Persian bible translations in india in the early 19th century. Martyn, henry dnb00 wikisource, the free online library. Martyn completed the new testament translation into two languages. Entry for persian version of the scriptures cyclopedia of biblical, theological and ecclesiastical literature one of 8 bible encyclopedias freely available, this encyclopedia, with its nearly 50,000 entries and 17 millin words, dwarfs modern bible encyclopedias with the depth of knowledge.
Life of henry martyn, missionary to india and persia, 1781. In 12271812 henry martyn 17811812, a chaplain of the east india company, completed, with the help of mirza sayyed. The life of henry martyn scratch and dent version generations. Select also hebrew, greek, albanian, arabic, turkish, and german this page does not show because your browser does not support frames. Printed by richard watts for the british and foreign bible society in the year 1837. Bibles middle east farsi persian bibleinmylanguage. Please be advised, that with all ancient texts, one must be careful and view it together with other editions. Hindoostan and persian after laboring for more than 30 years. To translate the new testament and psalms into persian was also. The letters of henry martyn, east india company chaplain on jstor. With profound joy, martyn placed a copy of the newly completed persian new testament into rahims hands. Life of henry martyn missionary to india and persia 1781 to.
The new testament in persian 1837 in pdf this is the new testament of the bible translated into persian 1837 by the rev. Life of henry martyn, missionary to india and persia, 1781 to. Martyn, a cambridge university student, was honored at only 20 years of age for his achievements in mathematics. The complete persian bible translation was completed in 1838. With the assistance of munshis translators, he produced urdu, arabic, and persian versions of scripture, thus focusing on muslim languages. There he sent a copy of his translation of the new testament to the shah. The project gutenberg ebook of life of henry martyn, missionary to india and. Martyn, henry 17811812, missionary, was born at truro on 18 feb. Henry martyn s final edition 6th of the persian translation of the new testament into persian farsi. He died about october 16, 1812, at tokat, turkey, and was buried in an armenian cemetery near that city. Farsi persian bible new testament injil ketab moghadas collection opensource language english.
Regrettably, as far as history records, the bible was never translated into the persian language until henry martyn took on the task in the early 19th century. The bible was translated into persian by henry martyn, a contemporary of william carey, who translated the new testament. Henry martyn gospel fellowship association missions. However, his ill health as he contracted the plague forced him to return to england, and enroute he had the joy of seeing mount ararat, where the whole church was once contained. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Life of henry martyn, missionary to india and persia, 1781 to 1812 by sarah j. It seems to be the trend that the priority in translating the bible into indigenous languages is given to the new testament while little effort is expended on the old testament. The life of henry martyn 7 his children from the evils of ignorance, by giving them a good education. Henry martyn forsook all for christ 17011800 church. A major figure in this work was henry martyn, a contemporary of william carey. Henry martyn was born on february 18, 1781, in cornwall, england.
Persian translations from hebrew before the 17th century. Eventually bishop brian walton incorporated this translation into the london polyglot bible of 1657, the first persian translation of the gospels to be printed. God intends to create a covenant people for himself against impossible human odds. Life of henry martyn, missionary to india and persia, 1781 to 1812. Sanders goes on the emphasize that being successful often fails to produce satisfaction. Martyn had been instrumental in the founding of the calcutta auxiliary of the british and foreign bible society. Doctors had told him that the heat would kill him if he stayed in india, and the heat in persia was worse.
Owen, the history of origin and first ten years of the british and foreign bible society, 2 vols, london 1816, vol 3, london 1820. The complete bible translation was completed in 1838. Henry, his third child, the subject of this volume, was born at tru ro, on the 18th of february, 1781, and before he was eight years old, was put under the charge of an excellent schoolmaster. Woven together in the bible are prophecies and accounts of persian kings, epic battles, and. Henry martyn of truro, england, described himself as a selfish boy, full of contempt and harsh words, with a flaring temper. In 1812, henry martyn, mirza seyed alikhane, william glen, and mirza mohammad jafar shirazi. It is primarily spoken in iran, afghanistan, tajikistan and countries which historically came under persian influence. Henry martyn for the british and foreign bible society. He had intended to study law but charles simeon, the noted evangelical rector of holy trinity, cambridge, inspired him to go to india as a missionary. This is commonly used and known as the old persian version opv, standard version or. Traces the life and work of adoniram judson in burma myanmar as he and his wife and then second wife evangelized, discipled and translated the bible. I said it is the great missionary question because at every turn in scripture the point is. The henry martyn translation was revised by robert bruce to utilize persian language that was more current. In 1812, henry martyn with the help of mirza seyed alikhane translated the new testament from greek and psalms from hebrew into farsi in shiraziran.
