What is the Synodal Translation in the New Testament. The history and significance of the synodal translation of the Bible. Why do we need new translations

Maxim asks: Hello, I want to ask you whether the Bible of the canonical synodal translation is equivalent in every sense with the Bible in the modern translation.

Answers Andris Peshelis.

Hello Maxim!

In my understanding, from the Bible translations into Russian, the synodal translation is the best.

True, you need to know the nuances.

For example, the Old Testament in the synodal translation is translated from the ancient Greek Septuagint.

Therefore, the numbering of the Psalms in the synodal translation does not coincide with the numbering in other translations of the Bible, and in some places it is necessary to clarify the content of the text according to ancient Hebrew texts, for example, in the book of Daniel 9. translated with a tip on the interpretation of the prophecy, as pointed out by Jewish commentators that this translation is too Christianized.

In Rev. 1:10 in the synodal translation is translated: "on the day of Sunday," and in ancient Greek it says: "on the day of the Lord."

The synodal translation of the New Testament is based on the majority of ancient Greek manuscripts (about 5,000), which were also used by reformers to translate the Bible, for example, they were used to translate German Luther, the English Bible of King James, etc., but these ancient Greek manuscripts are no longer used in modern Bible translations!

Including in modern translations of the Bible in Russian!

These manuscripts of the majority today are considered corrupted because they too suspiciously coincide with each other and do not offer a range of discrepancies, like those "the best", but the oldest 25.

Modern translations use a synthesis of 25 ancient Greek manuscripts that were not used during the Reformation. During the Reformation, one of the best manuscripts, in the understanding of modern translators, lay in the archives of the Vatican - the Vatican Codex. His readings of the text do not even coincide with the Latin Vulgate, which Luther did not translate, because he considered it inaccurate. Another best manuscript during the Reformation lay in the garbage of a monastery in the Sinai - the Sinai Codex.

These manuscripts were not used to translate the Russian synodal translation, so it contains all the words of the New Testament. For modern translations into Russian, the working text of the New Testament in ancient Greek is used, which is 2,200 words shorter than the one from which the synodal translation was translated.

In my understanding, it is necessary to translate all the words of the text, but in modern times this idea is not supported, but they believe that it is necessary to translate the meaning, or thought, and not all words.

On October 4, 2016, a scientific and practical conference was held in Moscow, dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the creation of the Synodal translation of the Bible into Russian. The event was organized by the Christian Interfaith Advisory Committee. The conference was delivered by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

1. Today we have gathered to mark an important date in the history of Christianity in Russia - the 140th anniversary of the Synodal translation of the Bible. It is natural for a believer to gratefully honor the memory of those who gave him the opportunity to touch the Good News, to read the Scriptures in their native language. The anniversary of the biblical translation is a holiday for all Christians in Russia.

Philo of Alexandria, who lived at the beginning of our era, wrote that the Alexandrian Jews annually celebrated the anniversary of the translation of the Bible into Greek, gathering on the island of Faros (where, according to Tradition, Seventy Colonels translated the Pentateuch). “And not only the Jews,” writes Philo, “but also many other people are sailing here to honor the place where the light of interpretation shone for the first time, and to thank God for this ancient beneficence, which always remains new.”

Slavic peoples gratefully honor the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who laid the foundation for the Slavic Bible. In that era when the Western Church did not encourage translations into folk languages, Cyril, Methodius and their students gave the Slavs the Bible in an understandable and native dialect for them. In Bulgaria, Russia and some other countries, the memory of the Solun brothers is celebrated at the state level - as a day of education, culture and Slavic writing.

The creators of the Synodal Translation deserve no less gratitude from our side. It is in this translation that millions of Russian-speaking people in Russia and abroad know and read the Bible.

Moreover, unlike the situation, which often takes place in other countries, where different Christian denominations use different translations of the Holy Scriptures, in Russia the Synodal Translation does not separate, but unites Christians of different confessions. A vivid evidence of this is our meeting today, which brought together representatives of Christian churches using the Synodal translation.

