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Bibelübersetzungen vor und nach Luther: Luthers Bibelübersetzung (German Edition)

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He substituted even undeutsch! Still greater liberties he allowed himself in the Apocrypha, to make them more easy and pleasant reading. He avoided foreign terms which rushed in like a flood with the revival of learning, especially in proper names as Melanchthon for Schwarzerd, Aurifaber for Goldschmid, Oecolampadius for Hausschein, Camerarius for Kammermeister.

He enriched the vocabulary with such beautiful words as holdselig, Gottseligkeit. Erasmus Alber, a contemporary of Luther, called him the German Cicero, who not only reformed religion, but also the German language. Luther's version is an idiomatic reproduction of the Bible in the very spirit of the Bible. It brings out the whole wealth, force, and beauty of the German language.

It is the first German classic, as King James's version is the first English classic. The best authority in Teutonic philology pronounces his language to be the foundation of the new High German dialect on account of its purity and influence, and the Protestant dialect on account of its freedom which conquered even Roman Catholic authors. Emser, one of the most learned opponents of the Reformation, singled out in Luther's New Testament several hundred linguistic blunders and heretical falsifications.

He published, by order of Duke George of Saxony, a new translation for the purpose of correcting the errors of "Luther and other heretics. The most important example of dogmatic influence in Luther's version is the famous interpolation of the word alone in Rom. It is well known that Luther deemed it impossible to harmonize the two apostles in this article, and characterized the Epistle of James as an "epistle of straw," because it had no evangelical character "keine evangelische Art".

He therefore insisted on this insertion in spite of all outcry against it. His defense is very characteristic. Doctor Martin Luther will have it so, and says: Papist and donkey are one thing; sic volo, sic jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas. For we do not want to be pupils and followers of the Papists, but their masters and judges. Paul in dealing with his Judaizing opponents 2 Cor. Are they the writers of books? And I shall further boast: I can expound Psalms and Prophets; which they can not.

Emser's New Testament is full of anti-Lutheran glosses. And yet even in the same chapter and throughout the whole Epistle to the Romans, Emser copies verbatim Luther's version for whole verses and sections; and where he departs from his language, it is generally for the worse. The same may be said of the other two German Catholic Bibles of the age of the Reformation. Dietenberger adds his comments in smaller type after the chapters, and agrees with Emser's interpretation of Rom.

Eck's German Bible has few notes, but a strongly anti-Protestant preface. A translation is an interpretation. Absolute reproduction is impossible in any work. And even where they agree in words, there is a difference in the pervading spirit. They move, as it were, in a different atmosphere. A Roman Catholic version must be closely conformed to the Latin Vulgate, which the Council of Trent puts on an equal footing with the original text.

The Romanist must become evangelical before he can fully apprehend the free spirit of the gospel as revealed in the New Testament. There is, however, a gradual progress in translation, which goes hand in hand with the progress of the understanding of the Bible.

Jerome's Vulgate is an advance upon the Itala, both in accuracy and Latinity; the Protestant Versions of the sixteenth century are an advance upon the Vulgate, in spirit and in idiomatic reproduction; the revisions of the nineteenth century are an advance upon the versions of the sixteenth, in philological and historical accuracy and consistency. A future generation will make a still nearer approach to the original text in its purity and integrity.

If the Holy Spirit of God shall raise the Church to a higher plane of faith and love, and melt the antagonisms of human creeds into the one creed of Christ, then, and not before then, may we expect perfect versions of the oracles of God. He says in his Philosophie der Geschichte, p. Hoeppe , W. The Codex contains also homilies of St. Chrysostom, and seven articles of faith. The last especially have induced Keller and Haupt to assign the translation to Waldensian origin. But these Addenda are not uncatholic, and at most would only prove Waldensian or Bohemian proprietorship of this particular copy, but not authorship of the translation.

See Notes below, p. It can therefore not be used as an argument for or against the Waldensian hypothesis of Keller. See Fritzsche in Herzog ii, vol. The Gospels for the year were printed about 25 times before ; the Psalter about 13 times before He adds, however, very justly l. Denn soll einer von einem Dinge reden, so muss er die Sache [Sprache? Das Newe Testament Deutzsch. With wood-cuts by Lucas Cranach, one at the beginning of each book and twenty-one in the Apocalypse.

