Iang evangelivm Ul-Kadus menjurat kapada Marcum: The first Malay gospel of mark (1629-1630) and the Agama Kumpeni

Abstract

The topic of this article is the Malay gospel of Mark of 1629-1630 that was recently discovered in the library of Lincoln Cathedral in England, a gospel translated by Albert Corneliszoon Ruyl, employee of the voc. Ruyl's gospels of Matthew and Mark are the earliest attested Bible translations in Malay. This article discusses the question of why the voc financed the printing of translations of the Bible and other religious literature in the East, what kind of Malay Ruyl used in Mark, and what kind of translation Ruyl made. Ruyl was a very pragmatic translator who used Malay religious terminology from Hindu-Buddhist, Islamic, and Catholic traditions, including the term Allah for God. Finally, this article discusses the academic and societal importance of the first Malay gospels of Ruyl, which, after many centuries, became newly relevant to Indonesian and Malaysian faith communities in the context of religious, legal, and political conflicts about the ownership of the word Allah.