Hawaiian Bible

[Hawaiian Bible]. Ka Palapala Hemolele a Iehova ko kakou Akua. O ke kauoha kahiko i unuhiia mai ka olelo Hebera.
Oahu: Na na misionari i pai, 1838–1839.
[Bound with]: Ke Kauoha hou a ko kakou haku e ola’i, a Iesu Kristo.
Honolulu: ka na misionari mea pai, 1837.

(00421)

Various books of the Bible in Hawaiian had been published on the island of Oahu beginning in 1827.  The entire New Testament was printed there in 1835, with the Old Testament following in 1838. This is the first complete edition of the Bible in Hawaiian, composed of the first edition of the Old Testament comprising two volumes printed in 1838–1839 and the second, revised edition of the New Testament printed in one volume in 1837.  The translation was produced by Hiram Bingham (1789–1869), the first Protestant missionary in Hawaii, in cooperation with other members of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The Hawaiian alphabet utilized here consists of only twelve letters: A, E, I, O, U, W, H, K, L, M, N, and P.

The American Bible Society in New York provided funds to assist with the production of the Hawaiian Bible.  Although issued in three printed volumes, the Bible is frequently bound in one physical volume as is the Bridwell Library copy. Due to its extraordinary thickness, Hawaiians referred to the book as “Ka Buke Poepoe” (“the rotund or fat book”). 

Thomas J. Harrison Bible Collection 

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Hawaiian Bible