The chapter division of the Latin Bible, dating from Hugo a St. Caro, was retained with some paragraph divisions; the versicular division was as yet unknown Robert Stephanus first introduced it in his Latin edition, , and in his Greek Testament of The order of the Epistles is changed, and the change remained in all subsequent editions. Some parallel passages and glosses are added on the margin. It contained many typographical errors, a very curious one in Gal.

It has the famous preface with the fling at the "rechte stroern Epistel" of St. James, which was afterwards omitted or modified. The triple papal crown of the Babylonian woman in Rev. Biblia, das ist die gantze Heilige Schrift, Deutsch. Durch Hans Lufft, M. A copy in the Canstein Bibelanstalt at Halle. Seminary in New York has a copy of the edition of which bears this title: The margin is ornamented. Eck's Bible appeared in , at Ingolstadt, Bavaria. Video nunc, quid sit interpretari, et cur hactenus a nullo sit attentatum, qui proficeretur nomen suum.

The editio princeps of the whole Hebrew Bible appeared Soncino: Abraham ben Chayin de' Tintori. A copy in possession of Dr. Portions had been printed before. His influence on Luther is expressed in the well-known lines: At the end is a Latin letter of Frobenius, the publisher, dated "Nonis Fehr.

Reuss of Strassburg, who has the largest collection and best knowledge of Greek Testaments, denies this. Tyndale's English version was likewise made from Erasmus. Graece et Germanice, Preface, p. The revised Luther- Bible of strangely retains the passage, but in small type and in brackets, with the note that it was wanting in Luther's editions. The Probebibel departs only in a few places from the Erasmian text as followed by Luther: In this respect the German revision is far behind the Anglo- American revision of , which corrects the Textus Receptus In about five thousand places.

Louis the Bavarian introduced the German in See Wilibald Grimm, Gesch. The German Probebibel retains it in this and other passages, as Gen. He judges that Luther's version of Ecclesiasticus Jesus Sirach is by no means a faithful translation, but a model of a free and happy reproduction from a combination of the Greek and Latin texts. Opitz, Ueber die Sprache Luthers, Halle, Lehmann, Luthers Sprache in seiner Uebersetzung des N. I have before me an edition of Freiburg-i.

Emser charges Luther with a thousand grammatical and fourteen hundred heretical errors. In our days, one of the chief objections against the English Revision is the omission of the doxology. So durch den Hochgelerten L. The first edition appeared before Emser's death, which occurred Nov. I find in the Union Seminary four octavo copies of his N. On the concluding page, it is stated that errors of Luther's are noted and corrected.

Lutherbibel

The chief passages objected to by Romanists are Heb. See Meyer on Rom. It was published in September, , with special reference to Emser, whom he does not name, but calls "the scribbler from Dresden" "der dresdener Sudler". Grimm, the lexicographer l. I have an old copy of Luther's Testament, without titlepage, before me, where the word allein is printed in larger type with a marginal finger pointing to it. The most important is his preface to the Epistle to the Romans, and his most objectionable that to the Epistle of James.

Johan Dietenberger, new verdeutscht. Gott zu ewiger ehre unnd wolfarth seiner heil. La Buona Novella, Elberfelder Bibel, alte Fassung. Durch ihre inzwischen veraltete Sprache ist sie z. Uneinheitlich und undurchsichtig sind dabei die Angaben abweichender Lesarten. Mk 16, und Joh 7,,11 , nicht einmal ein entsprechender Hinweis. Steht zwischen alter und revidierter Elberfelder. NT seit , AT seit Leider sind neben Korrekturen auch Fehler hinzugekommen, vor allem im AT. This same cycle was repeated for the OT books: A supplement to secretary Roerer's notes gives us an insight into the cooperative endeavor: They particularly had trouble with the section of the Prophets from Jeremiah on as it was difficult to render into good German.

