Modern Greek Bible: Vamvas (1850) Vamvas

Leer en español

Start reading Contents

At a glance

Language
Greek (modern)
Tradition
Individual translator — Translated by an Orthodox archimandrite and Athens professor for the British and Foreign Bible Society, without the Church's approval.
Church approval
No — The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece disapproved of it (1834–1836), chiefly because its Old Testament was translated from the Hebrew instead of the Septuagint; in 1836 the Patriarchate of Constantinople condemned modern-Greek translations, and in 1835 the government barred them from schools and churches. Greek Evangelicals use it as their Bible. (Greece's Constitution, Art. 3(3), still forbids official translation of Scripture without the Church's approval.)
Old Testament source
Masoretic Hebrew — Translated from the Hebrew (the BFBS resolved to translate the Old Testament 'without the Apocrypha from Hebrew into Romaic').
New Testament source
Textus Receptus — Greek base text of the New Testament: SOURCE NOT VERIFIED (probably the Textus Receptus).
Canon
Protestant (66 books)
Style
Formal (word for word)
Year
First one-volume edition 1850. Digital text: CrossWire GreVamvas 1.0.3 (from theword.gr).
Translators
Archimandrite Neophytos Vamvas, with K. Typaldos and N. Ioannidis (Corfu)
Reading level
Katharevousa (learned 19th-century Greek).
Verse numbering
English (KJV-style)
Licence
Public domain — Published 1850; Vamvas died 1855 or 1856 (sources differ). CrossWire conf: DistributionLicense=Public Domain.
Text source
CrossWire (GreVamvas)

Notes

About

The first complete Bible in modern (learned) Greek, made by the Orthodox archimandrite Neophytos Vamvas for the British and Foreign Bible Society and published in 1850. The Church of Greece did not approve it, mainly because its Old Testament follows the Hebrew rather than the Septuagint the Church reads, and it has no deuterocanonical books. Today it is the Bible of Greek Evangelicals.

Strengths

Things to know

Not yet verified

Profile checked 2026-10-18.

Books in this edition (66 books)

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, 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: Tobit, Judith, Esther (Greek), Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras (4 Ezra), Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, Odes, Daniel (Greek)

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

Neophytos Vamvas's translation of the Holy Bible into modern Greek (1850) (CrossWire SWORD module GreVamvas, version 1.0.3, 2012-07-12).
This translation started in 1831 and was published in 1850 by the Orthodox Archimandrite and professor of the National University of Athens, Neophytos Vamvas with the help of other researchers. Considering that the Greek Orthodox Church wouldn't support him, he collaborated with the British and Foreign Bible Society to publish this translation.
The text is written in "kathareuousa", a form of greek that is not spoken today in Greece. It is closer to spoken greek though, than the Septuagint (also known "translation of the seventy").
Distribution licence: Public Domain. Text source: www.theword.gr.

Which Bible should I read? · Compare all translations

Sources