|
On eBay Now...
1912 Bezalel LILIEN Luther BIBLE Jewish ART BOOK Art Nouveau JUGENDSTIL Judaica For Sale
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
1912 Bezalel LILIEN Luther BIBLE Jewish ART BOOK Art Nouveau JUGENDSTIL Judaica:
$375.00
DESCRIPTION :E. M. LILIEN fans and ART NOUVEAU - JUGENDSTIL collectors would much enjoy this EXTREMELY RARE exceptional FINE item . It's theFIRST Lilien ARTISTIC interpretation for the BIBLE which he created in 1912 to the German LUTHER BIBLE . Please DON'T CONFUSE whith his LATER versions of the BIBLE. This unique and indeed GENUINLY RARE 1912 edition consists of the NEW TESTAMENT as well as the OLD TESTAMENT , And NUMEROUS of LILIEN illustrations for the NEW TESTAMENT chapter ( Mainly VIEWS and IMAGES of JERUSALEM , BETH LEHEM , HEBRON and other ERETZ ISRAEL , Holy Land sights ) are obviously NOT INCLUDED in the more recent and MUCH MORE COMMON version of the OLD TESTAMENT ( The famous LILIEN BIBLE 3 volumes Nos. 1, 6 and 7 ). This BIBLE named "Die Bibelin Auswahl fürs Haus Mit Zeichnungen von E. M. Lilien "with sub heading "Die Bibel in Dr. Martin Luthers Übersetzung " ( The MARTIN LUTHER Translation ) was published in BERLIN 1912 ( Absolutely FIRST EDITION ) by Übersetzung Georg Westermann. This FINE , Almost unused HUGE BIBLEVOLUMEis loaded withLILIEN Art Nouveau - Jugendtil illustrations and DECORATIONS . Original illustrated HCwithLILIEN illustration of the JEWISH MENORAH . 9 x 6.5" .Over 650throughout illustratedand decoratedPP. A few COLORED lithographic MAPS of ERETZ ISRAEL ( Palastina - Palestine ) and the OLD CITY of JERUSALEM . This copy is in EXTREMELY RARE FINE condition . Hardly used. Only very slight wear to the original cloth binding. Very tightly bound. Perfectly clean and fresh. No aging signs.( Pls look at scan for accurate AS IS images )Book will be sent inside a protective packaging .AUTHENTICITY : ThisistheORIGINALvintage1912FIRST EDITION of the LILIEN LUTHER BIBLE( Dated ), NOT a reproduction or a reprint , It comes with life long GUARANTEE for its AUTHENTICITY and ORIGINALITY.PAYMENTS : Payment method accepted : Paypal .SHIPP worldwide via registered airmailis $ 29 .Will be sent protected inside a protective rigid packaging.Handling around 5-10 days after payment.
Ephraim Moses Lilien (1874-1925) was anart nouveaupainter and photographer particularly noted for his art onJewishandZionistthemes. He is sometimes called the "first Zionist artist."BiographyEphraim Moses Lilien (Maurycy Lilien) was born inDrohobycz(Galicia). In 1889-1893 Lilien learned painting and graphic techniques at theAcademy of Arts in Kraków. He studied under Polish painterJan Matejkofrom 1890 to 1892. As a member of theZionist Movement, Lilien traveled toPalestineseveral times between 1906 and 1918.He accompaniedBoris SchatztoJerusalemto help establish theBezalel Art School.Artistic careerLilien is known for his famous photographic portrait ofTheodor Herzl. He often used Herzl as a model, considering his features a perfect representation of the "New Jew."[4]In 1896, he received an award for photography from the avantgarde magazineJugend. Lilien illustrated several books. In 1923, an exhibition of his work opened in New York.[5]Lilien's illustrated books includeJuda(1900), Biblically-themes poetry by Lilien's Christian friend, Börries Freiherr von Münchausen, andLieder des Ghetto(Songs of the Ghetto) (1903), Yiddish poems by Morris Rosenfeld translated into German.Death and commemorationLilien died inBadenweiler,Germanyin 1925. A street in theNayotneighborhood of Jerusalem is named for him. ******* Born 1874 in Drohobycz (Galicia) - died 1925 in Badenweiler. Lilien was one of the most influential jewish artists of his time. In 1896 he received an award for photography from the avantguarde magazine "Jugend". He was a member of the zionist movement and undertook several journeys to Palestine and the middle east between 1906 and 1918. Lilien illustrated several books, his bible illustrations have become most famous. His first exhibition in USA took place in 1923 in New York. His works are owned by renowned national and international museums and private collections worldwide. ******* Ephraim Moses Lilien (1874-1925) is known as the father of Zionist iconography. Although he was raised Orthodox in Galicia, he sought a secular education and settled in Germany in 1899 were he became involved in the movement to restore Jewish statehood. He was the master of the Jewish motif and fashioned a national Jewish art by blending traditional Jewish symbols within contemporary styles, such as theJugendstil(German Art Nouveau). Lilien introduced ground breaking efforts in book art, which were illustrated methodically in India ink. His first endeavor wasJuda[1900], a book of biblical poetry by Christian friend, Börries Freiherr von Münchausen. It was followed byLieder des Ghetto(Songs of the Ghetto) [1903], which contained Morris Rosenfeld’s translated Yiddish poems about the suffering masses in the Diaspora. UnlikeJuda, which focused on the proud ancient Hebrews,Lieder desGhettoconcerned the torment of a displaced people with hope for future redemption in the Promised Land. AlthoughLilien traveled to Palestine and helped found the first Jewish art institute in Jerusalem, he and his wife Helen Magnus,an assimilated Jewish intellectual, grew increasingly absorbed in German bourgeois life and he never emigrated. On exhibit are first editions of Lilien’s book art and reproductions from those and other anthologies in the collection and designs printed on postcards. The postcards from circa 1910 represent an important format used to spread the internal message of Zionism. Lilien produced modern Jewish works that helped to instill a sense of national unity and pride, but his popularity and influence expanded throughout the East and West. ****** The Luther Bible is aGermanBible translationbyMartin Luther, first printed with both testaments in 1534. This translation is considered to be largely responsible for the evolution of the modernGerman language. "The task of translating the Bible which he thus assumed was to absorb him until the end of his life."