Skip to content

Persian Bible

Select Texts, mss. and Printed Editions of the Persian Bible, Biblical Books and related Writings.

14th Cent CE. Persian Ms of the Gospel of Matthew

An Annotated Bibliography of (sometimes lost) Texts,  Mss. and Printed editions of the Persian Bible, Biblical books and related writings partly based on Darlow and Moule vol II Pt. 3 (London, 1903) and the Encyclopedia Iranica art. 'Bible' with Additions and Select Images.

Stephen N. Lambden 1980s + 2014 - In progress and under constant revision.

Key references and Sources include :

  • D&M = Darlow and Moule,  Vol II Pt. III,  Persian (pp.1201-9) and Judaeo-Persian (pp.1209-1211).
    EIr. = Encyclopedia Iranica. vol IV (pp. 203-6), 1989 Article ` BIBLE iii. Chronology of Translations' by Kenneth J. Thomas and F. Vahmnan.

Select URLs for references to and/ or download of books referred to below :

Stephen Lambden (Ohio University). UC Merced.

2006-7. Being revised and updated 2014>

ADD

Aphraahat the Persian,  Aphraahates “The Persian Sage” (fl. early 4th cent. CE).

13th cent. CE or earlier. The Persian translation (from the Syriac?) of the Diatesssaron (c. 170s CE?) of Tatian (d. 173 CE).

The Diatessaron (Greek: “From Four,” or “Out of Four”), is a New Testament Gospel Harmony of the Christian apologist and ultimately encratitic ascetic Tatian (d. c.  173 CE).  The extant Persian version - apparently translated from the Syriac exists and has been referred to as folows : "Persian Harmony, apparently translated from a Syriac predecessor no later than the thirteenth century (the sequence of harmonization in this Persian Harmony shows that it is a new creation; nevertheless, because its variant readings sometimes agree with Diatessaronic readings, there appears to be some indirect link with the Diatessaron)" (from Petersen's  Review of  R. F. Shedinger, Tatian and the Jewish Scriptures). See further:

Metzger, B.M. 1950

  •  ‘Tatian’s Diatessaron and a Persian Harmony of the Gospels’ JBL 69 (1950) 261-280;

G. Messina, 1951

  • Diatessaron Persiano (BO 14; Rome, 1951). The manuscript (Laurentian MS XVII) was copied in 1547 by Ibrahim ben Shamas, from an original
    from the thirteenth century; which was translated from a Syriac base...

Higgins , A. J. B. 1952

  • `The Persian Gospel Harmony as a Witness to Tatian's Diatessaron' in The Journal of Theological Studies 1952 III (1):83-87.

Parisot, i.,

  • Aphraatis Sapientis Persae Demonstrationes (PS I: 1), Paris 1894, (PS I: 2), Paris 1907.

There  also exists an Arabic version of the Diatesssaron extant in around seven mss. dating from the 11th/12th  centuries CE until  the 19th century. There may be earlier lost earlier Arabic and Persian translations of the Diatessaron... A few  Islamicists and biblical or Semitic scholars have associated the Greek- Syriac-Arabic diatessaron with the Injil (Gospel[s]) of the Qur'an...

Middle Persian [Iranian] Biblical translations.

Oblique possible references to the above are listed in Patristic and other sources as noted in the Encyclopedia Iranica art. `BIBLE iii. Chronology of Translations'...  :

John Chrysostom (born Antioch c. 344 [354]-d. Cormana [Pontus] 457)  in the 380s CE became deacon then priest and came to be referred to as chrysostomos ("Golden-mouthed") on account of his eloquence and brilliant preaching or religious discourse. He was appointed Archbishop of Constantinople in 397 CE.

  • "4th century. Statement by John Chrysostom  (Homily on John, in Migne, Patrologia Graecia LIX, col. 32) that doctrines of Christ had been translated into the languages of the Persians". (EIr)

Theodoret of Cyrus  (born Antioch c.  Cyrud = Cyrrhus 393-458). Exegete, theologian and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus [Cyrus], Syria (423-457).

  • 5th century. Statement by Theodoret  (Graecarum affect­ionum curatio IX.936, in Migne, PG LXXXIII, col. 1045c) that Persians regarded the Gospels as divine revelation.
  • 4th-6th centuries (?). Middle Persian translation from Syriac of Psalms 94-99, 119-136 (the “Pahlavi Psal­ter”); the extant manuscript contains canons written after ca. 550; Andreas-Barr, 1933."

Note also from the same source (EIr. XX).

  • "? centuries. Sogdian translations of the Gospels, Pauline epistles, and Psalms.
  • 9th century. Biblical quotations in the Zoroastrian text Škand-gumānīg wizār; Menasce, 1945, pp. 176ff., Asmussen and Paper, p. 5".

7th-8th cent CE 

  • The Bible paraphrases and citations in the Qur'an as transmitted or reflected in early Persian translations and commentaries (tafasir) upon the Qur'an... 

9th-10th cent CE 

  •  

11th-12th cent CE 

The following  New Persian translations are referred to in EIr.

  • "11th century or later. New Persian-Syriac bilingual translation from Syriac of Psalms 131, 132, 146, 147 in Sogdian Syriac script; Müller, 1915; Sundermann, 1974."
  • "13th century. Harmony of Gospels, tr. from Syriac by Īwannīs ʿEzz-al-Dīn Moḥammad b. Moẓaffar, cop. by Ebrāhīm b. Šammās ʿAbd-Allāh, a Jacobite priest, in Ḥeṣn Kayfā, 954/1547. Laurentian Library, Flor­ence, XVII 81. Pub. by Messina. Assemanus, p. 59; Pizzi, p. 301."

13th cent CE 

14th cent CE 

  • Gospel of Matthew in Persian (Copied by Mas'ud ibn Ibrahim 1312)

"This, the first Persian manuscript to enter the Vatican Library, may well have been acquired by the Chaldean metropolitan Mar Yosef, who came from Malabar to Rome in 1568 to clear himself of the charge of Nestorianism. Written in the cursive "naskhi" script typical of the Middle East, it is one of the earliest surviving Persian manuscripts of any part of the Scriptures--none are known to be earlier than the fourteenth century. The rarity of the manuscript was quickly appreciated. The Persian scholar Giovanni Battista Vecchietti consulted it when he was in Rome in 1598 and foliated it. It was also read and copied by Tumagen, an Armenian from Aleppo who probably arrived in Rome in the train of Leonardo Abel after his mission to Syria in 1586. The page displayed here includes the opening of the text of the Gospel of Matthew."

