[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] German Bible

[Otto]

On May 14, 2006, at 9:05 AM, Delores Stevens wrote:

> I have recently come into possession of my great grandfather's  
> Bible.  It is
> in German and so I needed an older relative to translate for me.  She
> informed me that it is the Bible, Martin Luther version and starts  
> with the
> Book of Moses.  It was printed in 1898.
>
> Could anyone tell me the significance about being a Martin Luther  
> version
> and starting with the Book of Moses?


First, there is no 'book' of Moses by itself.
What is undoubtedly referred to is 'The books of Moses'. The first  
five books of the Bible, (Bible = biblia-'little books') are referred  
to as the Pentateuch, (a Greek word meaning "five rolls" or "fivefold  
volume"). "Genesis" is the name given to the first of these books by  
the Septuagint translation, whereas its Hebrew title, Bere'shith',  
("In the beginning") is taken from the first word in its opening  
sentence.

Second, there were many translations before and after Luther's  
translations. Luther possessed a mastery over the vernacular language  
of the common German people, the everyday language spoken by a people  
as distinguished from the literary language. He was able to follow a  
similar pattern as in the Christian Scriptures, written in the Koine  
Greek, the vernacular, instead of the supposed for years Classical  
Greek. Luther, as "Junker Jorg", at Wartburg Castle, did the initial  
translation of the Christian Scriptures in a matter of months.  
(December 1521-March 1522)
*A bit of "googling" on key words will result in a wealth of  
information.*
(I am still thankful for the arrangements made by cousin Juergen to  
travel to Wartburg Castle in Thuringia near Wartburgstadt Eisenach  
and see personally the room Junker Jorg translated the Greek  
scriptures in.)

Third, he next translated the Hebrew Scriptures, (Old testament) the  
Pentateuch appeared in 1523.  The remainder were released in parts.  
There  is never a vacuum in which a person exists, fine-tuning of the  
translations of Luther was contributed to by his Collegium Biblieum  
(Bible Club), consisting of scholars of the day. Jewish Rabbis were  
frequently consulted.

Fourth, the readability of Luther's translations made them very  
popular among the common people. (They could read for themselves. . .  
strange how times flip-flop)  He had combined the language of the  
government with the language of the common people.  Luther never  
ceased in amending his translation for accuracy.  His translation  
became a basic language model for a later 'standardized' language of  
the country. (circa 1795)


. . .  Otto

                      " The Zen moment..." wk. of March 5, 2006
                      ________________________________
                         "Remove what isn't... What is remains."