In 1814, the Dutch Bible Society was established in Amsterdam. In the same year as the establishment of the Dutch Bible Society, on 25 May 1814, three emissaries from the Dutch zending agency NZG arrived at Sunda Kelapa harbour. They were Joseph Kam, G. Bruckner and J. S. Supper. In Indonesia they were appointed as ministers of the Protestant Church (De Protestantsche Kerk in Nederlandsch-Indie). Joseph Kam was sent to serve in Ambon, Bruckner was sent to Semarang, while Supper stayed in Batavia. However, Bruckner could not adjust to the circumstances within the church organisation and he later resigned his position.

In 1816, Bruckner joined the Baptist Missionary Society to dedicate himself to the conversion of the Javanese people using Bible translations as his means. In Semarang Bruckner got along well with local people from all walks of life. He was fond of travelling to Salatiga, to Solo and even to East Java. In fact, Bruckner was keen to learn the Javanese language. In 1819, Bruckner finished translating the four Gospels into Javanese. And a year later he finished translating the entire contents of the New Testament into Javanese. However, Bruckner was not satisfied with his translation. A year later (1821), Bruckner corrected his translation so that it would   meet the needs of the natives. After this Bruckner moved to Salatiga and stayed in the city for several years. Here Bruckner taught school and got along well with the neighbouring villagers.

In 1824, Bruckner's translation was checked by Javanese language experts. The translation was ready to be published by the OIBG (Oost-Indisch Bijbelgenootschap). To publish it was not an easy matter. Because the script used in this translation work is Javanese script. However, the OIBG will endeavour to prepare all printing facilities.

Delayed Publication

Before the work was published, the Diponegoro War broke out in Java. This war was one of the biggest wars in Dutch colonial history and also the most costly for the colonial government. The situation in Java was chaotic. Plans to print and publish Bruckner's translated works were delayed. In the difficult times caused by the war, Bruckner did not lose heart. Instead, he began the translation of the Old Testament. A year before the war, Bruckner finished translating the first five books of the Old Testament.

Finally, at the beginning of 1831, Bruckner's New Testament was published. The first edition was printed in 3000 copies in Serampore, India by the Baptist Missionary Union. On the cover of his translated New Testament, Bruckner requested that the year of publication be 1829. Because before 1831, some excerpts of the New Testament were already circulating in the form of small treatises in the community. Of the 3,000 copies the OIBG took 2,000 and the BFBS the rest.

However, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies who wanted political stability confiscated the publication and considered that the time had not yet come for the distribution of the Javanese New Testament among the local people. It seems that the circulation of the Gospels after the Diponegoro war was seen as disrupting the political stability and security of the Dutch East Indies. The copies of the New Testament were left piled up in large cupboards in the Buitenkerk Church (the current Zion Church) in Batavia until 1848. One day Rev. Dr W.R. Baron van Hoevell, a Protestant minister and missionary, negotiated with the Governor-General and managed to get permission to distribute the 300 copies of the New Testament stored in the cupboard.

Among the Dutch themselves, Bruckner's translation was heavily criticised, especially by JFC. Gericke, but it deserves respect. Bruckner's New Testament is written in Javanese, which is easily understood by the common people of Java. Remarkably, his work was written using Javanese script, which requires struggle and rigour to learn. The results of Bruckner's work helped evangelists in various parts of Java to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.  Until now, Bruckner's name is still remembered as a pioneer in translating the Bible into Javanese.

Continued by Gericke

In 1848, when Bruckner was 65 years old, J.F.C. Gericke offered the OIBG a translation of the New Testament in Javanese that he had completed. This translation was to replace an earlier one by Bruckner. The pioneer responded to this event as follows,” For twenty years my translation circulated among the Javanese, but it will now be replaced by another translation of better quality, made by my dear brother, Mr Gericke.” Bruckner was a humble man. For him it was not the translation itself that mattered, but rather a translation of good quality for the benefit and needs of the people.

