Luther Bible

Luther Bible
Martin Luther's 1534 bible
Full name	Biblia / das ist / die gantze Heilige Schrifft Deudsch
Abbreviation	LUT
Language	Early New High German
OT published	1534
NT published	1522
Complete Bible published	1534
Apocrypha	Deuterocanonical books Prayer of Manasseh
Authorship	Martin Luther Philipp Melanchthon Caspar Creuziger Justus Jonas Johannes Bugenhagen others
Textual basis	NT: Textus Receptus (Luther)  Vulgate (Bugenhagen) OT: Septuagint (Melanchthon)  2nd Bomberg Edition (Creuziger)
Version revision	1984 (last official revision)
Publisher	Hans Lufft
Copyright	Public domain due to age
Religious affiliation	Lutheran Several Reformed churches
Genesis 1:1–3  AM Anfang schuff Gott Himel vnd Erden. Vnd die Erde war wüst vnd leer / vnd es war finster auff der Tieffe / Vnd der Geist Gottes schwebet auff dem Wasser. VND Gott sprach / Es werde Liecht / Vnd es ward Liecht. (1545 revised 5th edition) Genesis 1:1 in other translations John 3:16  Also hat Gott die Welt geliebet / das er seinen eingeboren Son gab / Auff das alle die an jn gleuben / nicht verloren werden / sondern das ewige Leben haben. (1545 revised 5th edition) John 3:16 in other translations

The Luther Bible is a German language Bible translation from Hebrew and ancient Greek by Martin Luther. The New Testament was first published in 1522 and the complete Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments and Apocrypha, in 1534.

The project absorbed Luther's later years. Thanks to the then recently invented printing press, the result was widely disseminated and contributed significantly to the development of today's modern High German language.

While he was sequestered in the Wartburg Castle (1521–22) Luther began to translate the New Testament from Koine Greek into German in order to make it more accessible to all the people of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German nation." He translated from the Greek text, using Erasmus' second edition (1519) of the Greek New Testament, known as the Textus Receptus. Luther did not translate from the Latin Vulgate translation, which is the Latin translation officially used by the Roman Catholic Church. Like Erasmus, Luther had learned Greek at the Latin schools led by the Brethren of the Common Life (Erasmus in Deventer, the Netherlands, and Luther in Magdeburg). These lay brothers added Greek as a new subject to their curriculum in the late 15th century. At that time Greek was seldom taught even at universities.

To help him in translating into contemporary German, Luther would make forays into nearby towns and markets to listen to people speaking. He wanted to ensure their comprehension by translating as closely as possible to their contemporary language usage. His translation was published in September 1522, six months after he had returned to Wittenberg. In the opinion of the 19th century theologian and church historian Philip Schaff,