Source : Library of Congress website  http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/vatican/orient.html

Under 14th century Persian Bible Translations EIr. lists

  • 712/1312-13. Gospel of Matthew, tr. from Syriac, cop. by Masʿūd b. Ebrāhīm, taken to India by Chaldean Bishop Mār Yūsof in 963-64/1556. Vatican Library, Vat. Pers. 4. Rossi, p. 29.
  • 716/1316. Psalms (except end of 58-62) in Hebrew script, found by Giambattista Vecchietti in Shiraz in 1009-10/1601, transliterated into Persian script by him. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Blochet, I, p. 1 n. 1.
  • 718-28/1318-28. Gospels, tr. from Greek by Sarkis Lūj b. Amīr Maleik, possibly an Armenian member of the Dominican Order of Preachers in Urmia, brought from Jerusalem by the Armenian Brother Nicholas, of the Dominican Order of St. Gregory, for Akbar I in 1006-07/1598, received by Father Manuel Pinheiro, S. J., in Lahore in 1008-09/1600, copied several times by Father Jeronimo Xavier (Academy of Sciences Library, Lisbon, 623; Casanatense Library, Rome, 2322: Bonelli, pp. 434-35; Gregorian University Library, Rome, 86; Leningrad Library, 248: Catalogue, pp. 241-43; London School of Oriental and African Studies, lost; Vatican Library Pers. 1-4, 52, 56, 73, 74, 100: Rossi, p. 27; and Royal Library, Brussels: van den Gheyn, pp. 38-39). Possibly this tr. of Matthew 1-18:6 published in London by Abraham Wheelocke in 1653. Tr., with many Arabic expressions, by “Mogdan,” transcribed into Indian taʿlīq characters by Šayḵ Ešāḥ in 1014/1605 (Bodleian Library, Oxford, 1837: Sachau and Ethé, no. 1837 cols. 1054-55; Cambridge University Library, Gg. 5.26: Browne, pp. 1-2).
  • 719/1319. Pentateuch, tr. and cop. by Joseph ben Moses: Darlow and Moule, p. 1201, Gregory, pp. 577f. British Library, Or. 5446: Margoliouth, pp. 119-20, Seligsohn, pp. 278-86. Paper, 1972.

In 742/1341 the Gospels were translated into Persian from Syriac by Yūḥannā b. al-Khāṣṣ Yūsuf al-Ya'qūbī and came to be the NT text within the London Polyglot Bible (1657) of Bishop Brian Walton (EIr. IV:203) (see below).

  • 742/1341. Gospels, tr. from Syriac by the Jacobite or Nestorian cleric Yūḥannā b. al-Ḵāṣṣ Yūsof al-­Yaʿqūbī, cop. “828”/1425? by Simon b. Yūsof b. Ebrāhīm Tabrīzī, possibly an Armenian Catholic of the Unitor Brothers of St. Gregory (Dominican), in Kaffa, Crimea. Bodleian Library, Oxford, Pococke 241 (brought to Lahore for Akbar I in 1008-09/1600): Gregory, pp. 1322f. Copies by Jeronimo Xavier in National Library, Lisbon, 7964, 7965 (Basset, p. 7); Escorial Library, Madrid, 1921 (Casiri, p. 344); Capuchin Fathers Library, Agra, India (Hosten, p. 137). Pub. by Bishop Brian Walton in London Polyglot Bible, 1657, and A. Wheelocke (from Matthew 18:7) in London, 1657 (Darlow and Moule, p. 1201).

15th cent CE  

16th cent CE 

Jacob ben Joseph Ṭāwūs ( d.  Add ), teacher of Persian at the Jewish Academy in Constantinople [Istanbul].

  • 952-53/1546. Polyglott Bible containing the Pentateuch in Persian written in Judaeo-Persian script along with the Hebrew-Aramaic text and an Arabic translation.  Constantinople: Eleazar ben Gerson Soncino [E.G.B. Soncino], 1546 +1547 CE. .See D&M No. 7364 cf. 1417-1418 cf. 1745, 1634 or D&M II/3 No. 7364 pp.1209-1210.
  • Cf. Rudimenta linguae persicae, authore Ludovico de... by Lodewijk de Dieu, Rudimenta linguae persicae, authore Ludovico de Dieu. Accedunt duo priora capita Geneseos, ex persica translatione Jac. Tawusi. by Lodewijk de Dieu; Jacob bèn Joseph Ṭâwûs [Latin] Lugduni Batavorum : ex off. Elseviriana, 1639 (pp. 87-95).

ADD IMAGE

This Persian version in Hebrew script was transliterated into Persian characters by Thomas Hyde (b.  Billingsley, 1636- d. Oxford, 1703)  for the 1657 vol. V of the Walton `London Polyglot Bible' (see below and Darlow and Moule, p. 1202; see also Paper, 1973).

Persian Translations of the Safavid era (1501- c. 1722 CE>) and beyond.

Both Shah 'Abbās I (c. 995-1038/1587-1629) and Shāh Sulṭān Ḥusayn I (r.1105-1135 / 1694-1722) had a role in the appearance of Persian translations of the Gospels (EIr. IV:204).

Sayyid Aḥmad b. Zayn al-Ābidīn al-Alawī (d. c. 1050/1650).

The apologetic work of Sayyid Ahmad al-Alawī  is of tremendous direct and indirect  importance for the diffusion of knowledge of Persian versions of the biblical texts. He was the first cousin, son-in-law and student of the great Muhammad Bāqir Astarābādī (d.1041/1641), Mīr Dāmād,  and a major philosopher, theologian and apologist. Equally an Avicennan peripatetic (mashshā’ūn) and an Ishrāqī `Platonist' (Ishrāqīyān), Sayyid Aḥmad was also especially knowledeable  in the Abrahamic religions having made a detailed study of the scriptures of the pre-Islamic ahl al-kitāb. He had a considerable ability to work with biblical Hebrew and sometimes cited the Hebrew Bible in Arabic characters. On occasion he translated the biblical text word for word into Persian (Corbin, 1985/ E.Ir.1:645). Giving precedence to qur’ānic scripture in the light of Shī`ī hermeneutical and doctrinal norms, Sayyid Aḥmad wrote four Persian volumes in dialogue with Jews, Christians and their sacred scriptures:

  • Laṭā’if- i ghaybī (Subtleties of the Unseen realm), some hermeneutical preliminaries.
  • Ṣawā`iq- i raḥman (The Thunderbolts of the All-Merciful). A disputation with Judaism and the Torah (HB).
  •  K. Lavāmi`-i rabbānī fī radd al-shubba al-naṣrāniyya (The Lordly Brilliancies in refutation of Christian  misconceptions ; 1031/1622). A confrontation with Christianity, an affirmation of biblical taḥrīf and an attempt to prove the superiority of Islam.
  • Miṣqal-i ṣafā dar tajliya va taṣfiya-yi ā’īna-yi ḥaqq-namā darradd-i madhab-i naṣārā (The Polisher of purity to burnish and make clear the mirror showing the truth in refutation of the Christian faction’; 1032/1622).