[1]While he was sequestered in theWartburg Castle(1521–1522) Luther began to translate theNew TestamentintoGermanin order to make it more accessible to all the people of the "Holy Roman Empireof the German nation." He usedErasmus' second edition (1519) of the Greek New Testament—Erasmus' Greek text would come to be known as theTextus Receptus. To help him in translating Luther would make forays into the nearby towns and markets to listen to people speak. He wanted to ensure their comprehension by a translation closest to their contemporary language usage. It was published in September 1522, six months after he had returned toWittenberg. In the opinion of the 19th century theologian and church historianPhilip Schaff, "The richest fruit of Luther's leisure in the Wartburg, and the most important and useful work of his whole life, is the translation of the New Testament, by which he brought the teaching and example of Christ and the Apostles to the mind and heart of the Germans in life-like reproduction. It was a republication of the gospel. He made the Bible the people's book in church, school, and house." The translation of the entireBibleintoGermanwas published in a six-part edition in 1534, a collaborative effort of Luther,Johannes Bugenhagen,Justus Jonas,Caspar Creuziger,Philipp Melanchthon,Matthäus Aurogallus, andGeorg Rörer. Luther worked on refining the translation up to his death in 1546: he had worked on the edition that was printed that year. Luther added the word "alone" (alleinin German) to Romans 3:28 controversially so that it read: "thus, we hold, then, that man is justified without the works of the law to do, alone through faith"[3]The word "alone" does not appear in the original Greektext,[4]but Luther defended his translation by maintaining that the adverb "alone" was required both by idiomatic German and theapostle Paul'sintended meaning. This is a literalist view rather than an literal view of the Bible which is contrary to all other references in the Bible, especially theEpistle of James.View of canonicityInitially Luther had a low view of the books ofEsther,Hebrews,James,Jude, andRevelation. He called the Epistle of James "an epistle of straw," finding little in it that pointed to Christ and His saving work. He also had harsh words for the book of Revelation, saying that he could "in no way detect that the Holy Spirit produced it."[6]He had reason to question theapostolicityof Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation because the early church categorized these books asantilegomena, meaning that they were not accepted without reservation ascanonical. Luther did not, however, remove them from his editions of the Scriptures, but he placed them last in order. His views on some of these books changed in later years. Luther chose to place theApocryphabetween the Old and New Testaments. These books and addenda tocanonicalbooks are found in the GreekSeptuagintbut not in the HebrewMasoretic text. Luther left the translating of them largely toPhilipp MelanchthonandJustus Jonas.[7]They were not listed in the table of contents of his 1523 Old Testament, and they were given the well-known title: "Apocrypha: These Books Are Not Held Equal to the Scriptures, but Are Useful and Good to Read" in the 1534 Bible.[8]See alsoBiblical canon,Development of the Christian Biblical canon, andBiblical Apocrypha.ImpactTheZürich Bibleis in part based on Luther's Bible, but the full translation appeared several years ahead of Luther, in 1531. The Luther Bible by reason of its widespread circulation facilitated the emergence of the modernGerman languageby standardizing it for the peoples of theHoly Roman Empire, an empire embodying most of present day Germany. It is considered a landmark inGerman literature. Martin Luther has been quoted as referring to himself as an insignificant “bag of worms.” Although he never occupied any high official position in the new church, it is clear that he was a vastly significant individual.[9]The first generation of Lutherans regarded him as the Wundermann, one who was called for, and sent by, God.[10]In 1534, Luther completed one of the most significant documents of the Reformation, his translation of the Bible in the vernacular. The center of Luther’s achievement and influence were clearly religious as the ordinary layman could now read the word of God for himself. Due to his translation, the Bible managed to extend its spheres of influence towards German nationalism, liberation, education and could be utilized as a catalyst towards international Protestantism.[11]Luther’s significance was largely due to his influence on the emergence of the German language and nationalism. This importance stemmed predominantly from his translation of the Bible into the vernacular, which was potentially as revolutionary as canon law and the burning of the papal bull.[12]Luther’s goal was to equip every Christian in Germany with the ability to hear the Word. Thus, by 1534 he completed his translation of the old and new testaments from Latin into the vernacular, one of the most significant acts of the Reformation.[13]Although Luther was not the first to attempt this translation, his was superior to all its predecessors. Previous translations contained poor German and were that of Vulgate, (translations of translations) rather than a direct translation to German text.[12]Luther sought to get as close to the original text as possible but at the same time, his translation was guided by how people spoke in the home, on the street and in the marketplace.[14]Luther combined his faithfulness to the language spoken by the common people to produce a work which the common man could relate to.[15]This aspect of Luther’s creation led German writers such as Goethe and Nietzsche to thoroughly praise Luther’s Bible.