Jákup Dahl (English and German ''Jacob Dahl'') (5 June 1878 – 5 June 1944) was a Faroese Provost and

Bible translator The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and ...

. In 1908 he became known as a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

with the first Faroese grammar lessons for school students.

Life and work

Dahl was born on 5 June 1878 in

Vágur Vágur meaning ''Bay'' ( da, Våg) is a town on the island of Suðuroy, part of the Faroe Islands It is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and was founded in the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the ...

on the island of

Suðuroy Suðuroy (literally South Island, da, Suderø) is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 square kilometres (63.2 sq mi). In 2018 the population was 4,601. Suðuroy region (sýsla) comprises this island and Lítla ...

in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. He was the son of the merchant Peter Hans Dahl and Elisabeth Súsanna Vilhelm. Dahl was a classmate of

Janus Djurhuus Jens Hendrik Oliver Djurhuus, called Janus Djurhuus, (26 February 1881, Tórshavn – 1 September 1948, Tórshavn) was the first modern Faroese poet. He and his younger brother Hans Andreas Djurhuus, also a poet, are called the ''Áarstova'' ...

at the high school in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. " Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of the Faroes. Djurhuus described Dahl’s delivery of the nationalist hymn ''Nú er tann stundin komin til handa'' by

Jóannes Patursson Jóannes Patursson (May 6, 1866 – August 2, 1946) was a Faroese nationalist leader and poet. He served as a member of the Parliament of Denmark and the Parliament of the Faroe Islands. Background Jóannes was born in 1866 as the eldest s ...

as his "linguistic baptism". While he was affiliated with Patursson's Party '' Sjálvstýrisflokkurin'' (Self-Government Party or Separatist Party), Jacob Dahl became famous during the Faroese language conflict, when he refused, as a teacher in Tórshavn 1909, to continue to teach in Danish. This matter back then was elevated to the

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

ministry of instruction. One of his former students was

William Heinesen Andreas William Heinesen (15 January 1900 – 12 March 1991) was a poet, novel writer, short story writer, children's book writer, composer and painter from the Faroe Islands. His writing The Faroese capital Tórshavn is always the centre of H ...

, who reminisced about the time when Dahl still forced his students to use Danish. In 1917 Dahl was elected Provost of the Faroes. In 1921 he published his translation of the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

. The

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

was published in 1937. Subsequently, he started the translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, but was unable to finish it prior to his death in 1944. This task was then taken over by

Kristian Osvald Viderø Kristian Osvald Viderø (27 May 1906, in Skálavík – 8 April 1991, in Copenhagen) was a Faroese clergyman, poet and Bible translator. In 1985 he won the Faroese Literature Prize for his works. Biography After theological studies in Denmark, ...

, to enable the ''Danske Folkekirke''

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

(which immediately authorized Dahl’s translations) to finally present a

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

translation in

Faroese language Faroese ( ; ''føroyskt mál'' ) is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by about 72,000 Faroe Islanders, around 53,000 of whom reside on the Faroe Islands and 23,000 in other areas, mainly Denmark. It is one of five languages de ...

in 1961. Besides the Bible translation, Dahl also supplied a transliteration of the

Catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adul ...

, a Bible story and a compilation of Faroese sermons for Layman Worships in remote villages. In addition Jákup Dahl translated dozens of church songs, including some by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

into his native language. A Bible translation by Victor Danielsen already existed in 1948, but he based his on modern European editions, unlike Dahl’s translations from the older editions. Jákup Dahl’s son Regin Dahl (1918–2007) is an important Faroese poet and composer.

Works

* 1908: ''Føroysk mállæra til skúlabrúks''. Tórshavn. (“Färöi language teachings for the school use”) * 1913: ''Jólasálmar og morgun og kvøldsálmar'' (collection of Jákup Dahl and Símun av Skarði. Tórshavn: Fram - 30 pp. (Christmas carols and tomorrow and evening songs) * 1928: ''Glottar''. Tórshavn: H.N. Jacobsens Bókahandil - 96 pp. * 1935: ''Ávegis''. Tórshavn: H.N. Jacobsens Bókahandil 156 pp. * 1948: ''Sólin og sóljan'': Self-publishing house Regin Dahl. - 79 pp. * 1948: ''Meðan hildið verður heilagt. Lestrarbók''. Tórshavn: ''Føroyskt kirkjumál'' - 485 pp. (devotion book, lecture collection) * 1970: ''Í jólahalguni. Sólarris.'' - Tórshavn: Heimamissiónsforlagið - 149 pp. * ''Bíblia: Halgabók. Gamla testamenti og Nýggja.'' (From the original translations of Dahl and Viderø). Copenhagen: Det Danske Bibelselskab, 2000 - 1211 pp.

Literature

* Jákup Reinert Hansen: ''Mellem kor og skib''. Jacob Dahl’s ''færøske more postiller.'' Århus: Det teologiske Fakultet, Aarhus Universitet, 2003. - 422 pp. (in Danish with short German summary. Dissertations with support of the fund of Queen Margrethe II.) ** Jákup Reinert Hansen: ''Mellem kor og skib.'' Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag, 2004. - 477 pp.

Sources

German Wikipedia The German Wikipedia (german: Deutschsprachige Wikipedia) is the German-language edition of Wikipedia, a free and publicly editable online encyclopedia. Founded on March 16, 2001, it is the second-oldest Wikipedia (after the English Wikipedi ...

External links

Dahl’s Bible
– Faroese
Faroe Art Stamps from Faroe Post
– English

– Faroese {{DEFAULTSORT:Dahl, Jakup Translators of the Bible into Faroese Faroese language 1878 births 1944 deaths Translators to Faroese Faroese Lutherans Faroese writers People from Vágur

Life and work

Works

Literature

See also

Sources

External links