Isaiah and Daniel had been printed in German several years earlier. The words of Jesus gave the commission great concern to render them into clear German. As the group worked closely with one another meeting after meeting, they became aware of each other's particular strengths and were progressively knit into an ever more competent and cohesive team. Schweibert summarizes the change that took place: Luther noted this progressive shift in the direction of greater linguistic naturalness and expressed his satisfaction at the result: This one is closer to the German and further removed from the Hebrew.

The Professor himself remained the guiding light and principal motivating factor in the revision process. He provided that essential continuity and set the desired standards so that a consistency of style and method might be maintained during the long period over which the translation and revision took place. He called the commission together, he largely outlined the assignment for each session, he led the discussion and usually spoke the deciding word [in cases of disagreement] … In other cases Luther made changes in his entries, either during the meeting or afterward, as is apparent from a comparison of these with Roerer's protocol and sometimes is evident in Luther's own copy.

Of great assistance in the revision process was a set of notes that Luther personally recorded in his Handexemplar, a special copy of the Bible reserved specifically for the purpose. Whenever he worked with the German text, he tested it out either on his audience or personally on himself. Then he would carefully write down any corrections and potential improvements in the margins. These jottings would often serve as the basis for discussion during the meetings with his review team. Luther's detailed notes performed the same service even after his death.

They were incorporated into the revised Bible that he happened to be working on right up to the end, a version that was published later in He ate, drank and slept Bible translation. Consequential Reu, Luther's German Bible, That is why it became the cornerstone for an enduring Lutheran culture in Germany.

Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, ], This opinion is supported by Dr. The poetic soul finds in this translation evidences of genius and expressions as natural, as beautiful, and melodious as in the original languages. 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.

The standard modern language takes its beginning there. Luther's unifying influence affected not only the German language, but to a greater extent its literature as well, with respect to verbal style and persuasive rhetoric. The sheer volume of his own literary production is indeed staggering. A more recent dissertation concludes: Thus Luther's Bible became not just a legacy, but an important stage in the still gradually awakening consciousness of man.

But what is of prime importance is the spiritual significance of all this literary, linguistic, and cultural influence. It is impossible to evaluate its role in the furthering of the Reformation, for its assistance in spreading the Gospel to the common man was immeasurable.

Luther's Bible served as a primary source for the translations produced later in Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and England. Conclusion So what more can we say about a Bible translation that was is confessional, communicative, creative, comprehensive, contextual, collaborative, continuative, and consequential—indeed, consummate? Perhaps nothing needs to be added except a sample from the master translator himself and those whom he has influenced and motivated centuries later in another language and a very different cultural and communicative setting.

Evangelical Press, 99 , ch. Northwestern Publishing House, , 43ff. The British and Foreign Bible Society, , I have modified the script of this text and poetically rearranged its lines. Luther held a special place in his heart for the Psalms: Blessed David, however, lauds and magnifies this noble treasure most beautifully in delightful figurative and picturesque language and also in metaphorical expressions taken from the Old Testament worship of God.

He calls it a fine, pleasant, green pasture; fresh water; the path of righteousness; a rod; a staff; a table; balm, or the oil of gladness Ps. Chauta ndi dzina lake lochukadi. Chauta is that most famous name of his. Mwa iye, ine kusowa kanthu ayi. In him, as for me—I lack nothing, not at all.

My life he always revives it right there. Though it is and remains a translation of course, it was artistically reborn in the gradual process of its complete vernacularization. It is still similar to, but no longer identical with, the original Hebrew poem… One could hold that it has become a German poem of almost independent artistic significance. For a discussion of this rendering and its distinctive poetic features in Chewa, a Bantu language, see Wendland, Translating the Literature of Scripture, I composed the initial draft of this text, which was subsequently revised and polished up by the students of my Psalms exegetical class Lusaka Lutheran Seminary.

Chilembwe Banda a Malawian, March, at the following links: According to his well-known name—Chauta! I happen to walk, Mantha onse balala! All [my] fear GONE! Talk about food, ha! Chiko changa cha madalitso chiri nde-nde-nde! Kwanu inu mwandilandiradi ndi manja awiri. They really follow me during [my] whole life down here. So what did this little translation exercise teach us—my students and me?

