New Testament from Khoroshiv

Khoroshiv is a small village tucked away near the border between southern Volyn and Podillia. It is part of Bilohiria raion, in Khmelnytsky oblast. To get there, you have to take the Ostroh-Shumske highway. The woodland landscape starts to soothe the eye after the village of Mezhyrychi, where the Orthodox Trinity Monastery is situated. In the village of Mala Borovytsia you turn left onto a badly paved road; there are many like this in this neck of the woods. But the beautiful landscape makes up for the inconveniences encountered during the journey. Lesia Ukrainka’s words spring to mind at this moment:

O Podillia, beauty of Ukraine,/Reclining beautifully, carelessly/It seems that you have never encountered misfortune and evil!

Here is Khoroshiv. At first glance it seems to be an unremarkable village. However, its residents know that one of the first translations of the New Testament books into the Ukrainian vernacular was completed here long ago, in the year 1581.

In this village Valentyn Nehalevsky translated the New Testament into the language that was close to spoken Ukrainian. We have little information about the translator. We know that he was a nobleman. There is a document attesting to the fact that Nehalevsky made a speech at the Kremenets town council as the friend and person empowered to act on behalf of the noblewoman Nastasia Voronetska in the case of the murder of her husband, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, by people close to him.

When discussing Nehalevsky’s translation, scholars usually only focus on the facts. But they do not consider the circumstances in which the work appeared. There was already a tradition of translating biblical texts into Ukrainian in the Khoroshiv area. The first translator of Old Testament texts into the spoken Rus’ language was Francysk Skaryna, who published a large number of them in Prague in 1517-19. It is not inconceivable that this first printer could have come to Kremenets after his sojourn in the Czech capital. Skaryna was also a medical doctor in the service of Jan, the Catholic bishop of Vilnius, who lived mostly in this city, located about 50 km from Khoroshiv.

Many hand-written Old Testament books, whose language is close to spoken Ukrainian, originated in Ukraine. Skaryna’s Prague publications form their base. Some of them were supplemented by translations from the Old Testament, which were not included in these publications. One interesting translation is by the “scribe” Dmytro from Zinkiv, which was supplemented by the so-called “Manachyn copy.” This translation, created between 1573 and 1577, was a continuation of practically all the books of the Old Testament, except for the Psalter, as well as the end of the Book of Maccabees. There is no exact determination of the place where this translation was done.

In my opinion, work on the translation may have been done in the village of Zinkiv, situated not far from Khoroshiv (about 20 km). If this is so, it is not inconceivable that Nehalevsky’s translation was a kind of continuation of the work done by the “scribe” Dmytro. The translation was a response to the appearance of the Ostroh Bible. One should also consider the fact that Khoroshiv is 40 km from Ostroh. Nehalevsky could easily have visited Ostroh, and he must have known that the scribes of this city were preparing for publication a complete set of biblical books in Old Slavonic.

Not far from Khoroshiv is the village of Surazh, whose revenues went to the publication of the Ostroh Bible. The “raw,” incompletely edited, copy of this Bible appeared in the summer of 1580. The New Testament, part of the future complete Bible, as well as Knyzhka, sobraniie veshchei nuzhniishych... (Book, a Collection of the Most Necessary Things...) by Tymofii Mykhailovych, which was an alphabetical index to the New Testament, were published that same year.

It is quite possible that Nehalevsky was acquainted with these publications and that he came to the conclusion that the language in which the book was written was not easily comprehensible even to educated people. This could have served as a stimulus for him to translate Old Testament texts that were most widespread in Ukraine at the time.

At any rate, Nehalevsky did not complete this difficult work by himself. This first Ukrainian New Testament was meant not only for clergymen but also laypeople. In his work, Nehalevsky used the Polish translation of the New Testament, which was completed and published by the Protestant anti-Trinitarian Marcin Czechovitz. This fact gave grounds for some researchers to assume that the translator was also a Protestant. However, the way the work was embellished indicates that it was designed for Ukrainian Orthodox readers.

In the preface to his translation Nehalevsky wrote that he undertook his work “...at the urging and insistence of many scholars, God-fearing people who love God’s words, who do not know how to read Polish, and in reading the Ruthenian version of Old Slavonic do not understand the words.” The translator also stated that he was submitting the work for the “consideration of other,” more erudite, people.

From the preface one may conclude that there were many literate people in Ukraine in those days, especially in Volyn, who were using “the Ruthenian script,” which was in fact the Ukrainian language of those times. They did not know Polish and could not read it. These people also did not understand Old Slavonic, or understood it badly. Nehalevsky’s translation was meant specifically for them. The preface also attests to the fact that there were people in Volyn, in the region where Nehalevsky lived, capable of assessing and reviewing his work.

Nehalevsky considered independent mastery of the Bible’s content an important step to understanding God. Therefore, he addressed his work “to every pious Christian, wishing to make him a participant in the genuine understanding of God’s word.”

As I mentioned earlier, Nehalevsky’s translation was meant for Orthodox Christian readers. The marginal notes on the pages of the preserved copy clearly indicate that it was read by Orthodox believers — among them, the presbyter Leontii, the priest Hapon, and Havryil Krutnevych, a Zaporozhian Cossack from Kaniv.

Nehalevsky’s translation is unquestionably a fascinating monument that should be the object of our national pride. It proves that we had the Scriptures in our own language already in the 16 th century. However, only professionals are aware of this book. In the village of Khoroshiv there is no commemorative sign or plaque honoring this important achievement.

One can only hope that someone will take the initiative to erect a monument on which the following words will be inscribed: “Here in the village of Khoroshiv Valentyn Nehalevsky translated the New Testament into Ukrainian in 1581. This was one of the first translations of the Holy Bible into the living language of our people.” There is all the more reason to do this because 2006 marks the 425 h anniversary of this landmark event.