Historically, the first international bible day was first declared by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, declared a National Bible Week in 1941 during World War II, after one of the worst foreign attacks on American. The Americans were, comforted through the reading of Scripture by the National Bible Association on radio stations across the nation. Since then, the National Bible Week, is observed as a week of Thanksgiving.

In 1966, the United States Congress was introduced to a resolution to establish a permanent day of the year to honor Bible translation. 

The National Bible Day in the Philippines is held in the month of January every year. This year, we are celebrating the International Day of Bible Reading on January 27. It’s a day dedicated to studying the “Bible.” We are sharing amazing facts about National Bible Day in the Philippines — an annual event observed to honor the word of God by reading the “Bible,” having “Bible” quizzes, and distributing the “Bible.” It is celebrated to inculcate in young and old Filipinos the practice of reading the “Bible,” whose words empower them to live with hope in difficult times.

Today, International Day of Bible Reading, is a public declaration of our thankfulness to God for his Word that offers hope, guidance, and strength. This year, as the world grapples with the pandemic and escalating tension and unrest, we celebrate God’s Word which still provides comfort in difficult times.

We shall be celebrating some of the translators of the bible in January 2025.

Hence, we are celebrating the bible authors and translators every year the 27th day of Jaunary.

Martin Luther Bible is a German language Bible translation by the Protestant. The New Testament translation by Luther was first published in September 1522; the completed Bible contained 75 books, including the Old Testament, Apocrypha and New Testament, which was printed in 1534.

Luther continued to make improvements to the text until 1545. It was the one of first full translations of the Bible into German that used not only the Latin Vulgate but also the Greek.

Luther did not translate the entire Bible by himself; he relied on a team of translators and helpers that included Philip Melanchthon, a scholar of Koine Greek who motivated and assisted Luther’s New Testament translation from Greek, and Matthäus Aurogallus, a linguist and scholar of Hebrew.

One of the textual bases of the New Testament translation was the Latin and Greek versions, and its philological annotations, recently published by the Dutch Catholic humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam and called the Novum Testamentum omne (1519).

The project absorbed Luther’s later years. The publication of Luther’s Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany, promoting the development of non-local forms of language and exposing all speakers to forms of German from outside their own areas. Thanks to the then recently invented printing press,[8] the result was widely disseminated and contributed significantly to the development of today’s modern High German language. Wikipedia.

William Tyndale: Fought for the printing of the bible you are holding today. In 1524, the church authorities in England prevented him from translating the Bible into English, he later went to Germany, and after receiving financial support from London Marchant, he published 18,000 copies of the new testament. But was betrayed by a friend, he was tied to a stake, strangled with a rope to death in Oct. 6, 1536.

William Tyndale (1494 – October 1536) was an English Biblical scholar and linguist who became a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation in the years leading up to his execution. He translated much of the Bible into English, and was influenced by the works of prominent Protestant Reformers such as Martin Luther.

Tyndale’s translations were the first English Scriptures to draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts, the first English translation to take advantage of the printing press, the first of the new English Bibles of the Reformation, and the first English translation to use Jehovah (“Iehouah”) as God’s name. It was taken to be a direct challenge to the authority of the Catholic Church and of those laws of England maintaining the Church’s position. The work of Tyndale continued to play a key role in spreading Reformation ideas across the English-speaking world.

A copy of Tyndale’s The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528), which some view as arguing for Caesaropapism (the idea that the monarch rather than the Pope should control a country’s Church), came into the hands of King Henry VIII, providing a rationale for breaking the Church in England away from the Catholic Church in 1534. In 1530, Tyndale wrote The Practice of Prelates, opposing Henry’s plan to seek the annulment of his marriage on the grounds that it contravened Scripture. Fleeing England, Tyndale sought refuge in the Flemish territory of the Catholic Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1535 Tyndale was arrested, and jailed in the castle of Vilvoorde (Filford) outside Brussels for over a year. In 1536 he was convicted of heresy and executed by strangulation, after which his body was burnt at the stake.

Tyndale’s translations of biblical books were re-used by subsequent English editions (often without his sectarian prefaces or annotations), including the Great Bible and the Bishops’ Bible, authorized by the Church of England. In 1611, after seven years of work, the 47 scholars who produced the King James Version of the Bible drew extensively from Tyndale’s original work and other translations that descended from his. One estimate suggests that the New Testament in the King James Version is 83% Tyndale’s words and the first half of the Old Testament 76%. In 2002, Tyndale was placed 26th in the BBC’s poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.

John Wycliffe: John Wycliffe (c1328-1384) is known for translating the Bible into English, which was a significant event in the history of the Bible and the English language.  Translation:  Wycliffe and his colleagues began translating the Bible into English in the 1370s. The first New Testament was published in 1382. Wycliffe’s translation was the first complete European translation in nearly 1,000 years. He was murdered for  translating the Bible from Latin to English against the wish of the church authority in Rome.

