Uppenbarelseboken i Nya testamentet 1526 och Cod. Holm. A 1

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Abstract

In 1526, the Swedish translation of the entire New Testament was printed. In the same year, the manuscript Cod. Holm. A 1 was produced at the monastery of Vadstena, containing a complete translation of the Book of Revelation. In the present article, the question of the source texts to these two Swedish versions of the Book of Revelation is investigated from two main perspectives: 1) A renewed examination of the source texts to the Book of Revelation in NT 1526. 2) An investigation of the relation between the two Swedish versions of the Book of Revelation regarding the source texts. A distinct difference is identified between the translator of the Book of Relevation in NT 1526 on the one hand and Luther on the other. When the Greek and the Latin texts in Erasmus’ edition differ, Luther follows the Greek text, whereas the Swedish translator follows the Latin text. The expected source text to the version in Cod. Holm. A 1 is the Vulgate. A complete collation has been made of Erasmus’ Latin text and the Vulgate in the Book of Revelation, in order to identify the passages that differ between them. Then these deviating passages were compared to the two Swedish versions. It turned out that they represent two completely separate text traditions. Where the two source texts differ, the version in NT 1526 follows Erasmus, whereas the version in Cod. Holm. A 1 follows the Vulgate. Thus, no contamination regarding the source texts in the direction of Erasmus vs the Vulgate was present in the Swedish texts.