Bible in righteous language

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cover of the book edition (2007)

The Bible in Righteous Language is a translation of the biblical writings (including the Apocrypha ) from the original languages ​​into German. It was compiled between 2001 and 2006 by 40 female and 12 male biblical scholars from Germany , Austria and Switzerland .

The Bible in righteous language is controversial both theologically and linguistically. While some consider it a useful addition to the previous translations, many others see the result very critically. The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) rejects the use of the Bible in fair language for church services.

An advisory board, which included the former Prime Minister Reinhard Höppner , the educationalist Micha Brumlik , Bishop Bärbel Wartenberg-Potter and Church President Peter Steinacker , supported the project. The group of translators and the advisory board consisted mainly of theology professors and academic staff from universities.

profile

Various paraphrases are used for the name of God (highlighted in gray). For many Hebrew and Greek words, reference is made to a glossary in the appendix.

According to the preface, the translation is “on the one hand intended for private use, which will hopefully lead to conversations with others. On the other hand, it also faces up to the scientific debate. ”(P. 26). In addition to the current linguistic discussion, it also takes into account issues of feminist theology , Judeo-Christian dialogue , social ethics and liberation theology . She wants to “distinguish herself from other translations not only by her profile, but also by the fact that she discloses this profile from the start” (p. 9). It expressly does not want to take the place of the conventional Bible translations , but see itself as a pointed addition to them and as a new "intermediate stage on a path that never ends" (p. 26). The interpretation of the biblical message is based on its own concept of justice . For this reason, the translators do not only want to do justice to the texts in the sense of conventional linguistic accuracy, but also to determine what, according to their interpretation, originally meant the biblical message in a way that corresponds to the understanding conditions of the twenty-first century. In the introduction (p. 10) the following aspects of the special profile of this translation are mentioned:

  1. Women are explicitly named wherever research results from social history suggest that they are also included. The Bible speaks of “disciples” or “Pharisees” in fair language , because the New Testament itself says this (cf. Lk 8: 2–3  Lut ) or because socio-historical research has shown that these groups are Women included.
  2. It should become clear that Jesus and his disciples saw themselves as members of the Jewish community, in which they set critical accents, but from which they did not - like the later church - fundamentally differentiate themselves. For example, the antitheses of the Sermon on the Mount ( Mt 5 : 21-48 EU ) are no longer translated  with the delimiting “But I tell you”, but in the sense of rabbinical interpretative practice as “I interpret this for you today”.
  3. “Social realities” such as slavery or the structures of violence of the Roman Empire, which the text names, should be clearly recognizable and not, as is often the case in earlier translations, trivialized or spiritualized. The “maid” from Martin Luther's translation, for example, becomes a “slave” again, because this term describes the “conditions of oppression” more precisely.

Furthermore, the belief that God surpasses human knowledge and naming possibilities should be taken into account by the fact that God's proper name ( YHWH ), which is inexpressible according to Jewish tradition, is not translated into patriarchal language as “Lord”. Instead, the Bible offers different reading options in righteous language wherever God's proper name is or is meant in the basic text: The living, the living, HeShe, the Eternal, the Eternal, Shekhina , God, I-am-there ( Ex 3 , 14  EU ) u. a.

The Bible in righteous language also differs from most other translations in that it does not add any subtitles and, as far as the structure of the Hebrew Bible is concerned, follows the sequence that is usual in the Hebrew Bible ( Torah - prophetic books - scriptures ). Central Greek and Hebrew words are explained in a glossary.

History of origin

Efforts to create a Bible with the desired profile go back around forty years, when theological debates about the biblical message of liberation, the question of gender equality , and, on a larger scale, the Christian-Jewish conversation began. Following US publications with inclusive language , there were first alternative translations in so-called "fair language" at the 22nd German Evangelical Church Congress in 1987 in Frankfurt am Main . Kirchentag translations into fair language have been around for almost 20 years; they beat each other B. in the series "The Divine Service - Liturgical Texts in Just Language". The project of a complete translation, which was presented to the public by an editorial group on October 31, 2001 during a conference in the Evangelical Academy Arnoldshain, followed on from these approaches. The translation work was supported and accompanied by an advisory board made up of theologians, some with their own theological chair, and other church leaders under the chairmanship of the church president of the Evangelical Church of Hesse and Nassau. “For more than two years, the preliminary translations were 'tested' by around 300 groups and individuals for their suitability for practice. The diverse feedback flowed into the further translation work. ”A large number of individuals and groups, some of them listed in the appendix to the Bible translation, supported the work, also financially. The translation was published for the 2006 Frankfurt Book Fair .