John Wycliffe  was an English scholastic philosopher, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxford.

Wycliffe is traditionally believed to have advocated or made a vernacular translation of the Vulgate Bible into Middle English, though more recent scholarship has minimalized the extent of his advocacy or involvement for lack of direct contemporary evidence.

He became an influential dissident within the Catholic priesthood during the 14th century and is often considered an important predecessor to Protestantism. His theory of dominion meant that men in mortal sin were not entitled to exercise authority in the church or state, nor to own property. Wycliffe insisted on the radical poverty of all clergy.

Wycliffe has been characterised as the “evening star” of scholasticism and as the morning star or stella matutina of the English Reformation.

Certain of Wycliffe’s later followers, derogatorily called Lollards by their orthodox contemporaries in the 15th and 16th centuries, adopted a number of the beliefs attributed to Wycliffe such as theological virtues, predestination, iconoclasm, and the notion of caesaropapism, with some questioning the veneration of saints, the sacraments, requiem masses, transubstantiation, monasticism, and the legitimacy or role of the Papacy.

Wycliffe’s writings in Latin greatly influenced the philosophy and teaching of the Czech reformer Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415)

Kings James was a king who also is the head of the church of England. He is not a translator but He appointed six committees and 54 scholars, to translate the bible from Greek, Latin and Hebrew to English.

And after the court ruling, he made the first publication by removing some books from the original manuscript in the year 1611.

The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of King James VI and I. The 80 books of the King James Version include 39 books of the Old Testament, 14 books of Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament.

Noted for its “majesty of style”, the King James Version has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world. 

The King James Version remains the preferred translation of many Protestant Christians, and is considered the only valid one by some Evangelicals. It is considered one of the important literary accomplishments of early modern England.

The KJV was the third translation into English approved by the English Church authorities: The first had been the Great Bible (1535), and the second had been the Bishops’ Bible (1568). In Switzerland the first generation of Protestant Reformers had produced the Geneva Bible which was published in 1560, having referred to the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures, which was influential in the writing of the Authorized King James Version.

The English Church initially used the officially sanctioned “Bishops’ Bible”, which was hardly used by the population. More popular was the named “Geneva Bible”, which was created on the basis of the Tyndale translation in Geneva under the direct successor of the reformer John Calvin for his English followers.

However, their footnotes represented a Calvinistic Puritanism that was too radical for James. The translators of the Geneva Bible had translated the word king as tyrant about four hundred times, while the word only appears three times in the KJV. Because of this, some have claimed that King James purposely had the translators omit the word, though there is no evidence to support this claim. As the word “tyrant” has no equivalent in ancient Hebrew, there is no case where the translation would be required.

James convened the Hampton Court Conference in January 1604, where a new English version was conceived in response to the problems of the earlier translations perceived by the Puritans, a faction of the Church of England.

James gave translators instructions intended to ensure the new version would conform to the ecclesiology, and reflect the episcopal structure, of the Church of England and its belief in an ordained clergy. In common with most other translations of the period, the New Testament was translated from Greek, the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic, and the Apocrypha from Greek and Latin. In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the text of the Authorized Version replaced the text of the Great Bible for Epistle and Gospel readings, and as such was authorized by an Act of Parliament.

By the first half of the 18th century, the Authorized Version had become effectively unchallenged as the only English translation used in Anglican and other English Protestant churches, except for the Psalms and some short passages in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. Over the 18th century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for English-speaking scholars.

With the development of stereotype printing at the beginning of the 19th century, this version of the Bible had become the most widely printed book in history, almost all such printings presenting the standard text of 1769, and nearly always omitting the books of the Apocrypha. Today the unqualified title “King James Version” usually indicates this Oxford standard text.

The Moravian brothers: The Moravian Brothers, also known as Moravští bratři, are a Protestant denomination that originated in the 15th century after the death of Jan Hus, a Czech theologian, sold themselves into slavery to gain entrance into France, gave the money to charity and enslave themselves to preach the gospel in France. They were the first protestant to promote bible course in the 15th century.

Cyril (Greek) born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius born Michael, (815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the “Apostles to the Slavs”.

They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic.  After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of “equal-to-apostles”.

In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1980, the first Slav pope, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia.

Cyril and Methodius, painting by Jan Matejko, 1885. In 1862, the brothers began the work which would give them their historical importance. That year Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia requested that Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch Photius send missionaries to evangelize his Slavic subjects. His motives in doing so were probably more political than religious.

