Is there somewhere online where I can find digial copies of the oldest translations of the New Testament?

Question

(oldest translations as in Kione Greek or Aramaic versions)

Answer 1

I'm not certain what you're asking for. If you're looking for earliest English translations of the original Greek New Testament, the King James Version is the earliest authoritative version, although it has several flaws.

If, instead, you are looking for a digital version of the original Greek New Testament, you can find many such resources at the following web site:

http://www.ntgateway.com/greek/

.

Answer 2

The earliest English translations are from the Latin Vulgate bible, which was a translation from the original Greek. The first was the Wycliff Bible (1384) in Middle English. The Tyndale Bible (1534) was the first English translation based on Erasmus' Greek Edition of 1516 (aka the Textus Receptus), which was based on several 10th Century Greek fragments. Tyndale and the Textus Receptus were the basis of the Authorized Version (KJV).

In the 18th Century, a guy by the name of Tischendorff scoured clerical libraries and monasteries looking for ancient manuscripts. He found two, the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, two nearly complete copies dating from the 4th and 5th Centuries. These were studied and arranged into a new definitive Greek text, which has been continually revised as new manuscripts come to light. After Tischendorff came Westcott & Hort, then Nestle & Aland. The most recent edition is the Nestle-Aland 27th edition. (28th?) From these Greek editions a new series of translations has come, starting with the Revised Version (1885, England) and the American Standard (1901). These translations were not a great success because several popular verses appeared to be missing. These verses were not in the earlier Greek manuscripts.

That started a battle. The defenders of the King James and the Textus Receptus regarded the older manuscripts as defective. There were naturally far fewer 5th Century mss than 10th Century ones, therefore the Textus Receptus was dubbed the "Majority Text". (Even the Jews' Mazoretic Text only dated from the 10th Century.) The supporters of the newer, older source pointed out that it WAS older and had less time for errors and glosses to creep in. The disagreement continues.

So the "oldest translation" is a matter of opinion. The oldest translations are based on newer sources. Newer translations are based on older sources. And some of the older translations are in an English with spellings and vocabulary we'll have difficulty recognizing. (The 1611 edition of KJV is not a joy to read.) Most of the texts I've mentioned are available on-line with a short web search. Here's one good source:
http://bibledatabase.net/
http://bibledatabase.org/free_bible_software.htm

Good luck!

Answer 3

Try Google searching it.