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| The Arabic Bible of Drs. Eli Smith and Cornelius V.A. Van Dyck |
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The most commonly used Arabic Bible translation is often called the ‘Van Dyck’, as Dr. Cornelius V.A. Van Dyck played a major role in the translation. In 1885, an article appeared in the Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. XI (New Haven, 1885), pp. 276 – 286 by Professor Isaac H. Hall, titled The Arabic Bible of Drs. Eli Smith and Cornelius V.A. Van Dyck. The following article summarizes that article about the existent Arabic versions at that time and how these were used for the translation work of the ‘Van Dyck’. It also focuses on the proceedings of the actual translation work and the first printings.
Van Dyck himself about earlier Arabic Bible translations: 'The earliest Arabic version of the Scriptures, as far as I know, is that made under John, Bishop of Seville, about 750 AD, from the Vulgate. According to the Jesuit Mariana, the whole Bible was translated, but was never printed. A number of manuscript copies of it have been found in Syria, but it was never [generally] known in the East. |