Armenian: Modern Bible History (3) 
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ARMENIAN.
ARARAT DIALECT.*"I.--GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND CHARACTERSTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. ARARAT-Armenian is the idiom now spoken in the whole of Armenia except the pashalik of Erze-
room, and derives its name from the venerable mountain which occupies the centre of the country,
forming, as it were, the nucleus of the adjacent tableland. In the Hebrew Scriptures the whole
kingdom of Armenia is called Ararat: the word is however rendered Armenia in our version, in
2 Kings 19:37, and Isaiah 37:38, while the original name (Ararat) is retained in Jeremiah 51:27.
The dialect of Ararat is spoken not only in Armenia, but in the Georgian provinces, and by the thou-
sands of Armenians who are dispersed between the Black Sea and the sources of the Euphrates, and
thence through Persia and part of Mesopotamia, down as far as the Persian Gulf. This dialect
approaches much nearer the purity of the ancient Armenian tongue than the dialect of Constantinople,
but it is adulterated with Persian words.II.--VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE IN THIS DIALECT. No books appear to have been printed in this dialect prior to the efforts made by the German
mies. at Shushi to supply the Armenians with the Scriptures in an intelligible form. In 1829
the Rev. Mr. Dittrich was authorised by the British and Foreign Bible Society to prepare a version of
the Gospel of St. Matthew in this dialect. He was aided by some learned Armenian priests, and succeeded
so well with the undertaking, that, in accordance with the advice of Dr. Pinkerton, their agent in
Russia, the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society requested him to proceed with the
translation of the whole Testament. An edition of 1000 copies of this version was ordered to be
printed at Shushi, but owing to some difficulties which arose in carrying the work through the press,
the printing was transferred to Moscow. In 1835 the proposed edition was completed, and the copies
forwarded to Shushi for distribution. A second edition, to consist of 3000 copies, was soon found
necessary, and was ordered by the British and Foreign Bible Society. In the meantime the mies.
had been proceeding (with the encouragement of the Basle My. Society) in the translation
of the Psalter from the Hebrew; but this work was not published till the year 1844, when it was
printed in parallel columns with the ancient Armenian. This edition was so much sought after and
valued by the Armenians, that the Rev. Messrs. Dwight and Homes, American mies., applied
to the British and Foreign Bible Committee for authority to print an edition of the New Testament
with the Ararat and ancient Armenian in parallel columns, it being intended to execute the work at
Constantinople. More recently, Mr. Barker, the British and Foreign Bible Society's agent, has
been authorised to take measures for printing, at Constantinople, 1500 Ararat-Armenian New Testa-
ments, and 1500 ditto with the ancient Armenian in parallel columns. This work is now in
progress.III.--RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. For an account of the remarkable manner in which the Scriptures in both dialects of modern
Armenian have been used as the means of producing the late revival of religion among the Armenians,
the reader is referred to pages 78, 81."-- 1860 S. Bagster [Info only]* For Specimen of the Ararat Dialect, see page 75. ARMENIAN. ARARAT DIALECT.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Armenian Character n.d. John 1:1-8 unknown.]
ARMENIAN.
