Martin Luther German Bibles
Facsimiles
Martin Luther (1483-1546) completed and published his German translation of the New Testament in September of 1522. The complete German Bible translation by Luther was first printed in 1534.
Numerous translations of the Bible into the German language had already been printed when Martin Luther commenced to translate the Bible into high German. These earlier German printings, dating to 1466, were translated from the Latin Vulgate into various German dialects. Martin Luther was the first to translate from the original biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. Luther's New Testament, first published in 1522, was translated from the 1516 Greek text of Erasmus, with the assistance of Philip Melancthon. The Old Testament was translated from Masoretic Hebrew texts, and the entire Bible (including apocrypha) was published in 1534 at Wittenberg by Hans Lufft. Luther constantly sought to upgrade his translation of the Bible, and the last revision was published in 1545 prior to his death in 1546.
Luther’s theological opinions caused him to have unfavorable attitudes toward the New Testament books of James, Hebrews, and Revelation. Regarding them to be less important books, he changed the traditional order of the New Testament and placed them at the end of the book. His theological persuasions were sometimes interpolated into the text of his German Bible, as, for example, in Romans 3:28 where he translated that “a man is justified by faith alone apart from the works of the law,” adding the word “alone” to amplify his theological opinion.
The Fowler Bible Collection has facsimile editions of Luther’s 1522 September Testament, a two volume facsimile of the 1534 printing of the complete Luther German Bibel, and a facsimile of the 1545 Luther Bible illustrated by Luther’s friend in Wittenberg, artist and printer Lucas Cranach. Luther’s German translation of the Bible remains to this day one of the most popular German Bible translations.
Numerous translations of the Bible into the German language had already been printed when Martin Luther commenced to translate the Bible into high German. These earlier German printings, dating to 1466, were translated from the Latin Vulgate into various German dialects. Martin Luther was the first to translate from the original biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. Luther's New Testament, first published in 1522, was translated from the 1516 Greek text of Erasmus, with the assistance of Philip Melancthon. The Old Testament was translated from Masoretic Hebrew texts, and the entire Bible (including apocrypha) was published in 1534 at Wittenberg by Hans Lufft. Luther constantly sought to upgrade his translation of the Bible, and the last revision was published in 1545 prior to his death in 1546.
Luther’s theological opinions caused him to have unfavorable attitudes toward the New Testament books of James, Hebrews, and Revelation. Regarding them to be less important books, he changed the traditional order of the New Testament and placed them at the end of the book. His theological persuasions were sometimes interpolated into the text of his German Bible, as, for example, in Romans 3:28 where he translated that “a man is justified by faith alone apart from the works of the law,” adding the word “alone” to amplify his theological opinion.
The Fowler Bible Collection has facsimile editions of Luther’s 1522 September Testament, a two volume facsimile of the 1534 printing of the complete Luther German Bibel, and a facsimile of the 1545 Luther Bible illustrated by Luther’s friend in Wittenberg, artist and printer Lucas Cranach. Luther’s German translation of the Bible remains to this day one of the most popular German Bible translations.