[16]The fact that the new Bible was printed in the vernacular allowed it to spread rapidly as it could be read by all. Hans Lufft, a renowned Bible printer in Wittenberg printed over one hundred thousand copies between 1534 and 1574 which went on to be read by millions.[17]Luther’s Bible was virtually present in every German Protestant’s home, and there can be no doubts regarding the vast biblical knowledge attained by the German common masses.[18]As a testament to the vast influence of Luther’s Bible, he even had large print Bibles made for those who had failing eyesight.[16]German humanistJohann Cochlaeuscomplained that Luther's New Testament was so much multiplied and spread by printers that even tailors and shoemakers, yea, even women and ignorant persons who had accepted this new Lutheran gospel, and could read a little German, studied it with the greatest avidity as the fountain of all truth. Some committed it to memory, and carried it about in their bosom. In a few months such people deemed themselves so learned that they were not ashamed to dispute about faith and the gospel not only with Catholic laymen, but even with priests and monks and doctors of divinity."[19]The spread of Luther's Bible had implications for the German language. The German language had been divided into many dialects, and different German statesmen could barely understand each other. This led Luther to conclude that “I have so far read no book or letter in which the German language is properly handled. Nobody seems to care sufficiently for it; and every preacher thinks he has a right to change it at pleasure and to invent new terms."[20]Scholars preferred to write in Latin. Luther popularized the Saxon dialect and adapted it to theology and religion, subsequently making it the common literary language used in books. He enriched the vocabulary with that of German poets and chroniclers.[20]For this accomplishment, a contemporary of Luther's,Erasmus Albertus, labeled him the German Cicero as he not only reformed religion, but the German language. Luther’s Bible has been hailed as the first German classic, comparable to theKing James versionof the Bible which became the first English classic. German Protestant writers and poets such as Klopstock, Herder and Lessing owe stylistic qualities to Luther’s Bible.[21]Ultimately, Luther adapted the words to fit the capacity of the German public and thus, due to the pervasiveness of his Bible, he created and spread the modern German language.[22]Luther's Bible also had a role in the creation of German nationalism. Because it penetrated every Protestant home in Germany, his sayings and translation became part of the German national heritage.[23]Luther's program of Biblical exposure extended into every sphere of daily life and work, illuminating moral considerations to Germans. This exposure gradually became infused into the blood of the whole nation and occupied a permanent space in German history.[24]The popularity and influence of Luther’s translation gave him the confidence to act as a spokesperson of the nation and thus the leader of the anti-Roman movement in Germany.[25]In light of this, it also allowed him to become a prophet of the new German nationalism[26]and helped to determine the spirit of a new epoch in German history.[27]In a sense, Luther’s Bible also empowered and liberated all Protestants who had access to it. Immediately, Luther’s translation was a public affirmation of reform and subsequently deprived the elite and priestly class of their exclusive control over words, as well as the word of God.[12]Through his translation, Luther strove to make it easier for the "simple people" to understand what he was teaching. In the major controversies amongst evangelicals at the time, most evangelicals did not understand the reasons for disagreement, let alone the commoners. Thus, Luther saw it as necessary to help those who were confused see that the disagreement between himself and the Catholic Church was real and had significance. His translation was made in order to allow the common man and woman to become aware of the issues at hand and develop an informed opinion.[28]The common individual was thus given the right to have a mind, spirit and opinion, who existed not as economic functionaries but as subjects to complex and conflicting aspirations and motives. In this sense, Luther’s Bible acted as a force towards the liberation of the German people. Luther’s social teachings and ideologies throughout the Bible undoubtedly had a role in the slow emancipation of European society from its long phase of clerical domination.[29]Luther gave men a new vision of the exaltation of the human self.[30]Luther’s Bible thus had broken the unchallenged domination of the Catholic Church, effectively splintering its unity. He had claimed the scriptures as the sole authority, and through his translation, every individual was able to aoffere by its authority, thus nullifying their need for a pope. As Bishop Fisher put it, Luther’s Bible had “stirred a mighty storm and tempest in the church” empowering the no longer clerically dominated public.[31]Although not as significant as German linguistics, Luther’s Bible also had a large impression on educational reform throughout Germany. Luther’s goal of a readable and accurate translation of the Bible became a stimulus towards universal education. This stemmed from the notion that everyone should be able to read in order to understand the Bible.[12]Luther felt that man had fallen from grace and was ruled by his own selfishness, but ultimately had not lost his moral consciousness. In Luther's eyes all men were sinners and needed to be educated. Thus his Bible was a means of establishing a form of law, order and moral teachings which everyone could aoffere by as that they could all read and understand his Bible. This education subsequently allowed Luther to find a State Church and educate his followers into a law-aoffering community.