The first Korean translation of the Bible was that of the Gospels according to Luke and John, by Rev. Ross in 1882. the hole translation of the New Testament, published in 1887, was done by several Korean peddlers, with the Chinese translation as the...
The first Korean translation of the Bible was that of the Gospels according to Luke and John, by Rev. Ross in 1882. the hole translation of the New Testament, published in 1887, was done by several Korean peddlers, with the Chinese translation as the original text. Accordingly, it was of the "ON-hae" style that was used by the common people. It was simple, plain, and colloquial style.
However, the Ross translation, published in Manchuria, was mixed with the Northwestern dialect. That was why the revised translations were prepared in Korea in 1900 and in 1904. The new translation was of the literary style, and was done by the Protestant missionaries in Korea. They had learned Korean from the upper-class citizens of Seoul, and so their translation lacked in simplicity and plainness.
As the main policy of the Protestant mission work was to proclaim the message to the common people, especially to the females, they were obliged to use "On-hae" style again, came to be written in pure plain Korean. Consequently, pure Korean, not mixed with Chinese characters, began to be used throughout Korea. In other words the "On-hae" style of the common people was succeeded to the Ross translation and at the long run, established the modern Korean Style.