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Three things in particular: Such involvement may include actual translation and review work; the careful comparative study of various translations plus how and why they differ; the consistent support of Bible translation, publication, and distribution work, both at home and abroad—on the mission field. But that is not true in most parts of the world today, though the Internet is helping to break that barrier. There are also the extreme danger zones, like North Korea, where even the possession of a Bible is a capital offense.

For thirty years the Lusaka Translation Centre, located on the campus of Lusaka Lutheran Seminary, was instrumental in the production of 8 full Bibles and another 4 New Testaments in the Bantu languages of south-central Africa. A literalistic version is not really helpful, no matter how familiar its wording may be, or how much it may be used, if the average person, young or old, cannot understand it clearly or correctly without pastoral assistance.

How is the Bible being regularly utilized not only in church-related activities, but also at home—privately e. Nevertheless, there are many today who by faithfully following Luther's principles aided by computer- based tools and internet technology are together, in corporate cooperation, able to accomplish results that he never dreamed possible. Commissioned and supported by worldwide mission agencies and umbrella organizations, trained personnel are currently seeking to translate the Word of God accurately and idiomatically in hundreds of non- Indo-European languages.

DAS EVANGELIUM NACH MATTHÄUS LUTHER BIBEL HÖRBUCH DEUTSCH Audio Book German

The figures for the number of language speakers are based on the best available data which currently totals 6. This leaves million people with only some portions of the Bible and a further million people with no Scripture translated in their language at all accessed at http: Charles Scribner's Sons, It was a republication of the gospel.

He made the Bible the people's book in church, school, and house. If he had done nothing else, he would be one of the greatest benefactors of the German-speaking race. The Bible ceased to be a foreign book in a foreign tongue, and became naturalized, and hence far more clear and dear to the common people. Hereafter the Reformation depended no longer on the works of the Reformers, but on the book of God, which everybody could read for himself as his daily guide in spiritual life.

This inestimable blessing of an open Bible for all, without the permission or intervention of pope and priest, marks an immense advance in church history, and can never be lost. Earlier Versions Luther was not the first, but by far the greatest translator of the German Bible, and is as inseparably connected with it as Jerome is with the Latin Vulgate. He threw the older translation into the shade and out of use, and has not been surpassed or even equaled by a successor.

The civilization of the barbarians in the dark ages began with the introduction of Christianity, and the translation of such portions of the Scriptures as were needed in public worship. It is the earliest monument of Teutonic literature, and the basis of comparative Teutonic philology. It slavishly follows the Latin Vulgate. It may be compared to Wiclif's English Version , which was likewise made from the Vulgate, the original languages being then almost unknown in Europe.

Paul to the Laodiceans, which is a worthless compilation of a few sentences from the genuine writings of the apostle. Most of them are in large folio, in two volumes, and illustrated by wood- cuts. The editions present one and the same version or rather two versions,--one High German, the other Low German with dialectical alterations and accommodations to the textual variations of the MSS. The revisers are as unknown as the translators. The spread of this version, imperfect as it was, proves the hunger and thirst of the German people for the pure word of God, and prepared the way for the Reformation.

It alarmed the hierarchy. Archbishop Berthold of Mainz, otherwise a learned and enlightened prelate, issued, Jan. Even Geiler of Kaisersberg, who sharply criticised the follies of the world and abuses of the Church, thought it "an evil thing to print the Bible in German. He made judicious use of it, as he did also of old German and Latin hymns.

Without such aid he could hardly have finished his New Testament in the short space of three months. It is to all intents a new work. Luther's Qualifications Luther had a rare combination of gifts for a Bible translator: A good translation must be both true and free, faithful and idiomatic, so as to read like an original work. This is the case with Luther's version. Besides, he had already acquired such fame and authority that his version at once commanded universal attention.

His knowledge of Greek and Hebrew was only moderate, but sufficient to enable him to form an independent judgment. In the German tongue he had no rival. He created, as it were, or gave shape and form to the modern High German. He combined the official language of the government with that of the common people.