[32]Overall, the Protestant states of Germany were educational states which encouraged the spirit of teaching which was ultimately fueled by Luther’s Bible. Finally, Luther’s Bible also had international significance in the spread of Protestantism. Luther’s translation influenced the English translations by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale who in turn inspired many other translations of the Bible such as the Bishops' Bible of 1568, the Douay-Rheims Bible of 1582–1609, and the King James Version of 1611.[16]Luther’s work also inspired translations as far reaching as Scandinavia and the Netherlands. In a metaphor, it was Luther who broke the walls of translation and once such walls had fallen, the way was open to all, including some who were quite opposed to Luther’s belief.[33]Luther’s Bible spread its influence for the remolding of Western culture in all the great ferment of the sixteenth century. The worldwide implications of the translation far surpassed the expectations of even Luther himself.[34]Memorable versesAttributes that make Luther's translation of the Bible certainly characteristic are, on the one hand, a poetic, embellishing style, and on the other hand, his connection and closeness to the German people and their language. ***** Luther's Translation of the Bible The richest fruit of Luther's leisure in the Wartburg, and the most important and useful work of his whole life, is the translation of the New Testament, by which he brought the teaching and example of Christ and the Apostles to the mind and heart of the Germans in life-like reproduction. It was a republication of the gospel. He made the Bible the people's book in church, school, and house. If he had done nothing else, he would be one of the greatest benefactors of the German-speaking race.(1)His version was followed by Protestant versions in other languages, especially the French, Dutch, and English. The Bible ceased to be a foreign book in a foreign tongue, and became naturalized, and hence far more clear and dear to the common people. Hereafter the Reformation depended no longer on the works of the Reformers, but on the book of God, which everybody could read for himself as his daily guide in spiritual life. This inestimable blessing of an open Bible for all, without the permission or intervention of pope and priest, marks an immense advance in church history, and can never be lost. Earlier Versions Luther was not the first, but by far the greatest translator of the German Bible, and is as inseparably connected with it as Jerome is with the Latin Vulgate. He threw the older translation into the shade and out of use, and has not been surpassed or even equaled by a successor. There are more accurate versions for scholars (as those of De Wette and Weizsäcker), but none that can rival Luther's for popular authority and use. The civilization of the barbarians in the dark ages began with the introduction of Christianity, and the translation of such portions of the Scriptures as were needed in public worship. The Gothic Bishop Wulfila or Wölflein (i.e., Little Wolf) in the fourth century translated nearly the whole Bible from the Greek into the Gothic dialect. It is the earliest monument of Teutonic literature, and the basis of comparative Teutonic philology.(2)During the fourteenth century some unknown scholars prepared a new translation of the whole Bible into the Middle High German dialect. It slavishly follows the Latin Vulgate. It may be compared to Wiclif's English Version (1380), which was likewise made from the Vulgate, the original languages being then almost unknown in Europe. A copy of the New Testament of this version has been recently published, from a manuscript in the Premonstratensian convent of Tepl in Bohemia.(3)Another copy is preserved in the college library at Freiberg in Saxony.(4)Both are from the fourteenth century, and agree almost word for word with the first printed German Bible, but contain, besides the New Testament, the apocryphal letter of St. Paul to the Laodiceans, which is a worthless compilation of a few sentences from the genuine writings of the apostle.(5)After the invention of the printing-press, and before the Reformation, this mediaeval German Bible was more frequently printed than any other except the Latin Vulgate.(6)No less than seventeen or eighteen editions appeared between 1462 and 1522, at Strassburg, Augsburg, Nürnberg, Cöln, Lübeck, and Halberstadt (fourteen in the High, three or four in the Low German dialect). Most of them are in large folio, in two volumes, and illustrated by wood-cuts. The editions present one and the same version (or rather two versions,--one High German, the other Low German) with dialectical alterations and accommodations to the textual variations of the MSS. of the Vulgate, which was in a very unsettled condition before the Clementine recension (1592). The revisers are as unknown as the translators. The spread of this version, imperfect as it was, proves the hunger and thirst of the German people for the pure word of God, and prepared the way for the Reformation. It alarmed the hierarchy. Archbishop Berthold of Mainz, otherwise a learned and enlightened prelate, issued, Jan. 4, 1486, a prohibition of all unauthorized printing of sacred and learned books, especially the German Bible, within his diocese, giving as a reason that the German language was incapable of correctly rendering the profound sense of Greek and Latin works, and that laymen and women could not understand the Bible. Even Geiler of Kaisersberg, who sharply criticised the follies of the world and abuses of the Church, thought it "an evil thing to print the Bible in German." Besides the whole Bible, there were numerous German editions of the Gospels and Epistles (Plenaria), and the Psalter, all made from the Vulgate.(7)Luther could not be ignorant of this mediaeval version. He made judicious use of it, as he did also of old German and Latin hymns. Without such aid he could hardly have finished his New Testament in the short space of three months.