Gothic Bible

Associated with Wulfila (Ulfilas), the fourth-century bishop who worked among the Goths and is credited with devising the Gothic alphabet for the purpose, the Gothic Bible is the earliest substantial literary monument in a Germanic language. In scope, the translation covers much of the New Testament, with portions of the Old Testament also surviving. It was made from Greek, taking the Greek biblical text as its base, and is best described as a fresh translation rather than a revision of earlier work; its guiding approach stays close to the Greek while adapting it to Germanic idiom. Among its distinctive features, tradition holds that Kings may have been omitted, and the text as it survives is incomplete, preserved in scattered manuscript fragments. It remains a principal source for the Gothic language and an early witness to the spread of Christian scripture beyond the Greek- and Latin-speaking world.