The first known translations of parts of the Bible into Slovak dates to 15th century, although full translations, as an alternative to Bible translations into Czech, date from the year 1756.
A portion of the Bible, dating back to 1469, was discovered in the library of Esztergom. The section was a handwritten copy of the Gospel of John, written in contemporary Slovak.
The first vernacular Bibles to enter into use in Slovakia were in Czech, which came to be used among Slovak Protestants. In response the Catholic church arranged for the Camaldolese Benedictines at ÃÂervený KlÃ¡à ¡tor monastery to produce a Catholic Slovak Bible in the 1750s. This translation is accredited to Romuald Hadbavný.
This translation is credited to professor Juraj PalkoviÃÂ. It used Anton's Bernolák Slovak language (based on cultural western form of Slovak language). It was printed in two parts, first in 1829 and second in 1832. The books full title was Swaté PÃÂsmo starého i nowého Zákona: podla obecného latinského od sw. RÃÂmsko-katolÃÂckég CÃÂrkwi potwrÃÂeného, preloà ¾ené s PrirownanÃÂm ÃÂruntowného Tekstu na Swetlo widané. ÃÂel prwnÃÂ, ÃÂel druhÃÂ. W Ostrihome: Josef Beimel, 1829, 1832.
A more modern Slovak version was produced by the Lutheran pastor Jozef RoháÃÂek in 1936.
In 2008 the Slovak Bible Society published two versions of the Slovak Ecumenical Translation (with and without the deuterocanonical books).