#books
#history
Bibilum Keralavum.
“Bibilum Keralavum” in Malayalam , is a book that I found interesting reading.
The author Fr David Nettikaden, is an electronics engineer who chose to become a Catholic priest.
The book takes you through the history of the Bible from the ancient times.
The Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew language on parchments (skin).
The New Testament was originally written in Greek, and later translated into Latin, Hebrew and Syriac (Peshitta-2nd century).
The 4th century Latin translation by St Jerome known as the Vulgatha, was accepted as the official translation of the Catholic Church, by the Synod of Trent.
An English translation of the Bible was available only in the 7th century.
Bible was the first book ever to be printed, in 1455, by Guttenberg.
The earliest translation into Malayalam was made by Buchanan in 1811. Benjamin Bailey printed the first Malayalam translation at Kottayam in 1829.
The entire Bible that includes the Old Testament, became available in print only in 1841.
Gundert had published the New Testament from Thalassery in 1856.
The first Catholic translation, known as the Manjummal Bible, was made from the Latin original (Vulgate) and was published in 1905.
The Malayalam translation from Syriac (Peshitta) was first published by Mani Kathanar in 1938 from Mannanam.
Interestingly, Kerala Christians started using the term Bible only in the 20th century.
Earlier the term used was
“Vedapushthakam “.
The numerous photos makes the book interesting for the lay reader.
– Joy Kallivayalil.
