NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion - Volume 59, Issue 4, 2005

In October 2004 the Bible Societies of the Low Countries – both Catholic and Reformed – published a new translation into Dutch. This translation aims to be faithful to the sourcetext as well as directed to the syntax and grammar of the receiving language (brontekstgetrouw and doeltaalgericht). In discussing a few examples from the Book of Jeremiah, this contribution investigates whether this strategy was correctly applied. It turns out that occasionally the translation is not faithful to the source text. At a few instances the translators failed to translate features of the Hebrew text and language with comparable phenomena in Dutch.

The New Dutch Bible translation refers twenty three times to Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts. This contribution assesses the influence of the Dead Sea Scrolls biblical texts upon this new translation.

A comparison of the text of Mark 1:1-15 in NBV with two other standard Protestant and Catholic Dutch translations (NBG and WV95) reveals that the new translation is not entirely new. But in those cases where it differs in a similar way from both NBG and WV95, it interprets the Greek text more explicitly and therefore presents a freer translation. Since the ecclesiastic and social context in the Netherlands and Flanders is secularised and not homogeneous, the role of the NBV in the future will not only depend on the quality of its translation. Its circulation should go hand in hand with providing information on Biblical interpretation and hermeneutics as such.

In this article, the author focuses on the phenomenon of scripture reading in relationship to the new translation of the Bible. How do the listeners in protestant services respond to the new translation? Can we discover a ‘conservative impulse’, a reserved attitude towards new words and expressions or are the listeners relieved that a new translation has replaced the translation of 1951? First, the author discusses the meaning of liturgy and the influence of a church service upon the participants. Then he analyses the distinct meaning of scripture reading. He asks for the criteria to be applied to a translation that aims at being read aloud. Finally, the results are presented of a limited empirical, quantitative and cross-sectional survey. One of the main results is that the new translation meets the criteria well. Another result is that a considerable number of listeners evaluate the comprehensibility of the translation positively, while they simultaneously regret the loss of well-known and cherished words.

The synod of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands recently released the NBV for ‘testing’ in the parishes for a period of 5 years. Although religious practices can be identified in health care institutions due to the work official spiritual caregivers do, health care was not specifically mentioned as a testing ground for the reception of the NBV. Research indicated that spiritual caregivers working in the fields of general hospitals and nursing homes highly valued the NBV for its hermeneutical and communicative competencies (readability and ecumenical impact); make use of it in liturgical celebrations and their preparation for it, regard it as an adequate ‘tool’ in their work, but generally speaking do not use it for obtaining personal inspiration. The respondents do not regard the NBV as a replacement of existing translations and deal with it in a pragmatic way. Where it can serve a good purpose, it is used. Otherwise it is neglected.