Most Christians, Protestant and
Catholic alike, have heard of Martin Luther. However, many may be unaware that
an important thing Luther did was to translate the Bible in a way that made it
understandable to common people. For too long the message of scripture had been
unavailable to most Christians.
An expert in Greek and Hebrew,
Luther sought to put the scriptures in the hands of all people. To do so, he
considered it important to employ language that could be readily understood.
So, when asked to translate the Bible into German, he went on field trips among
the various trades and occupations to learn what words were used by the
everyday people. In order to translate Leviticus and its sacrificial rites, for
instance, Luther went to the slaughterhouses and butcher shops of Wittenberg so
he could learn what words were used when animals were slaughtered and carved
up.
The result was a translation that
could be understood by everyone, including, as lamented by one of his critics
and celebrated by pretty much everyone else, “tailors and shoemakers, yes, even
womenfolk and other simple idiots.” Similarly, centuries later, the Jewish poet
Heinrich Heine would say that in Luther’s New Testament, he could “... scold
like a fishwife and whisper like a maiden.”1
The same was also true for that
other great translator, William Tyndale, who was executed for the crime of
producing scriptures in English. He once replied to a scholarly clergyman who
criticized his work that if he had his will, the day would come when a plowboy
would know his scriptures better than this opponent. Considering that much of
Tyndale’s language became the basis for the King James translation, one can say
indeed that his words proved prophetic.
...approximately 1,372 words remaining. You are not logged in. Please see options at the top of this page to view complete sermon.