He listened, as he says, to the speech of the mother at home, the children in the street, the men and women in the market, the butcher and various tradesmen in their shops, and, "looked them on the mouth," in pursuit of the most intelligible terms. His genius for poetry and music enabled him to reproduce the rhythm and melody, the parallelism and symmetry, of Hebrew poetry and prose. His crowning qualification was his intuitive insight and spiritual sympathy with the contents of the Bible.

A good translation, he says, requires "a truly devout, faithful, diligent, Christian, learned, experienced, and practiced heart. He found for the first time a complete copy of the Latin Bible in the University Library at Erfurt, to his great delight, and made it his chief study. He derived from it his theology and spiritual nourishment; he lectured and preached on it as professor at Wittenberg day after day. He acquired the knowledge of the original languages for the purpose of its better understanding.

He liked to call himself a "Doctor of the Sacred Scriptures. He was urged by his friends, especially by Melanchthon, as well as by his own sense of duty, to translate the whole Bible. He began with the New Testament in November or December, , and completed it in the following March, before he left the Wartburg. He thoroughly revised it on his return to Wittenberg, with the effectual help of Melanchthon, who was a much better Greek scholar. Sturz at Erfurt was consulted about coins and measures; Spalatin furnished from the Electoral treasury names for the precious stones of the New Jerusalem Rev.

The translation was then hurried through three presses, and appeared already Sept. The Pentateuch appeared in ; the Psalter, They met once a week in his house, several hours before supper. Each member of the company contributed to the work from his special knowledge and preparation. Melanchthon brought with him the Greek Bible, Cruciger the Hebrew and Chaldee, Bugenhagen the Vulgate, others the old commentators; Luther had always with him the Latin and the German versions besides the Hebrew.

Sometimes they scarcely mastered three lines of the Book of Job in four days, and hunted two, three, and four weeks for a single word. No record exists of the discussions of this remarkable company, but Mathesius says that "wonderfully beautiful and instructive speeches were made. He never ceased to amend his translation. Besides correcting errors, he improved the uncouth and confused orthography, fixed the inflections, purged the vocabulary of obscure and ignoble words, and made the whole more symmetrical and melodious.

He prepared five original editions, or recensions, of his whole Bible, the last in , a year before his death. Some of them are real improvements, e. The charge that he made the changes in the interest of Philippism Melanchthonianism , seems to be unfounded. It passed through innumerable improvements and mis-improvements.

The orthography and inflections were modernized, obsolete words removed, the versicular division introduced first in a Heidelberg reprint, , the spurious clause of the three witnesses inserted in 1 John 5: Elector August of Saxony tried to control the text in the interest of strict Lutheran orthodoxy, and ordered the preparation of a standard edition But it was disregarded outside of Saxony. Gradually no less than eleven or twelve recensions came into use, some based on the edition of , others on that of The most careful recension was that of the Canstein Bible Institute, founded by a pious nobleman, Carl Hildebrand von Canstein in connection with Francke's Orphan House at Halle.

It acquired the largest circulation and became the textus receptus of the German Bible. Revised versions with many improvements were prepared by Joh. Rudolf Stier , but did not obtain public authority. At last a conservative official revision of the Luther Bible was inaugurated by the combined German church governments in , with a view and fair prospect of superseding all former editions in public use. Duke George of Saxony, Duke William of Bavaria, and Archduke Ferdinand of Austria strictly prohibited the sale in their dominions, but could not stay the current.

Hans Lufft at Wittenberg printed and sold in forty years between and about a hundred thousand copies,--an enormous number for that age,--and these were read by millions. The number of copies from reprints is beyond estimate. Cochlaeus, the champion of Romanism, paid the translation the greatest compliment when he complained that "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.

Such were made by Emser , Dietenberger , and Eck , and accompanied with annotations. Panzer already knew fourteen; see his Gesch. The first four, in large folio, appeared without date and place of publication, but were probably printed: The others are located, and from the seventh on also dated, viz.: The Low Dutch Bibles were printed: The unknown editor speaks of previous editions and his own improvements. Stevens gives the full titles with descriptions, pp. They are ornamented by woodcuts, beginning with a picture of God creating the world, and forming Eve from the rib of Adam in Paradise.

