il a donné son Fils, son unique, pour que tous ceux qui placent leur confiance en lui échappent à la perdition et qu'ils aient la vie éternelle.
Bible en français courant (BFC)	Au commencement Dieu créa le ciel et la terre. La terre était sans forme et vide, et l'obscurité couvrait l'océan primitif. Le souffle de Dieu se déplaçait à la surface de l'eau. Alors Dieu dit : « Que la lumière paraisse ! » et la lumière parut.	Car Dieu a tellement aimé le monde qu'il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne soit pas perdu mais qu'il ait la vie éternelle.

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

Unfinished and continued in the 14th century by Jean de Sy and the Dominicans, Jehan Nicolas, Guillaume Vivien, and Jehan de Chambly.

1297 the Bible historiale of Guyart Desmoulins or Guyart des Moulins

Consisting of the Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor, a liberal translation of most of the Bible, and an assemblage of glosses and other materials from several sources. The content of the manuscripts is variable, and successive versions seem to add books of the Bible which were missing in Guyart's original.

1377, Bible de Charles V

Translation by Raoul de Presles dedicated to Charles V

Printed translations

15th century

1476, le Nouveau Testament

Printed by Barthélemy Buyer in Lyon, translated from the Vulgate.

1487, la Bible de Jean de Rély

Printed for the first time in Paris and reprinted at least ten times in the fifty years that followed. It is an illustrated Bible, published from a late manuscript of the Bible historiale of Guyart des Moulins.

16th century

1523, Nouveau Testament by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples
1528, Ancien Testament by Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples.

From the Vulgate, printed in Antwerp 1530, 1534, 1541. Revised by Nicolas de Leuze (Antwerp, 1548). This is the first complete translation of the Hebrew scriptures into French.

1535, Bible d'Olivétan: first translation made from the original Hebrew and Greek

It introduced the word Éternel to render the Tetragrammaton. Pierre Robert, called Olivétan, who was probably a cousin of John Calvin, wrote the Latin preface. The translation is accompanied by numerous scholarly notes. The New Testament follows the Textus Receptus.

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

Printed in Amsterdam.

1696, Translation by the Jansenist abbey of Port-Royal de Paris, translated between 1657 and 1696.

Blaise Pascal, and other influential writers such as Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, Pierre Nicole, Pierre Thomas du Fossé, under the leadership of Louis-Isaac Lemaître de Sacy, participated in the translation

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

External links

French translation information
Translator notes
[1]

The King James Version 2023 Edition New Testament is now complete and in print format here.

Internal Links

Old Testament - New Testament KJV 1900

New Testament KJV 2016

Scrivener's 1894 Textus Receptus

2016 Urdu New Testament (TR Based)

Russian Synodal Version (TR Based)

Reina Valera Gómez Spanish (TR Based)

Marginal Notes in the 1611 Authorized Version

Ephesians 3:9

Why We Should Not Passover Easter 1, 2, & 3

Will Kinney

List of TR/KJV based foreign bibles

List of New Testament minuscules

List of New Testament lectionaries

List of New Testament Papyri

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