Luther Bible
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| The '''Luther Bible''' is a [[German language]] [[Bible translation]] from Hebrew and ancient Greek by [[Martin Luther]], of which the New Testament was published in 1522 and the complete Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments and Apocrypha, in 1534. | The '''Luther Bible''' is a [[German language]] [[Bible translation]] from Hebrew and ancient Greek by [[Martin Luther]], of which the New Testament was published in 1522 and the complete Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments and Apocrypha, in 1534. | ||
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| ==Publication of the complete Bible translation== | ==Publication of the complete Bible translation== | ||
| + | :[[Illustrated Luther Bible]] | ||
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| The translation of the entire Bible into German was published in a six-part edition in 1534, a collaborative effort of Luther and many more such as; [[Johannes Bugenhagen]], [[Justus Jonas]], [[Caspar Creuziger]], [[Philipp Melanchthon]], [[Matthäus Aurogallus]], and [[Georg Rörer]]. Luther worked on refining the translation up to his death in 1546: he had worked on the edition that was printed that year. | The translation of the entire Bible into German was published in a six-part edition in 1534, a collaborative effort of Luther and many more such as; [[Johannes Bugenhagen]], [[Justus Jonas]], [[Caspar Creuziger]], [[Philipp Melanchthon]], [[Matthäus Aurogallus]], and [[Georg Rörer]]. Luther worked on refining the translation up to his death in 1546: he had worked on the edition that was printed that year. | ||
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| Luther chose to place the [[Biblical apocrypha]] between the Old and New Testaments. These books and addenda to [[Biblical canon]] of the Old Testament are found in the ancient Greek [[Septuagint]] but not in the Hebrew [[Masoretic text]]. Luther left the translating of them largely to [[Philipp Melanchthon]] and [[Justus Jonas]]. They were not listed in the table of contents of his 1532 Old Testament, and in the 1534 Bible they were given the well-known title: "Apocrypha: These Books Are Not Held Equal to the Scriptures, but Are Useful and Good to Read". See also [[Biblical canon]], [[Development of the Christian Biblical canon]], and [[Biblical Apocrypha]]. | Luther chose to place the [[Biblical apocrypha]] between the Old and New Testaments. These books and addenda to [[Biblical canon]] of the Old Testament are found in the ancient Greek [[Septuagint]] but not in the Hebrew [[Masoretic text]]. Luther left the translating of them largely to [[Philipp Melanchthon]] and [[Justus Jonas]]. They were not listed in the table of contents of his 1532 Old Testament, and in the 1534 Bible they were given the well-known title: "Apocrypha: These Books Are Not Held Equal to the Scriptures, but Are Useful and Good to Read". See also [[Biblical canon]], [[Development of the Christian Biblical canon]], and [[Biblical Apocrypha]]. | ||
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| - | ==Impact== | ||
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| - | The Luther Bible was not the first [[German Bible translations|German Bible translation]], but it was the most influential. | ||
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| - | Luther's German Bible and its widespread circulation facilitated the emergence of a standard, modern [[German language]] for the German-speaking peoples throughout the [[Holy Roman Empire]], an empire extending through and beyond present-day Germany. It is also considered a landmark in [[German literature]], with Luther's vernacular style often praised by modern German sources for the forceful vigor (''"kraftvolles Deutsch"'') with which he translated the Holy Scripture. | ||
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| - | A large part of Luther's significance was his influence on the emergence of the German language and national identity. This stemmed predominantly from his translation of the Bible into the vernacular, which was potentially as revolutionary as canon law and the burning of the papal bull. Luther's goal was to equip every German-speaking Christian with the ability to hear the Word of God, and his completing his translation of the Old and New Testaments from Hebrew and Greek into the vernacular by 1534 was one of the most significant acts of the Reformation. Although Luther was not the first to attempt such a translation, his was superior to all its predecessors. Previous translations had contained poor German, and had been from the Vulgate Latin translation, i.e. translations of a translation rather than a direct translation into German from the originals. Luther sought to translate as closely to the original text as possible, but at the same time his translation was guided by how people spoke in the home, on the street and in the marketplace. Luther's faithfulness to the language spoken by the common people was to produce a work which they could relate to. This led German writers such as Goethe and Nietzsche to praise Luther's Bible. Moreover, the fact that the vernacular Bible was printed also enabled it to spread rapidly and be read by all. Hans Lufft, the Bible printer in Wittenberg, printed over one hundred thousand copies between 1534 and 1574, which went on to be read by millions. Luther's vernacular Bible was present in virtually every German-speaking Protestant’s home; and there can be no doubts regarding the Biblical knowledge attained by the German common masses. Luther even had large-print Bibles made for those who had failing eyesight. German humanist [[Johann Cochlaeus]] complained that | ||
