© British and Foreign Bible Society 1819, 2019

Gaelg

She yn Ghaelg çhengey ny mayrey Ellan Vannin, Crogheen-Crooin hene-reiltagh ayns Mooir Vannin eddyr Bretin Vooar as Nerin. She çhengey Ghaelagh ee ta mooinjerys eck rish Yernish (Gaeilge) as Gaelg Albinagh (Gàidhlig), agh ta aght-lettraghey er lheh ecksh ta ny smoo gollrish lettraghey’n Vaarle. Ayns ny bleeantyn jeianagh ta’n earroo dy leih as sym oc er yn çhengey er n’aase dy mooar. Ta teksyn bun-earrooagh dy Scriptyryn ayns Gaelg er ve jeant liorish Sheshaght y Vible, lesh coyrle mychione y çhengey hene voish Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh as Culture Vannin, dy chooney lesh Gaelgeyryn lhaih as gynsaghey mychione y Vible.

Manx Gaelic

Manx Gaelic (Gaelg) is the native language of the Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin), a self-governing Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea located between Britain and Ireland. It is a Gaelic language related to Irish (Gaeilge) and Scots Gaelic (Gàidhlig) but with its own orthography closer to English style spelling. The last few years have seen a remarkable increase in interest in the Manx language. Digitised Scripture resources have been produced by the Bible Society with language support from Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh (the Manx Language Society) and Culture Vannin, to help the growing number of Manx speakers engage with the Bible. 

The Bible in Manx

The first part of the Bible in Manx to be published was the Gospel of Matthew (Noo Mian) was printed in 1748. Later the whole Bible was translated into Manx by a committee of 23 Manx clergymen under the direction of the Anglican Bishop of Sodor and Mann. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) published the Manx New Testament (Conaant Noa) in 1767. The whole Manx Bible was then first published as Yn Vible Casherick (The Holy Bible) in 3 volumes. The first part of the Old Testament was published as Volume 1 in 1771. The second half of the Old Testament (including 2 books of Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus from the Apocrypha) were completed in 1772 and published as Volume 2 in 1773. The New Testament was published as Volume 3 in 1773. The whole Bible was published as one volume for the first time in 1775. Its bicentenary was celebrated in 1975. The Bible was translated from Hebrew and Greek with reference to the King James Version of the Bible, with the proper names and some technical words following the English King James Version of the Bible.

Bible Society editions

The British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) was formed in 1804. BFBS first published anything in Manx when it published the Manx New Testament in 1808. The last revision of the whole Bible, excluding footnotes and excluding the Apocrypha, was printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1819. The whole 1819 Bible Society edition of the Manx Bible was reprinted, with the permission of the Bible Society, by Shearwater Press in 1979, for the Tynwald Millenium.

Digital Edition

This translation was digitised by British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) from their archives with the help of MissionAssist in 2017, The text was checked and corrected by the Manx Gaelic Society (Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh) in 2019 for its 200th anniversary.

Copyright

This historical text is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society © 1819, 2019