Cherokee Bible library
Text, language, and history
A translation belongs to the history of the people who read, taught, printed, and preserved it.
This library presents the historical Cherokee New Testament associated with the 1860 edition. Its digital form is a later transcription, not a facsimile of every printed page. Understanding that distinction helps us read the text responsibly.
A language in print
The growth of Cherokee literacy and print made it possible to circulate substantial texts in the syllabary. Religious translation was one part of a much wider story of Cherokee language, education, public communication, and cultural continuity.
Translation in a period of upheaval
Nineteenth-century translation and publication took place amid colonization, forced removal, disruption, and the rebuilding of communities. A history focused only on publication dates misses the social circumstances in which readers encountered the text. Religious activity should not be treated as a substitute for Cherokee perspectives on this history.
The 1860 New Testament
The historical edition provides the basis for the New Testament offered here: 27 books and 260 chapters. An edition date identifies a textual tradition; it does not mean that every feature of a modern digital transcription exactly reproduces the printed source.
Reading with historical care
Language changes. Historical spellings and translation choices can differ from contemporary learning materials. This text is useful for reading and historical study, but it should not be treated as the sole authority for present-day Cherokee usage.
Continue the research
- Cherokee Nation history
- Cherokee National History Museum
- Historical edition and digital transcription notes
Translation errors and later digital edits
The Cherokee Nation 2017 Annual Report, page 7, describes a later New Testament project intended to correct translation errors in the 1860s version. That report does not identify particular verses or supply a verse-by-verse list of corrections. We therefore do not label individual historical readings as errors without specific supporting evidence.
The digital edition record separately documents electronic transliteration and punctuation edits. Those changes are not, by themselves, proof of errors in the original printed translation. This library preserves its historical source text and distinguishes translation history from later transcription and encoding work.