Comments on use

Protestant church

In the Protestant churches there are in the Evangelical Church of Westphalia official synods -Beschluss about the use of the Bible in just language in church services. However, numerous church authorities and church umbrella organizations have published statements and recommendations.

Regional churches

The regional synod of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia decided during its meeting from November 13th to 16th, 2007: “The regional synod maintains that, according to Article 169, Paragraph 1 of the Church Ordinance, the translation of the Bible according to Martin Luther should be used as the standard translation in church services. In addition, the wealth of different Bible translations and transcriptions can also be found in the use of worship services, which also includes the 'Bible in Just Language' and personal translation work. "

Other regional churches made similar statements about the use of the Bible in righteous language in worship. According to a circular from the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland , it can be used "if this is considered useful for a church service". Basically, however, "according to an agreement of the EKD member churches ... the Luther text should be retained as the common text within the Evangelical Church". The leading spiritual office of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau stated in a press release on March 29, 2007 that the Bible in fair language is suitable for church work, but that, as provided for in the EKHN's way of life, the Luther Bible standard for church services should stay. “It could be 'supplemented and explained by other translations' if the occasion suggested it. The Bible in fair language offers a further alternative alongside the other translations. ”The church leadership of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church also emphasized the Luther Bible as the“ basic text ”. At the same time, she encouraged her "congregations to deal with the Bible in righteous language together with their pastors and to form their own judgment."

Umbrella organizations (EKD and VELKD)

The Episcopal Conference of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) explained the Bible in just language as "by any ecclesiastical body authorized". Although it could “be a help in pointing out problems and possibilities for interpretation of the Holy Scriptures”, it should not be used “as the only translation of the Bible” and was “unsuitable” for use in worship. The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) agreed on March 31, 2007, with the statement that the Bible in fair language was “misguided by the problematic principles and criteria underlying the translation”.

The North Elbian Regional Church criticized these statements because they lacked “the argumentative basis” and because they did not promote “public discourse”. According to the Protestant understanding of the church, the EKD and VELKD are not entitled to implement their positions "analogously to a hierarchical teaching post in instructions". Similarly, the editors of the Bible expressed themselves in righteous language . Under canon law, the two umbrella organizations are not responsible “with regard to services in the Protestant regional churches” and therefore cannot publish any official regulations, but only recommendations. "The extent to which these recommendations are followed then surely depends on the quality of the advice, that is, on the argumentation and justification."

In a conversation with the editors of the new translation, the then EKD spokesman Christof Vetter confirmed that the statement of the EKD Council is not a prohibition.

Roman Catholic Church

According to a report by the private news service kath.net, the bishop of Feldkirch , Elmar Fischer , stated that the Bible in fair language in the Roman Catholic Church is not permitted for use in the liturgy. The Roman Catholic bishops from Austria also declared that the Bible in fair language was “not suitable for use in liturgy, catechesis and religious instruction”.

Other churches

No canon law decisions or statements by church leaders on the Bible were published in fair language from other churches .

At its annual conference in 2006, the Association of Old Catholic Women called for the "inclusion of the 'Bible in just language' in our church use". The Old Catholic Bishop Bernhard Heitz and the Methodist Bishop Rosemarie Wenner participated in the financing of the Bible in just language as well as some Methodist , Baptist , Mennonite , Old Catholic and Free Reformed Church congregations and groups.

criticism

Negative votes

As early as six months before the new translation was published, Robert Leicht criticized the insistence on "gender-neutral" formulations even where this led to an obvious anachronism, whereas the translators emphasized that women were only named linguistically where their participation was historically proven.

Peter Hahne was quoted by kath.net as follows: "It hurts the soul of a Lutheran journalist to be laughed at by his skeptical colleagues, not because of his belief in the resurrection, but because of the sectarian special Bible from the spirit of fundamentalist feminism." "Once again shot into the self-chosen offside in a populist way".

The news service kath.net reported in December 2008 that Axel Freiherr von Campenhausen had stated in the Rheinischer Merkur that the translation was "not reliable, not useful and not recommended".

Walter Groß criticized “catastrophic results” and “absurdities in the history of religion.” “Interpretation is so integrated into the translation ... that the text loses its independence in relation to it. A 'translation' of the Bible is created out of ideological bitterness, which in important parts discourages by linguistic ugliness, factually misleads and breaks off as many bridges between OT and NT as possible. "

Ingolf U. Dalferth wrote in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung that the new translation casts "a sad light on the state of Protestant theology". Hermann Barth joined Dalferth's criticism.

Johann Schloemann, literary reviewer for the Süddeutsche Zeitung , called it there a “terrorist spirit of justice bible”.

Otto Kallscheuer wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on October 8, 2006: "Well meant, but completely illegible, it forms the textual travesty of a comment."

