Burmese Bible History (3)

**List: Burmese Ministry Bible ( သမ်မာကမျြး ) Burmese... BURMESE, INCLUDING ITS COGNATE DIALECT ARAKANESE. "I.--EXTENT AND STATISTICS. [...] II.--CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. [...] III.--VERSIONS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.    Three MS. translations of small portions of Scripture were made by Roman Catholic mies. before the establishment of a Protestant mission in this empire; but the first attempt to procure a complete version in this language was made by the Baptist mies. of Serampore.   About the year 1807 Felix Carey, the son of Dr. Carey, settled in Burmah as a my.; he applied very diligently to the study of the language, and in conjunction with Mr. Chater, who resided for a short time in the country, he produced a translation of two or three Gospels.   In this work great aid was derived from a book of Scripture extracts, afterwards printed at Serampore, containing accounts of the Creation, the Fall, the history of Our Lord, and the main doctrines of Christianity; the MS. was written in Burmese by an Italian my. then residing at Ava; he had studied Burmese and held daily intercourse with the natives for twenty-five years, and yet he declared that he still continued to find something new and complicated in the language.   In 1815, 2000 copies of the Gospel of S. Mat- thew, by Messrs. Chater and Carey, were printed at Serampore; but this is a very imperfect translation, and is said to be quite unintelligible to the Burmans.   Mr. Carey had studied medicine in Calcutta, and he introduced vaccination in Burmah; this led to an interruption of his labours as a translator, for in 1813 he received a summons to the court of Ava, to vaccinate the royal family.   Not having suf- ficient virus in his possession, he was sent with almost regal honours to Bengal to procure a further supply.   On his return in 1814, when proceeding from Rangoon with his family to Ava, the royal residence, he was shipwrecked, and his wife and children all perished.   Yet shortly after, leaving his my. work, he accepted the office of ambassador from the Court of Ava to the Bengal govern- ment.   The translation upon which he was engaged was transferred to the Rev. Dr. Adoniram Judson, who had a short time previously arrived in Burmah under the auspices of the American Baptist Board. Dr. Judson recommenced the version, and in 1816 was joined by Mr. Hough, with whose aid, and the present of a press and types from Serampore, the Gospel of S. Matthew was printed at Rangoon in 1817, as introductory to the entire New Testament.   In 1821, Dr. Judson gives the following account of his progress in the translation, which he appears to have made immediately from the Sacred original. "I have engaged Moung Sheva Gnong (a convert) to assist me in revising the Acts, but he is so par- ticular and thorough that we get on very slowly, not more that ten verses a day, though he is with me from nine in the morning till sunset."   During the first Burmese war, in 1825, Mr. Hough repaired to Serampore with various books of Scripture revised and prepared for the press; and under his super- intendence 21,500 copies of different portions of the New Testament were there printed.   Never, in modern times, have Christian mies. been subjected to such bitter sufferings and privations as those which have been endured for the sake of the Gospel of Christ in Ava.   The bonds, and imprison- ments, and sufferings of Mr. Hough and Mr. Wade at Rangoon, and of Dr. Judson and Dr. Price at Ava, at the close of the war above referred to, are fresh in the recollection of Christians.   These events greatly retarded the work of translation.   More than once the mission was entirely suspended; but eventually all turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel, inasmuch as many territories by this war were placed under British protection.   The second and later struggle between Great Britain and the Burmese power has resulted in political arrangements still more important in reference to the progress of my. labour in this large portion of the Asiatic continent; the province of Pegu having, in 1853, been annexed to the territories of British India.    The first complete version of the Burmese New Testament was issued from the press in December, 1832.   The edition consisted of 3000 copies, and was printed under the patronage of the American and Foreign Bible Society.   In 1834, Dr. Judson completed the translation of the Old Testament, which has since been published by him in handsome quarto.   (Second edition of 5000 in 1840.)   On this subject he has the following touching entry in his journal: "Jan. 31, 1834.--Thanks be to God! I can now say ‘I have attained.’   I have knelt down before him, with the last leaf in my hand; and imploring His forgiveness for all my sins that have polluted my labours in this department, and His aid in future efforts to remove the errors and imperfections, which necessarily cleave to the work, I have commended it to His mercy and grace: I have dedicated it to His glory.   May He make His own inspired word, now complete in the Burman tongue, the grand instrument of filling all Burmah with songs of praises to our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ."   In 1837, a second and much improved edition of 10,000 copies of the New Testament was printed by the American Baptist mies., established at Maulmein."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition)   Samuel Bagster   [Info only] BURMESE VERSION, DR. JUDSON.--1860   S. Bagster   [Info only: Burmese Character   n.d. John 1:1-10 unknown.] "IV.--RESULTS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS VERSION.    