This above named fourth work was a response to the Āyīna-yi ḥaqq namā ("The Mirror showing the Truth", 1609) by the Portugese Jesuit missionary Girolamo (Jerome) Xavier (d. 1617).1 Not the only Safavid `Ālim to respond to Xavier (Lee, 1824: cxiiiff; Hairi, 1993:155), Sayyid Aḥmad apparently wrote this work after a "dream-vision" of the twelfth Imam as a supplement to his Lavāmi`. Therein he referred to Xavier’s volume as kalām bī farjam (useless discourse") (Hairi, 1993:156). Responses to Sayyid Aḥmad’s polemic were written by Phillipus Guadagnolus and the Italian Pietro Della Valle (d. 1652) who had met Mīr Dāmād in Iṣfahān and presented him with his own Persian Risāla (Ellis, BMCat. 1:col. 592; Rossi, 1948:32ff; Gurney, 1986).

17th cent CE 

Abraham Wheelocke (b.  [Loppington] Whitchurch, 1593- d. 1653).

Trans. 1652-7

First Adams Professor of Arabic at Cambridge University. It was Thomas Adams (1586-1667) who endowed the chair of Arabic at Cambridge and offered the funds for the printing of this 1657 Persian-Latin text prepared by Wheelocke. This for the purpose of converting the Persians [Shi`i Muslim, etc] to Christianity.  Wheelocke, it might also be noted, was involved in the planning of the `London Polyglot' with its Arabic and Persian texts (see below).   

  • 1657. "Quatuor evangeliorum domini nostri Jesu Christi : versio Persica Syriacam & Arabicam suavissimè redolens: ad verba & mentem Græci textus sideliter & venustè concinnata. Codicibus tribus manuscriptis ex Oriente in acaemias utrasque Anglorum perlatis, operosè invicem diligentè que collatis. Per Abrahamum Whelocum linguæ Arabicæ, & Saxonicæ, in academis Cantabrigiensi professorem, & publicum bibliothecarium. Sub auspiciis & impensis mecœnatis præcellentissimi, integerrimi virtute, historiarum optimarum notitiâ undique politissimi, D. Thomæ Adams viri patritii, nuper dni prætoris Florentissimæ civitatis Londini, munificentissimi, honoratissimi. Londoni : Typis Jocobi Flesheri, MDCLVII [1657]" (W. Cat.).
  • "Quatuor Evangeliorum . . . versio Persica Syriacam & Arabicain suavissime redolens: ad verba & mentem Graeci textus fideliter & venuste concinnata. Codicibus tribus Manuscripfcis ex Oriente in Academias utrasque Anglorum perlatis, Operose invicem diligenterque collatis. Per Abrahamum Whelocum . . . Typis Jacobi Flesheri : Londini. 1657, 52. f" (D&M).

D&M. II. 3 pp.1201-2. No 1739 : "The publication of this edition of the Gospels, with a Latin translation, was begun in 1652 by Abraham Wheelocke (see No. 1446), at the expense of Sir T. Adams, an alderman of London. The basis of the text was an Oxford MS. of a version (14th century ?) apparently made from the Greek, which the editor, in his elaborate notes at the end of each chapter, compared with a MS. (apparently made from the Syriac, and dated 1341) in the possession of E. Pococke, at Oxford, and with another MS. (dated 1607) at Cambridge. When Wheelock" died in 1653 only 108 pages (to Matt, xviii. 6) had been printed; but his whole text and Latin version being found ready for the press, the work was finished and Published in 1657 with a preface by an anonymous editor (said to be one Pierson)' who did continue Wheelocke's notes, but merely appended a collation of Pococke 8 MS., dealing with the text from Matt. xviii. 7 until the end. Title (1657), text (Persian and Latin in parallel columns)—pp. 2 to 451, Persica Evangclia collata cum Mannscrtpto Pocockinano pp. 4-52 to 462. The first title is printed in black and red ink."

For some further details see

  • G. A. Russell ed. The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-Century. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994.
  • The Lives of Dr. Edward Pocock, the Celebrated Orientalist, by Dr Twells, etc. 2 vols. London: F. C. and J. Rivington, 1816.

1657 CE. The Walton-London Polyglot.

D&M Polyglotts No. 1446.  (The London Polyglot) Contains the Four Gospels in Persian in volume V: add.

 

  Bishop Brian Walton ( 1600-1661) by Pierre Lombard 

  • 1657  Biblica Sacra Polyglotta...Bibliorum Sacrorum Tomus Quintus: Sive Novum D.N. Jesu Christi Testamentum Vol. 5.  ed. Brian Walton. London. Contains the Arabic and Persian New Testament texts.

  • 1655-7. 6 Vols. Biblia sacra polyglotta, complectentia textus originales, Hebraicum, cum Pentateucho Samaritano, Chaldaicum, Graecum, [edited by Brian Walton in 6 vols.], Londini: Imprimebat Thomas Roycroft, 1655-7. The Walton or London Poylglot includes the Biblical text in 9 languages:  Hebrew, Greek, Samaritan, Aramaic, Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic and Persian. though the full biblical text is not always reproduced in all of these languages. Full original copies exist, for example, in many universities worldwide including Newcastle University Library (= Robinson Library) and the University of London, King's College London (=  Marsden Collection FOL. R1  and Rare Books Collection FOL. BS1 W17 C).

  • 1655-1657....  London: Thomas Roycroft Complectentia textus originales, Hebraicum, cum Pentateucho Samaritano, Chaldaicum, Graecum; versionumque antiquarum, Samaritanae, Graecae LXXII Interp., Chaldaicae, Syriacae, Arabicae, Aethiopicae, Persicae, Vulg. Lat., quicquid comparari poterat. Edidit Brianus Waltonus. 1655-1657. 6 volumes complete, total of 2,938 leaves in large folio format. Frontispiece portrait by P. Lombart; added engraved t.p., maps, and plans by Wenceslaus Hollar. Modern brown half-leather with brown cloth; gilt lettering and trim on the spine...

D&M. "1657. (The London Polyglot.) 1655-7.  6 vols. See No. 1446 (Polyglots). Vol. 4 includes a version of the Pentateuch given in a polyglot edition of 1546 (see No. 7361), transliterated from the Hebrew character into Persian character; with a Latin translation by T. Hyde. (The text of Gen. i and ii, transliterated in the same manner from No. 7364, had already appeared in an elementary Persian grammar by L. de Dieu, published
at Leyden in 1639, 4°.) Vol. 5 includes a Persian version of the Gospels, printed from E. Pococke’s MS. (see No. 7319); with a Latin translation by S. Clarke."

After giving details of the London-Walton polyglot D&M continues (p.1202):

  • 1702.  "The text of Gen. i-iv was reprinted in Palaestra linguarum Orientalium . . ., 1702, 40 (see note after No. 1446)."

