Portuguese

It was not until 1748 that the first complete version of the Bible was published in Portuguese. This version was translated by [|João Ferreira de Almeida], a man born in Torres de Tavares, Portugal in 1628. Little is known about Almeida. He was raised Catholic, but became a [|Protestant] as a young adult. Around the same time, he moved to a Portuguese-speaking region of [|Malasia], to work for the local // Igreja Reformada Holandesa //, or [|Dutch Reformed Church]. Two years later, at the age of 16, Almeida began translating the [|New Testament] from Spanish to Portuguese. In 1651, he became a [|chaplain] at the // Presbitério da Batávia //, in [|Jakarta]. There Almeida studied [|theology] and edited the parts of the New Testament that he had previously translated. He also began to take a stand against the Catholic Church, which went on to impede him from [|preaching] in Portuguese. The Inquisition also ordered some of his writings to be burned publicly. In 1663 he began studying Greek and Hebrew, which allowed him to better translate the Bible into Portuguese. After finishing the translation of the New Testament, Almeida fought a long battle in order to get it published. He sent his texts to the [|Netherlands], but the process of publishing it took much longer than normal, due to resistance from the Church. Finally, in 1681, the // Novo Testamento de Almeida // (Almeida’s New Testament) was printed. However, this translation was laden with errors, and it took ten more years before it was ready for publication. During this time, de Almeida began translating the [|Old Testament]. He died in 1691, and had translated [|Genesis] through [|Ezequiel] 48:21. In 1694, his Old Testament was finished by a Dutch pastor, Jacobus op den Akker. It underwent many changes until it was finally published for the first time in 1748. The Old and New Testaments together became known as the // Tradução de João Ferreira de Almeida // (João Ferreira de Almeida’s Translation).