Several of them have Jerome's preface De omnibus divinae historiae libris, Ep. Krafft illustrates the dependence of Luther on the earlier version by several examples pp. The following is from the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. Der aber spricht sagt, Racha, der ist des zu seinem bruder. Darum ob du auff den altar opfferst, un opfferst dein gab zu dem wirst alda eyngedenken, attar. Sey willfertig gehellig deim deynem widersacher, bald, widerwertigen schyer. Un Gott auff den wassern. Es werde dz liecht. Und es ward liecht. Un das liecht ist worden. The precise origin of the mediaeval German Bible is still unknown.

On the other hand, Dr. Franz Jostes, a Roman Catholic scholar, denied the Waldensian and defended the Catholic origin of that translation, in two pamphlets: The same author promises a complete history of German Catholic Bible versions. The question has been discussed in periodicals and reviews, e. Literaturblatt," Leipzig, and Nos. The arguments for the Waldensian origin are derived from certain additions to the Codex Teplensis, and alleged departures from the text of the Vulgate. But the additions are not anti-Catholic, and are not found in the cognate Freiberger MS.

The text of the Vulgate was in greater confusion in the middle ages than the text of the Itala at the time of Jerome, nor was there any authorized text of it before the Clementine recension of The only plausible argument which Dr. Keller brings out in his second publication pp.

Dutch, French, and Italian versions also appeared among the earliest prints. The Italian edition exhibited in at London is entitled: La Biblia en lingua Volgare per Nicolo di Mallermi. Rosso Vercellese, , fol.

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A Spanish Bible by Bonif. Ferrer was printed at Valencia, see Reuss, Gesch. The Bible is the common property and most sacred treasure of all Christian churches. The art of printing was invented in Catholic times, and its history goes hand in hand with the history of the Bible. The Bible was the first book printed, and the Bible is the last book printed. Between and , an interval of four centuries and a quarter, the Bible shows the progress and comparative development of the art of printing in a manner that no other single book can; and Biblical bibliography proves that during the first forty years, at least, the Bible exceeded in amount of printing all other books put together; nor were its quality, style, and variety a whit behind its quantity.

It was, from beginning to end, a labor of love and enthusiasm. While publishers and printers made fortunes, Luther never received or asked a copper for this greatest work of his life. A German translation from the original languages was a work of colossal magnitude if we consider the absence of good grammars, dictionaries, and concordances, the crude state of Greek and Hebrew scholarship, and of the German language, in the sixteenth century.

Luther wrote to Amsdorf, Jan. The science of textual criticism was not yet born, and the materials for it were not yet collected from the manuscripts, ancient versions, and patristic quotations.

1. Wortgetreue Übersetzungen.
High Skies (True Voyages Book 1)?
!
Oh, Hampden in the Sun . . . (Mainstream sport).

Luther had to use the first printed editions. He had no access to manuscripts, the most important of which were not even discovered or made available before the middle of the nineteenth century. Biblical geography and archaeology were in their infancy, and many names and phrases could not be understood at the time. In view of these difficulties we need not be surprised at the large number of mistakes, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies in Luther's version.

They are most numerous in Job and the Prophets, who present, even to the advanced Hebrew scholars of our day, many unsolved problems of text and rendering. The English Version of had the great advantage of the labors of three generations of translators and revisers, and is therefore more accurate, and yet equally idiomatic. He derived the text from a few mediaeval MSS. Stephen, in his "royal edition" of the basis of the English Textus Receptus , and by the Elzevirs in their editions of and the basis of the Continental Textus Receptus , and which maintained the supremacy till Lachmann inaugurated the adoption of an older textual basis Luther did not slavishly follow the Greek of Erasmus, and in many places conformed to the Latin Vulgate, which is based on an older text.

He also omitted, even in his last edition, the famous interpolation of the heavenly witnesses in 1 John 5: Saxons and Bavarians, Hanoverians and Swabians, could scarcely understand each other. 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. Luther brought harmony out of this confusion, and made the modern High German the common book language. He chose as the basis the Saxon dialect, which was used at the Saxon court and in diplomatic intercourse between the emperor and the estates, but was bureaucratic, stiff, heavy, involved, dragging, and unwieldy.