MODERN DIALECT, OR DIALECT OF CONSTANTINOPLE.*"I.--GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. THE present vernacular of the Armenians is distinguished from their ancient language by numerous
local peculiarities and corruptions, varying more or less in every country in which the members of this
scattered race are congregated. These local varieties are, however, all resolvable into one or other of
the two predominant dialects of the modern Armenian language, called, from the regions in which
they are respectively spoken, the dialect of Constantinople and the dialect of Ararat. The former has
Constantinople for its centre, and is spoken in the neighbouring territories, through Asia Minor and in the pashalik of Erzeroom. Its distinctive features consist in the frequent adoption of Turkish words,
in certain prefixes to verbs, and in general conformity to the rules of Turkish syntax. The words
of the ancient language are retained in both dialects of modern Armenian in almost an unaltered form,
so far at least as respects orthography: but the signification now given to these words is so different
from their original meaning, that an uneducated Armenian of the present day is unable to comprehend
even the general purport of a work written in the ancient Armenian language. Many changes also
have been introduced in grammar and in the most common forms of expression, and the dialect of
Constantinople is especially remarkable for its rejection of the concise, energetic style of the ancient
Armenian, and its constant use of long, monotonous periods, all constructed upon one and the same
model, according to the Turkish mode of writing. It is much softer than the Ararat dialect.II.--VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. The first attempt on record to produce a version of Scripture in modern Armenian was made by
the British and Foreign Bible Society. The subject was brought before the Committee by Professor
Kieffer, who mentioned that Dr. Zohrab, an Armenian from Constantinople, the learned editor of the
ancient Armenian Scriptures, was at Paris, and well qualified to undertake the translation. During
the same year (1821), Dr. Pinkerton passed through Paris on his way to St. Petersburg, and obtained
from Dr. Zohrab, as a specimen, a translation of the Sermon on the Mount. This specimen was printed
at St. Petersburg, and sent for inspection to various parts of Turkey. Several Armenians who examined
it approved of it highly, but the priests, who were probably prejudiced against a modern version of the
Scriptures, found fault with the style, which they said was low, vulgar, and degrading to the subject,
as compared with the ancient Armenian. Dr. Zohrab, however, continued to prosecute his labours at
Paris; he translated from the ancient Armenian version, and in 1824 completed a version of the New
Testament in the modern Armenian dialect of Constantinople. It was revised by M. St. Martin, an
Armenian scholar, and an edition of 1000 copies, printed in parallel columns with the ancient Armenian,
was published at Paris in 1825, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. It was after-
wards objected to this version that, having been made directly from the ancient Armenian, it was not
perfectly conformable to the Greek, and that, owing probably to Dr. Zohrab's prolonged absence from
his native city, the style was not exactly in accordance with the idiomatic peculiarities of the modern
tongue. In 1837 a fount of Armenian type was forwarded to the American mies. at Smyrna,
and a revised edition of this version of the New Testament was commenced at the expense of the
British and Foreign Bible Society. This edition, revised by Mr. Adger, was carried carefully and
slowly through the press, and it was not till 1842 that an impression of 5000 copies of the New Testa-
ment was issued. These copies were in great demand, and were put into circulation as soon as they
left the binder's hands. Mr. Adger then proposed to publish an edition of this New Testament in
parallel columns with the ancient version, in order that the suspicions of the Armenians might be* For Specimen of the Modern Armenian Version, see page 75. removed as to the possibility of the Scriptures having been adulterated in the modern translation: the
Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society have resolved to carry this proposal into execution,
and an edition of 1500 Testaments, arranged on this plan, is stated, in the Society's report for 1856, to be
in progress. In the meantime, by the aid of the American Bible Society, the mies. in Smyrna
proceeded with the translation of the Old Testament into modern Armenian. In 1844 they were
deprived by death of one of their assistants in this work, a pious Armenian, who had laboured with
them during five years, and who was employed in the translation of the Turkish Old Testament of
Mr. Goodell into modern Armenian. The work has, however, been subsequently completed. In 1857,
an edition of 3000 Bibles in modern Armenian, with 2000 New Testaments in the same, issued from
the press of the American Mission at Constantinople, on account of the British and Foreign Bible
Society. A further edition of 2000 Testaments in modern Armenian was in 1858 completed at the
same press; in addition to which, the Society are also printing an edition of 5000 New Testaments in
London. The American Bible Society (as appears from their latest report) have recently, under the
superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Riggs, completed an edition of the Modern Armenian Bible, and the
plates of another and larger edition, with references, are already in progress.III.--RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. The versions of Scripture in both the dialects of modern Armenian have received the manifest
blessing of God, in a degree almost unprecedented in the history of other versions. The following
are some of the accounts given by mies. on the spot, concerning the remarkable effects wrought
among the Armenians by the circulation of the modern version. "We might mention," they say,
(writing in 1845,) "twenty towns in Turkey where Armenians are found who daily search the Scrip-
tures for the purpose of guiding their lives according to its supreme teachings." In some of these places,
this holy volume, owing to the fact of its being in modern language, is received as a fresh message from
heaven; and in these towns especial assemblies are held on the Sabbath for studying the Scriptures;
and this occurs also in towns where no foreign my. has ever been. The reading of the Scriptures
in an intelligible language has been the means, by God's blessing, of curing many of their scepticism.
