Olivétan Bible

The Olivétan Bible was the first major French Protestant Bible to be translated substantially from the original languages. A complete Protestant Bible rendered from Hebrew and Greek, it took Hebrew and Greek texts as its base rather than working from the Latin Vulgate, which had underpinned most earlier vernacular versions. Its translation philosophy was accordingly that of an original-language Protestant translation, and it is categorised as a fresh translation, though it stood in relation to earlier French versions, which served as its predecessor or base translation. Among its distinctive features is its close tie to the emerging Reformed movement, whose French-speaking congregations it was intended to serve. It occupies a foundational place in the history of the French Bible, and later French Protestant Bibles were repeatedly revised from the text it established, forming a lineage of successive editions in the Reformed tradition.