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Darby Bible

John N Darby

John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren (“Darbyites”), and an influential writer and scholar. Born in London, he studied at Dublin before becoming a lawyer in 1825. He soon gave up practicing law for the ministry, and by 1827 he began to participate in new groups of like-minded “Brethren” – first at Dublin, then Plymouth, which became namesake of a movement. After 1838, Darby was in Lausanne, where his lectures and studies attracted followers and spawned numerous congregations. In the face of persecution, he returned to England in 1845, and worked with the English Brethren. He traveled in Germany and abroad, writing extensively. His greatest literary contributions were as a scholar and textual critic. He translated the Bible into German (1854, 1869) and French (1859, 1878-80), wrote a critique of the Revised NT (1881), and produced the voluminous Synopsis of the Bible (1857-67). He also wrote many hymns, which are still used among the Brethren.

Darby’s English translation of the Bible, first published in 1890.

This English translation was begun by Darby well before his death in 1882 – the New Testament was already complete (published in 1884, based upon his 1871 edition). Darby had earlier translated the Bible into German (1854, 1869) and French (1859, 1878-80), and was actively involved in issues and matters of textual criticism. Some of these issues are discussed in the prefaces to the 1871 and 1884 editions. The entire Bible was published in 1890. Darby was largely critical of the Revised Version of the New Testament, having published his Letters on the Revised New Testament in 1881. These criticisms appear to some extent also in the prefaces, as a testament to his scholarship and devotion to the Biblical text.

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