There are differences between the “Orthodox” and “Protestant” editions of the Synodal Translation, but they relate only to certain places in the Old Testament. In the "Protestant" editions, the so-called "non-canonical books of the Old Testament" are omitted; these are the second and third books of Ezra, the books of Judith, Tobit, the books of the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, the message of Jeremiah, the book of the prophet Baruch, and the three Maccabees books. All these books were present in the manuscript biblical tradition of the Middle Ages, but were not included in the biblical canon of the Protestant communities because they were written later than the rest of the Old Testament books and are not part of the Jewish canon.

In the Old Testament part of the “Protestant” editions of the Synodal Translation, the Septuagint inserts present in the “Orthodox” editions are omitted — places where the translation of the Hebrew Bible is supplemented by inserts made from the Greek text. All these differences, however, are marginal in comparison with the main message of the Old Testament, which for all Christians in Russia sounds in a single translation.

There are no discrepancies between the “Orthodox” and “Protestant” Bibles regarding the core of our faith - the New Testament.

2. The beginning of biblical education in our country dates back to the time of the Baptism of Russia. The oldest monuments of the Russian language are the Ostromir Gospel, written in 1056-1057. for St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, and the so-called "Novgorod Psalter", which dates from the end of the X - the beginning of the XI century, i.e. only one to two decades later than the Baptism of Russia. Both of the oldest monuments of the Russian language are biblical texts. This clearly tells us that the Russian language, Russian writing, Russian culture are inseparable from the Russian Bible.

Thanks to the works of Saints Cyril, Methodius and their disciples in Russia from the very beginning there was spiritual literature in the national language. But, like any living human language, the Russian language has changed. By the beginning of the 19th century, the gap between the Church Slavonic language and the language of everyday communication widened so much that the Slavic texts became obscure. Many representatives of the aristocracy - for example, Pushkin or Emperor Alexander I - if they wanted to read the Bible, they were forced to read it in French. The Russian Bible was not, the Slavic was already difficult to understand. In November 1824, shortly after arriving at Mikhailovskoye, Pushkin wrote to his brother in Petersburg: “The Bible, the Bible! And certainly French! ”In other words, Pushkin specifically asks him to send him not an obscure Church Slavonic Bible, but written in a language that he understands.

By the end of the 18th century, the translation of Scripture into Russian was on the agenda. In 1794, a message prepared by Archbishop Methodius (Smirnov) was published “To the Roman Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul with Interpretation,” where a Russian translation was given in parallel with the Slavic text. This was the first translation of the biblical text into Russian, understood as a language other than Church Slavonic.

A new stage in the history of the Russian Bible falls at the beginning of the 19th century, during the era of Alexander I. During the war of 1812, which Alexander I took as a test sent by God, his personal “biblical conversion” took place. He becomes a deeply religious person, the Bible (in the French translation) is made his handbook.

In the same 1812, the representative of the British Bible Society John Patterson arrived in Russia. His proposal for the formation of a Bible society in Russia receives the warm support of the Russian emperor, unexpected for Patterson himself. On December 6, 1812, Alexander I approved the report of Prince Alexander Nikolayevich Golitsyn, a supporter of biblical education, on the advisability of opening the St. Petersburg Bible Society. September 4, 1814 it received the name of the Russian Bible Society. The president of the Society was Prince Golitsyn. It was created as interfaith; it included representatives of the main Christian denominations of the Russian Empire. This experience of cooperation of different faiths is an important example for today's Christians of Russia.

The society is dedicated to translating and publishing the Bible. Over the ten years of its existence, it has published over 876 thousand copies of Bible books in 29 languages; of them in 12 languages \u200b\u200b- for the first time. For the beginning of the XIX century, these are huge circulations. This was possible only thanks to the attention and personal support of Emperor Alexander I. The Russian language was not left without attention.