Elisabeth Gössmann criticized the Neue Zürcher Zeitung from a Catholic feminist point of view that she missed the new translation from Greek in some biblical books that was familiar from the Latin translation of the Vulgate . She warned against throwing out the baby with the bathwater and rejecting all feminist theology with the Bible in fair language .

In a private theological report published on February 15, 2007, Ulrich Wilckens came to the conclusion that the “arbitrary linguistic changes” in the Bible in fair language led to considerable deviations from the central content of the Christian faith. He concluded: “The Bible in righteous language is not only not recommended for use in the practice of the church, neither for worship, nor for church teaching, and not even for personal reading. Rather, it is to be rejected for any use in the church. ” Luise Schottroff , co-editor of the Bible translation, published a statement on this:“ Such an opinion with fundamentalist and anti-Judaistic criteria and basic assumptions, which reflects the state of the biblical discussion around 1970, is unsuitable To assess translation that explicitly includes the international biblical discussion after 1970. "

Wolfgang Huber criticized: “The fact that a translation always includes interpretation is reversed here: The interpretation is output as a translation. This is a violation of the Reformation scriptural principle. Justice is a central theme in the Bible. But one cannot twist a Bible text from the point of view of justice in such a way that, for example, where twelve men are clearly meant, 'apostles' is written and the reader gets the impression that there were women in this group. “In contrast, the contributors pointed out that in the Bible itself it becomes clear that the twelve and the circle of apostles are not identical (cf. 1 Cor 15: 5–9 Lut ) and that women also belong to the latter (cf. Rom 16 : 7  GNB ).

Thomas Söding advocated that Paul's words, “Test everything, keep what is good!” (1 Thes 5:23) should also be taken to heart for the “Bible in righteous language”. In spite of all the justified criticism that he specified, one must also ask why this Bible had received so much interest and why so many young biblical scholars had participated. The question of what a good Bible translation can and should do today is worth a broad discussion.

Werner Thiede summed up: “Some formulations are thought-provoking in a good sense, irritate in the intentional alienation and open up new approaches to biblical texts. In this respect it is questionable whether a blanket condemnation or rejection does justice to this project and its spiritual concerns. Nevertheless, I think: The concerns that have long been mentioned by others, but also by myself, are of such weight that advantages worth considering do not outweigh the disadvantages. The warnings against the use of worship services remain justified, and personal or religious educational use should only be made in comparison with other translations and in no way apart from basic hermeneutical considerations. Certain theological-ideological course settings dominate the project too much ... "

Christian Frevel drew the following conclusion: “All in all, the fair language of the Bible seems to clearly overwhelm the reader. Only those who are linguistically versed and know the source text will be able to really appreciate the greater proximity to the source text. The Bible in righteous language is not a readable and, without explanation, often not understandable. It presupposes a far-reaching examination of the text, which in my opinion is usually not given by laypeople. It requires a high degree of intellectual readiness and ability to deal with the translation offer. "

Sebastian Moll put it: “At all times people have twisted and falsified the word of God in their own sense. But there has never been a sacrilege like the 'Bible in Righteous Language' in 2000 years of church history. "

Favorable voices

Margot Käßmann saw in the translation "an opportunity for people who are not familiar with Greek and Hebrew to understand anew what the original text means."

Irmtraud Fischer pointed out: “A lot of parishes are predominantly run by energetic women who are strong in their faith and who are in the middle of life. You have the right to have at least one German translation that does not marginalize you and at least makes women visible where they are meant. "

Harald Schroeter-Wittke called the Bible, in fair language, the "Bible translation in the German-speaking area that scientifically reflected its translation criteria most intensively and made it transparent".

Award for the translation of the Psalms

God Poet Award 2007

The publishing house of the women's church calendar awarded the four translators of the psalms (Ulrike Bail, Michaela Geiger, Christl M. Maier and Simone Pottmann) with the God Poet Award at the 2007 Evangelical Church Congress . The translators had “made the psalms sound in a completely new way” and made it possible “to check familiar perceptual patterns and to discover new facets of the psalm texts”.

