The Studium Biblicum Version ( zh, t=思高本, s=思高本, j=si1 gou1 bun2, p=Sīgāo Běn) is the predominant

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

translation of the Bible used by Chinese

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. It is considered by many to be ''the'' Chinese Catholic Bible. The Studium Biblicum Version is considered by many, including some Protestants, to be very faithful to the original manuscripts. Like many Catholic bibles, this translation includes numerous footnotes. The bible includes several appendices. The language of the Studium Biblicum Version is standard modern written Chinese, though some of the wordings may appear unnatural in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

but still used in

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

, and might be considered unnatural by some precisely because some people do not expect such forms to be written. Standard transliterations are mostly used where they exist. In other cases, a transliteration based on Mandarin is used.

History

The Studium Biblicum Version was translated by the

Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF), Latin for 'Franciscan Biblical Studies', is a Franciscan academic society based in Jerusalem. It is a center of biblical and archaeological research and studies, established by the Franciscan Custody of the H ...

in Hong Kong (a bible society not affiliated with the United Bible Societies). Translation originally started in 1935 as a personal effort by a Franciscan Friar, the Blessed

Gabriele Allegra Gabriele Allegra ( zh, 雷永明, 26 December 1907 – 26 January 1976) was a Order of Friars Minor, Franciscan friar and Biblical scholar. He is best known for accomplishing the first complete translation of the Bible into the Chinese language. ...

. Translation work was halted due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and part of the finished translations were lost due to the war. The bible society was formed in 1945 when more translators joined the translation work, and the whole bible was completed in 1968. The translation was mostly based on the original

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

, and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

manuscripts, but occasionally on an unidentified existing translation for “difficult passages”. Postulations by modern scholars were deliberately avoided, but the Greek manuscript edited by the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

scholars Aland, Black, Metzger, and Allen Wikgren was used as a reference as an

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

gesture.

Typography of the Studium Biblicum Version

Text in the Studium Biblicum Version is typeset vertically from right to left. The typography is generally modern, with a small number of archaisms. The Studium Biblicum Version uses standard Chinese punctuation. An exception is that the proper name mark and book title mark are both typeset on the right side instead of the currently-standard left. Among the old-style typography used are the use of sans serif type for emphasis, mostly for chapter and section headings, and typesetting most punctuation marks as if they were

ruby Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...

. Verse numbers are typeset on the right-hand side, of the first word of each verse as ruby. Notes are typeset as

footnote In publishing, a note is a brief text in which the author comments on the subject and themes of the book and names supporting citations. In the editorial production of books and documents, typographically, a note is usually several lines of tex ...

s. Because it is typeset vertically, the footnotes appear on the far left side of the spread, instead of the bottom of the page. Typesetting the proper name and book title marks on the right causes clashes with verse numbers and most punctuation marks. When clashes occur, the proper name or book title mark that causes the clash are omitted for the character with the clash. This typographic treatment causes parts of some proper names or book titles to be unmarked. The characters used for Bible names, and consequently for many Bible books, differ from those in Protestant Chinese Bibles such as the standard Chinese Union Version. For example, "John" is rather than the found in Protestant Bibles and secular sources.

Online versions

As the Studium Biblicum version is not in the public domain, permission to create online versions of this translation is granted on a case-by-case basis. Online versions include those hosted on the web sites of the Chinese Regional Bishop's Conference and the Wah Yan BibleNet.

History

Typography of the Studium Biblicum Version

Online versions

See also

External links