Vuk Dura Serbian Bible (SRPVDS)

Overview

The Vuk-Daničić Serbian Bible is a landmark translation combining the New Testament of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (1787-1864) with the Old Testament of Đura Daničić (1825-1882). Karadžić's New Testament was published in Vienna in 1847 with the support of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and was one of four major works published that year that collectively marked the triumph of his Serbian language reform. [1] [2] Daničić, who had assisted Karadžić with the New Testament, subsequently translated the Old Testament himself, publishing it in Belgrade in 1865. [3] The combined Bible was first printed together in 1868. [2] This edition, in Latin script, remains in use by the Serbian Orthodox Church. [3]

Both translators are towering figures in Serbian literary and cultural history. Karadžić, born in Tršić in Ottoman Serbia, was the architect of modern Serbian orthography and grammar. After serving as a scribe during the First Serbian Uprising (1804-1813), he settled in Vienna where the Slovene scholar Bartholomäus Kopitar encouraged him to collect folk poetry and reform the Serbian written language. [1] His phonetic alphabet — guided by the principle "write as you speak, read as it is written" — was officially adopted by the Serbian government in 1868, and his Serbian dictionary (1818, expanded 1852) remains a classic. He was known internationally to figures including Jacob Grimm, Goethe, and Leopold von Ranke. [1]

Daničić, born Đorđe Popović in Novi Sad, adopted his pen name from a heroic figure in Serbian folk poetry. [3] He studied at the University of Vienna under Franz Miklosich and became a devoted follower of Karadžić's linguistic reforms. He served as librarian of the People's Library in Belgrade (1856), professor at the Belgrade Lyceum (1859), and secretary of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb. [3] His Old Testament translation, together with Karadžić's New Testament, formed the standard Serbian Bible that has endured for over 150 years.

Translators and Contributors

  • Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (1787-1864): New Testament translator and father of modern Serbian literary language. Reformer of Serbian orthography, collector of folk poetry, and lexicographer. His NT translation used the reformed vernacular Serbian rather than the Church Slavonic of earlier religious texts. [1]
  • Đura Daničić (1825-1882): Old Testament translator, philologist, and lexicographer. Born Đorđe Popović. Compiler of the first historical dictionary of a Slavonic language and author of the landmark Srpska sintaksa (Serbian Syntax). [3]

Language and People

Serbian (ISO 639-3: srp) is spoken by approximately 7,730,000 people in Serbia. [Glottolog: serb1264]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by BFBS, Vienna.

References