Rastislav had become king with the support of the Frankish ruler Louis the German, though he subsequently sought to assert his independence from the Franks. That Cyril and Methodius might have been the first to bring Christianity to Moravia is a common misconception; Rastislav’s letter to Michael III states clearly that his people “had already rejected paganism and adhere to the Christian law.” Rastislav is said to have expelled missionaries of the Roman Church and instead turned to Constantinople for ecclesiastical assistance and, presumably, a degree of political support.  The Emperor quickly chose to send Cyril, accompanied by his brother Methodius. The request provided a convenient opportunity to expand Byzantine influence. Their first work seems to have been the training of assistants. In 863, they began the task of translating the Gospels and essential liturgical books into what is now known as Old Church Slavonic, and travelled to Great Moravia to promote it. This endeavour was amply rewarded. However, they came into conflict with German ecclesiastics, who opposed their efforts to create a specifically Slavic liturgy.

For the purpose of this mission, they devised the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet to be used for Slavonic manuscripts. The Glagolitic alphabet was suited to match the specific features of the Slavic language. Its descendant script, the Cyrillic, is still used by many languages today.

The brothers wrote the first Slavic Civil Code, which was used in Great Moravia. The language derived from Old Church Slavonic, known as Church Slavonic, is still used in the liturgy by several Orthodox Churches, and also in some Eastern Catholic churches.

Exactly how much the brothers translated is impossible to say for certain. The New Testament and the Psalms seem to have been the first, followed by other lessons from the Old Testament. The “Translatio” speaks only of a version of the Gospels by Cyril, and the “Vita Methodii” only of the “evangelium Slovenicum”, though other liturgical selections may also have been translated.

Nor is it known for sure which liturgy, whether of Rome or of Constantinople, they took as a source. They may well have used the Roman alphabet, as hinted by liturgical fragments adhering closely to the Latin type.

This view is confirmed by the “Prague Fragments” and by certain Old Glagolitic liturgical fragments brought from Jerusalem to Kyiv and discovered there by Izmail Sreznevsky—probably the oldest document in the Slavonic tongue; examples of where they resemble the Latin type include the words “Mass,” “Preface,” and the name of one Felicitas. Regardless, the circumstances were such that the brothers could have hoped for no lasting success without having had authorization from Rome.

Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther (1809-1891) was an African missionary and the first African Bishop in the Anglican Church. He is known for his work translating the Bible into Yoruba, his mother tongue, and for his contributions to other African languages. Translation: Crowther translated the entire Bible into Yoruba, which was spoken in his home in what is now Nigeria. He believed that translating the Bible into local languages was an effective way to spread Christianity.

Samuel Crowther  was a Yoruba linguist, clergyman, and the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. Born in Osogun (in what is now Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, Nigeria), he and his family were captured by Fulani slave raiders when he was about twelve years old.

This took place during the Yoruba civil wars, notably the Owu wars of 1821–1829, where his village Osogun was ransacked. Ajayi was later on resold to Portuguese slave dealers, where he was put on board to be transported to the New World through the Atlantic.

Crowther was freed from slavery at a coastal port by the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron, which was enforcing the British ban against the Atlantic slave trade. The liberated peoples were resettled in Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone, Ajayi adopted the English name Samuel Crowther, and began his education in English. He adopted Christianity and also identified with Sierra Leone’s then ascendant Krio ethnic group.

He studied languages and was ordained as a minister in England, where he later received a doctoral degree from Oxford University. He prepared a Yoruba grammar and translation of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer into Yoruba, also working on a Yoruba version of the Bible, as well as other language projects.

Crowther was selected to accompany the missionary James Schön on the Niger expedition of 1841. Together with Schön, he was expected to learn Hausa for use on the expedition. Its goal was to stimulate commerce, teach agricultural techniques, encourage Christianity, and help end the slave trade. Following the expedition, Crowther was recalled to England, where he was trained as a minister and ordained by the Bishop of London. Schön wrote to the Church Missionary Society noting Crowther’s usefulness and ability on the expedition, recommending that he be prepared for ordination.

Crowther returned to Africa in 1843 and, with Henry Townsend, opened a mission in Abeokuta, in today’s Ogun State, Nigeria.

Crowther began translating the Bible into Yoruba and compiling a Yoruba dictionary. In 1843, his grammar book, on which he had begun working during the Niger expedition, was published. A Yoruba version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer followed later. Crowther also compiled A Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language, including a large number of local proverbs, published in London in 1852.

Following the British Niger Expeditions of 1854 and 1857, Crowther, published an Igbo primer written by a young Igbo missionary named Simon Jonas, who travelled with him to Aboh in 1857. He published one for the Nupe language in 1860, and a full grammar and vocabulary of Nupe in 1864.

Crowther had become a close associate and friend of Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, an influential politician, mariner, philanthropist and industrialist in colonial Lagos. The two men collaborated on social initiatives in Lagos, such as the founding of The Academy (a social and cultural center for public enlightenment) on 24 October 1866. Crowther was the first patron and Captain J. P. L. Davies was the first president.