They have become convinced that whatever occasion they had had to doubt about the truth of Christianity,
from what they were seeing around them, yet that here, in this book, they could see that there is a
pure living Christianity. One individual, a banker among the Armenians, said, "Our nation owes, to
those who have been the means of making us acquainted with the word of God in an intelligible lan-
guage, a great debt of gratitude. They have saved not only me, but many others, from infidelity; for
we have found that Christianity has deeper foundations than what we had supposed; and that there is
in the word of God something upon which to anchor our faith." The numerous cases of conversion
to God which followed the diligent perusal of the Holy Scriptures in the modern tongue, did not
escape the notice of the worldly and unbelieving clergy at the head of the Armenian Church, and a
cruel series of persecutions was commenced against the "Bible," "Evangelical," or "Protestant"
Armenians, as all were styled who read and obeyed the word of God. Many of these Protestants (by
this name they are now commonly designated) were solemnly excommunicated by the Armenian
patriarch, but to no purpose, as many more were daily added to their numbers. In a village near the
town of Nicomedia, a congregation of Protestant Armenians had sprung up, having the Scriptures for
their rule of faith; no my. had ever been among them excepting the my. of mies.,
the Bible: like their brethren elsewhere, they were called to endure persecution, and were at last
driven to the necessity of meeting for worship in the fields. On one of these occasions they were
attacked with stones, but instead of resorting to violent means of defence against their enemies, they
calmly took up the stones and deposited them at the governor's feet, demanding his protection, which
was accorded. After enduring many similar outrages in the same Christian spirit, the Protestant
Armenians resolved to free themselves from the tyranny of their church, by forming themselves into a
separate church, founded on Scriptural principles. To effect this separation they were compelled toappeal to the Turkish Government. Their application met with success, and their freedom from the
oppressive jurisdiction of their patriarch is now fully recognised. "An officer of the government, a
Turk (it is stated by Mr. Barker in 1847), is appointed to look after all their civil relations, and they
are to choose their own representative to confer with him. Their ecclesiastical affairs are entirely free,
and all patriarchs and other ecclesiastics are forbidden to interfere in any way with them; and all officers
of government are called upon to see that their rights are respected. Truly the king's heart is in the
hand of the Lord, and He turneth it whithersoever He will."
Subsequent accounts received from the same field of labour continue to confirm, in the most grati-
fying manner, the intelligence above instanced in reference to the results of Protestant my.
labour amongst the Armenian population of the Turkish empire. The converts are now uniformly
recognised by the term Protestants, and in 1850 a firman was issued by his Imperial Majesty the Sultan,
confirming and enlarging the protection given to all his Protestant subjects throughout the empire,
and securing to them the full and free exercise of their religion. "There are at present in Asia (writes
the Rev. J. Lowndes, in 1851), Armenian Protestant churches established at twenty-one different
places. These are superintended by sixteen American mies., six ordained native pastors, and
one licensed preacher. . . . There are also many other places where native Christians are scattered.
At Aintab, the greatest work appears to have been effected, for there the congregation is estimated at
about 600."
The account given by Mr. Barker, on the occasion of his visit to England in 1852, of the origin
of this movement, is deeply interesting. "In 1821, the Society's Armenian New Testament was placed
by me in the hands of Armenian door-keepers, cooks, scullions, and grooms, who, strange to say, knew
how to read. They were natives of the villages of the district called Arabkir, who, returning home at
intervals, carried with them to their country the Gospel of truth, in which they took great delight.
I sent the Armenian Scriptures to Aintab, where now the largest congregation of Protestant Armenians
exists; and at Smyrna, where I subsequently went, I sold entire boxes of Armenian and Turco-Armenian
New Testaments and Psalms, which were carried to those very places where the Gospel truth has, and is
fast taking such a strong hold on the hearts of men. This good seed was lost sight of for many years,
but with the blessing of God it took root, and is now bearing seed an hundred fold.""--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only]ARMENIAN. MODERN DIALECT, OR DIALECT OF CONSTANTINOPLE.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: Armenian Character n.d. John 1:1-8 unknown.]
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