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| - | <blockquote>Luther's New Testament was so much multiplied and spread by printers that even tailors and shoemakers, yea, even women and ignorant persons who had accepted this new Lutheran gospel, and could read a little German, studied it with the greatest avidity as the fountain of all truth. Some committed it to memory, and carried it about in their bosom. In a few months such people deemed themselves so learned that they were not ashamed to dispute about faith and the gospel not only with Catholic laymen, but even with priests and monks and doctors of divinity." | ||
| - | </blockquote> | ||
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| - | The spread of Luther's Bible translation had implications for the German language. The German language had developed into so many dialects that German speakers from different states could barely understand each other. This led Luther to conclude that “I have so far read no book or letter in which the German language is properly handled. Nobody seems to care sufficiently for it; and every preacher thinks he has a right to change it at pleasure and to invent new terms." Scholars preferred to write in the Latin which they all understood. Luther popularized the Saxon dialect of German and adapted it for theology and religion; which subsequently made it the common literary language used in books. He enriched the vocabulary with that of German poets and chroniclers.<ref name="Ibid"/> For this accomplishment a contemporary of Luther's, [[Erasmus Alberus]], labeled him the German Cicero, as he reformed not only religion but the German language also. Luther's Bible has been hailed as the first German 'classic', comparable to the English [[King James version]] of the Bible, which became one of the first English 'classics'. German-speaking Protestant writers and poets such as Klopstock, Herder and Lessing owe stylistic qualities to Luther's vernacular Bible.<ref>Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910), 13</ref> Luther adapted words to the capacity of the German public and through the pervasiveness of his German Bible created and spread the modern German language.<ref>Ibid, 13</ref> | ||
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| - | Luther's vernacular Bible also had a role in the creation of a German national identity. Because it penetrated every German-speaking Protestant home, the language of his translation became part of a German national heritage.<ref>Gerhard Ritter, Luther: His life and Work ( New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), 216</ref> Luther's program of exposure to the words of the Bible was extended into every sphere of daily life and work, illuminating moral considerations for Germans. It gradually became infused into the blood of the whole nation and occupied a permanent space in a German history.<ref>Idib, 216</ref> The popularity and influence of his translation gave Luther confidence to act as a spokesperson of a nation and as the leader of an anti-Roman movement throughout Germany.<ref>Hartmann Grisar, Luther: Volume I (London: Luigi Cappadelta, 1914), 402</ref> It made it possible for him to be a prophet of a new German national identity<ref>V.H.H Green. Luther and the Reformation (London: B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1964), 193</ref> and helped form the spirit of a new epoch in German history.<ref>Gerhard Ritter , Luther: His life and Work ( New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), 213</ref> | ||
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| - | In a sense the vernacular Bible also empowered and liberated all Protestants who had access to it. The existence of the translation was a public affirmation of reform, such as might deprive any elite or priestly class of exclusive control over words, as well as over the word of God.<ref name="Carter"/> Through the translation Luther was intending to make it easier for "simple people" to understand what he was teaching. In some major controversies of the time, even some evangelicals, let alone the commoners, did not understand the reasons for disagreement; and Luther wanted to help those who were confused to see that the disagreement between himself and the Roman Catholic Church was real and had significance. So translation of the Bible would allow the common people to become aware of the issues at hand and develop an informed opinion.<ref>Mark Edwards, Luther and the False Brethren (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975), 193</ref> The common individual would thus be given the right to have a mind, spirit and opinion, to exist not as an economic functionary but as subject to complex and conflicting aspirations and motives. In this sense, Luther's vernacular Bible acted as a force towards the liberation of the German people. The combination of Luther's social teachings and the vernacular Bible undoubtedly had a role in the slow emancipation of western European society from a long phase of clerical domination.<ref>A.G. Dickens, The German Nation and Martin Luther (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1974), 226</ref> Luther gave men a new vision of perhaps the exaltation of the human self.<ref>Gerhard Ritter , Luther: His life and Work ( New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), 210</ref> Luther's vernacular Bible broke the domination and unity of the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. He had claimed Holy Scripture to be the sole authority, and through his translation every individual would be able to abide by its authority, and might nullifying his or her need for a monarchical pope. As Bishop Fisher put it, Luther's Bible had “stirred a mighty storm and tempest in the church” empowering the no longer clerically dominated public.<ref>V.H.H Green. Luther and the Reformation (London: B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1964), 10</ref> | ||