C. A. Bode (          ). London Polyglot Persian Gospels.

  • 1750-1. "In 1750-1 C. A. Bode published at Helmstedt a fresh Latin translation of the Persian version of the Gospels, as given in the London Polyglot.

Masch

  • 1744. Masch, in his edition of Le Long’s Bibliothcca Sacra (Pt. II. i. pp. 163-4), records duodecimo editions of (1) Luke, (2) John i. 1-18, and (3) John xvii, published at Halle in 1744. These were printed at the Oriental Press, Halle, under the supervision of J. H. Callenberg (see No. 5335).

William Chambers (d. 1793).

  • 1793. "A translation of Matthew, made from the Greek, was begun by William Chambers, Chief Judge at Fort William, Bengal; and thirteen chapters were completed before his death in1793. Chapters v-vii, containing the Sermon on the Mount, were printed as a specimen of this version, in an appendix to F. Gladwin’s The Persian Moonshee, first published at Calcutta in 1795, and reprinted in 1799, 1800 etc. In the first edition of 1795 the text,which is accompanied by the English, occupies 16 pp., and is followed by a few notes (iv pp.).
  • 1804. . . . The three first chapters (see below).

18th cent. Persian Bible translations.

Portions of the Gospels were translated into Persian in the 18th, century, around 1741 and 1791[3]. Nadīr Shāh Afshār (r. 1148-1160 /1736-1747) was generally well-disposed towards Christians (Jesuits, Carmelites or others) and Christian missionaries resident at Isfahān, Gilan and elsewhere. Apparently roused by the reference to the Bible (as tawrāt and Injīl) in Q. 48:29 and informed that these scriptures were extant during his Indian expedition, Nadīr Shāh ordered his then secretary and court historian Mīrzā Muhammad Mahdī Khān Astarābādī to arrange for a Persian translation. This task took just over a year being completed in 1154/ June 1741. It actually involved the translation of both the Gospels and the Q. which was accomplished by eight Muslim clerics, three Europeans and five Armenian priests (Netzer, EIr. III:298). Rabbi Bābā`ī ben Nūrī’el of Isfahān and three other Rabbis translated the Pentateuch and Psalms and Mīr Muhammad Ma'sūm Ḥusaynī Khātūnābādī and his son 'Abd-al-Ghānī had a role in the translation of the NT (Netzer, EIr. IV:298). Lockhart has noted that on becoming aware of the translations Nadīr Shāh came to ridicule Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Lockhart 1938:278, EIr. IV:204).

Mīr Muhammad Bāqir ibn-i Ismā`īl Ḥusaynī Khātūnābādī (d.1127/1715)

For Shāh Sulṭān Ḥusayn it was the outstanding translator Mīr Muhammad Bāqir ibn-I Ismā`īl Ḥusaynī Khātūnābādī (d.1127/1715) who made a Persian translation, expository sketch and paraphrase of every chapter of all four Gospels entitled Tarjuma-yi anājil-i arba`a (Translation of the Four Gospels). In collaboration with Christian priests of Isfahān he apparently checked his rendering against several Arabic versions as well as Latin and Hebrew texts (Khātūnābādī,1996; Arjomand, 1984:154-5). Khātūnābādī’sTarjuma-yi anājil-i arba`a  was first edited and published in Tehran in 1996 by Rasūl Ja`fariyān :

Khātūnābādī, Muhammad Bāqir ibn Ismā`īl Ḥusaynī,

  • Tarjamih-yi anājil-i arba`ih. ed. Rasūl Jāfaryān (= Persian Literatureand Linguistics 10).Tehran: Nuqṭih Press, 1375/1996.

19th  Persian Bible translations of Christian missionaries and others..

1804. D&M III.2 p. 1202 No. 7321.   "The three first chapters of the Gospel concerning the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God; as recorded by Saint John the Evangelist. In Persian and English. S. Rousseau : Wood Street, Spa Fields, London. 1804. 20.5 x I3 cm. An anonymous translation. `Printed for the missionaries' Pp. 35. The Persian and English texts are printed on opposite pages."

Mirza Muhammad Fitrat (d. XXXX).

1805. Matthew.  D&M III.2 p. 1202. No. 7322 "1805. (St. Matthew’s Gospel. Calcutta. 1805 (See [D&M] No. 5271), Fort. William, Calcutta, by Mirza Muhammad Fitrat  under the Supervision of  R. H. Colebrook, lieutenant-colonel, and Surveyor General of Bengal. Pp. 83.

Nathaniel Sabat (d. XXXX).

  • 1809. Matthew.  D&M III.2 p. 1202. No. 7323 (St. Matthew’s Gospel. B. F. B. S. Serampore. 1809. 29 x 23 cm. "A translation prepared under the auspices of the Calcutta Corresponding Committee of the B. F. B. S by  Nathaniel Sabat, who made the version under the under the direction of Henry Martyn (see no. 5272) at Dinapore. No  title leaf. Pp. 111. Printed on large paper."
  • 1809. Mark?  D&M III.2 p. 1202. Edition of the Gospel of Mark?? 1809. "Mark" ? See D&M No. 7323 (III. II p.1202).
  • 1810. New Testament, tr. by Sabat under the direction of Martyn.

Leopoldo Sebastiani (d. XXXX), a Catholic priest.

  • 1813-4. The Gospels. Calcutta: B.F.B.S.  "A version prepared by Leopoldo Sebastiani (see note after No. 6277), who had formerly been head of the R. C. Missions to Persia and Kandahar. The version was adopted by the Calcutta Corresponding Committee, and an edition was printed at Serampore, but the sheets were destroyed in a fire at tho press in 1812. In the following year, however, this reprint was executed at Calcutta under the care of the translator. Pp. 342; with list of errata (1 p.) appended." So D&M No. 7324 (III. 2 p.1203).

Thomas Robinson, chaplain at Poona

  • 1828. Pentateuch, translation by Thomas Robinson, chaplain at Poona and archdeacon of Madras, with the assistance of an unidentified monšī  (scribe), pub. by BFBS in Calcutta (Darlow and Moule, p. 1204).

HENRY MARTYN

Henry Martyn (b. Truro, Cornwall, England, 18 February 1781 – d. Tokat, Turkey, 16 October 1812). Anglican missionary who translated the New Testament into Persian. 

1809-1812 CE

  • 1808. Completion of the Hindustani / Urdu New Testament translation (see further below). 
  • 1809. "Matthew, tr. by Nathaniel Sabat, an Arab from Baghdad, under the direction of Henry Martyn, chaplain of the East India Company, pub. by British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) in Serampore (Darlow and Moule, p. 1202)."
  • 1810. New Testament, tr. by Sabat under the direction of Martyn (see above).

