Gothic Bible

The Gothic Bible refers to the translation of the Bible into the Gothic language, primarily undertaken by the Christian bishop Ulfilas in the 4th century CE. Ulfilas also developed the Gothic alphabet, which was derived from Greek and Latin scripts, to facilitate this translation. This work represents the earliest known translation of the Bible into a Germanic language and is a significant part of Gothic literature.123

While the complete Gothic Bible translation by Ulfilas has not survived, fragments of the Gospels and Pauline Letters, as well as parts of Nehemiah, are extant. These surviving texts are crucial for understanding the Gothic language, which is now extinct. The Gutenberg Bible, printed around 1455, is the first complete book printed in the West using movable type, but it was printed in Latin, not Gothic. The Gothic script itself, a style of black letter typeface, evolved later and was used for printing in Germany.13245