He enriched it with the vocabulary of the German mystics, chroniclers, and poets. He gave it wings, and made it intelligible to the common people of all parts of Germany. He adapted the words to the capacity of the Germans, often at the expense of accuracy. He cared more for the substance than the form. He substituted even undeutsch! Still greater liberties he allowed himself in the Apocrypha, to make them more easy and pleasant reading.

He avoided foreign terms which rushed in like a flood with the revival of learning, especially in proper names as Melanchthon for Schwarzerd, Aurifaber for Goldschmid, Oecolampadius for Hausschein, Camerarius for Kammermeister. He enriched the vocabulary with such beautiful words as holdselig, Gottseligkeit.

Erasmus Alber, a contemporary of Luther, called him the German Cicero, who not only reformed religion, but also the German language. Luther's version is an idiomatic reproduction of the Bible in the very spirit of the Bible. It brings out the whole wealth, force, and beauty of the German language. It is the first German classic, as King James's version is the first English classic. The best authority in Teutonic philology pronounces his language to be the foundation of the new High German dialect on account of its purity and influence, and the Protestant dialect on account of its freedom which conquered even Roman Catholic authors.

Emser, one of the most learned opponents of the Reformation, singled out in Luther's New Testament several hundred linguistic blunders and heretical falsifications. He published, by order of Duke George of Saxony, a new translation for the purpose of correcting the errors of "Luther and other heretics. The most important example of dogmatic influence in Luther's version is the famous interpolation of the word alone in Rom. It is well known that Luther deemed it impossible to harmonize the two apostles in this article, and characterized the Epistle of James as an "epistle of straw," because it had no evangelical character "keine evangelische Art".

I can translate; which they can not Therefore the word allein shall remain in my New Testament, and though all pope- donkeys Papstesel should get furious and foolish, they shall not turn it out. On the other hand, the Roman Catholic translators used the same liberty of marginal annotations and pictorial illustrations in favor of the doctrines and usages of their own church. Emser's New Testament is full of anti-Lutheran glosses. And yet even in the same chapter and throughout the whole Epistle to the Romans, Emser copies verbatim Luther's version for whole verses and sections; and where he departs from his language, it is generally for the worse.

The same may be said of the other two German Catholic Bibles of the age of the Reformation. Dietenberger adds his comments in smaller type after the chapters, and agrees with Emser's interpretation of Rom. Eck's German Bible has few notes, but a strongly anti-Protestant preface. A translation is an interpretation. Absolute reproduction is impossible in any work. And even where they agree in words, there is a difference in the pervading spirit.

They move, as it were, in a different atmosphere. A Roman Catholic version must be closely conformed to the Latin Vulgate, which the Council of Trent puts on an equal footing with the original text. The Romanist must become evangelical before he can fully apprehend the free spirit of the gospel as revealed in the New Testament.

There is, however, a gradual progress in translation, which goes hand in hand with the progress of the understanding of the Bible. Jerome's Vulgate is an advance upon the Itala, both in accuracy and Latinity; the Protestant Versions of the sixteenth century are an advance upon the Vulgate, in spirit and in idiomatic reproduction; the revisions of the nineteenth century are an advance upon the versions of the sixteenth, in philological and historical accuracy and consistency.

A future generation will make a still nearer approach to the original text in its purity and integrity. If the Holy Spirit of God shall raise the Church to a higher plane of faith and love, and melt the antagonisms of human creeds into the one creed of Christ, then, and not before then, may we expect perfect versions of the oracles of God. He says in his Philosophie der Geschichte, p. Hoeppe , W. The Codex contains also homilies of St.

Chrysostom, and seven articles of faith. The last especially have induced Keller and Haupt to assign the translation to Waldensian origin. But these Addenda are not uncatholic, and at most would only prove Waldensian or Bohemian proprietorship of this particular copy, but not authorship of the translation. See Notes below, p. It can therefore not be used as an argument for or against the Waldensian hypothesis of Keller. See Fritzsche in Herzog ii, vol. The Gospels for the year were printed about 25 times before ; the Psalter about 13 times before He adds, however, very justly l.