Translated the persian nt from greek and psalms from hebrew. Persian old version povfas download the free bible app. Henry martyns final edition 6th of the persian translation of the new. It immediately became popular and has remained the basis of all other persian versions of note. This collection of the writings of henry martyn can be divided into three parts. The holy bible foundations photographic reprint of the 4th edition of henry martins persian farsi translation of the new testament of the holy bible. This complete translation is known as todays persian version tpv and. Perkins called the later henry martyn, was spent in henry martyns persia. The first bible society contact with iran was in the person of henry martyn who came to iran in 1811 to revise his translation of the new testament that he had started in india. This is my birthday, on which i complete my thirtyfirst year. Used by millions even then, urdu was essentially a spoken rather than a written language, and once again, as had happened before in the field of bible translation, it is the bible which becomes the fountainhead of the literature in the language. Henry martyn was born february 18, 1781, in truro, cornwall, where his father, johnan. Complete translations of the hebrew bible and greek new testament from original languages were first made in the 19th century by protestant missionaries.
The sudden death of his father led eventually to a spiritual awakening, and to his ordination in 1803 as curate to charles simeon at holy trinity church, cambridge. The judeopersian composition of henry martyns persian. Henry martyn s great passion was in linguistic study and he is perhaps most notably remembered for translating the entire new testament into urdu, persian and judaeopersic. Henry martyn 1837 persian new testament persian edition holybiblefoundation on. The significance of this speaks volumes about the importance of using the mother tongue in bible translation. Then he refers to henry martyn, a distinguished scholar, as an example of what he is talking about. Henry was a man who literally burned out for god in a short lifespan of 31 years. When it was finished, it was published by united bible societies in 2007.
A brief history of ibs iranian bible society in diaspora. Henry martyn 18 february 1781 16 october 1812 was an anglican priest and missionary to the peoples of india and persia. Martyn died, the first ever full nt in persian was published by the russian bible society. The first two are selections from his journals and the third drawn from his account of a visit to shiraz in persia. He had left his fiance lydia grenfell behind in england in 1806 and would never see her again he died at 31. In 1811 he journeyed into persia and sent a copy of his translation of the new testament to the shah. This was published in 1895, although it is also said to have been published in 1896. Bible translations into persian have been made since the fourth or fifth century, although few. Entry for martyn, henry cyclopedia of biblical, theological and ecclesiastical literature one of 8 bible encyclopedias freely available, this encyclopedia, with its nearly 50,000 entries and 17 millin words, dwarfs modern bible encyclopedias with the depth of knowledge. In addition he translated the psalms in persian, and the book of common prayer into urdu. The persian farsi translation of the bible called old persian translation is the result of different peoples work in the early 19th century.
Giving you holy bibles the way they were originally printed. This translation of the holy bible is originally based upon henry martyn s translation of the bible in persian. Carey was delighted with martyn and declared that wherever martyn was, no other missionary would be needed. There are both jewish and christian translations from the middle ages. Free audio book that you can download in mp3, ipod and itunes format for your portable audio player. Canton, a history of the british and foreign bible society, 5 vols, london 19041910. His work for the persian bible included translating the psalms into persian, the gospels into judaeopersic, and the book of common. Confessing that ignorance of islam handicapped his ability to communicate the gospel, he also read everything he could pick. Henry martyn now intended to travel to arabia, to complete a bible translation into arabic. Henry martyns great passion was in linguistic study and he is perhaps most notably remembered for translating the entire new testament into urdu, persian and judaeopersic. Persian new testament henry martyn 1876 usage attributionnoncommercialshare alike 3. Setting sail again, on 18th february 1811 martyn arrived in bombay.