(8)But this fact does not diminish his merit in the least; for his version was made from the original Hebrew and Greek, and was so far superior in every respect that the older version entirely disappeared. It is to all intents a new work. Luther's Qualifications Luther had a rare combination of gifts for a Bible translator: familiarity with the original languages, perfect mastery over the vernacular, faith in the revealed word of God, enthusiasm for the gospel, unction of the Holy Spirit. A good translation must be both true and free, faithful and idiomatic, so as to read like an original work. This is the case with Luther's version. Besides, he had already acquired such fame and authority that his version at once commanded universal attention. His knowledge of Greek and Hebrew was only moderate, but sufficient to enable him to form an independent judgment.(9)What he lacked in scholarship was supplied by his intuitive genius and the help of Melanchthon. In the German tongue he had no rival. He created, as it were, or gave shape and form to the modern High German. He combined the official language of the government with that of the common people. He listened, as he says, to the speech of the mother at home, the children in the street, the men and women in the market, the butcher and various tradesmen in their shops, and, "looked them on the mouth," in pursuit of the most intelligible terms. His genius for poetry and music enabled him to reproduce the rhythm and melody, the parallelism and symmetry, of Hebrew poetry and prose. His crowning qualification was his intuitive insight and spiritual sympathy with the contents of the Bible. A good translation, he says, requires "a truly devout, faithful, diligent, Christian, learned, experienced, and practiced heart." Progress of his Version Luther was gradually prepared for this work. He found for the first time a complete copy of the Latin Bible in the University Library at Erfurt, to his great delight, and made it his chief study. He derived from it his theology and spiritual nourishment; he lectured and preached on it as professor at Wittenberg day after day. He acquired the knowledge of the original languages for the purpose of its better understanding. He liked to call himself a "Doctor of the Sacred Scriptures." He made his first attempt as translator with the seven Penitential Psalms, which he published in March, 1517, six months before the outbreak of the Reformation. Then followed several other sections of the Old and New Testaments,--the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Prayer of King Manasseh, the Magnificat of the Virgin Mary, etc., with popular comments. He was urged by his friends, especially by Melanchthon, as well as by his own sense of duty, to translate the whole Bible. He began with the New Testament in November or December, 1521, and completed it in the following March, before he left the Wartburg. He thoroughly revised it on his return to Wittenberg, with the effectual help of Melanchthon, who was a much better Greek scholar. Sturz at Erfurt was consulted about coins and measures; Spalatin furnished from the Electoral treasury names for the precious stones of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21). The translation was then hurried through three presses, and appeared already Sept. 21, 1522, but without his name.(10)In December a second edition was required, which contained many corrections and improvements.(11)He at once proceeded to the more difficult task of translating the Old Testament, and published it in parts as they were ready. The Pentateuch appeared in 1523; the Psalter, 1524. In the progress of the work he founded aCollegium Biblieum, or Bible club, consisting of his colleagues Melanchthon, Bugenhagen (Pommer), Cruciger, Justus Jonas, and Aurogallus. They met once a week in his house, several hours before supper. Deacon Georg Rörer (Rorarius), the first clergyman ordained by Luther, and his proof-reader, was also present; occasionally foreign scholars were admitted; and Jewish rabbis were freely consulted. Each member of the company contributed to the work from his special knowledge and preparation. Melanchthon brought with him the Greek Bible, Cruciger the Hebrew and Chaldee, Bugenhagen the Vulgate, others the old commentators; Luther had always with him the Latin and the German versions besides the Hebrew. Sometimes they scarcely mastered three lines of the Book of Job in four days, and hunted two, three, and four weeks for a single word. No record exists of the discussions of this remarkable company, but Mathesius says that "wonderfully beautiful and instructive speeches were made." At last the whole Bible, including the Apocrypha as "books not equal to the Holy Scriptures, yet useful and good to read," was completed in 1534, and printed with numerous woodcuts. In the mean time the New Testament had appeared in sixteen or seventeen editions, and in over fifty reprints.(12)Luther complained of the many errors in these irresponsible editions. He never ceased to amend his translation. Besides correcting errors, he improved the uncouth and confused orthography, fixed the inflections, purged the vocabulary of obscure and ignoble words, and made the whole more symmetrical and melodious. He prepared five original editions, or recensions, of his whole Bible, the last in 1545, a year before his death.(13)This is the proper basis of all critical editions.