Gericke arrived in Batavia in 1827, or thirteen years after Bruckner arrived. At that time the Diponegoro War was at its peak. Shortly afterwards, Gericke settled in Surakarta (Solo). There he studied the Javanese language diligently. But he was more inclined to learn the court language (kromo inggil), which was rarely used in everyday conversation by ordinary people. During the Diponegoro War, Gericke travelled extensively in Java. He even settled in Ponorogo.

In 1832, at Gericke's proposal, the Javanese Language Institute was established in Surakarta. He was appointed its first director. However, his main task of translating the Bible into Javanese was delayed due to his busy schedule with the institute.

It was not until around 1840 that Gericke began translating the four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. He used kromo (Javanese subtle). Four years later he completely revamped his translation. This time he retranslated it in ngoko (everyday conversational language).

In undertaking the task of  translating the New Testament, Gericke used to begin his work by carefully studying the original language manuscripts of Scripture. In addition, he always read the reference literature from various exegetical manuals and other Bible translation works. Gericke wanted to produce a faithful and meticulous translation of the Bible, meaning that as much as possible, the original text was expressed word for word into  the Javanese language in a pure, yet lively manner that was clearly understandable to all.

In 1848, Gericke's translation of the New Testament  was published. Although there were also many sharp criticisms of his translation. Most of his translation errors were due to the fact that his translation was not properly checked and corrected by the Javanese who were asked to check it.  In 1854, Gericke's translation of the Old Testament followed.

One of those who criticised Gericke's translation was Roorda, a linguist and board member of the NBG. In fact, Roorda later became responsible for the revision of Gericke's New Testament. With the help of some educated Javanese Roorda completed his revision in August 1859, two years after Gericke's death. A year later the revision was published. This result is called the second printing of Gericke's New Testament published in small cussive script. The language used in this revised edition is that of Gericke's revisions between 1853-1855 which were reviewed by Roorda. However, some scholars are of the opinion that this second printing is no better than the first. Even the NBG, eventually, planned to reprint the unrevised 1848 edition.

Third translator P. Jansz

In August 1887, Jansz's husband and wife came and settled in Surakarta. There Jansz collaborated with R. Ng. Djojo Soepono to review other parts of his New Testament translation. Here Djojo Soepono was in charge of rechecking the manuscript, reading it in front of other Javanese, and further discussing the parts that were difficult to understand.  By the end of 1888 the New Testament translation was ready for printing. It was printed in Semarang at the expense of the BFBS, and published in 1890 in 9 loose-leaf volumes. 

Meanwhile, in 1889, the BFBS commissioned Jansz to translate the Old Testament. This translation was successfully printed in 1893. Two years later a complete revised edition of Jansz's Bible was published in 15 volumes. In 1896, Jansz was honourably retired from the BFBS. One year later a further revision of his New Testament was published. In 1904, Jansz died. However, two years later the last of Jansz's four-volume revised Bible was published. Jansz's translation was more favourable to the public than Gericke's. Jansz was more inclined to transfer the meaning contained in  the source language rather than transferring it word by word like Gericke.

Revisions to Jansz's Work

In 1924 the revision of P. Jansz's Javanese Bible was much discussed. A commission was formed. Some of its members included: Hendrik Kraemer, a Bible translator from the NBG and Reverend D. Bakker, delegate pastor in Central Java.  These scholars generally felt that Jansz's final revision had sufficiently corrected the obvious errors in the earlier Bibles, but that sooner or later a more in-depth revision was needed which would essentially attempt to translate the source language texts carefully into the true and living Javanese language, avoiding translations which appeared to be careful, but used dead and unnatural Javanese. 

The revisions were largely done by D. Bakker and after his death, continued by his son Dr F.L. Bakker. Kraemer acted as researcher and proofreader. The New Testament was published in 1940, and the complete Bible was not published until 1949-1950.