The

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

was first published in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

in 1767 and the whole

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

(''Am Bìoball Gàidhlig'') was first published in 1801. Prior to these, Gaels in Scotland had used translations into Irish.

Book of Common Order

The ''

Book of Common Order The ''Book of Common Order'', originally titled ''The Forme of Prayers'', is a liturgical book by John Knox written for use in the Calvinism, Reformed denomination. The text was composed in Geneva in 1556 and was adopted by the Church of Scotla ...

'' was translated into Scottish Gaelic by

Séon Carsuel Séon Carsuel (Anglicized: ''John Carswell'', modern Scottish Gaelic: ''Seon Carsuail''; c. 1522 – 1572) was a 16th-century Scottish prelate, humanist, and Protestant reformer. When Carsuel completed his education he joined the service o ...

(John Carswell), Bishop of the Isles, and printed in 1567. This is considered the first printed book in Scottish Gaelic though the language resembles classical Irish. Dugald Campbell of

Knapdale Knapdale (, ) forms a rural district of Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands, adjoining Kintyre to the south, and divided from the rest of Argyll to the north by the Crinan Canal. It includes two parishes, North Knapdale and South Knapdale. ...

produced a manuscript translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (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 and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

in 1673, but it was never published. James Kirkwood (1650-1709) promoted Gaelic education and attempted to provide a version of

William Bedell The Rt. Rev. William Bedell, D.D. (; 22 September 15717 February 1642), was an English Anglican bishop who served as the 5th Provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1627 to 1629. He also served as Lord Bishop of Kilmore and as a member of t ...

's Bible translations into Irish, edited by his friend Robert Kirk (1644–1692), Episcopal minister of Balquhidder and later of Aberfoyle, author of ''The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies'', which failed, though he did succeed in publishing a Psalter in Gaelic (1684).

Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge edition of the Bible

It was not until after the final defeat of the Jacobite warriors at Culloden in 1746, that the

Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge The Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, or the SSPCK, was a group established in Scotland to promote the better understanding of the principles of the reformed Christian religion, principally through the established Church of S ...

began serious work on a published Bible in Scottish Gaelic and initiated a

translation project A translation project is a project that deals with the activity of translating. From a technical point of view, a translation project is closely related to the project management of the translation process. But, from an intercultural point of v ...

in 1755. The result of this was the New Testament of James Stuart (1701–1789), minister of Killin, and poet

Dugald Buchanan Dugald Buchanan (Dùghall Bochanan in Gaelic) (Ardoch Farm, Strathyre (near Balquhidder) in Perthshire, Scotland 1716–1768) was a Scottish poet writing in Scots and Scottish Gaelic. He helped the Rev. James Stuart or Stewart of Killin to tr ...

, published in 1767. Stuart worked from the Greek, Buchanan improved the Gaelic. This was followed in 1801 by a full Bible translation with an Old Testament largely by Stuart's son John Stuart of Luss.

Metrical Psalms

The Psalms were translated into Gaelic in metrical form for congregational singing. The full 150

Metrical Psalms A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a verse translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or harmonisatio ...

called ''Sailm Dhaibhidh'' were first published in full in 1694. The

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...

produced a revised edition in 1826, which is basically the same text which is still used today. The Metrical Psalms of all 150 Hebrew Psalms are often printed at the back of the Bible along with some 67 Paraphrases called ''Laoidhean o na Sgrioptuiribh Naomha'' and some 5 Spiritual Songs called ''Dana Spioradail''. This was last printed as a separate edition by the Scottish Bible Society in 1987.

First Bible Society editions

In 1801 the Gaelic Bible was printed by the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SSPCK). The Gaelic Bible was first printed by the Bible Society in 1807 when 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 ...

(BFBS) printed a corrected edition of the SSPCK text. In 1826 a revision of the Bible was made by the General Assembly of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

and was printed with the Metrical Psalms ''Sailm Dhaibhidh'' by SSPCK and BFBS. From 1872 the text was maintained by the National Bible Society of Scotland (NBSS) in Edinburgh, instead of by the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS).

Other translations

In the 1830s a translation of the

was made, based on the

Latin Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Roman Church. Later, of his own initia ...

, by Fr. Ewen MacEachen, a

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' re ...

from

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

, and posthumously published at

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in 1875. In 1860 the

Apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

was translated by Alister Macgregor, a minister from Inverness.