(14)The edition of 1546 was prepared by his friend Rörer, and contains a large number of alterations, which he traced to Luther himself. Some of them are real improvements, e.g., "Die Liebe höret nimmer auf," for, "Die Liebe wird nicht müde"(1 Cor. 13:8). The charge that he made the changes in the interest of Philippism (Melanchthonianism), seems to be unfounded. Editions and Revisions The printed Bible text of Luther had the same fate as the written text of the old Itala and Jerome's Vulgate. It passed through innumerable improvements and mis-improvements. The orthography and inflections were modernized, obsolete words removed, the versicular division introduced (first in a Heidelberg reprint, 1568), the spurious clause of the three witnesses inserted in 1 John 5:7 (first by a Frankfurt publisher, 1574), the third and fourth books of Ezra and the third book of the Maccabees added to the Apocrypha, and various other changes effected, necessary and unnecessary, good and bad. Elector August of Saxony tried to control the text in the interest of strict Lutheran orthodoxy, and ordered the preparation of a standard edition (1581). But it was disregarded outside of Saxony. Gradually no less than eleven or twelve recensions came into use, some based on the edition of 1545, others on that of 1546. The most careful recension was that of the Canstein Bible Institute, founded by a pious nobleman, Carl Hildebrand von Canstein (1667-1719) in connection with Francke's Orphan House at Halle. It acquired the largest circulation and became thetextus receptusof the German Bible. With the immense progress of biblical learning in the present century, the desire for a timely revision of Luther's version was more and more felt. Revised versions with many improvements were prepared by Joh.- Friedrich von Meyer, a Frankfurt patrician (1772-1849), and Dr. Rudolf Stier (18001862), but did not obtain public authority. At last a conservative official revision of the Luther Bible was inaugurated by the combined German church governments in 1863, with a view and fair prospect of superseding all former editions in public use.(15)The Success The German Bible of Luther was saluted with the greatest enthusiasm, and became the most powerful help to the Reformation. Duke George of Saxony, Duke William of Bavaria, and Archduke Ferdinand of Austria strictly prohibited the sale in their dominions, but could not stay the current. Hans Lufft at Wittenberg printed and sold in forty years (between 1534 and 1574) about a hundred thousand copies,--an enormous number for that age,--and these were read by millions. The number of copies from reprints is beyond estimate. Cochlaeus, the champion of Romanism, paid the translation the greatest compliment when he complained that "Luther's New Testament was so much multiplied and spread by printers that even tailors and shoemakers, yea, even women and ignorant persons who had accepted this new Lutheran gospel, and could read a little German, studied it with the greatest avidity as the fountain of all truth. Some committed it to memory, and carried it about in their bosom. In a few months such people deemed themselves so learned that they were not ashamed to dispute about faith and the gospel not only with Catholic laymen, but even with priests and monks and doctors of divinity."(16)The Romanists were forced in self-defense to issue rival translations. Such were made by Emser (1527), Dietenberger (1534), and Eck (1537), and accompanied with annotations. They are more correct in a number of passages, but slavishly conformed to the Vulgate, stiff and heavy, and they frequently copy the very language of Luther, so that he could say with truth, "The Papists steal my German of which they knew little before, and they do not thank me for it, but rather use it against me." These versions have long since gone out of use even in the Roman Church, while Luther's still lives.(17)***** A Critical Estimate of Luther's Version Luther's version of the Bible is a wonderful monument of genius, learning, and piety, and may be regarded in a secondary sense as inspired. It was, from beginning to end, a labor of love and enthusiasm. While publishers and printers made fortunes, Luther never received or asked a copper for this greatest work of his life.(21)We must judge it from the times. A German translation from the original languages was a work of colossal magnitude if we consider the absence of good grammars, dictionaries, and concordances, the crude state of Greek and Hebrew scholarship, and of the German language, in the sixteenth century. Luther wrote to Amsdorf, Jan. 13, 1522, that he had undertaken a task beyond his power, that he now understood why no one had attempted it before in his own name, and that he would not venture on the Old Testament without the aid of his friends.(22)He felt especially how difficult it was to make Job and the Hebrew prophets speak in barbarous German.(23)He jocosely remarked that Job would have become more impatient at the blunders of his translators than at the long speeches of his "miserable comforters." As regards the text, it was in an unsettled condition. The science of textual criticism was not yet born, and the materials for it were not yet collected from the manuscripts, ancient versions, and patristic quotations. Luther had to use the first printed editions. He had no access to manuscripts, the most important of which were not even discovered or made available before the middle of the nineteenth century. Biblical geography and archaeology were in their infancy, and many names and phrases could not be understood at the time. In view of these difficulties we need not be surprised at the large number of mistakes, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies in Luther's version. They are most numerous in Job and the Prophets, who present, even to the advanced Hebrew scholars of our day, many unsolved problems of text and rendering. The English Version of 1611 had the great advantage of the labors of three generations of translators and revisers, and is therefore more accurate, and yet equally idiomatic. The Original Text The basis for Luther's version of the Old Testament was the Massoretic text as published by Gerson Ben Mosheh at Brescia in 1494.