• Making Known the Word of God in Medieval Spain
    The Watchtower—2014 | March 1

    • THE BIBLE IN ARABIC

      By the eighth century, another language began to take root in Spain as a result of the Islamic invasion of the peninsula. In the areas that the Muslims colonized, Arabic gained ground over Latin and the need arose for a Bible in this new language.

      From the fifth to the eighth century C.E., the Bible in Latin and Arabic enabled the Spanish people to read God’s Word

      Many Arabic translations of the Bible​—especially of the Gospels—​doubtless circulated in medieval Spain. Apparently, in the eighth century, John, a bishop of Seville, translated the entire Bible into Arabic. Sadly, most of those Arabic translations have been lost. One Arabic translation of the Gospels from the middle of the tenth century is preserved in the cathedral of León, Spain.

      An open copy of an Arabic translation of the Gospels

      An Arabic translation of the Gospels, tenth century C.E.