  • 1812 "New Testament, tr. from Greek, Psalms tr. from Hebrew, by Martyn, with the assistance of Mīrzā Sayyed ʿAlī Khan, of Shiraz. New Testament pub. by Russian Bible Society in St. Petersburg, 1814, 1815; with Psalms by BFBS in Calcutta, 1816; trans­literated into Hebrew characters by Logīn at Herat and pub. by BFBS in London, 1847 (Darlow and Moule, p. 1203)."

1815. 1st ed. of the Henry Martyn Persian NT.

  • 1815. Novum testamentum domini et salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi : e Graeca in Persicam linguam ... translatum in urbe Schiras = Paimān-i tāza-i ḫudāwand wa raḥmānand-i ʻĪsā Masīḥ. Petropoli : Societas Biblicae Ruthenicae, 1815. (W. Cat.). 455pp.

  • 1816. The New Testament of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, translated from the original Greek into Persian at Sheeraz [Shiraz  by the Rev.] Henry Martyn, B.D. Late fellow of St. John's College [Cambridge], and Chaplain of the Bengal Establishment, with the assistance of Meerza Sueyid Ulee [Mirza Sayyid `Ali] of Sheeraz. London: B.F.B.S  P. Pereira: Calcutta, 1816. 741pp.  See D&M. II.3 No. 7396 which includes the following note: "When the Calcutta Corresponding Committee had at length obtained from Shiraz manuscript copies of Martyn's version of the N.T. and the Psalter they put an edition of each to press and both volumes were published in 1816, under the supervision of T. Thomason (see [D&M] No. 5273).

  • 1816 [1825]. [Gospel according to St. Luke in Persian.]. Henry Martyn; Mirza Saiyad Ali Khan n.p. n.d. [?1825] Reprinted from the Gospel issued separately from the 1816 New Testament in Western Farsi, (Persian), translated by Henry Martyn with the help of Mirza Saiyad Ali Khan. No t-p, in paper cover. pages 104-177 ; 21 cm. Copy in Camb. Univ. Lib. (see W.Cat.).

  • 1817. Add.

  • 1828.  The New Testament of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, translated from the original Greek into Persian at Sheeraz  by  Henry Martyn, B.D...  with the assistance of Meerza Sueyid Ulee [Mirza Sayyid `Ali] of Sheeraz.  ??? 1828.

  • 1837. The New Testament of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, translated from the original Greek into Persian at Sheeraz. Henry Martyn; Mirza Saiyad Ali Khan; Samuel Lee.  London : British and Foreign Bible Society, 1837.

  • 1837. 4th edition. Persian title page opposite English as follows : The New Testament of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, translated from the original Greek into Persian by the Rev. Henry Martyn, B.D. - Fourth edition - London: Printed by Richard Watts for the British and Foreign Bible Society in the year 1837. 628+pp. *

  • 1837. Kitāb-i paymān-i tāzah-ʼi ʻKhudāvand va Rahānandah-ʼi mā ʻĪsá-yi Masīḥ. London : Printed by Richard Watts, for the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1837.  Persian : 4th ed. In Persian, with added t.p. in English.  627 pages ; 22 cm English title = New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. kih az lisān-i aṣlī-i Yūnānī bi-Fārsī tarjamah kardah-ʼi Hinrī Mārtin ast. (W. Cat.).

  • 1837.  The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Translated from the original Greek into Persian by the Rev. Henry Martyn, B.D [fourth edition]. London: Richard Watts for the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1837. 628pp. Presentation copy with Gold edges and Coverwork (personal library).

  • 1841. Calcutta: The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, translated from the original Greek into Persian, at Sheeraz...with the assistance of Meerza Sueyid Alee. 584 pp. D&M. no. 4340?

  • 1846 /1262 AH. 5th edition.  The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Translated from the original Greek into Persian by the Rev. Henry Martyn, B.D [fifth edition]. Edinburgh: Printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society by Thomas Constable, Printer to the Queen [Victoria]. MDCCCXLVI. Kitab al-Muqaddas [Arabic title page] followed by [Arabic-Persian title page] Kitab al-Muqaddas va huwa Kitab al-`Ahd al-Jadid-i Khudavand va     `Isa'-i Masih ... [Has a line on the final page indicating the completion of the Makashifat-i Yuhanna (Revelation of John) and the completion of the whole New Testament. 532 pp. * Personal Library.  

  • 1847. Judæo-Persian Gospels: כתאב אנגיל מקדס : כדאונד ורהאננדה׳ מא ישוע מסיה : אז דסת מתי ומרקס ולוקא ויוחנא. Kitab-i Injil-i muḳaddas khudavand va-ra hananda-yi ma Yishua Masih; qz dast-i Mata va-Morḳos va-Luḳa va-Yohana. בדאר אלטבאעה׳ ת.ר. האריסון, London : ba-Dar al-Ṭabaʻat T. R. Harison, 607 /1847. 347pp. (W. Cat. ).

  • 1851 [Rep.]. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, translated from the original Greek into Persian, at Sheeraz...with the assistance of Meerza Sueyid Alee, of Sheeraz. Calcutta: Printed at the Baptist Mission Press, for the Bible Translation Society and the American and Foreign Bible Society". 1851. [Second Calcutta edition [sic?] limited to 2000 copies], 719pp. Check this ...

  • 1876 6th ed.  Kitab al-muqaddas va huwa kutub `ahd-i jadid-i Khudavand... London : [Dar al-Saltanat / Dar al-Matbu`at [Publishing House of]-i Robert Wirington [?] / The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Translated from the original Greek into Persian by the Rev. Henry Martyn, B.D [sixth edition]. London: British and Foreign Bible Society. 421 pp. [New Testament available [segmented] at
  • https://archive.org/details/PersianPuritanwww.injilefarsi.comPersianNewT...
  • 1878. "Kitāb al-Muqaddis ... [The Old Testament translated by William Glen, the New by Henry Martyn.]. William GLEN, Rev. Missionary.; Henry Martyn; Reinhold Rost. [London] : [B. & F.B.S.], 1878." (WS. Cat.)
  • 1882. Kitāb ʼal-ʻAhd ʼal-Jadīd, yaʻnī ʼInjīl-i Khudāvand va Najātʹdahandah-i mā ʻĪsá Masīḥ kih ʼaz zabān-i ʼaṣlī-i Yūnānī ʼaz sar-i naw tarjumah shud ... Landan [London] : British va Fūrin Baybal Sūsāʼitī [B.F.B.S.], 1882.
  • Later 19th cent. For select further 19th cent. (often revised) printings of the Henry Martyn trans. of the NT into Persian see further the enties below under the British missionaries William Glen and Robert Bruce.

Select further works and translations  by (or associated with) Henry Martyn. 