February 28, 1816, Prince A.N. Golitsyn reported to the Holy Synod the will of Alexander I: “His Imperial Majesty ... regrets that many of the Russians, by the quality of their upbringing, were removed from knowledge of the ancient Slovenian dialect, and not without extreme difficulty can they use the holy books published for them in this only dialect so that some in this case resort to foreign translations, and most cannot even have this ... His Imperial Majesty finds ... so that for the Russian people, under the watch of spiritual persons, the New Testament was transformed from the ancient Slavic to the new Russian dialect. ”

In the process, however, the plans of the Russian Bible Society became more ambitious: it was already a question of translating not only the New Testament, but the entire Bible, and not from the “ancient Slavic”, but from the originals - Greek and Jewish.

The main inspirer, organizer, and to a large extent, the translator of the Bible into Russian was the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archimandrite Filaret (Drozdov), in the future the Metropolitan of Moscow, ranked by the Orthodox Church as a saint. He developed the rules for translators and, in fact, became the chief editor of all translations, the last resort in their preparation for printing.

In 1819, the Four Gospels were published. In 1821 - the complete New Testament. In 1822 - the Psalter. One of the first Hebraists in Russia, Archpriest Gerasim Pavsky, was responsible for the translation of the Old Testament. In 1824, the first edition of the Pentateuch was prepared and printed, but it did not go on sale. It was decided to add the books of Joshua, Judges and Ruth to the Pentateuch and release them together in the form of the so-called Eighth Book.

Meanwhile, a fateful event for translation took place: in May 1824, as a result of palace intrigues initiated by Count Arakcheev and archimandrite Photius (Spassky), Alexander I dismissed Prince Golitsyn. The new president of the Society, Metropolitan Seraphim (Glagolevsky), made every effort to stop the translation of the Bible into Russian, and the Bible society to cease to function. Almost the entire circulation of the just printed Pentateuch with the books of Jesus Naveen, Judges and Ruth (9,000 copies) was burned at the end of 1825 at the brick factory of Alexander Nevsky Lavra. On April 12, 1826, under the influence of Count Arakcheev and his associates, Emperor Nicholas I suspended the activities of the Society “from now on until the Highest Permission” by decree.

Archpriest Gerasim Pavsky and Archimandrite Makarius (Glukharev), who heroically continued during these years as private individuals to translate Scripture into Russian, had to experience the displeasure of the church authorities of that time.

The stop of work on the Russian translation of the Bible and, soon after, the closure of the Russian Bible Society were caused not only by palace intrigues and personal quarrel between Alexander I and Prince Golitsyn. Opponents of the translation, primarily the famous Admiral Shishkov, insisted on the special sacred nature of the Slavic language and the inability of the Russian language to transmit religious content. “... We can judge what difference in the height and power of the language should exist between the Holy Scriptures in Slavonic and other languages: one thought is preserved in those; in our thought this one is dressed with the splendor and importance of words, ”writes Shishkov. In such a perspective, the question inevitably arose: is a translation of the Bible into Russian at all necessary in the presence of Slavic?

“By an unusually fortunate coincidence, the Slovenian language has that advantage over Russian, over Latin, Greek, and over all possible languages \u200b\u200bthat have the alphabet that it does not have a single harmful book,” wrote Ivan Kireevsky, one of the most prominent representatives of Slavophilism. Of course, any Slavic will say that this statement is wrong: in ancient Russian literature we find many “renounced books” rejected by the Church, various “magicians” and “charmers,” books with frankly heretical content. But the opinion about the special - the exceptional, almost divine nature of the Church Slavonic language - has been expressed in our country again and again. It is repeated today.

In order to give this opinion a church assessment, it is necessary to recall, in particular, the history of the translation of the Bible into the Slavic language. We know that attempts to declare some languages \u200b\u200b“sacred”, and all the rest - “profane” have been repeatedly made. Saints Cyril and Methodius, the founders of Slavic writing, had to deal with the so-called "trilingual heresy", whose apologists believed that only three languages \u200b\u200bwere permissible in Christian worship and literature: Jewish, Greek and Latin. It was the feat of the Solun brothers that the “trilingual heresy” was overcome.

