Notes on the Olivetan Bible 1535
The Olivétan Bible is the first French version of the Bible translated from the original Hebrew and Greek texts. It is considered the first copy of a French Protestant Bible.
On June 4, 1535, the translation of a Protestant Bible into French by the humanist Pierre Robert Olivétan, based on the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, was published in Neuchâtel. The work was published by Pierre de Wingle. It is better known as the “Olivétan Bible.” For the first time, God speaks directly in French!
When Guillaume Farel (1489-1565) met the Waldensians, they showed their old manuscripts; some, they said, dated back four centuries. The Waldensians preserved them like precious treasures from father to son. These books were very rare and were all the religious writings they possessed. Among these manuscripts were ancient Bibles carefully copied in Old French. Farel repeatedly emphasized the need to quickly translate the Bible into French from Hebrew and Greek. The Waldensians were delighted with this proposal. They generously raised the necessary funds. Farel prayed to the Lord to raise up a man capable of undertaking such a work.
It was Pierre Robert Olivétan (circa 1505-1538), born in Noyon and cousin of Calvin, who agreed to take on this colossal task. He devoted all his time and energy to this work, which had never been undertaken before. In two years, he created a French Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek texts.
Olivétan would never have wanted his name to appear in his edition of the Bible, and indeed, it appears only as an acrostic in a dedication written in Latin by one of his friends. Olivétan writes in his preface:
“Without the Gospel, we are all useless and vain; without the Gospel, we are not Christians. Without the Gospel, all wealth is poverty, wisdom is foolishness before God, strength is weakness, and all human righteousness is condemned by God. But through the knowledge of the Gospel, we are made children of God… The Gospel is the Word of life and truth. It is the power of God for the salvation of all believers.”
This Bible, printed with the financial support of the Waldensians, the spiritual heirs of Peter Waldo who adhered to the Reformation, enjoyed considerable distribution throughout Europe.