(24)He used also the Septuagint, the Vulgate of Jerome(25)(although he disliked him exceedingly on account of his monkery), the Latin translations of the Dominican Sanctes Pagnini of Lucca (1527), and of the Franciscan Sebastian Münster (1534), the "Glossa ordinaria" (a favorite exegetical vade-mecum of Walafried Strabo from the ninth century), and Nicolaus Lyra (d. 1340), the chief of mediaeval commentators, who, besides the Fathers, consulted also the Jewish rabbis.(26)The basis for the New Testament was the second edition of Erasmus, published at Basel in Switzerland in 1519.(27)His first edition of the Greek Testament had appeared in 1516, just one year before the Reformation. He derived the text from a few mediaeval MSS.(28)The second edition, though much more correct than the first ("multo diligentius recognitum, emendatum," etc.), is disfigured by a large -number of typographical errors.(29)He laid the foundation of theTextus Receptus, which was brought into its mature shape by R. Stephen, in his "royal edition" of 1550 (the basis of the EnglishTextus Receptus), and by the Elzevirs in their editions of 1624 and 1633 (the basis of the ContinentalTextus Receptus), and which maintained the supremacy till Lachmann inaugurated the adoption of an older textual basis (1831). Luther did not slavishly follow the Greek of Erasmus, and in many places conformed to the Latin Vulgate, which is based on an older text. He also omitted, even in his last edition, the famous interpolation of the heavenly witnesses in 1 John 5:7, which Erasmus inserted in his third edition (1522) against his better judgment.(30)The German Rendering The German language was divided into as many dialects as tribes and states, and none served as a bond of literary union. Saxons and Bavarians, Hanoverians and Swabians, could scarcely understand each other. Each author wrote in the dialect of his district, Zwingli in his Schwyzerdütsch. "I have so far read no book or letter," says Luther in the preface to his version of the Pentateuch (1523), in which the German language is properly handled. Nobody seems to care sufficiently for it; and every preacher thinks he has a right to change it at pleasure, and to invent new terms." Scholars preferred to write in Latin, and when they attempted to use the mother tongue, as Reuchlin and Melanchthon did occasionally, they fell far below in ease and beauty of expression. Luther brought harmony out of this confusion, and made the modern High German the common book language. He chose as the basis the Saxon dialect, which was used at the Saxon court and in diplomatic intercourse between the emperor and the estates, but was bureaucratic, stiff, heavy, involved, dragging, and unwieldy.(31)He popularized and adapted it to theology and religion. He enriched it with the vocabulary of the German mystics, chroniclers, and poets. He gave it wings, and made it intelligible to the common people of all parts of Germany. He adapted the words to the capacity of the Germans, often at the expense of accuracy. He cared more for the substance than the form. He turned the Hebrew shekel into aSilberling,(32)the Greek drachma and Roman denarius into a GermanGroschen, the quadrans into aHeller, the Hebrew measures intoScheffel, Malter, Tonne, Centner, and the Roman centurion into aHauptmann. He substituted evenundeutsch(!) for barbarian in 1 Cor. 14:11. Still greater liberties he allowed himself in the Apocrypha, to make them more easy and pleasant reading.(33)He used popular alliterative phrases asGeld und Gut, Land und Leute, Rath und That, Stecken und Stab, Dornen und Disteln, matt und müde, gäng und gäbe. He avoided foreign terms which rushed in like a flood with the revival of learning, especially in proper names (as Melanchthon for Schwarzerd, Aurifaber for Goldschmid, Oecolampadius for Hausschein, Camerarius for Kammermeister). He enriched the vocabulary with such beautiful words asholdselig, Gottseligkeit. Erasmus Alber, a contemporary of Luther, called him the German Cicero, who not only reformed religion, but also the German language. Luther's version is an idiomatic reproduction of the Bible in the very spirit of the Bible. It brings out the whole wealth, force, and beauty of the German language. It is the first German classic, as King James's version is the first English classic. It anticipated the golden age of German literature as represented by Klopstock, Lessing, Herder, Goethe, Schiller,--all of them Protestants, and more or less indebted to the Luther-Bible for their style. The best authority in Teutonic philology pronounces his language to be the foundation of the new High German dialect on account of its purity and influence, and the Protestant dialect on account of its freedom which conquered even Roman Catholic authors.(34)The Protestant Spirit of Luther's Version Dr. Emser, one of the most learned opponents of the Reformation, singled out in Luther's New Testament several hundred linguistic blunders and heretical falsifications.(35)Many of them were silently corrected in later editions. He published, by order of Duke George of Saxony, a new translation (1527) for the purpose of correcting the errors of "Luther and other heretics."(36)The charge that Luther adapted the translation to his theological opinions has become traditional in the Roman Church, and is repeated again and again by her controversialists and historians.(37)The same objection has been raised against the Authorized English Version.(38)In both cases, the charge has some foundation, but no more than the counter-charge which may be brought against Roman Catholic Versions. The most important example of dogmatic influence in Luther's version is the famous interpolation of the wordalonein Rom. 3:28 (allein durch den Glauben), by which he intended to emphasize his solifidian doctrine of justification, on the plea that the German idiom required the insertion for the sake of clearness.