The ministry of the New Testament, as the apostle Paul writes, is the ministry “not of the letter, but of the spirit, because the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3: 6). From the very beginning of Christian history, the attention of the Church was drawn to the message, to the sermon, to the mission, and not to a fixed text in a specific “sacred” language. This is radically different, for example, from the attitude to the sacred text in rabbinic Judaism or in Islam. For rabbinical Judaism, the Bible is fundamentally untranslatable, and translation or arrangement can only bring us closer to understanding the only true text, which is the Jewish Masoretic text for a Jewish believer. Similarly, for Islam, the Quran is fundamentally untranslatable, and a Muslim who wants to know the Quran must learn Arabic. But the Christian tradition is completely alien to the sacred text. Suffice it to say that the Gospels that conveyed the words of the Savior to us are not written in the language in which the Savior spoke (Aramaic or Hebrew). The Gospels - the main source of our knowledge of the Savior's sermon - contain His speeches not in the original, but in Greek translation. It can be said that the very life of the Christian Church began with translation.

It is very important for us that the Orthodox Church has never canonized any one text or translation, any one manuscript or one publication of Holy Scripture. There is no single universally accepted text of the Bible in the Orthodox tradition. There are discrepancies between quotations from Scripture among the Fathers; between the Bible, adopted in the Greek Church, and the Church Slavonic Bible; between the Church Slavonic texts of the Bible and the Russian Synodal Translation recommended for home reading. These discrepancies should not confuse us, because behind different texts in different languages, in different translations there is a single Good News.

The question of the canonization of the Church Slavonic Bible as a text of "self-authentic, like the Latin Vulgate" was raised in the XIX century. Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Count N. A. Protasov (1836-1855). However, as St. Filaret of Moscow writes, “The Holy Synod on the works of correcting the Slavic Bible did not proclaim the Slavic text as exclusively independent and thus shrewdly blocked the path to the difficulties and intricacies that in this case would be the same or even greater than what happened in the Roman Church from the proclamation of the text of the Vulgate as independent. ”

It was thanks to Saint Filaret that the question of the Russian translation of the Bible, pushed aside and forgotten after the closure of the Bible Society, was again put on the agenda when the social stagnation that characterized Russia from the time of Nicholas I was replaced by the time of reforms related to the name of Alexander II. On March 20, 1858, the Holy Synod decided to begin, with the permission of the Emperor, the Russian translation of Holy Scripture. On May 5, 1858, Alexander II approved this decision.

Translation was done by four theological academies. Metropolitan Filaret personally reviewed and edited the books of the Bible as they prepared for publication. In 1860, the Four Gospels were published, in 1862, the entire New Testament. The complete Bible - in 1876, after the death of St. Philaret. In total, the translation of the New Testament took 4 years, the Old Testament - 18 years.

As at the beginning of the 19th century, fierce controversy unfolded around the translation. However, the need for a Russian translation for the very existence of the Russian Church was already so obvious that the publication of the Synodal translation was supported by both church and secular authorities. Almost immediately after the appearance of the Synodal Translation, the Bible became one of the most widely circulated and most widespread books in Russia.

It is safe to say that over the past 140-year history of its existence, the Synodal Translation made a tremendous shift in Russian culture and ensured the development of Russian-speaking theology at the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century.

The historical correctness of the supporters of the translation of the Bible into Russian became apparent during the trials that hit Russian Christians in the 20th century. Thanks to the Synodal translation, the Holy Scriptures were with believers even when spiritual education, including the teaching of the Church Slavonic language, was practically forbidden, when church books were removed and destroyed. The Bible in Russian, available for reading and reading, helped people maintain their faith during the years of persecution and laid the foundations for the revival of religious life after the fall of state atheism. Many of us still remember how the old yellowed books were carefully kept in the families of our parents, how from abroad smuggled thin "Brussels" editions of the Bible on tissue paper were smuggled. The synodal translation is our precious possession, it is the Bible of the new martyrs.

