Tamil Bible History (3)

தமிழ் / Tamil Bible History (3)

**List: Tamil Ministry
Bible ( பைபிள் )
Tamil...
TAMUL, OR TAMIL.
"I.--GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS.
TAMUL, the language of the ancient kingdom of Dravira, is spoken in the extensive country now
called the Carnatic, and is the vernacular language from the town of Pulicat in the north to Cape
Comorin in the south, and from the shores of the Indian Ocean on the east to the Ghauts on the west.
This important territory, which since 1801 has been entirely under British government, includes
Madras, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura, Tinnevelly, and Coimbatore. The inhabitants have been
estimated at upwards of six millions and a half; they are chiefly Hindoos of the Brahminical sect, and
there are comparatively few Moh_mm_dans among them. The Tamul language also obtains along the
whole northern coast of Ceylon, including the populous district of Jaffna, where it is spoken by a race of
people sometimes called the Malabars. Tamul is likewise the vernacular language of the Moormen of
Ceylon; they are dispersed in great numbers through every part of the island, especially at Colombo,
and are supposed to be the descendants of Arabs, who, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, conquered
several of the seaport towns of India and Ceylon.
II.--CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE.
It is a question of the highest historical interest whether Tamul and the other languages of the
Deccan are to be considered as the daughters of the Sanscrit, or whether their origin is to be traced
to some other source. Drs. Carey and Wilkins considered them to be undoubtedly derived from the
Sanscrit, and Colebrooke was inclined to adopt the same opinion. Mr. Ellis, in the Preface to
Campbell’s Teloogoo Grammar, was the first to doubt their supposed relationship to Sanscrit: and
Babington, in his Introductory Remarks to the Gooroo Paramartan, has maintained the same view of
the case. [....]
III.--VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.
The honour of executing the first Tamul version of the Scriptures belongs to the Danish
mies. Ziegenbalg, the first my. sent by the Danish Government to their settlement at
Tranquebar, commenced the translation of the New Testament in 1708, and completed it in 1711.
The printing of this version was delayed in order that it might receive the benefit of a thorough
revisal, and this important task was committed to the my. John Ernest Grundler, who had
arrived in India soon after the commencement of the translation. Under his care the work was printed
at Tranquebar in 1714, at the press and on paper provided by the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge. His Majesty George I. of England took an especial interest in the progress of this version,
and addressed a letter to Ziegenbalg. The translation of the Old Testament was commenced by this
devoted my. in 1717, and in 1719, he had carried it as far as the Book of Ruth, when he sank
beneath the weight of his manifold labours, at the age of thirty-six. It is not certain whether his
translations were executed immediately from the sacred originals, or from the German version of
Luther. After his decease, and that of his fellow-labourer Grundler, which occurred during the
following year, the revision of his manuscripts and the prosecution of the version of the Old Testament
devolved on Benjamin Schultze, a my. who had arrived from Halle a short time previously,
under the patronage of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Schultze published the
portion of the Old Testament translated by Ziegenbalg in 1723, and completed the version in 1727.
He was well acquainted with Hebrew, and is said to have consulted most of the European versions in
the course of his translation. Such was his indefatigable zeal, that in the midst of important my.
duties, and in the relaxing climate of Southern India, he regularly devoted six hours daily to the
prosecution of his work. He likewise addressed himself to a diligent revision of the New Testament,
a second edition of which he put to press in 1722, and completed in 1724, at Tranquebar. In 1758
a third edition of the New Testament was printed at the same place; it had previously been subjected
to another revision, in which several mies. took a part. The second Tranquebar edition was
reprinted at Colombo in 1741-3, after having undergone some alterations adapting it to the Tamul
spoken in Ceylon: this edition was designed for the native Tamulian Christians in that island, and was
published under the auspices of Von Imhoff, the governor.
In 1777 an important version of the New Testament was published by the Rev. J. P. Fabricius,
one of Schultze’s successors in the Danish mission at Madras. This version is far more elegant and
classical in diction than that of the Tranquebar translators. Fabricius likewise undertook the revision
of Schultze’s version of the Old Testament, preparatory to a second edition; but the work as revised
by him has every claim to be considered a new and independent version. He sent the translation,
sheet by sheet, for examination and correction to the mies. at Cuddalore; from them it passed
to the Danish mies., and from them to the native translator to the Danish Government. The
notes and corrections thus obtained were carefully collated by Fabricius, and the whole translation was
again subjected by him to a searching revision. It was printed at the mission press at Tranquebar
between the years 1777 and 1782, under the especial care of two mies., one of whom was
Dr. Rottler. Fabricius was esteemed an "unparalleled Tamul scholar," and his translation long held
the rank of the standard Tamul version of the Scriptures.