  • 1811. Christian India, or, An appeal on behalf of 900,000 Christians in India, who want the Bible : a sermon, preached at Calcutta, on Tuesday, January 1, 1811, for promoting the objects of The British and Foreign Bible Society. Calcutta : Printed by P. Ferris, 1811.
  • 1811. Christian India; or an Appeal on behalf of 900,000 Christians in India, who want the Bible. A sermon [on Gal. vi. 10] preached ... for promoting the objects of the British and Foreign Bible Society ... With a List of Benefactors. Calcutta, 1811.
  • 1814.  A Compendium of the Book of Common Prayer ... Translated into the Hindoostanee Language [by H. Martyn]. Calcutta : Philip Pereira, 1814.
  • 1814. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Serampore [India] : Printed at the Mission Press for the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1814." W. Cat. states, "translated into the Hindoostanee language from the original Greek by H. Martyn ; and afterwards carefully revised with the assistance of Mirza Fitrit and other learned natives". / "Injīl yaʻne vas̤īqah jadīd Ḥaz̤rat ʻIsá Masīḥ ʻalai-hissalām kā
    Śrīrāmpūr : Chāpā hūā Srīrāmpūr ke chāpe k̲h̲āne kā, sanah 1814 Masīḥah men̲ [Urdu]. "Serampore : Printed at the Mission Press. Added t.p. Corrections: p. 1-6 (last set). 938, 4 [really 6] pp. " (W. Cat.). 
  • 1817. The New Testament of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ : translated into the Hindoostanee language from the original Greek, and now printed in Nagree character. Henry Martyn; Mirza Fitrut. Calcutta : Hindoostanee Press, 1817. (W. Cat.). Available from HathiTrust Digital Library, 2011.
  • 1819. The Gospel of St. Matthew, in Hindoostanee [Urdu]  and English. Calcutta : Printed by Philip Pereira, at the Hindoostanee Press, 1819. Printed for the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society." Urdu and English on facing pages. Urdu text is Henry Martyn's translation Half title: Mate kī injīl. [392] pages ; 21 cm" (W. Cat.)
  • 1819.
  • 1819.  Injīl yaʻnī vas̲īqah jadīd Ḥaz̤rat ʻIsá Masīḥ kā ...  - Martyn; Mirza Fitrit; British and Foreign Bible Society,; Watts, Richard, London : Chāpā kiyā hūā Richard Vāt̤s ke chāpe k̲h̲āne kā, sanah 1819 Masīḥīh men. = The New Testament of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ : translated into the Hindoostanee language from the original Greek by the Rev. H. Martyn B.D. Late fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Chaplain of the Bengal Establishment : And afterward carefully revised with the assistance of Mirza Fitrit and other learned natives. London : Printed by Richard Watts for the British and Foreign Bible Society, MDCCCXIX [1819]. 650pp.  Personal Library, cf. (W. Cat.). 
  • 1834.  The gospel of Matthew in Hindustani.  Calcutta Baptist Missionary Society. Calcutta : Printed at the Baptist Mission Press, 1834. "translated by the Rev. H. Martyn, and transferred into the Roman character by the Rev. J. Thomas." ( W.Cat.).
  • 1835. The Gospel according to Matthew = Matí kí injíl. [Calcutta] : [Baptist Missionary Society], [1835]. Urdu. "Parallel text in English and romanized Hindustani. Translated by the Rev. Henry Martyn.  119 pages ; 22 cm" (W. Cat.).
  • 1835. The gospel of Mark in Hindustani.  Calcutta Baptist Missionary Society.. Calcutta : Printed at the Baptist Mission Press, 1835. 75pp. "translated by the Rev. H. Martyn, and transferred into the Roman character by the Rev. J. Thomas". (W. Cat.). 
  • 1837 The Gospels and Acts in English and Hindustha'ni' Henry Martyn; William Bowley..  Calcutta : Baptist Mission Press, 1837. In Urdu.
  • 1838. Yuhanna kah Injil. The Gospel of John in Hindustani translated from the Greek by the Baptist Missionaries. [revised Henry Martyn trans. ?]. Calcutta : Baptist Mission Press, 1838. 70pp.
  • 1839, The New Testament of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, in the Hindusta'ni' language. Henry Martyn; William Yates Calcutta : Baptist Mission Press for the English Baptist Missionary Society and the American and Foreign Bible Society , 1839.  D&M have "Translated mainly by William Yates, who made free use of Martyn's  version." English title-page precedes Urdu t-p. Description:1 vol. (23 cm. W. Cat.)
  • 1851.  The New Testament of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, in Hindusta'ni'. Henry Martyn; William Yates; J Thomas; C B Lewis; Bible Translation Society.; American and Foreign Bible Society. [Urdu].  Calcutta : Bible Translation Society, and the American and Foreign Bible Society, 1851. (W. Cat.).

HERE

Select literature by or about Henry Martyn.

  • Twenty sermons. 3rd ed. London: L. B. Seeley, 1822.
  • The letters of the Rev. Henry Martyn. London : Seeley, Burnside, and Seeley, 1844.
  • Journal and letters of the Rev. Henry Martyn.  Samuel Wilberforce.  New York : M. W. Dodd, 1851. 1st American abridged ed.
  • Two sets of unpublished letters of the Rev. Henry Martyn, B.D., of  Truro ...  Jeffery Truro, Lake and Lake, printers, 1883.
  • Controversial tracts on Christianity and Mohammedanism. By the late Henry Martyn, B.D. of St. John's College, Cambridge, and some of the most eminent writers of Persia translated and explained : to which is appended an additional tract on the same question; and, in a preface, some account given of a former controversy on this subject, with extracts from it. Dedicated to the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, K.G. &c. Cambridge : Printed by J. Smith, printer to the University; and sold by J. Deighton & Sons, and Stevenson, Cambridge, also by C. and J. Rivington, St. Paul's Church-yard and Waterloo Place; and Hatchard & Son, Picadilly, London, 1824. Includes  ...
  • John Sargent , Memoir of the Rev. Henry Martyn, B.D. New York : Protestant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge, 1858.
  • Henry Martyn, Missionar in Indien und Persien : lehrreiche und erbauliche Lebensgeschichte eines Jüngers Jesu. Basel Verl. d. Missions-Comptoirs 1868. In the Series: [Basler Missionstraktate, 2].

Samuel Lee (1783-1852).

Mīrzā Jaʿfar, Samuel Lee (1783-1852), and Mīrzā Ebrāhīm. 

On Lee see Thomas Hamilton, Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 32 `Lee, Samuel (1783-1852)'. Here it is said that "He thus managed to learn Greek and Hebrew, and before he was twenty-five had made some progress in Chaldee, Syriac, Samaritan, Persian, and Hindustani ... In 1819 he became professor of Arabic in the university of Cambridge ... In 1831 he was appointed regius professor of Hebrew ... 

  • 1827. Genesis, tr. from Arabic by Mīrzā Jaʿfar, lecturer in Persian and Arabic at St. Petersburg University, rev. by S. Lee, professor, and Mīrzā Ebrāhīm, lecturer in Persian, both of East India College, Haileybury, pub. by BFBS, London (Darlow and Moule, p. 1204). = EIr.