Sabat was a arab young man, and a brilliant linguist. The following appraisal of martyn s legacy will outline his life and career, and then examine four areas in which martyn s missionary thinking, strategy, and method are particularly noteworthy. Henry martyn was a young missionary to india and arabia and persia in the early 1800s. Henry martyn missionary to persia frontline fellowship. For centuries iran was known as persiathe greatest empire the world had ever seen. Henry martyn, presbyter and missionary to india and persia, 1812 born at truro in 1781, henry martyn studied at st johns college, cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1802. One major figure in this work was henry martyn, a contemporary of william carey, who.
So its not surprising this truth served the great missionary henry martyn. Much of the work among the nestorians and muslims prior to the 20th cent. The project gutenberg ebook of life of henry martyn, by sarah j. My thanks to the cambridge centre for christianity worldwide for making this book available for digitisation. An anglican evangelical, active in india and persia, he translated the new testament into urdu and persian, pioneered engagement between protestant christianity and islam, and inspired a generation of british and american evangelical missionary efforts.
Henry martyn, first modern missionary to muslims it. He translated the psalms into persian, the gospels into judoeopersic, and the prayerbook into hindustani. Ali khan of shiraz, a persian translation of the new testament. Bible translations into persian have been made since the fourth or fifth century, although few early manuscripts survive. It was written to encourage young people to dedicate their lives to the. In 1995, elam ministries published a revised edition with updated grammar and idioms. A revision was published in 1896, now known as the old version ov. Life of henry martyn missionary to india and persia 1781 to 1812 hardcover. He was the informant for henry martyn who, during his first four years of ministry in india, translated the new testament into hindustani, persian, and arabic. Such a painful year i never passed, owing to the privations i have been called to, on the one hand, and the spectacle before me of.
The bible was translated into persian in the early 19th century. After repeated updates it was finally published in the current form in 1896 and again, with new headlines in 1996 and subsequently by elam ministries with new headings and cross references. The persian new testament has been begun and finished in it. A chance encounter with charles simeon led him to become a missionary.
Born in truro, cornwall, he was educated at truro grammar school and st johns college, cambridge. One major figure in this work was henry martyn, a contemporary of william carey, who translated the new testament. The new testament of our lord and saviour jesus christ, translated from the original greek into persian by the rev. Persian speaking people can freely download the persian nt. Please be advised, that with all ancient texts, one must be careful and view it together with other editionsreprints in case some text is lost or unreadable due to. Persian, bible, injile, ketab, moqadas, moghadas, iran, afghan, afghanistan, textus receptus, henry martyn, henry martin, iranian. Henry martyn 1837 persian new testament persian edition. Persian old version povfas download the free bible. The holy bible in basic english, published by cambridge university, translated by prof. Persian new testament henry martin 1876 internet archive. Thank you henry martyn for your gift to the persian speaking world. The holy bible in persian, translated by missionary henry martyn and robert bruce persian standard bible, since 1895 2.
The judeopersian composition of henry martyns persian bible. The persianfarsi translation of the bible called old persian translation is the result of different peoples work in the early 19th century. Henry martyn s final edition 6th edition of the persian farsi new testament translation from greek textus receptus. Henry martyn, first modern missionary to muslims martyn did two translations of the bible and more in a short time. Henry martyn 17811812 was one of the most significant british foreign missionaries of the nineteenth century. Martyn, henry cyclopedia of biblical, theological and. He is most remembered for his study of the persian language and translating the new testament for those to whom he ministered. But upon hearing martyn was about to leave, rahim came at last to make his confession of faith in jesus as the son of god. Henry martyn, presbyter and missionary to india and persia. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
Born in cornwall, he received his early education there before embarking on a brilliant academic career at cambridge. Farsi, persian, bible, injile, ketab, moqadas, moghadas. It was when researching the life of martyn that the subject of this biographical sketch was brought to my attention. Download and read online for free sermons by henry martyn. Martyn s zeal for the gospel, humble spirit, and facility with languages made him a natural missionary.
A common language persian translation was published in 1976. Persian bible leather the holy bible todays persian version. The old persian translation is the result of the several decades of hard work on the part of various translators over the early 19th century. Select urls for references to and or download of books referred to below. Hooke, university of london, bbe is composed of 1,000 words since 1949.