The fruits of the Rangoon translation were not first manifested in Burmah itself, nor even among the Burmans; the Gospel, it has been well remarked, is like a spring of water; if it cannot find a pas- sage in one direction, it forces its way in another.   At the very time that no perceptible effect seemed to result from the reading of the Burmese Scriptures in the special country for which the translation was made, this version was especially blessed in a tract of country bordering upon Chittagong, in- habited by the Mughs, a people of Aracan, who at the close of the last century had for political causes migrated from their own country, and placed themselves under British protection.   Their language, which is sometimes called the Rukheng, varies only from Burmese in pronunciation, and a few pro- vincial forms; and is in fact merely the oldest dialect of the Burmese language.   In 1815, De Bruyn, a devoted my., commenced the distribution of portions of the sacred volume among them; and shortly after his death it was found that there were no less than ninety baptized Mughs united in church fellowship.   For three years they had no minister or my. resident among them; yet during all this period, the perusal of the Scriptures being duly persevered in, they were enabled to maintain the worship of God, and to edify one another; and those brethren from distant stations who occasionally visited them, bore testimony of their faith and good works.   The American Baptists have since written portions of the New Testament in the Arakanese, or proper dialect of this interesting people; but the Burmese Scriptures are likewise fully intelligible, and much prized among them.    We have an account of the first convert in Burmah from the pen of Mrs. Judson.   She says,-- "A few days ago I was reading with him (the first Burman convert) Christ’s sermon on the Mount. He was deeply impressed.   ‘These words,’ said he, ‘take hold on my very heart, they make me tremble.   Here God commands us to do every thing that is good in secret, not to be seen of men. How unlike our religion is this!   When Burmans make offerings at the pagodas they make a great noise with drums and musical instruments, that others may see how good they are; but this religion makes the mind fear God; it makes it of its own accord fear sin.’"   Although Burmah at one time presented to Dr. Judson and the first mies. a continued scene of discouragement, yet it after- wards became an example of the ease with which God can arrest the attention of a whole people to the Scriptures.   Writing in 1831, Dr. Judson said, that one of the most remarkable features of the mission was the surprising spirit of inquiry then spreading everywhere, through the whole length and breadth of the land: he stated that during a great national festival held that year, no less than six thousand applicants came to the mission-house.   "Sir," said they, "we hear that there is an eternal [H]ell.   We are afraid of it.   Give us a writing that will tell us how to escape it."   Others came from the frontier of Cassay, a hundred miles north of Ava.--"Sir! we have seen a writing which tells about an eternal God.   Are you the man who gives away such writings?   If so, pray give us one, for we want to know the truth before we die."   Others came from the interior of the country, where the name of Jesus is a little known.--"Are you Jesus Christ’s man?   Give us a writing that tells about Jesus Christ."    Dr. Judson’s subsequent account of the character of the Burmans is equally hopeful.   They are, he says, a careful, deliberative people, who turn a thing many times over before they take it.   They are not disposed to give much credit to the words of a my., but when a tract is put into their hands, they wrap it up carefully, deposit it in a fold of the waistcloth or turban, carry it home to their village, and, when a leisure evening occurs, the family lamp is produced, the man, his wife and rela- tions gather round, and the contents of the new writing receive a full discussion.   Instances have not been wanting of the blessing of God having followed this careful study of His word.   Mr. Kincaid relates that during a journey through Burmah, a youth who had previously applied for books came to him, and besought him, before he quitted the city, to visit an old man who was anxious to see the teacher.   Mr. Kincaid followed the lad home, and was surprised to find in the object of his visit an old man full of faith and hope in Christ, though he had had no other teacher than St. John’s Gospel and a tract, called The View, accompanied by the Holy Spirit.   He said that he had loved Christ for about two years; and his language, Mr. Kincaid relates, was that of a man acquainted with his own heart. Narrating a voyage up the Irawaddy, from Rangoon to Ava, this my. describes the people as most eager to hear and to get books.   One man said that he had got a book in Rangoon that told him about the Eternal God who made all things, and about Christ who died to open a way for the forgive- ness of sins.   He said the more he thought of this, the more sure he felt that it was true.   Many such instances convincingly show that a wide field is opened in Burmah for the diffusion of truth, and in a printed form.   To account for such large issues of the Scriptures as have taken place in Burmah, it should be stated that the Burmans are generally able to read, and a smattering of education is more common among them, perhaps, than any other people of the East.   A Burmese and English Dic- tionary, in 8vo., by A. Judson, was issued at Maulmein, in 1826; and a second edition in 1852."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition)   Samuel Bagster   [Info only]

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