After the abolition of the persecution of the Church, since the 1990s, the Bible in the Synodal Translation again becomes one of the most widely published and distributed books in Russia. Since the middle of the twentieth century, in almost all Orthodox publications, biblical quotes begin to be cited in the text of the Synodal translation (previously exclusively in the Slavic text of the Elizabethan Bible). The synodal translation formed the basis of a number of Bible translations into the languages \u200b\u200bof the peoples of the Russian Federation (such as, for example, Kryashensky or Chuvash).

3. Paying tribute and thanks to the creators of the Synodal Translation, we cannot but take into account constructive criticism of him.

There are numerous editorial flaws in the Synodal translation. Often the same proper name in different books (and sometimes within the same book) is transmitted in the Synodal translation in different ways, and on the contrary, sometimes different Hebrew names coincide in Russian transcription. For example, the same Israeli city of Hazor is called Hazor, then Hazor, then Esora, then Nazor. Often proper names are translated as if they were common nouns or even verbs, and in some cases common nouns are transmitted by transcription as proper names. Inaccuracy is noted in the transfer of realities, everyday and social features of the ancient world, unknown or misunderstood by the science of the XIX century.

Some places may confuse the reader. For example, in the Synodal translation of the book of the prophet Malachi (2:16) we read: "... if you hate her (that is, the wife of your youth), let go, says the Lord God of Israel." However, both the Hebrew and Greek texts here say the opposite - that God hates divorce. (Slavic text: “But if you hate to let go let go, the Lord God of Israel speaks, and he will cover the wickedness of your thoughts.”)

The synodal translation of the New Testament is more thorough than the translation of the Old Testament. However, many claims can be made against the Synodal translation of the New Testament. You may recall that when the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, K.P. Pobedonostsev asked N.N. Glubokovsky to compile a list of inaccuracies in the Synodal translation of the New Testament, he answered him with five notebooks of corrections.

I will give only one example of such an inaccuracy that recently caught my eye when reading the book of the Acts of the Apostles. This book describes how during the time of the Apostle Paul’s stay in Ephesus “there was a considerable rebellion against the way of the Lord.” The head of the silver craftsmen’s guild gathered a crowd who expressed their indignation at the Christian preaching that she shouted for two hours: “Great Artemis of Ephesus!” Then, to calm people, a certain Alexander was called out from the people, who, among other things, said: “Men of Ephesus! What person does not know that the city of Ephesus is the servant of the great goddess Artemis and Diopetus? ”(Acts 19: 23-35).

We know who Artemis is. But who is Diopet? One could assume that this is one of the Greek gods or heroes of ancient mythology. But you will not find such a god in the Greek pantheon, and there is no such hero in Greek myths. The word διοπετής / diopetês, mistakenly translated as a proper name ("Diopetus"), literally means "descended by Zeus", that is, fallen from heaven. Euripides in the tragedy "Iphigenia in Tauris" uses this term in relation to the statue of Artemis of Tauride, meaning that it fell from the sky, that is, it is miraculous. The main pagan shrine of Ephesus was a statue of Artemis of Ephesus, and, probably, Alexander in his address to the Ephesians pointed to the idea of \u200b\u200bthis statue as miraculous. Consequently, his words should be translated as follows: “What person does not know that the city of Ephesus is the servant of the goddess Artemis, great and miraculous?” (Or “great and fallen from heaven,” or literally “great and depressed Zeus”). There is no trace of the mysterious Diopet.

Most often, when discussing the shortcomings of the Synodal translation, they point to its textual and stylistic eclecticism. At this point, critics of the Synodal translation “from the left” and “from the right” converge. The textual basis of the Synodal translation is not Greek, but not entirely Jewish. The language is not Slavic, but not entirely Russian.

Ober-Prosecutor of the Holy Synod in 1880-1905, Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev believed that the Synodal translation should be close to the Slavic text.