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| - | Although not as significantly as on German linguistics, Luther's Bible also made a large impression on educational reform throughout Germany. Luther's goal of a readable, accurate translation of the Bible became a stimulus towards universal education, since everyone should be able to read in order to understand the Bible.<ref name="Carter"/> Luther believed that mankind had fallen from grace and was ruled by selfishness, but had not lost moral consciousness: all were sinners and needed to be educated. Thus his vernacular Bible could become a means of establishing a form of law, order and morality which everyone could abide by, if all could read and understand it. The possibility of understanding the vernacular Bible allowed Luther to found a State Church and educate his followers into a law-abiding community.<ref>Gerhard Ritter , Luther: His life and Work ( New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), 241</ref> The Protestant states of Germany became educational states, which encouraged the spirit of teaching which was ultimately fueled by Luther's vernacular Bible. | ||
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| - | Finally, Luther's translated Bible also had international significance in the spread of Christianity. Luther's translation influenced the English translations by [[William Tyndale]] and [[Myles Coverdale]] who in turn inspired many other translations of the Bible such as the [[Bishops' Bible]] of 1568, the [[Douay–Rheims Bible]] of 1582–1609, and the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version]] of 1611.<ref name="Carter_2"/> It also inspired translations as far as Scandinavia and the Netherlands. In a metaphor, it was Luther who 'broke the walls' of translation in western Europe and once such walls had fallen, the way was open to all, including some who were quite opposed to Luther's beliefs.<ref>B.A. Gerrish, Reformers in Profile (Philadelphia: Fortpress Press, 1967), 112</ref> Luther's Bible spread its influence for the remolding of Western European culture in the ferment of the sixteenth century. The worldwide implications of the translation far surpassed the expectations of even Luther himself.<ref>Gerhard Ritter , Luther: His life and Work ( New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963), 212</ref> | ||
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| - | ==Memorable verses== | ||
| - | Attributes that make Luther's translation of the Bible certainly characteristic are, on the one hand, a poetic, embellishing style, and on the other hand, his connection and closeness to the German people and their language.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} | ||
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| - | [[File:NTLutherBible1769.jpg|right|150px|New Testament titlepage from a Luther Bible printed in 1769]] | ||
| - | These passages are exemplary: | ||
| - | {| class="wikitable" | ||
| - | ! Verse | ||
| - | ! Luther Bible | ||
| - | ! English translation (literal) | ||
| - | ! English meaning | ||
| - | ! Notes | ||
| - | |- | ||
| - | ! Gen 2:23 | ||
| - | | "[...] Man wird sie Männin heißen, darum daß sie vom Manne genommen ist." | ||
| - | | "One will call her she-man, therefore that she was taken out of the man." | ||
| - | | "[...] She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." | ||
| - | | Here Luther tried to preserve the resemblance of Hebrew ''ish'' (man) and ''ishah'' (woman) by adding the female German suffix -in to the masculine word ''Mann'', because the correct word (at that time), ''Weib'', does not resemble it. (As neither does the modern ''Frau''.) As like as adding she- to man in English, adding -in to Mann in German is to be considered grammatically awkward. | ||
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| - | ! Matthew 12:34 | ||
| - | | "[...] Wes das Herz voll ist, des geht der Mund über." | ||
| - | | "Of what the heart is full, of that the mouth overflows." | ||
| - | | "[...] For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." | ||
| - | | Luther used this as an example of how he would translate something for the people to understand it correctly. | ||
| - | |- | ||
| - | ! John 11:35 | ||
| - | | "Und Jesus gingen die Augen über." | ||
| - | | "And Jesus' eyes overflowed." | ||
| - | | "[[Jesus wept]]." | ||
| - | | Poetic. | ||
| - | |- | ||
| - | ! John 19:5 | ||
| - | | "[...] Sehet, welch ein Mensch!" | ||
| - | | "Behold what a man (this is)!" | ||
| - | | "[...] Behold the man!" | ||
| - | | Luther emphasizes Jesus' glory despite this ignoble situation, though it is to be considered an incorrect translation. See also: [[Ecce Homo]]. | ||
| - | |} | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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The Luther Bible is a German language Bible translation from Hebrew and ancient Greek by Martin Luther, of which the New Testament was published in 1522 and the complete Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments and Apocrypha, in 1534.
