Calvin Synod Herald, 1974 (74. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1974-08-01 / 8-9. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 5 János Sylvester was bom around 1504 in Szinyérváralja in Szatmár county. His real name might have been Erdősi, taken from the name of a neighboring city, Erdőd, or as it is thought of by Pintér, Sylvester might have been used as the last name instead of his first name.41 However, according to János Melich, Sylvester was his last name.42 Sylvester, a humanist scholar, later professsor at the Vienna University, in his Bible translation used the Vulgata, the Greek text and the Erasmus Bible. In his translation, he acknowledges the literary fineness of Hungarian folksongs. His foreword or introduction to the Bible is a masterpiece of distichons. The contents of the chapters are given in similar poetical form. His new testament was printed on the estate of Tamás Nádasdy in Sárvár in 1541. There he was an instructor for the landlords children. In Sárvár a press was acquired for him, a German printer was hired, but when the work did nőt proceed well, a Hungarian printer, Benedek Abádi, completed the printing. The great task was done, the first complete new testament was printed, but the war with the Turks hindered the spreading of this monumental book. Gáspár Heltai was of Saxon origin and at about the age of 16 he learned Hungarian. His name appears as “Helth” or “Heltus”, in Hungarian “Heltai”, at the Wittenberg University as “Caspar Heltensis Transilvanus” and probably he is the same as “Caspar von Heltau” in the Vienna University in 1503. He probably was bom either in Nagyszeben or Nagydisznód or, in German, Heltau. Influenced by John Honter, he joined the Protestants and engaged himself in converting the Transylvanian Saxons in Luther’s doctrine. His main importance was that he became a fellow owner of a printing shop and was publishing books. Studying the different Hungarian Bible translations, he prepared a orthography in Hungarian. He had it in mind to translate the whole Bible and almost all the books of the Bible were translated and published by him between 1551 and 1565. His translation was adequate but it did not become very popular. It, however, prepared the way for Károlyi’s translation. A less important work was the translation of the psalms into Hungarian and published in Krakow in 1548 by István Székely Bencédi. He was a minister in Gönc with the famous Gáspár Károlyi. In his translation, he closely followed the Hebrew language and used all available translations, including the Apor codex. His translation is rather a word for word translation. Earlier, he had promised to translate the whole Bible, but no signs were ever found of his completion of this aim. Péter Juhász Meliusz is one of the great personalities of Hungarian Calvinism. He was born in 1530 or 1536 in Horhi, Somogy county. He called himself either “Somogyi” or “Horhi” Juhász (or Ihász). The Melius or Melios is the Grek form of Juhász. During his short life, he did an immense literary and theological work, and was a great organizer of the Reformed Church in Hungary. He resided in Debrecen as bishop of the diocese. Among his many and great works, we will deal at the present with his Bible translation. Using the original Hebrew and Greek text, he translated the following old testament books: Samuel, Kings and Job. He also translated the new testament and published it in Szeged in the year 1567, but no copy of this has ever been found. In his translation, he used the technic of Benedek Komjáti, using the parenthesis, and printed in thick lettering. Following Komjáti, he also applied marginal explanations, as well as explanations at the end of the chapters. His work was a great asset to Hungarian literature, as well as to Hungarian Calvinism. Tamás Félegyházi was a teacher of Meliusz, a great scholar and director at Debrecen College and later was a minister in Debrecen. He translated almost all of the new testament. The translation was completed by a fellow minister, György Gönczi, and was published in 1586 in Debrecen. He used marginal and often long notes and explanations. In Gonczi’s edition, there are notes against the pope and the Catholic church. In 1609 a second edition was published. These translations of the Bible in those early days of printing was a great task and had a great influence on the people. Being the printed Bible was not as expensive as the handwritten copies, the Bible became widely spread. The goal to translate and print the whole bible was not achieved until the close of the 16th century. (To be continued) NOTES 34Czeglédy, Sándor, Sylvester Bibliai Kézikönyv (Sylvester Biblical Handbook), Vol. I., pp. 175-178. 35Pintér, p. 674. 36Ibid., p. 673. 37Horváth, p. 29. 38Pintér, Vol. I., pp. 674-675. 39Horváth, p. 106-107. ^Ibid., p. 109. «Pintér, Vol. II., p. 70. 42Horváth, p. 140. Francis Vitéz «» » »■» 77! v. royc Lord, teach me as Your faithful follower how To have fun without folly, To be cheerful without vanity, To have self-respect without pride, To be strict without fanaticism, To be relaxed without laziness, To be serious without gloom, To be friendly and not fickle, To be sunny and not silly, Lord, teach me how. Amen.
