There are remarkably few Bible translations into Swedish that have been made before the last two centuries. The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

common Bible The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation itself is a revision of the Ameri ...

is known to have been used by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

during the Christian part of the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, but at least

paraphrase A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''. History Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...

s in Swedish of some parts of

the Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

were made at the time. However, no complete translation has been preserved, and the earliest, certainly known, complete Bible was not made until the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

, on commission by

Gustav Vasa Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...

Translations before the Reformation

Despite there are

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...

evidence of Christian cult in Varnhem,

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Vä ...

, from the 9th century, and that at least parts of Sweden became organized by the

in the early 11th century, there are no sources supporting written translations of any parts of the Bible until the 14th century.

Magnus Eriksson's and Saint Birgitta's Bibles

The earliest mentions of a Swedish Bible is note in an inventory list for

Magnus IV of Sweden Magnus IV (April or May 1316 – 1 December 1374; Swedish ''Magnus Eriksson'') was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364, King of Norway as Magnus VII (including Iceland and Greenland) from 1319 to 1355, and ruler of Scania from 1332 to 1360. By ...

, where a "''big volume Bible in Swedish''" is listed. A similar note is made for

Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373) born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta ( sv, heliga Birgitta), was a mystic and a saint, and she was also the founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after ...

The Pentateuch Paraphrase

''Pentateuchparafrasen'', the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

Paraphrase A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''. History Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...

, is a famous

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...

from the 1330s. It is a paraphrase on the five books of Moses, and also contains a slightly shortened variant of Acts of the Apostles. It exists today in one complete copy, ''Codex Holmiensis A 1'' (MBIB) from 1526, stored in

National Library of Sweden The National Library of Sweden ( sv, Kungliga biblioteket, ''KB'', meaning "the Royal Library") is Sweden's national library. It collects and preserves all domestic printed and audio-visual materials in Swedish, as well as content with Swedish ...

, and one almost complete copy, ''Codex Thott 4'' (MBIA) from 1400–1450, stored in

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 ar ...

. It is possible that both the Bibles of Magnus IV and Bridget of Sweden were either the original ''Pentateuch Paraphrase'', or copies of it. According to the sources, it is possible that Bridget had a translation made, that became a paraphrase, and that she later gave it to the king, or the queen.

Translations in the late middle ages

A few other translations are known from the 15th century: * The

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isr ...

. Translated by Nicolaus Ragvaldi. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 1''. * The

Book of Judges The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom ...

. Translated by Nicolaus Ragvaldi. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 1''. * The

Book of Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded from the Hebrew canon and assigned by Protestants to the apocrypha. It tells ...

. Translated by

Jöns Budde Jöns Budde (sometimes spelled as ''Joens Budde'' or ''Jønes Budde'') (c. 1435 – c. 1493) was a Bridgettine monk from the Bridgettine convent '' Vallis gratiae'', the first convent for women in Finland, located in Naantali, near Turku, Finland ...

. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 1''. * The

Book of Esther The Book of Esther ( he, מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Jewish ''Tanakh'' (the Hebrew Bible). It is one of the fi ...

. Translated by Jöns Budde. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 1''. * The

Book of Ruth The Book of Ruth ( he, מגילת רות, ''Megilath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Old Testament, Christian canons it is treated ...

. Translated by Jöns Budde. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 1''. *

1 Maccabees The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...

. Translated by Jöns Budde. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 1''. *

2 Maccabees 2 Maccabees, el, Μακκαβαίων Β´, translit=Makkabaíōn 2 also known as the Second Book of Maccabees, Second Maccabees, and abbreviated as 2 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which recounts the persecution of Jews under King Antiochus I ...

. Translated by Jöns Budde. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 1''. * The

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book o ...

. Unknown translator. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 1''. *

Gospel of Nicodemus Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

. Unknown translator. Part of ''Codex Holmiensis A 3''.

Translations used by the
Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Swed ...

* '' Gustav Vasa Bible'': A translation commissioned by

, published in 1526 (New Testament) and 1541 (complete Bible). Published shortly after

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 Luther ...

's translation into german (New Testament 1522, and complete Bible 1534). * '' Gustav II Adolf Bible'': a revision of the Gustav Vasa Bible with verses, published 1618. * ''

Charles XII Bible The Charles XII Bible ( sv, Karl XII:s bibel) was a Bible translation into Swedish, instigated by King Charles XI in 1686 to produce an updated and modernised version of the old translation from 1541, which was known as the Gustav Vasa Bible. Cha ...

'': ordered by

Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line o ...

, published in 1703, a slight revision of Gustav Vasa's * ''1917 års bibelöversättning'', (1917 Bible translation) much revised but still with a slightly antiquated language * ''Bibel 2000'': the latest official state church translation, including the Old Testament and

Apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

Other Swedish translations

* ''Bible translations from 1536'', limited edition of four books of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha * ''Normalupplagan'' (Normal Version) * ''Helge Åkessons översättning'', (Helge Akesson's Translation) by the Baptist translator Helge Åkesson, 1911 * ''Nya Världens Översättning'' (New World Bible Translation): by the

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 ...

, latest revision 2017. * ''David Hedegårds översättning'' (David Hedegard's Translation): New Testament only * ''Bo Giertz översättning'' (Bo Giertz Translation): New Testament only * '' Svenska folkbibeln'' (Swedish People's Bible) * ''Levande Bibeln'' (Living Bible): completed in September 2000, by the

International Bible Society International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

* ''NuBibeln'' (Swedish Contemporary Bible; NUB), 2015, by Biblica, Inc. * ''Reformationsbibeln'' (Reformation Bible) – New Testament onlySv. Reformationsbibeln
/ref> * ''

Darby Bible The Darby Bible (DBY, formal title ''The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages by J. N. Darby'') refers to the Bible as translated from Hebrew and Greek by John Nelson Darby. History and principles Darby published a ...

'' – New Testament only; by Taylor

Exclusive Brethren The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848. The Exclusive Brethren are now divided in ...

, principal work done by Eric Carrén

Comparison

References

{{reflist

Translations before the Reformation

Magnus Eriksson's and Saint Birgitta's Bibles

The Pentateuch Paraphrase

Translations in the late middle ages

Translations used by the
Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Swed ...

Other Swedish translations

Comparison

See also

References

External links

Translations before the Reformation

Magnus Eriksson's and Saint Birgitta's Bibles

The Pentateuch Paraphrase

Translations in the late middle ages

Translations used by the Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Swed ...

Other Swedish translations

Comparison

See also

References

External links

Translations used by the
Church of Sweden The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Swed ...