The editions of the two versions of the New Testament above mentioned, printed by the Danish
mies. prior to the commencement of the present century, amount in all to fourteen, besides two
versions of the Old Testament. They were assisted by grants of paper and other supplies from the
Royal College of Copenhagen, the Orphan House at Halle, and the Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge. Still the number of copies issued was very far from being adequate to the wants of the
native Christians; and the deplorable scarcity of the Scriptures in the Tamul country was first pressed
upon the notice of the British and Foreign Bible Society in a letter from the Rev. Dr. Buchanan,
dated Madura, 1806. Dr. Buchanan stated that of the ten or twelve thousand Protestant Christians
then belonging to the Tanjore and Tinnevelly districts, not one perhaps in a hundred had a New
Testament; and he described the people in general as "clamorous for Bibles, supplicating for teachers,
and saying, ‘we do not want bread or money from you, but we want the word of God.’" In con-
sequence of these and other similar representations, the Corresponding Committee at Calcutta raised
a subscription for the purchase of all the copies of the Tamul Scriptures which could be then obtained,
and which bore a price placing them beyond the reach of the poorer Christians. These copies reached
Tanjore in 1810, where they were received with the most lively gratitude; and the supply was
acknowledged "not only as a seasonable and acceptable present, but as the cause of abundant thanks-
giving to God through Jesus Christ our Saviour, from many who were desirous to know the saving
truths which the Bible contains, and to use it for the benefit of their souls." Arrangements were then
made by the British and Foreign Bible Society for the publication of another edition, and after due
inquiries had been instituted, it was deemed advisable to print it at the Serampore press, from the
admired text of Fabricius. Notwithstanding the disastrous fire in which the Tamul fount of types
and a large supply of paper were destroyed, the edition, consisting of 5000 copies, was completed by the
Serampore mies. in 1813.
As a great demand for the Scriptures still continued throughout the Tamul country even after the
circulation of this large edition, it seemed necessary to take immediate measures for issuing farther
supplies. The want of copies of the Scriptures appeared to be particularly felt at Ceylon, where the
number of native Christians speaking the Tamul language was estimated at 45,000. Besides the
edition of the New Testament published at Colombo in 1743, as above mentioned, a version of the
Pentateuch, translated by Mr. de Milho, had also been printed in Ceylon, under the patronage of the
Dutch Government, in 1790. These editions, however, had been long exhausted, and the people
in general were almost destitute of the Scriptures. It was, therefore, deemed advisable not only to
issue another edition, but also to obtain such a revision of the existing version as might render it
intelligible to the Tamul population of Ceylon and of the adjacent continent. This important
revision was committed to the Rev. C. T. E. Rhenius of the Church Mission, subject to the superinten-
dence of the Rev. Dr. Rottler (who had formerly assisted in carrying the version of Fabricius through
the press), and the inspection of the mies. at Trichinopoly, Tanjore, and Tranquebar. To
secure the greater accuracy of the work, a committee of translation was appointed at Madras in 1821,
and great hopes were entertained of the success of a version carried forward under such efficient
management, and in the midst of the Tamul country. In order, however, to meet the actual demand
for the Scriptures, it was found requisite, while the revision was in progress, to issue another edition
from the text of Fabricius. This edition appears to have consisted of 1000 copies of the Old Testament,
2500 of the New Testament, and 2500 extra copies of the Gospels and Acts: the Old Testament was
printed at the Vepery press of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the New Testa-
ment at the Church My. Society’s press at Madras; the edition was completed about the year
1824. In 1825 the revision of the Gospel of St. Matthew was finished, and an edition of 10,000 copies
was published by the Madras Committee. The following year another edition of the Old Testament
from the text of the Tranquebar translators was commenced: it consisted of 5000 copies of the Penta-
teuch, and 2500 of the other books of the Old Testament, and appears to have been completed about
the year 1832. In the meantime the revision of the old version under the care of Mr. Rhenius was
rapidly proceeding, and in 1827 an edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament was put to press.
