Bible translations into Danish prior to the

Danish Reformation Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A Danish person, also called a "Dane", can be a national or citizen of Denmark (see Demographics of Denmark) * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, ...

were limited. However in the mid-16th century with the Reformation's emphasis on direct study of the Bible, the need for Danish-language editions accelerated. Currently, the oversees translation and production of

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church ( , or unofficially ; ), sometimes called the Church of Denmark, is the established, state-supported church in Denmark. The supreme secular authority of the church is composed of ...

-authorized Danish-language Bibles with the most recent full translation completed in 1992.

Prior to the Reformation

Prior to the

, only a few biblical writings had been translated into Danish. The most extensive was the ''Gammeldansk Bibel'' written and translating the first 12 books of the Bible from the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

into

Middle Danish The Danish language developed during the Middle Ages out of Old East Norse, the common predecessor of Danish and Swedish. It was a late form of common Old Norse. The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided the history of Danish in ...

. The translation was a difficult process resulting in a mix of

literal translation Literal translation, direct translation, or word-for-word translation is the translation of a text done by translating each word separately without analysing how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence. In translation theory, anoth ...

and interpretation.

Post Reformation

Since the 1500s, however, the history of Danish Bible translations can generally be divided into three main periods.

The legacy of Luther (16th – 17th century)

With the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

came an increased interest ensuring the Bible was accessible to everyone. In 1522,

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

published his new translation of the New Testament from Greek and, in 1534, a translation of the entire Bible based on the Greek and Hebrew scriptures. In 1524,

Christian II A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Ch ...

had Luther's translation used for a Danish-language printing of the New Testament. In 1550,

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

authorized the first complete translation of the Bible into Danish, which was overseen by a panel of seven theologians and printed by the German printer with 85

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s from

Erhard Altdorfer Erhard Altdorfer (sometimes spelled ''Erhart Aldorfer''; – 1561) was a German Early Renaissance printmaker, painter, and architect, who worked as a court painter in Schwerin from 1512 until his death in 1561. Erhard Altdorfer was the younger ...

. Additional translations were made in 1589 under Frederick II and in 1633 under

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years and 330 days is the longest in Scandinavian history. A member of the H ...

. These translations were more idiomatic and focused on conveying the meaning of the scripture.

The Resen–Svaneian tradition (17th – 19th century)

In 1607, Bishop published a new Danish translation of the entire Bible directly from the Hebrew and Greek sources, and in 1647 a revised edition was completed by

Hans Svane Hans Svane (Svaning) (27 March 1606 – 26 July 1668) was a Danish statesman and clergy member of the Church of Denmark. He was a professor at the University of Copenhagen from 1635 and Bishop of the Diocese of Zealand from 1655 until his death ...

. These translations marked a philosophical shift in Bible translation, favoring a translation that hewed more closely to the original Hebrew and Greek sources in order to preserve the

divine inspiration Divine inspiration is the concept of a supernatural force, typically a deity, causing a person or people to experience a creative desire. It has been a commonly reported aspect of many religions, for thousands of years. Divine inspiration is ofte ...

of the text. This philosophy guided translations until the early 20th century and included

Christian VI Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...

’s 1740 Bible, the first published under the Kongelige Vajsenhus's monopoly. The last translation in the Resen–Svaneian tradition was made by the Danish Bible Society in 1871, combining a new Old Testament translation with the 1819 New Testament translation made under Frederick VI.

Modern translations (20th – 21st century)

During the 20th century, as modern

Biblical criticism Modern Biblical criticism (as opposed to pre-Modern criticism) is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible without appealing to the supernatural. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical c ...

and

biblical exegesis Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

interpretations gained favor, new linguistic and archaeological understandings expanded the understanding of the original Hebrew and Greek sources. This resulted in a shift in translation philosophy and new Danish translations of the Old Testament in 1931 and New Testament in 1948. The latest edition in this tradition is the Church of Denmark's ''Danish Authorized Version of 1992'' completed by the Danish Bible Society.

Other translations

In parallel with these three traditions, a number of other scripture translations into Danish were published, including Jewish translations of the

Pentateuch The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...

by Chief Rabbi

Abraham Wolff Abraham Alexander Wolff (; 29 April 1801 – 3 December 1891) was the chief rabbi of Denmark and translator of the Torah into Danish language, Danish. Wolff was born in Darmstadt, Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Darmstadt, to the merchan ...

in 1891 and a revised version that added the haftaroth in 1894; Catholic translations from the Vulgate published in 1893 and 1931; and the Danish Contemporary Bible 2020, which modernized the language of the Bible to appeal to young and secular readers.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Danish Bibelen 1871 Edition

The earliest translation of the Bible into Danish from 1480
Danish Danish literature 1647 books