FarOPV
The page is for further information about the CrossWire beta module FarOPV.
Historical background to the Farsi Old Persian Version of the Bible
Henry Martyn's translation of the NT was published at Petropoli in 1815, with the Latin title,
- Novum Testamentum ... e Græca in Persicam linguam a viro reverendo Henrico Martyno translatum, etc.
The following year 1816 it was published at Calcutta, with the English title,
- The New Testament ...translated from the original Greek into Persian ... by Henry Martyn, with the assistance of Meerza Sueyid Ulee, of Sheeraz.
The OT was translated by a Scotsman called William Glen and published in 1845.
Together with Henry Martyn's NT, this was edited by Duncan Forbes, and published in 1856, with the Western Farsi title,
- Kitab al-muqaddas ... [Bible translated into Persian]
Republished 1876 by the British & Foreign Bible Society.
Robert Bruce's revision was published in 1895. It is this that became known as the Farsi OPV (Old Persian Version).
This was republished thereafter in several editions.
Differences between Bruce's revision and the 1876 version
Whereas Henry Martyn's NT was based on the Textus Receptus, Bruce's revision was based on an eclectic Greek text, though not one of the well-known nineteenth century editions. Though he leaned towards using the TR in most readings, occasionally he made a different choice of Greek text for some verses. He omitted at least one entire verse, e.g. John 5:4 "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had." (KJV)
Differences between the current digitized text and Bruce's 1895 revision
- Some verses are missing entirely or their text is misplaced.
- Quotation marks have been added in the digital version. There were none in the printed OPV.
- Glyph spacing is incorrect in several places.