1902 edition

In 1880 the

(SSPCK) formed a commission to revise the Gaelic Bible. This consisted of both the Established and Free Churches. The commission under the chairmanship of Norman Macleod, included the following well-known Gaelic scholars: - A. Clerk, T. McLauchlan, and N. Dewar, Andrew D. Mackenzie, Robert Blair, John Maclean, Alexander Nicolson, and Donald Mackinnon. By the time the New Testament was completed the affairs of the SSPCK came under the investigation of a Royal Commission, and the work of revision was suspended, to be resumed some 13 years later in 1896. Meanwhile, four of the revisers had died, and the Old Testament was completed by N. Macleod, R. Blair, J. Maclean, and N. Dewar. The result amounts to a fresh translation of the Bible, preserving as far as possible the diction and idiom of the Bible of 1826. In 1902 the new revision of the Bible was adopted by the National Bible Society of Scotland (now called the Scottish Bible Society).

Today's Gaelic version

In 1980 the Bible Society produced ''An Deagh Sgeul aig Marcus'' which was the Gospel of Mark in Today's Gaelic Version (TGV). It was translated by Kenneth McDonald, Donald Meek, Donald Gillies and Roderick MacLeod. In 1986 the Bible Society produced ''Facal as a' Phriosan'' which was a translation of Paul's Letters from Prison to the

Ephesians The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Traditionally believed to have been written by the Apostle Paul around AD 62 during his imprisonment in Rome, the Epistle to the Ephesians closely resembles Colossians ...

Philippians The Epistle to the Philippians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and Timothy is named with him as co-author or co-sender. The letter is addressed to the Christia ...

Colossians The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately f ...

and Philemon. It was translated by Kenneth MacDonald, Calum Matheson and Donald Meek.

Recent Bible Society editions

In 1992 a new edition of the Bible was printed by the Scottish Bible Society ''Comann-Bhìoball Dùthchail na h-Alba''. This was an orthographic revision of the 1902 Bible by Donald Meek, and also included an updated edition of the Metrical Psalms. In 2000 another edition of the Bible was produced which included an orthographic revision of the 1826 Metrical Psalms. In 2002 a diglot New Testament was published by the Scottish Bible Society of the 2000 edition of the Gaelic New Testament and the English

New King James Version The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English, working as a revision of the King James Version. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the ...

New translation

In 2009 a new Gaelic translation of the New Testament was started by the Scottish Bible Society called ''Eadar-theangachadh Ùr'' The aim is to translate the Bible into modern everyday Scots Gaelic. The translation team comprises translators from the Church of Scotland, Free Church of Scotland,

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and

Catholic Church in Scotland The Catholic Church in Scotland, overseen by the Scottish Bishops' Conference, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church headed by the Pope. Christianity first arrived in Roman Britain and was strengthened by the conversion of the Picts thr ...

. The translation aims to combine faithfulness to the

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

original with vocabulary in normal use, and clarity with dignity. This fresh translation is aimed at a younger generation. ''Soisgeul Eòin'' - The

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

was published in 2010 and launched at the Gaelic

Mòd A mòd is a festival of Scottish Gaelic song, arts and culture. Historically, the Gaelic word ''mòd'' (), which came from Old Norse ''mót'', refers to a Viking Age '' Thing'' or a similar kind of assembly. There are both local mòds, and an an ...

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; , ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great Britain. From a latitudinal s ...

. The New Testament ''An Tiomnadh Nuadh'' was completed in 2017. In 2022 an audio version was produced.

Digital editions

The Scots Gaelic Bible was digitised by the Scottish Bible Society for the production of the New Testament diglot with the English NKJV in 2002. In 2016 Scots Gaelic Scriptures were placed online on BibleSearch (Bibles.org) and

YouVersion YouVersion (also known as Bible.com or the Bible App) is an online and mobile Bible platform published foweb Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and many other operating platforms. In 2023, according to YouVersion, its Bible App features over 3,000 ...

. As well as the main Bible digitised editions of the Metrical Psalms, and the New Testament from 2017 in the new translation are also available.

References

External links

Various Scots Gaelic translations
at bible.com {{Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic language Christianity in Scotland

* Scottish Gaelic literature Church of Scotland