Thomas Robinson + Monšī (scribe).

"The first complete version, translated by Thomas Robinson, chaplain at Poona and Anglican archdeacon of Madras, later professor of Arabic at Cambridge University, with the help of an unidentified Persian scribe, was published in three volumes in Calcutta between 1836 and 1838" (Thomas + Vahman in EIr.).

  • 1828. Pentateuch, tr. by Thomas Robinson, chaplain at Poona and archdeacon of Madras, with the assistance of an unidentified monšī (scribe), pub. by BFBS in Calcutta (Darlow and Moule, p. 1204). = EIr.
  •  

Rev. William Glen (1779-1849) of the Scottish mission at Astrakhan  (+ assistants). 

Following engagement with Persians at Astrakhan and discussions with August Heinrich Dittrich of the German Basel mission who had translated the New Testament into Armenian (1844), William Glen embarked upon his ultimately complete Persian translation of the Hebrew Bible. It was  completed in 1845 and a 1st ed. was published in 1846. In 1847 he presented the first copy to  Muhammad Shah Qajar (1808 – 5th September 1848). Among other things he is said to have converted the pioneer Russian orientalist A. Kazem-Beg (1802-c. 1870) to Christianity. For some further details see Nancy Stevenson, `Glen, William' in Gerald H. Anderson (ed.)  Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions.  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999, p. 244 (and bib.).

1830-1846.

  • 1830. Kitāb-i Zabūr-i Dāʼūd Payghambar : kih āz zabān-i aṣlī-yi ʻIbrānī bi-zabān-i Fārsī. Psalms, tr. by William Glen of the Scottish mission at Astrakhan, with the assistance of Ḥājī Mīrzā Ṭāleb, rev. by W. Greenfield, pub. by BFBS in London (Darlow and Moule, p. 1205+ W. Cat. ). 273pp.
  • 1834 and/or 1835. Rep. Kitāb-i zabūr-i Dāwud-i paiġambar, 1834+5. Translated by W. Glen with the help of Haji Mirza Taleb; and revised and edited by W. Greenfield.  pp. 273. Copies in Cambridge Univ. Lib. (UK) and Harvard (USA) W. Cat.
  • 1835 Kitāb-i zabūr-i Dāwud-i paiġambar. London : Watts, 1835. (W. Cat.). Persian translation of the biblical book of Psalms. 
  • 1831. Proverbs, tr. by William Glen, with the assistance of Mīrzā ʿAbd-Allāh, of the Persian consular service, ed. by W. Greenfield and F. J. V. Seddon, professor of Oriental languages, King’s College, London, pub. by BFBS in London (Darlow and Moule, p. 1205).
  • "1845. Old Testament, tr. from Hebrew by William Glen and Mīrzā Moḥammad Jaʿfar (historical books), rev. and corr. by Jaʿfar, pub. by United Associate Synod in Edinburgh; pub. with Martyn New Testament by BFBS in Edinburgh, 1846 (first complete Christian Bible published in Persian; Darlow and Moule, p. 1206)." So EIr.
  • 1845 کتاب المقدس و هو کتب العهد العتىق . Kitāb al-Muqaddas va huva Kutub al-ʻAhd al-ʻAtīq. Dār al-Ṭibāʻah-i S̲ūmas Kunstabl, [Edinburgh: Printing House of  Thomas Constable?]. 1845.  4 volumes in 2 ; 26 cm . Kitāb al-Muqaddas wa-huwa Kutub al-ʻAhd al-ʻAtīq Kutub al-ʻAhd al-ʻAtīq by kih ānrā Wilyam Gilin az aṣl-i zabān-i ʻIbrānī bi-zabān-i Fārsī ba-istiʻānat-i Fāz̤il Khān Hamadānī va sāʼir ʻulamāʼ-i ... Īrānī ba-farmān-i ... Yūnaytid Assūshiʼat Sinud-i Sikutland tarjumah namūd. [United Associate Synod of Scotland], 1845. W. Cat.
  • 1846. Kitāb al-muqaddas wa-huwa kutub al-ʻahd al-ʻatīq [with Fazel Khan-i Hamadani and others]... Idinburġ [Edinburgh] : Yunaitid Asauši'at Sinud-i Sikutland [United Associate Synod of Scotland], 1846. (W. Cat.). 

Assisted by  Mirza Mohammad Jafar Shirazi (d.??) and/ or Jafar Khan Hamadani (??) the Glen translation of the whole Hebrew Bible was completed in 1845. It appears that it was (partially) published that year (1845= Hebtrw Bible trans.) and in  1846 along with the New Testament translation of Henry Martyn. It was also repitnted a number of times in the 19th century and occasionally in recent times.

  • 1856-76. Kitab al-muqaddas ... William Glen; Henry Martyn; Duncan Forbes; British and Foreign Bible Society : [London] : British and Foreign Bible Society, 1856-76. Copy in St. Andrews Univ. Lib. Scotland.(W. Cat.)
  • 1878 Rep. Kitāb al-Muqaddis ya`ni Kitab-i muqaddas `ahd-i `atiq, `ahd-i jadid ... [The Old Testament translated by William Glen, the New by Henry Martyn.]. [London] : [B. & F.B.S.], 1878. (W. Cat.).

A massive 2 vols. in 1 complete Persian Bible reprint with an eight page introduction appeared in 1379 Sh. /2000-2001 CE. It has1658 pages constituting the 1272/1856 Hamadani - Glen (!) translation of the Hebrew Bible and another 534 pages of the 1876 (6th ed. ) of the Henry Martyn translation of the NewTestament. The year of this publication was 1379 Sh. /2000-2001CE. (see images above and below).

  • Kitab-i muqaddas `ahd-i `atiq, `ahd-i jadid tarjumah Fadil Khan-i Hamadani va William Glen, Henry Martyn. Tehran: Intisharat-i Asatir [284]/ Kitabkhana-yi milli-yi Iran. ISBN 964-331-068-X.

See also by Rev. William Glen :

  • 1817. The establishment of the mountain of the Lord's house : a sermon preached before the Edinburgh Missionary Society, on Thursday, the 3d of April 1817. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Missionary Society.  Printed for the Society by A. Balfour ..., 1817. (W. Cat.)
  • 1823. Journal of a tour from Astrachan to Karass : north of the Mountains of Caucasus ; containing remarks on the general appearances of the country, manners of the inhabitants, &c. With the substance of many conversations with Effendis, Mollas, & other Mohammedans, on the question at issue between them and Christians.  Edinburgh : Printed for David Brown, St Andrew's Street, and John Wardlaw and Co. Edinburgh ; William Turnbull and Co. Wardlaw and Cunninghame, and M. Ogle, Glasgow ; J. Finlay, Newcastle ; Ogle, Duncan, and Co. and J. Nisbit, London, Glasgow ; Newcastle ; London 1823. Available at: https://archive.org/details/journalatourfro00glengoog
  • c. 1830 (?). The cholera morbus : some particulars respecting this dreadful disease as it appeared at Astrachan, in August, 1830 /c by the Rev. William Glen of Astrachan. [Paisley] : Alex. Gardner, printer, Paisley, [c. 1830]. 