The project absorbed Luther's later years. The new translation was widely disseminated thanks to the printing press, and it became a force in shaping the modern High German language.
Contents |
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Luther's New Testament translation
While he was sequestered in the Wartburg Castle (1521–1522) Luther began to translate the New Testament from ancient Greek into German in order to make it more accessible to all the people of the "Holy Roman Empire of the German nation." He translated from the Greek text, using Erasmus' second edition (1519) of the Greek New Testament, known as the Textus Receptus. Luther did not translate from the Latin Vulgate translation, which is the Latin translation officially used by the Roman Catholic Church. Both Erasmus and Luther had learned Greek at the Latin schools led by the Brethren of the Common Life (respectively in Deventer (Netherlands) and in Magdeburg). These lay brothers added late 15th century Greek as a new subject to their curriculum. At that time Greek was seldom taught even at universities.
To help him in translating into contemporary German, Luther would make forays into nearby towns and markets to listen to people speaking. He wanted to ensure their comprehension by translating as closely as possible to their contemporary language usage. His translation was published in September 1522, six months after he had returned to Wittenberg. In the opinion of the 19th century theologian and church historian Philip Schaff,"The richest fruit of Luther's leisure in the Wartburg, and the most important and useful work of his whole life, is the translation of the New Testament, by which he brought the teaching and example of Christ and the Apostles to the mind and heart of the Germans in life-like reproduction. It was a republication of the gospel. He made the Bible the people's book in church, school, and house."
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Publication of the complete Bible translation
The translation of the entire Bible into German was published in a six-part edition in 1534, a collaborative effort of Luther and many more such as; Johannes Bugenhagen, Justus Jonas, Caspar Creuziger, Philipp Melanchthon, Matthäus Aurogallus, and Georg Rörer. Luther worked on refining the translation up to his death in 1546: he had worked on the edition that was printed that year.
There were 117 original woodcuts included in the 1534 edition issued by the Hans Lufft press in Wittenberg. They reflected the recent trend (since 1522) of including artwork to reinforce the textual message.
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Theology
Luther added the word "alone" (allein in German) to Romans 3:28 controversially so that it read: "thus, we hold, then, that man is justified without the works of the law to do, alone through faith" The word "alone" does not appear in the Greek texts, but Luther defended his translation by maintaining that the adverb "alone" was required both by idiomatic German and the apostle Paul's intended meaning.
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View of canonicity
Initially Luther had a low view of the Old Testament book of Esther and of the New Testament books of Hebrews, James, Jude, and the Revelation of John. He called the Letter of James "an epistle of straw," finding little in it that pointed to Christ and His saving work. He also had harsh words for the Revelation of John, saying that he could "in no way detect that the Holy Spirit produced it." In his translation of the New Testament, Luther moved Hebrews and James out of the usual order, to join Jude and the Revelation at the end, and differentiated these from the other books which he considered "the true and certain chief books of the New Testament. The four which follow have from ancient times had a different reputation." His views on some of these books changed in later years.
Luther chose to place the Biblical apocrypha between the Old and New Testaments. These books and addenda to Biblical canon of the Old Testament are found in the ancient Greek Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Masoretic text. Luther left the translating of them largely to Philipp Melanchthon and Justus Jonas. They were not listed in the table of contents of his 1532 Old Testament, and in the 1534 Bible they were given the well-known title: "Apocrypha: These Books Are Not Held Equal to the Scriptures, but Are Useful and Good to Read". See also Biblical canon, Development of the Christian Biblical canon, and Biblical Apocrypha.
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See also
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