The 450th anniversary of the publication of the ‘Bear Bible’ – the first complete translation of the Bible into Spanish – is being marked with an exhibition in Mexico, reports Evangelical Focus.
PICTURE: Via Wikipedia
The exhibition at the Benmerite Autonomous University of Puebla consists of 49 items including one of the 32 surviving copies of the Bible’s original print run. The remaining 2,600 were destroyed and the Mexican copy, part of the university’s collection, is believed to be one of the best preserved.
The Biblia del Oso was translated by Spanish monk Casiodoro de Reina, a supporter of the Protestant Reformation. It was made in various locations in Europe as a result of the persecution he suffered at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition and members of some reformer groups following his conversion to Protestanism. It was published in 1569.
The name of the manuscript comes from an engraving on the Bible’s title page which depicts a bear eating honey while leaning against a tree. It is believed to be a reference to a passage in Revelation, chapter 10, which refers to eating something which will “turn your stomach sour” but taste “as sweet as honey”, a passage selected because of the persecution Reina suffered.
Today the Reina-Valera version of the Bible, a revision of Reina’s translation, is the most popular translation in the Spanish-speaking world, Evangelical Focus reported earlier this year.
In January, Spain honoured the anniversary of Reina’s translation with a stamp.
