Russian Synodal Bible (1876) Synodal

Orthodox
Old Testament source: Masoretic Hebrew (not verified)
New Testament source: Textus Receptus
Orthodox
Formal (word for word)
1876
Public domain

At a glance

Language: Russian
Tradition: Orthodox — Made by the theological academies of the Russian Orthodox Church and published 'by the blessing of the Most Holy Synod' for home reading.
Church approval: Yes — Published with the Holy Synod's blessing (a resolution of 20 March 1858 called it useful 'not for use in churches'): approved for reading and study, while services use the Church Slavonic Bible. It has also become the standard Bible of most Russian-speaking Protestants.
Old Testament source: Masoretic Hebrew — Mainly the Masoretic Hebrew, with Septuagint additions included (e.g. Deut 32:43, Josh 24, the Prayer of Manasseh). In this digital text such additions, and the Septuagint psalm titles, are in square brackets [ ]; the Orthodox Encyclopedia says the editions mark them with round brackets — printed conventions differ (SOURCE NOT VERIFIED for the 1876 printing). Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach etc. were translated from the Greek; 3 Ezra from the Latin Vulgate.
New Testament source: Textus Receptus — Textus Receptus (Elzevir), with some manuscripts consulted.
Canon: Orthodox — 2 Ezra (Greek 1 Esdras), 3 Ezra (Latin 2 Esdras), Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Letter of Jeremiah, Baruch, 1–3 Maccabees, Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, Greek additions in Esther and Daniel
Style: Formal (word for word)
Year: Gospels 1860, Apostle 1862, Old Testament 1868–1875, complete Bible 1876. Modern spelling since the 1956 Moscow edition. Digital text: CrossWire RusSynodal 1.9.1 (source rbo.ru / patriarchia.ru), with the deuterocanonical books.
Translators: Professors of the St Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev and Kazan theological academies (incl. D. A. Khvolson, S. Golubev, V. A. Levison, E. I. Lovyagin, P. I. Savvaitov, N. A. Sergievsky); final editing by Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov) with A. V. Gorsky.
Reading level: 19th-century literary Russian; still the standard church and devotional Russian Bible.
Verse numbering: Russian Synodal (Greek Psalm numbers)
Licence: Public domain — Translators died in the 19th century. CrossWire conf: DistributionLicense=Public Domain. eBible.org russyn (same translation, 66 books): 'Public Domain'. Later editorial revisions (e.g. 1956 spelling) are minimal.
Text source: CrossWire (RusSynodal)

Notes

The Old Testament is translated mainly from the Hebrew, with many Septuagint readings added; in this digital text those additions (and the Septuagint psalm titles) are in square brackets [ ].
Includes the books not found in the Hebrew Bible (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, 1–3 Maccabees, 2 and 3 Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh), as in the Synodal editions.
Psalms are numbered as in the Septuagint (Psalm 50 = Psalm 51 in English Bibles), with the titles counted as verses.
As in the Synodal editions, Esther includes the Greek additions within its ten chapters (in square brackets), and Daniel includes the Song of the Three Young Men (3:24–90), Susanna (chapter 13) and Bel and the Dragon (chapter 14); Psalm 151 follows Psalm 150.

About

The Russian Bible of the Russian Orthodox Church, translated in the 19th century by its theological academies and published in 1876 with the Holy Synod's blessing for reading at home (the services use Church Slavonic). Its Old Testament follows the Hebrew but adds many Septuagint readings, and it includes the books the Orthodox Church reads beyond the Hebrew canon. Psalms are numbered as in the Septuagint.

Strengths

Made by the Russian Orthodox Church
Includes the deuterocanonical books
Greek Psalm numbering

Things to know

Old Testament mainly from the Hebrew, not the Septuagint
In this digital text the bracket marks [ ] are the source's
Common online: chapter pages are not indexed

Not yet verified

How the 1876 printing marked Septuagint additions (square vs round brackets): SOURCE NOT VERIFIED
Whether printed Synodal editions count psalm titles as verse 1 (this digital text does): SOURCE NOT VERIFIED

Profile checked 2026-10-18.

Books in this edition (78 books)

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Prayer of Manasseh O (C) (P), 1 Esdras O (C) (P), Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit O C (P), Judith O C (P), Esther, 1 Maccabees O C (P), 2 Maccabees O C (P), 3 Maccabees O, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon O C (P), Sirach O C (P), Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch O C (P), Lamentations, Letter of Jeremiah O (C) (P), Ezekiel, Daniel, 2 Esdras (4 Ezra) (O) (C) (P), Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation

Not in this edition: Esther (Greek), 4 Maccabees, Odes

Letters show which canons include a book: O Orthodox, C Catholic, P Protestant (in brackets: printed as Apocrypha or in an appendix).

Publisher's statement

Синодального Перевода Библии (CrossWire SWORD module RusSynodal, version 1.9.1, 2020-12-21).
Синодальный перевод. История русской Библии восходит к 1816 году, когда по повелению императора Александра I Российское Библейское Общество приступило к переводу Нового Завета на русский язык.
Distribution licence: Public Domain. Text source: http://www.rbo.ru/reading/articles/show/?4&start=0 or http://www.patriarchia.ru/bible/mf.

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