Bible translations into Macedonian
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The history of Bible translations into Macedonian is connected in its early years with the history of
Bible translations into Bulgarian The royal Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander is an illuminated manuscript Gospel Book in middle Bulgarian, prepared and illustrated in 1355–1356 for Tsar Ivan Alexander of the Second Bulgarian Empire. The manuscript is regarded as one of the mo ...
. After the codification of
Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
in 1945, in 1952 a liturgical edition of the four Gospels was printed as the first official translation into
standard Macedonian Standard Macedonian or literary Macedonian ( mk, книжевен македонски јазик or македонски литературен јазик) is the standard variety of the Macedonian language and the official language of North Mace ...
.


Historic translations

The manuscript of the Konikovo Gospel is the oldest known Bible translation into modern Macedonian
vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
. It is a Greek vernacular-based
evangeliarium The Evangeliary or Book of the Gospels is a liturgical book containing only those portions of the four gospels which are read during Mass or in other public offices of the Church. The corresponding terms in Latin are and . The Evangeliary develo ...
with a translation to the Macedonian vernacular of Lower Vardar, from the eve of the 19th century. The manuscript, written by an anonymous translator who used Greek script for both the Greek and the Macedonian text, was discovered in 2003 in the library of the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa ( grc, Πατριαρχεῖον Ἀλεξανδρείας καὶ πάσης Ἀφρικῆς, Patriarcheîon Alexandreías kaì pásēs Aphrikês, The Patriarchate of Alexandria and ...
. Here is a sample from this translation, John 1:1-2 In 1835 the Bulgarian monk
Neofit Rilski Neofit Rilski ( bg, Неофит Рилски) or Neophyte of Rila (Bansko, 1793 – January 4, 1881), born Nikola Poppetrov Benin ( bg, Никола Поппетров Бенин) was a 19th-century Bulgarian monk, teacher and artist, and an impor ...
started a translation of the New Testament. The translation was completed on April 18, 1838. Per author himself, it was done in Bulgarian language, and de facto in the
Maleševo-Pirin dialect The term Maleševo-Pirin or Maleshevo-Pirin or Pirin-Maleshevo dialect is used in South Slavic linguistics to refer to a group of related varieties that are spoken on both sides of the border of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. Some ...
, which is transitional between Bulgarian and Macedonian. In 1840 this complete translation of the New Testament was printed in
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
by the
British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The Soc ...
. In this way, the first standardized Bulgarian script was created by
Elias Riggs Elias Riggs (November 19, 1810 – January 17, 1901) was an American Presbyterian missionary and linguist. Biography Elias Riggs was born on November 19, 1810 in New Providence, New Jersey. He was the second son of Elias and Margaret (Congar) ...
and
Albert Long Albert Long (December 4, 1832, Washington, Pennsylvania - July 28, 1901, Liverpool, England) was an American Methodist pastor who devoted much of his life preaching in the Balkans. During his missionary activities in the Ottoman Empire he contri ...
. It was based on the local dialect in Eastern Macedonia, today part of
Pirin Macedonia Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Македония; Българска Македония) (''Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya'') is the third-biggest part of the geographical region Macedonia located on t ...
, Bulgaria. Here is a small sample from this translation, Matthew 2:1-2 using the modern
Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
: 1. И като се роди Исус во Витлеем Јудејскиј в дните на Ирода цара, ето волеви от исток дојдоха во Иерусалим и говореха: 2. Где е штото се е родил цар Јудејскиј; заштото видехме звездата негова на восток и дојдохме да му се поклониме. In 1852 Pavel Bozhigrobski printed the first four pages of the ''Konikovo Gospel'' in Solun. In the original the language was not named, but in the version published by Bozhigrobski he calls it "Bulgarian". The printed version was republished in transcription in 1917, 1922 and 1931 by Bulgarian researchers. Another example is the '' Kulakian gospel'' from 1863, which represents translation from Greek
evangeliarium The Evangeliary or Book of the Gospels is a liturgical book containing only those portions of the four gospels which are read during Mass or in other public offices of the Church. The corresponding terms in Latin are and . The Evangeliary develo ...
to
Solun-Voden dialect The Solun-Voden dialect, Lower Vardar dialect, or Kukush-Voden dialect is a South Slavic dialect spoken in parts of the Greek periphery of Central Macedonia, and the vicinity of Gevgelija and Dojran in the Republic of North Macedonia. It has be ...
and was written by hand with Greek letters from Evstati Kipriadi in the town of
Chalastra Chalastra ( el, Χαλάστρα) is a town and former municipality in the Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. Before 1926, it was known as Κουλουκιά - ''Kouloukia'' ( bg, Кулакия - ''Kulakiya''). It was renamed to ''Chalastra'' i ...
. On the title page is also inscription "Written in
Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...
". For Bulgarian researchers these early vernacular Slavic translations of the gospel into Macedonian dialects belong to the Bulgarian cultural tradition. In 1871 the first official Bible translation in Bulgarian was published. The decision to base it on the Eastern Bulgarian dialects, was one of the decisive historical factors based on which the standard Bulgarian language departed from its
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
and
Macedonian dialects The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic languages, Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as some variety (linguistics), varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia (region), Macedonia. They are pa ...
.