1882 > CE

Robert Bruce (b. Cherleville, Co. Cork [Ireland] 1833 - d. Little Dean, Gloucestershire, 1915 [UK]),  CMS Missionary in Persia from 1869-1893. One-time Lecturer in Persian at University College London (1895-6), vicar at Durham ( 1896-XXXX) and Rector of Little Dean Gloucester (UK) (1903>). His Bible translation work was carried out with assistance of others including, for example, Karapet Ohaness from Julfa (Persia).

William Muss-Arnolt in Ch. XXIV of his `The Book of Common Prayer among the Nations of the World ' (1914) provides the following biographical notes about Robert Bruce (d. 1915):

"Bruce graduated A.B. from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1857, was ordered deacon and ordained priest in 1858. From 1858 until 1869 he was a C.M.S. missioner in Northern India, the Punjab, and at Julfa, Persia, from 1869-93. From 1895-96 he was professor of Persian in University College, London. His Persian translation of the Liturgy appeared first in 1882, published by the S.P.C.K. [...]

"It was this zealous missionary who really forced the hand of the C.M.S. to invade Persia in the name of the Lord. Recognising the importance of the Persian language for intercourse with the higher classes on the Afghan frontier, he obtained leave when returning to India, in 1869, after his first furlough, to go via Persia and spend a year there. He proceeded to the old capital, Ispahan, and took up his residence at Julfa, the Armenian quarter of the capital, in which Christians were allowed to live. Providential circumstances were gradually opening the way for the future Persian Mission, which was formally adopted in 1875. Dr. Bruce retired from the Persian work in 1893, after thirty-five years of most valuable service. According to the latest issue of Crockford, he is still living as rector of Little Dean, Gloucester, England."

See http://www.justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Muss-Arnolt/part3b.htm#ch24 and http://mammana.org/bcp/persian/

  • كتاب العهد الجديد + 1882 (The New Testament in Persian) بريتيش و فورن بيبل سوسايتى، [London] : [British and Foreign Bible Society], 1882. Revised from the verson of Henry Martyn (and others) + Reprints 1890, 1895, etc.
  • 1894 "Holy Bible - Book of Joshua to the second book of Chronicles in Persian ... Part of the Old Testament in Western Farsi (Persian = Dari) published prior to the complete Bible which appeared in 1895 where D & M have, "The complete Bible in Persian revised by R. Bruce. In this Bible the OT practically represents a new translation and the NT is a fresh revision. [Parts of the whole had been] issued as separate items in the previous 2 years."" pages 332-829 ; 23 cm (W. Cat.) See further, https://www.worldcat.org/title/holy-bible-book-of-joshua-to-the-second-b.... Copy in Cambrdge Univ. Lib. (UK). 

1895 Robert Bruce revised `Ahd-i Jadid

  • 1895 ʻAhd-i Jadīd (The New Testament). [London] : British and Foreign Bible Society [B. & F.B.S.] 1895.
  • 1895 Kitāb-i Muqqaddis ya'anī kutub-i 'ahd-i 'atīq va 'ahd-i jadīd ... [The Old and New Testaments in Persian]. Rep. from the edition of 1895, (Wcat).
  • 1895 W. Cat. [Persian Bible] provides the following details : "T.p. and text in Persian. Title and imprint from BM 14701.d.2. Version of 1878; Old Testament translated by William Glen, the New by Henry Martyn. Revised by R. Bruce...". N.T. has separate t.p. and pagination. Text in modified Arabic character. Description: 1 volume in pts. (1388, 421 pages)
  • 1895+1901 Kitāb-i ʻAhd-i Jadīd, yaʻnī ʼInjīl-i Muqaddas-i Khudāvand va Najātʹdahandah-i mā ʻĪsá Masīḥ kih ʼaz zabān-i ʼaṣlī-i Yūnānī tarjumah shudah ʼast.  Landan : Barītish va Fūrin Baybal Sūsāʼitiʼ [London: B&FB.S.] , 1895. A revision of the version of other earlier 19th cent translations of Henry Martyn [NT]; William Glen [OT], Rev. ; Robert Bruce, Rector of Little Dean Gloucester.; [London] : British and Foreign Bible Society [B. & F.B.S.] 1901. Available as printed in London in1901 by Lowe and Brydone (Printers) Ltd. at https://archive.org/details/persiannewtestam00bruc 
  • 1904 Rep. whole Persian Bible [Not seen]

  • 1925 Kitab al-muqaddas ya`ani kutub `ahd-i `atiq, `ahd-i jadid... [whole Bible] rep.  from the edition of 1904]. London , Woking: Unwin brothers Printers, British and Foreign Bible Society, 1925. pp. 1388 [Hebrew Bible trans.] + 421 [New Testament trans.].  Available at: https://archive.org/details/theholybibleinpe00brit
     

Dari [Persian]  translation of Robert Bruce

  • 1895 "Part of the Old Testament in Western Farsi (Persian = Dari) published prior to the complete Bible which appeared in 1895 where D & M have, "The complete Bible in Persian revised by R. Bruce. In this Bible the OT practically represents a new translation and the NT is a fresh revision. [Parts of the whole had been] issued as separate items in the previous 2 years." Description: pages 332-829 ; 23 cm (W. Cat.). : http://mammana.org/bcp/persian/
  •  

Note also:

  • 1882 + 1898 Kitāb-i namāznāmah-i ʻāmm-i kilīsā-yi muqaddas-i Inglkistān dar Īrān kih bi-dast-i aqall al-ʻibād Rābirṭ Brūs kashīsh-i Inklīs tarjumah shud. Portions of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England (originally, 1662) in Persian. 171pp.  Translated by Robert Bruce. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1898.
  • 1913. Judaeo-Persian : Kitāb-i ʻahd-i j'adīd : yaʻnī, Injīl-i muqadas khudāvand va-nij'āt dahnandah-i mā Yeshūʻa ha-mashīah kih az zabān-i azlī-i Yūam̄ī tarj'umah shudah ast. John Clay; R Bruce; Norollah Ben-Mosheh; Cambridge University Press.; British and Foreign Bible Society. Landan : British and Faren Baybel Sosayeti, 1913 (W. Cat.).

1995  CE

Elam ministries revision of earlier version ofthe Bible, Glen-Bruce, etc and Henry Martyn. See https://www.bible.com/versions/136