On the contrary, Ivan Evseevich Evseev, chairman of the Russian Bible Commission, in his report “The Cathedral and the Bible”, which he presented to the All-Russian Church Council in 1917, criticized the Synodal translation for excessive archaism and inconsistency with the standards of the literary language: “... The Russian Synodal translation of the Bible ... is completed, though , recently - only in 1875, but it was completely reflected in all the features of the beloved offspring, but the stepson of the spiritual department, and he urgently needs to be reviewed or, even better, a complete replacement ... His original is not kept: that’s about conveys the original Hebrew, the Greek text of the LXX, the Latin text - in other words, in this translation done anything to deprive him of the nature of integrity, homogeneity. True, these properties are invisible to the average pious reader. Much more significant is his literary backwardness. The language of this translation is heavy, outdated, artificially close to Slavic, lagging behind the literary language for a whole century ... it’s a completely unacceptable language in literature of the pre-Pushkin era, not yet brightened up either by a flight of inspiration or by the artistry of the text ... ”

I cannot agree with this assessment of the Synodal Translation. Even today, a hundred years after Yevseyev came forward with his criticism, the Synodal translation remains readable, accessible, and easy to read. Moreover, not one of the Russian translations that appeared after him exceeded it either in accuracy, in comprehensibility, or in poetic beauty. This is my personal opinion, and someone can argue with him, but I consider it necessary to voice it in this venerable audience.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that Evseev, in fact, offered the All-Russian Church Council a whole program of work on the Slavic and Russian Bibles. In many ways, it was proposed to create a Bible Council at the Higher Church Administration to resolve issues related to the Synodal Translation. Consideration of the report on the establishment of the Bible Council was scheduled for the spring session of the Council in 1919. As you know, this session was not destined to gather, and the whole range of problems associated with improving the Synodal Translation remained unresolved.

The tragedy that befell Russia after 1917 for a long time pushed aside many of the issues discussed at the Council, including issues related to the translation of the Bible. In a situation where the very existence of Christianity in Russia was jeopardized, it was no longer possible to improve existing biblical translations. For a long seventy years, the Bible was among the forbidden books: it was not published, it was not reprinted, it was not sold in bookstores, and even in churches it was practically impossible to get it. Depriving people of access to the main book of humanity is only one of the crimes of the godless regime. But this crime vividly characterizes the essence of the ideology that was enforced by force.

4. Today, times have changed, and the Bible in the Synodal translation is freely sold, including in secular bookstores. Books of scripture are distributed free of charge, in constant demand. For example, after two years ago the Charity Fund of St. Gregory the Theologian, in cooperation with the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate, initiated a program for free distribution of the book “New Testament and Psalter”, more than 750 thousand copies were distributed. Moreover, the distribution was targeted - only those who really wanted it received the book, and not random passers-by on the street.

There are also new translations of individual books of the Bible. These translations are of very different quality. So, for example, in the early 1990s, a translation of the epistles of the Apostle Paul appeared, made by V.N. Kuznetsova. I will give only a few quotes: “Ah, you would have to tolerate me, even if I'm a little stupid! Well, be patient, please ... I believe that in no way inferior to these very super apostles. Maybe I’m not a master at speaking, but with regard to knowledge, this is another matter ... I repeat once again: do not take me for a fool! And if you accept, then give me a little more to be a fool and a little brag! What I will say now, of course, is not from the Lord. In this undertaking, with boasting, I will speak like a fool ... Let anyone pretend to anything - I still speak like a fool ... ”(2 Cor. 11: 1-22). “I’m completely crazy! That you brought me! That you should praise me! Suppose so, you say, yes, I did not burden you, but I am a dodger and have taken your hands in cunning. Maybe I managed to profit from one of those whom I sent to you? ”(2 Cor. 12: 11-18). “Food for the belly and belly for food ... And you want to turn part of the body of Christ into the body of a prostitute? God forbid! ”(1 Cor. 6: 13-16).

As I wrote in a review published in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate shortly after the publication of this blasphemous article (in other words, it’s hard to call this “translation”), when I get acquainted with such texts, I get the feeling that you are not reading the Holy Scripture, but you are present at a quarrel in the kitchen of a communal apartment. The appearance of this sensation is facilitated by a peculiar set of words ("fool", "brag", "venture", "crazy", "praise", "dodger", "make money", "belly", "prostitute") and idioms ("not a master to speak, "" got his hands on it, "" the most that neither is, "" they brought me "). The sacred text is reduced to the areal, bazaar, kitchen level.

