The Struggle for a Bible in MODERN GREEK - A Courageous Translator

A Courageous Translator

Against this backdrop of fierce opposition and earnest yearning for Bible knowledge, there emerged a prominent figure who would play a key role in the translation of the Bible into modern Greek.  This courageous person was Neofitos Vampas, a distinguished linguist and noted Bible scholar, generally regarded as one of the "Teachers of the Nation."

Vamvas clearly saw that the Orthodox Church was to blame for the spiritual illiteracy of the people.   He strongly believe  that in order to awaken the people spiritually, the Bible needed to be translated into the spoken Greek of the day.  In 1831, with the help of other scholars, he began translating the Bible into literary Greek.  His complete translation was published in 1850.  Since the Greek Orthodox Church would not support him, he collaborated with the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS)  on the publication and circulation of his translation.  The church labeled him "a Protestant," and soon he found himself an outcast.

Vamvas' rendering adhered closely to the King James Version and inherited the deficiencies of that version because of the limited Bible scholarship and linguistic knowledge of the time.  Yet, for many years it was the closest thing to a Bible in modern Greek that people had access to.  Interestingly, it includes the personal name of God four times, in the form "levoa'.' -Genesis 22:14; Exodus 6:3; 17:15; Judges 6:24.

What was the general reaction of the people up to this and other easy-to-understand versions of the Bible?  Simply overwhelming!  In a boat off of the Greek islands, a colporteur of the BFBS was "so beset with boats full of children who came for [Bibles], that he was obliged . . . to order captain to get under way7" lest he should part with his whole stock in one place! But the opposition did not stand idly by.

Orthodox priests warned the people against such translations.  In the city of Athens, for instance, Bibles were confiscated. In 1833, the Orthodox bishop of Crete committed  to the flames the "New Testaments" he discovered at a monastery.  One copy was hidden by a priest, and the people in the nearby villages hid their copies until the prelate left the island. 

Some years later on the island of Corfu, Vamvas' translation of the Bible was prohibited by the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church.  Its sale was forbidden, and the existing copies were destroyed.  On the island of Chios, siros, and Mykonos, the hostility of the local clergy led to Bible burning.  But further suppression of the Bible translation was yet ahead.

Next time: The Struggle for a Bible in MODERN GREEK - A Queen Takes an Interest in the Bible

The Watchtower, 2002