In 1828 the Four Gospels were completed, and so rapid was the circulation, that another edition of
5000 copies was immediately ordered, and the part of the New Testament containing the Epistles was
extended to 7500 copies.
Yet, notwithstanding these large issues, the desire of the native population to receive the Tamul
Scriptures more than kept pace with the ability of the committee to supply them; and it was found
that before the last books of an edition could be got from the press, nearly all the first books had
been distributed, so that it appeared almost impossible to issue one complete and uniform copy of
the Tamul Old and New Testaments. The Madras Committee, therefore, determined in 1831 to
print 12,000 copies of the Tamul New Testament in small type. This edition was afterwards extended
to 15,000, and the revised version was selected as the text on account of the numerous testimonies
that had been laid before the committee in proof of its superiority over the version of Fabricius. To
expedite the revision and publication of the entire Tamul Scriptures, two additional sub-committees of
revision were formed about this period, (the one at Tanjore, and the other at Nagracoil and Palam-
cottah,) consisting of Churchmen, Wesleyans, Lutherans, and Dissenters of various denominations, who
all agreed to set aside party distinctions, in order to promote the publication of the word of truth.
In 1844 an edition of 6000 copies of the entire Tamul Bible was completed. The Old Testament was
the version of Fabricius, corrected as to grammar and orthography; and the New, that of Rhenius: it
contained the headings of chapters and the chronology from the English. In printing this edition
the Madras Society was assisted by funds from the American Bible Society, and by supplies of paper
from the British and Foreign Bible Society. During the same year (1844) 10000 copies of each of
the Four Gospels in 18mo., Fabricius’s version, were ordered to be printed at the press of the Christian
Knowledge Society, Vepery; and the same number and size of the revised version at the American
Mission press, for the use of schools. Other portions of Scripture were printed at about the same
period at the Neypoor press, for the use of schools in Tinnevelly and Travancore, and for the purposes
of public worship.
A second edition of the uniform Tamul Bible, with headings and chronology from the English,
and references from the German version, was completed in 1848. The edition consisted of 6000 copies,
and the demand for it was at once considerable. Among other portions of Scripture recently printed
under the auspices of the British and Foreign Bible Society, it may be noticed that an edition of 3000
copies of the New Testament in 12mo. has been published, according to rules proposed by a Tamul
sub-committee of revision, for separating the words in printing, and in many cases omitting the usual
changes, reduplication, and elision of letters required by the law of Sandhi in the high dialect. Another
edition of the New Testament, printed from the version of Rhenius at Neypoor, has since been issued,
for the use of the large and increasing native church in that section of the Tamul country; together
with several large editions of portions of the New Testament, from the same version.
It remains to notice another version of the Tamul Scriptures which has more recently been
completed in Ceylon, and which is known as the "Union Version." The chief agent in its pro-
duction was the Rev. P. Percival, who was engaged for a period of fourteen years in that arduous task,
devoting six hours daily to it: valuable help was furnished by the Reverends Messrs. Spalding, Winslow,
and Brotherton. Great, however, as had been the care bestowed upon its execution, it was determined
that the first edition of the "Union Version" should be regarded only as a trial, with a view to
obtain the opinions of Tamul scholars as to its merits, and the number of copies was accordingly limited
to 3500. High praise has been bestowed upon this version with regard to its idiom, correctness,
neatness of style, and its general fidelity, to the original; it has, nevertheless, been generally
regarded as deficient (in common with prior versions) in some of the qualities necessary to a standard
version of the Tamul Scriptures. The complete revision of the Tamul Bible, with a view to the
preparation (from the two translations of the Old Testament, and the three versions of the New, that
are already in existence) of an edition which may be finally regarded as a standard authority, has
occupied during several years the anxious care of the Madras Auxiliary Society; and a recent engage-
ment has been made between the Parent Committee of the Bible Society, and the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, by which this desirable object seems likely to be accom-
plished. The Rev. H. Bower has undertaken to conduct the task of revision; the work being in the
first instance limited to the New Testament only, with a view to obtain a general opinion of the merits
of the revised version thus formed, before incurring the large outlay which the like revision of the Old
Testament will involve. The work, on this plan, is now (1860) in progress.".--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only]

TAMUL, OR TAMIL.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Roman Character n.d. John 1:1-12 unknown.]
THE TAMUL VERSION.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Native Character n.d. John 1:1-12 unknown.]

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