Holy Bible Translated by Gáspár Heltai and His Colleagues

During the 16th century, three Protestant Reformers decided, independently, to translate the entire Bible into Hungarian. In addition to Gáspár Károli and Péter Méliusz Juhász, Gáspár Heltai Bible translator and printer, pastor and writer, and his colleagues (István Gyulai, Gergely Vízaknai, István Ozorai), apart from a few Old Testament books, translated almost the entire Bible and published it in seven independent volumes. The facsimile edition was published in three volumes, for which three institutions, the National Széchényi Library, the University Library of Cluj-Napoca and the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences provided the partial translations published by Gáspár Heltai.

The first volume contains the historical books of the Old Testament:

• I. A Biblianac elsö resze, az az Mosesnec ött könyue, mely magyar nyelwre fordittatot a regi es igaz szent könyuekböl. Colosvarba nyomtatot Helthai Gaspar es György Hoffgreff altal. 1551.
• II. A Biblianac másodic része, mellybe e következendö szent irásnac historiás könyuei vadnac be foglalua, tudni illic: 1. Iosue hertzegnec könyue, 2. A birákról valo könyue, 3. Ruth aszszonnac könyue, 4. Samuelnec elsö könyue, 5. Samuelnec masodic könyue, 6. A Királyokról valo elsö könyw, 7. A Királyokról valo másodic könyw. / mellyeket meg tolmáczolt és magyar nyelwre forditot a régi is igaz szent könyuekböl: Heltai Gaspar. Colosvarot Helti Gaspar mühellyébe. 1565.

The second volume contains the poetic books of the Old Testament, but the fellow translators of Gáspár Heltai did not proceed in a quite canonical order with the translations, which were originally published in three volumes:

• I. A Iesvs Sirah könyue Magyar Nyelven, Colosvarba. 1551.
• II. A bölts Salomon Kiralnac könyuei. 1 Prouerbia. 2. Ecclesiastes. 3. Canticum Canticorum. 4. Sapiantiae. Magyar nyelven. Colosvarba. 1551. (kolofon alapján 1552.)
• III. Soltar az az Szent Davidnac, es egyeb prophetaknac Psalmusinac, auagy Isten dichireteknec könyue: Szép Summátskáckal es röuideden valo ertelmöckel. Magyar Nyeluen Heltai Gaspar &c. Colosvarat.1560.
• IV. A Biblianac negyedik resze. Azaz a prophetaknac Irasoc: Melyec Magyar nyelwre forditattac a’ régi es igaz Szent könyuekböl. Colosvarba. 1552.

The third volume contains the New Testament, the translation of which was entirely undertaken by Heltai himself:

• I. A Jesvs Christusnac Wy Testamentoma. Magyar nyelwre forditatot a’ régi igaz és szent könyuekböl. Colosvarot. 1562.

The three volumes were edited by Dr. László Ötvös; the first and second volumes were supplemented by theology professor Dr. Áron Németh’s accompanying studies, while Dr. Gedeon Borsa and Dr. Péter Perger wrote an introductory study to the third volume. The Holy Bible was published as the 91st volume of the books series Nemzetközi Teológiai Könyv (International Theological Book).