Denn soll einer von einem Dinge reden, so muss er die Sache [Sprache? Das Newe Testament Deutzsch. With wood-cuts by Lucas Cranach, one at the beginning of each book and twenty-one in the Apocalypse. The chapter division of the Latin Bible, dating from Hugo a St. Caro, was retained with some paragraph divisions; the versicular division was as yet unknown Robert Stephanus first introduced it in his Latin edition, , and in his Greek Testament of The order of the Epistles is changed, and the change remained in all subsequent editions.

Some parallel passages and glosses are added on the margin. It contained many typographical errors, a very curious one in Gal. It has the famous preface with the fling at the "rechte stroern Epistel" of St. James, which was afterwards omitted or modified. The triple papal crown of the Babylonian woman in Rev. Biblia, das ist die gantze Heilige Schrift, Deutsch. Durch Hans Lufft, M. A copy in the Canstein Bibelanstalt at Halle. Seminary in New York has a copy of the edition of which bears this title: The margin is ornamented. Eck's Bible appeared in , at Ingolstadt, Bavaria.

Video nunc, quid sit interpretari, et cur hactenus a nullo sit attentatum, qui proficeretur nomen suum. The editio princeps of the whole Hebrew Bible appeared Soncino: Abraham ben Chayin de' Tintori. A copy in possession of Dr. Portions had been printed before. His influence on Luther is expressed in the well-known lines: At the end is a Latin letter of Frobenius, the publisher, dated "Nonis Fehr. Reuss of Strassburg, who has the largest collection and best knowledge of Greek Testaments, denies this.

Tyndale's English version was likewise made from Erasmus. Graece et Germanice, Preface, p. The revised Luther- Bible of strangely retains the passage, but in small type and in brackets, with the note that it was wanting in Luther's editions. The Probebibel departs only in a few places from the Erasmian text as followed by Luther: In this respect the German revision is far behind the Anglo- American revision of , which corrects the Textus Receptus In about five thousand places.

Most editions contain a Preface of Duke George of Saxony, in which he charges Luther with rebellion against all ecclesiastical and secular authority, and identifies him with the beast of the Apocalypse, Rev. In his Luther, eine Skizze Freiburg-i. Trench considers the main objections in his book on the Authorized Version and Revision, pp. The chief passages objected to by Romanists are Heb. See Meyer on Rom. It was published in September, , with special reference to Emser, whom he does not name, but calls "the scribbler from Dresden" "der dresdener Sudler". Grimm, the lexicographer l.

I have an old copy of Luther's Testament, without titlepage, before me, where the word allein is printed in larger type with a marginal finger pointing to it. The most important is his preface to the Epistle to the Romans, and his most objectionable that to the Epistle of James. Johan Dietenberger, new verdeutscht. Gott zu ewiger ehre unnd wolfarth seiner heil. From a copy in the Union Seminary Van Ess library. Well printed and illustrated.

Bibel Alt und New Testament, nach dem Text in der heiligen Kirchen gebraucht, durch Doctor Johan Ecken, mit fleiss, auf hochteutsch verdolmetscht, etc. They were printed at Ingolstadt, and agree in the number of pages , and vary only in the date of publication. Jerome speaks of versiones which are eversiones. As Trench says, there are in every translation "unavoidable losses inherent in the nature of the task, in the relations of one language to the other, in the lack of accurate correlations between them, in the different schemes of their construction.

Some of them have been silently removed in modern editions.

The notes of the older editions abound in fulminations against heretics. Halle, , in 7 vols. A critical reprint of the last edition of Luther Niemeyer died after the publication of the first volume. Not in De Wette's collection, because of its polemical character. A defense of his version against the attacks of the Romanists. Mathesius, in his thirteenth sermon on the Life of Luther.

On the merits and history of Luther's version. The best works are by Palm Schott , and the introduction to the Probebibel On the pre-Lutheran German Bible, and Luther's relation to it. Fritzsche in Herzog, 2d ed. Bonn, 25 pages. Ich will Ehre einlegen unter den Heiden; ich will Ehre einlegen auf Erden. He came to symbolize everything the Protestant Reformation stood for.

No other work has had as strong an impact on a nation's development and heritage as has this Book.