Official translations

In 1952 a liturgical edition of the four Gospels was printed. This was translated by Milošev Djordje with the help of the Macedonian Committee of the Orthodox Church. In 1957 further selections based upon the lectionary readings were published. In 1959 the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, translated by Georgi Milosev, Boris Boskovski and Petar Ilijevski was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS). The first complete New Testament translated into
Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
was then completed and published in 1967. In 1970 the Bible Society printed an edition with cross-references following the verses. Another edition was printed in Belgrade in 1988 by the Yugoslav office of the United Bible Societies (UBS). The whole Bible (including the
Deuterocanonical books The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...
) translated in Macedonian by the
Archbishop Gavril In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...
was printed in 1990. This was published by the Bible Society and it has the official sanction of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. An audio edition of the 1990 New Testament was produced. The text was revised in 2006 and called the Macedonian Standard Bible. This was printed in 2 editions, one without the deuterocanonical books and one with them, which has the official sanction of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. These have been digitised by the Bible Society and the 2006 editions are now on YouVersion as MK2006 and MK2006D. The Bible Society launched a Macedonian Bible app which was launched in Skopje in October 2016. This is available on Android, iPhone and Google platforms. An audio edition of the New Testament was also produced. In 2008 the Orthodox Church edited the 1952 liturgical 4 Gospels to produce a new edition used with their lectionary and liturgy.


Independent translations

An independent translation of the complete Bible was prepared by Duško Konstantinov in the mid 1970s, but it was not printed until 1996 by the
George Lucas Educational Foundation George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...
. A
dynamic translation In computer science, dynamic recompilation is a feature of some emulators and virtual machines, where the system may recompile some part of a program during execution. By compiling during execution, the system can tailor the generated code to r ...
of 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 Christ ...
prepared by Ivan Grozdanov and Goran Stojanov was published in 1999 under the umbrella of
Biblica Biblica, formerly International Bible Society, was founded in 1809 and is the worldwide copyright holder of the New International Version of the Bible (NIV), licensing commercial rights to Zondervan in the United States and to Hodder & Stoughton ...
.
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
have translated their
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. The New Testament portion was released first, in 1950, ...
from English into Macedonian.Available on-lin
here
in PDF format.


See also

*
Slavic translations of the Bible The history of all Bible translations into Slavic languages begins with Bible translations into Church Slavonic. Other languages include: East Slavic Old Belarusian An effort to produce a version in the vernacular was made by Francysk Skaryna ( ...


References

{{reflist
Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
Macedonian language