- Etat: unused FDC
- Année: 2013-10-16
An angel with the first book press in the background
The Bible of Kralice (Bible kralicka) is a Czech printed bible which was translated from the original biblical languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek) by translators and theologians from the Unity of the Brethren (Jednota bratrska). It was named after Kralice, a fortress in South Moravia, where the bible was printed. It is the first Czech translation of the Bible made from the original languages instead of the Latin Vulgate (i.e. a popular version).
From the very beginning, members of the Unity emphasized the importance of their literary production and very soon understood the value of book printing. The high quality of their prints is famous. The Unity was a prohibited religious organisation. Its members therefore did not identify the place of origin of their prints but replaced it with the cover name “in insula hortensi” (“On the Isle of Gardens”) because of the location of the print shop among gardens. The first print shop set up in Litomyšl in 1503 was moved to Mlada Boleslav in 1518. In the second half of the 16th century, it was relocated to Ivančice nearby Brno in 1562 and, in 1578, it ended up in the Kraslice fortress under the protection of Jan Žerotín (also Zierotin), owner of the nearby Naměšť estate. One of the major Unity printers, Zachariaš Šolín, worked in Ivančice and Kralice.
The translation was initiated by Jan Blahoslav, a bishop of the Unity and the first Czech scholar who resumed the tradition of Erasmus and the effort made to translate the Bible from its original languages. Blahoslav alone translated the New Testament using Theodor Beza's 1559/1560 Greek-Latin edition. His translation was mainly based on the Latin version, but he also considered the Greek original. He introduced extensive notes and references to related biblical places, alternative translations and other techniques. He also planned to translate the Old Testament but he died before the work began. The first edition of his translation of the New Testament was revised by Jan Němčanský, a senior pastor of the Unity, and the second edition was revised by Zachariaš Ariston.
The effort to translate the Old Testament was coordinated and led by Blahoslav's former pupil, Bishop Ondřej Štefan. Other theologians and philologists involved in the collaborative effort included Mikulaš Albrecht of Kamének (Hebrew expert), Lukaš Helic (baptised Jew), Jan Eneaš (Senior Pastor), Izaiaš Cibulka (Co-Senior Pastor and Administrator of the Kralice Congregation), Jiří Strejc (Co-Senior Pastor), Jan Efraim, Pavel Jessen, and Jan Kapito Hlavač.
The first edition of the Bible of Kralice, which was published in six volumes, is often referred to as the “Six-Volume Edition”. The text was divided into six volumes because it contained not only the biblical texts but also extensive comments and notes in the margins, which made it considerably larger.