Of course, such translations only compromise the biblical translation. But this does not mean that work on the translation of the Holy Scriptures should not be conducted at all. Today, celebrating the anniversary of the Synodal translation, we must think about how we are worthy of our great tradition, dating back to Saints Cyril and Methodius, who, contrary to the “trilingual heresy” and persecution by the Latin clergy, gave the Slavic Bible to the Slavic peoples, as well as to St. Philaret and other creators of the Synodal Translation.

The constant care that the Word of God is intelligible and close to our contemporaries is the duty of the Church. But in what specific acts should this care be expressed? Do we need a new translation of the scripture, or is it enough to edit the existing synodal? Or maybe you do not need to edit it at all?

I will share, again, my personal opinion. It seems to me that one should not swindle at a complete new translation of the Bible today. But one could prepare an edited edition of the Synodal Translation, in which the most obvious inaccuracies (similar to the mention of Diopetus in the book of Acts) would be corrected. It is clear that in order to prepare such a revision of the Synodal Translation, a group of competent, highly qualified specialists in the field of biblical studies is needed. It is also obvious that the new version of the translation must receive the approval of the church authorities.

The synodal translation is not a “sacred cow,” which cannot be touched. The inaccuracies of this translation are obvious and quite numerous. And besides, the New Testament textology itself is today at a completely different level than 140 years ago. It is impossible to ignore its achievements when working on the translation of the Holy Scriptures.

I hope that the celebration of the 140th anniversary of the Synodal Translation will be an occasion to reflect on its improvement.

Report of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk at the inter-Christian conference dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the Synodal translation of the Bible (Moscow, October 4, 2016)

Philo of Alexandria, who lived at the beginning of our era, wrote that the Alexandrian Jews annually celebrated the anniversary of the translation of the Bible into Greek, gathering on the island of Faros (where, according to legend, the Seventy Colonels translated the Pentateuch). “And not only the Jews,” writes Philo, “but also many other people are sailing here to honor the place where the light of interpretation shone for the first time, and to thank God for this ancient beneficence, which always remains new.”

Slavic peoples gratefully honor the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who laid the foundation for the Slavic Bible. In that era when the Western Church did not encourage translations into folk languages, Cyril, Methodius and their students gave the Slavs a Bible in an understandable and native dialect for them. In Bulgaria, Russia and some other countries, the memory of the Solun brothers is celebrated at the state level - as a day of education, culture and Slavic writing.

The creators of the Synodal Translation deserve no less gratitude from our side. It is in this translation that millions of Russian-speaking people in Russia and abroad know and read the Bible.

There are no discrepancies between the “Orthodox” and “Protestant” Bibles regarding the core of our faith - the New Testament.

Meanwhile, a fateful event for translation took place: in May 1824, as a result of palace intrigues initiated by Count Arakcheev and archimandrite Photius (Spassky), Alexander I dismissed Prince Golitsyn. The new president of the Society, Metropolitan Seraphim (Glagolevsky), made every effort to stop the translation of the Bible into Russian, and the Bible society to cease to function. Almost the entire circulation of the just printed Pentateuch with the books of Jesus Navin, Judges and Ruth (9,000 copies) was burned at the end of 1825 at the brick factory of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. On April 12, 1826, under the influence of Count Arakcheev and his associates, Emperor Nicholas I suspended the activities of the Society “from now on until the Highest Permission” by decree.

“By an unusually fortunate coincidence, the Slovenian language has that advantage over Russian, over Latin, Greek and over all possible languages \u200b\u200bthat have the alphabet that it does not have a single harmful book,” wrote Ivan Kireevsky, one of the most prominent representatives of Slavophilism. Of course, any Slavic will say that this statement is wrong: in ancient Russian literature we find many “renounced books” rejected by the Church, various “magicians” and “charmers,” books with frankly heretical content. But the opinion about the special - the exceptional, almost divine nature of the Church Slavonic language - has been expressed in our country again and again. It is repeated today.

