Translation of the Bible

However, this belief in the translator’s freedom disappears when it comes to Bible translations. Translation also means interpretation, and this could become blasphemy (intentionally or unintentionally) in the case of translation of the scriptures. It was believed to be a sin to interfere with the word of God. So the effort was to translate word for word so that the meaning did not get distorted. Perhaps it is with this that the concept of fidelity or absolute rendering of the original came into the practice of translation. But St. Jerome, one of the first translators of the Bible, stated that he had not done a word for word translation. Though his translation was later to become the basis for the accepted Vulgate Bible, other vernacular translators did not fare so well. We have already seen the case of John Wycliffe who had to face the extreme punishment of burning at the stake for his English translation of the Bible.

These translations took away the power of knowledge from the clergy and gave it to the common man. So these were not merely linguistic acts, but political acts that had the potential to undermine the power of the church. This becomes very clear in the case of Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) in Germany. Considered to be the Father of the Reformation in Europe, Luther ushered in Protestantism. He translated the Bible into common German which could be understood by everybody. But he also insisted on conveying the message of the Bible accurately, and stressed meaning over style when it came to translation. H e was concerned more about the TL reader and felt that the translation should cater to the reader. The terms he used for translation – übersetzen and verdeutschen (Germanize) – are revealing. They tell us a lot about his idea of translation, especially the latter term; basically he was trying to modify the SL text by using TL idiom so that it would appear to be as natural and spontaneous as his/her own mother tongue to a German language reader.

On the whole, translations of the Bible had a different purpose from other purely literary works. Here the intention was to make the Bible accessible and comprehensible to all. Hence the language was simple, but the translation had to be faithful to the original and the message that was conveyed had to be accurate. Another aspect of these translations was that very often they were collaborative efforts that involved a group of people. They expanded the vocabulary of the TL which was frequently a vernacular language in the early stages of development. King Alfred’s efforts at translation exemplify this aspect. Translations thus had a moral and didactic purpose, as different from the classical times when it was seen as part of the study of rhetoric and aesthetics.