(39)But he thereby brought Paul into directverbalconflict with James, who says (James 2:24), "by works a man is justified, andnot onlyby faith" ("nicht durch den Glauben allein"). It is well known that Luther deemed it impossible to harmonize the two apostles in this article, and characterized the Epistle of James as an "epistle of straw," because it had no evangelical character ("keine evangelische Art"). He therefore insisted on this insertion in spite of all outcry against it. His defense is very characteristic. "If your papist," he says,(40)"makes much useless fuss about the wordsola, allein, tell him at once: Doctor Martin Luther will have it so, and says: Papist and donkey are one thing;sic volo, sic jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas. For we do not want to be pupils and followers of the Papists, but their masters and judges." Then he goes on in the style of foolish boasting against the Papists, imitating the language of St. Paul in dealing with his Judaizing opponents (2 Cor. 11:22 sqq.): "Are they doctors? so am I. Are they learned? so am I. Are they preachers? so am I. Are they theologians? so am I. Are they disputators? so am I. Are they philosophers? so am I. Are they the writers of books? so am I. And I shall further boast: I can expound Psalms and Prophets; which they can not. I can translate; which they can not .... Therefore the wordalleinshall remain in my New Testament, and though all pope-donkeys (Papstesel) should get furious and foolish, they shall not turn it out."(41)The Protestant and anti-Romish character of Luther's New Testament is undeniable in his prefaces, his discrimination between chief books and less important books, his change of the traditional order, and his unfavorable judgments on James, Hebrews, and Revelation.(42)It is still more apparent in his marginal notes, especially on the Pauline Epistles, where he emphasizes throughout the difference between the law and the gospel, and the doctrine of justification by faith alone; and on the Apocalypse, where he finds the papacy in the beast from the abyss (Rev. 13), and in the Babylonian harlot (Rev. 17).(43)The anti-papal explanation of the Apocalypse became for a long time almost traditional in Protestant commentaries. On the other hand, the Roman Catholic translators used the same liberty of marginal annotations and pictorial illustrations in favor of the doctrines and usages of their own church. Emser's New Testament is full of anti-Lutheran glosses. In Rom. 3:28, he protests on the margin against Luther'sallein, and says, "Paul by the words 'without works of the law' does not mean that man is saved by faith alone, without good works, but only without works of the law, that is, external circumcision and other Jewish ceremonies." He therefore confines the "law" here to the ritual law, and "works" to Jewish works; while, according to the best modern commentators, Paul means thewholelaw, moral as well as ceremonial, andallworks commanded by the law. And yet even in the same chapter and throughout the whole Epistle to the Romans, Emser copies verbatim Luther's version for whole verses and sections; and where he departs from his language, it is generally for the worse. The same may be said of the other two German Catholic Bibles of the age of the Reformation. They follow Luther's language very closely within the limits of the Vulgate, and yet abuse him in the notes. Dr. Dietenberger adds his comments in smaller type after the chapters, and agrees with Emser's interpretation of Rom. 3:28.(44)Dr. Eck's German Bible has few notes, but a strongly anti-Protestant preface.(45)To be just, we must recognize the sectarian imperfections of Bible versions, arising partly from defective knowledge, partly from ingrained prejudices. A translation is an interpretation. Absolute reproduction is impossible in any work.(46)A Jew will give a version of the Old Testament differing from that of a Christian, because they look upon it in a different light,--the one with his face turned backward, the other with his face turned forward. A Jew cannot understand the Old Testament till he becomes a Christian, and sees in it a prophecy and type of Christianity. No synagogue would use a Christian version, nor any church a Jewish version. So also the New Testament is rendered differently by scholars of the Greek, Latin, and Protestant churches. And even where they agree in words, there is a difference in the pervading spirit. They move, as it were, in a different atmosphere. A Roman Catholic version must be closely conformed to the Latin Vulgate, which the Council of Trent puts on an equal footing with the original text.(47)A Protestant version is bound only by the original text, and breathes an air of freedom from traditional restraint. The Roman Church will never use Luther's Version or King James's Version, and could not do so without endangering her creed; nor will German Protestants use Emser's and Eck's Versions, or English Protestants the Douay Version. The Romanist must become evangelical before he can fully apprehend the free spirit of the gospel as revealed in the New Testament. There is, however, a gradual progress in translation, which goes hand in hand with the progress of the understanding of the Bible. Jerome's Vulgate is an advance upon the Itala, both in accuracy and Latinity; the Protestant Versions of the sixteenth century are an advance upon the Vulgate, in spirit and in idiomatic reproduction; the revisions of the nineteenth century are an advance upon the versions of the sixteenth, in philological and historical accuracy and consistency. A future generation will make a still nearer approach to the original text in its purity and integrity. If the Holy Spirit of God shall raise the Church to a higher plane of faith and love, and melt the antagonisms of human creeds into the one creed of Christ, then, and not before then, may we expect perfect versions of the oracles of God. 4210 /138
1912 Bezalel LILIEN Luther BIBLE Jewish ART BOOK Art Nouveau JUGENDSTIL Judaica $375.00
RARE Jewish Judaica 1912 Palestine Exhibition and Bazaar BEZALEL Piece of Mosaic $475.00
|