See also

literature

More reviews

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD): The quality of a Bible translation depends on its fidelity to the text - position of the Council of the EKD on the "Bible in just language." In: EKD.de. March 31, 2007, accessed November 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ Press release: The “Bible in Just Language” will be published for the Frankfurt Book Fair 2006. October 2007 ( PDF; 119 kB on bibel-in-gerechter-sprache.de ( Memento from May 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )).
  3. ^ Resolution of the regional synod of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia during the conference from 13-16 November 2007 ( Memento from February 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 688 kB).
  4. ↑ EKiR.info of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (PDF), p. 7 ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Susanne Sholza: The Bible as Political Artifact: On The Feminist Study of the Hebrew Bible. Fortress Press, 2017, ISBN 978-1-5064-2048-6 , p. 299
  6. ↑ Statement of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 14 kB)
  7. ^ Resolution ( memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) of the VELKD of March 6, 2007 on newer German Bible translations
  8. ↑ “The quality of a Bible translation depends on its fidelity to the text” - Statement by the EKD Council of March 31, 2007 on the Bible in fair language
  9. ^ Opinion of the Theological Advisory Board of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church. April 3, 2007 ( PDF; 72 kB on bibel-in-gerechter-sprache.de ( Memento from March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive )).
  10. ↑ Answer of the editors of the Bible in fair language to the EKD statement ( Memento of September 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ^ "Gerechte Bibel": EKD and publisher endeavor to relax ( memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ Kath.net : 'Bible in Righteous Language' not approved for the liturgy , March 7, 2007
  13. ↑ Kath.net March 16, 2007
  14. ↑ Kath.net: baf resolution on the use of a just language
  15. ↑ No word you want to let stahn , in the TIME of April 6, 2006
  16. ↑ Kath.net: Pope hits the bull's eye, Protestants offside , April 9, 2007
  17. ↑ Judgment on 'Bible in Righteous Language': Not recommended , report on kath.net
  18. ↑ Walter Groß: "Bible in just language": in correct and appropriate language? In: Theological quarterly. Volume 186, No. 4, 2006, pp. 343-345 ( PDF; 84 kB on nbc-pfalz.de ( Memento from September 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive )); similar: the same: translation or reinvention? A gloss on the "Bible in Righteous Language". In: Living Pastoral Care. Volume 57, No. 6, 2006, pp. 438-440.
  19. ↑ Ingolf Dalferth: The Eternal and the Eternal. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 18./19. November 2006, p. 65.
  20. ↑ Poisoned fruit? - Considerations on the use of new forms of language for theological content , criticism by Hermann Barth
  21. ↑ Looking back ahead - Dr. Johan Schloemann. Discussion series “Looking back ahead - with all your senses”. Speakers and moderators. (No longer available online.) In: “Historisches Kolleg München”. June 25, 2010, formerly in the original ; accessed on May 14, 2011 : “Dr. Johan Schloemann studied classical philology and philosophy in Freiburg, Copenhagen and Berlin; he received his doctorate from the Berlin Humboldt University with a thesis on Greek rhetoric and was a visiting fellow at the School of Advanced Study at the University of London; he worked as an editor for the ' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ' in Berlin and as a PR consultant; since 2004 he has been responsible for non-fiction, humanities and educational issues in the features section of the ' Süddeutsche Zeitung '. "
  22. ↑ And wisdom became matter No stranger to it! Do not hurt any civil partnership !: About terrorism and the Christmas story in the translation of the "Bible in just language", Johan Schloemann in the Süddeutsche Zeitung from 23./24. December 2006
  23. ↑ Elisabeth Gössmann: Beginning of Wisdom. In: NZZ.ch . December 14, 2006.
  24. ^ Theological report on the “Bible in Just Language” (PDF; 123 kB), by Ulrich Wilckens
  25. ↑ Luise Schottroff : Statement on the theological report by Ulrich Wilckens on the Bible in just language. May 22, 2007 ( PDF: 50 kB, 6 pages on bibel-in-gerechter-sprache.de ( Memento from February 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive )).
  26. ↑ "pastoral care is also for terrorists because" ( Memento of 13 January 2008 at the Internet Archive ), Wolfgang Huber in the Tagesspiegel from February 11, 2007
  27. ^ Thomas Söding: Word of God in just language? A new Bible put to the test. In: Christ in the Present. 8/2007.
  28. ↑ Werner Thiede: The Bible in self-righteous language . In: Materialdienst der EZW , 7/2007 (pp. 243–256) Quote: p. 254.
  29. ↑ Christian Frevel: Some references to the "Bible in just language". , Ruhr University Bochum, April 2, 2007, accessed December 10, 2016.
  30. ↑ Sebastian Moll: Just be church again !. Brendow-Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-86506-939-9
  31. ^ Margot Kässmann: In today's language. In: chrismon. October 2006.
  32. ↑ Irmtraud Fischer : For more justice. The "Bible in Righteous Language" is causing a stir. ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: Frau und Mutter. No. 3, 2007, pp. ??.
  33. ^ Theological literary newspaper . No. 140, 2015, column 375.
  34. ↑ God Poet Award 2007 ( Memento from October 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  35. ↑ Not exactly the same force anymore?!?