The ministry of the New Testament, as the apostle Paul writes, is the ministry “not of the letter, but of the spirit, because the letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3.6). From the very beginning of Christian history, the attention of the Church was drawn to the message, to the sermon, to the mission, and not to a fixed text in a specific “sacred” language. This is radically different, for example, from the attitude to the sacred text in rabbinic Judaism or in Islam. For rabbinical Judaism, the Bible is fundamentally untranslatable, and translation or arrangement can only bring us closer to understanding the only true text, which is the Jewish Masoretic text for a Jewish believer. Similarly, for Islam, the Quran is fundamentally untranslatable, and a Muslim who wants to know the Quran must learn Arabic. But the Christian tradition is completely alien to the sacred text. Suffice it to say that the Gospels that conveyed the words of the Savior to us are not written in the language in which the Savior spoke (Aramaic or Hebrew). The Gospels - the main source of our knowledge of the Savior's sermon - contain His speeches not in the original, but in Greek translation. It can be said that the very life of the Christian Church began with translation.

The question of the canonization of the Church Slavonic Bible as a text of "self-authentic, like the Latin Vulgate" was raised in the XIX century. Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Count N. A. Protasov (1836-1855). However, as St. Filaret of Moscow writes, “The Holy Synod for the work of correcting the Slavic Bible did not proclaim the Slavic text as exclusively independent and thus shrewdly blocked the path of those difficulties and confusions that in this case would be the same or even greater than what happened in the Roman Church from the proclamation of the text of the Vulgate as independent. ”

3. Paying tribute and thanks to the creators of the Synodal Translation, we cannot but take into account constructive criticism of him.

The synodal translation of the New Testament is more thorough than the translation of the Old Testament. However, many claims can be made against the Synodal translation of the New Testament. It may be recalled that when the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, K.P. Pobedonostsev asked N.N. Glubokovsky to compile a list of inaccuracies in the Synodal translation of the New Testament, he answered him with five notebooks of corrections.

Ober-Prosecutor of the Holy Synod in 1880-1905, Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev believed that the Synodal translation should be close to the Slavic text.

On the contrary, Ivan Evseevich Evseev, chairman of the Russian Bible Commission, in his report “The Cathedral and the Bible”, which he presented to the All-Russian Church Council in 1917, criticized the Synodal translation for excessive archaism and inconsistency with the standards of the literary language: “... The Russian Synodal translation of the Bible ... is completed, though , recently - only in 1875, but it was completely reflected in all the features of the beloved offspring, but the stepson of the spiritual department, and he urgently needs to be reviewed or, even better, a complete replacement ... His original is not kept: that’s about conveys the original Hebrew, the Greek text of the LXX, the Latin text - in other words, in this translation done anything to deprive him of the nature of integrity, homogeneity. True, these properties are invisible to the average pious reader. Much more significant is his literary backwardness. The language of this translation is heavy, outdated, artificially close to Slavic, lagging behind the literary language for a whole century ... it’s a completely unacceptable language in literature of the pre-Pushkin era, not yet brightened up by either a flight of inspiration or the artistry of the text ...

There are also new translations of individual books of the Bible. These translations are of very different quality. So, for example, in the early 1990s, a translation of the epistles of the Apostle Paul appeared, made by V.N. Kuznetsova. I will give only a few quotes: “Ah, you would have to tolerate me, even if I'm a little stupid! Well, be patient, please ... I believe that in no way inferior to these very super apostles. Maybe I’m not a master at speaking, but with regard to knowledge, this is another matter ... I repeat once again: do not take me for a fool! And if you accept, then give me a little more to be a fool and a little brag! What I will say now, of course, is not from the Lord. In this undertaking, with boasting, I will speak like a fool ... Let anyone pretend to anything - I still speak like a fool ... ”(2 Cor. 11: 1–22). “I’m completely crazy! That you brought me! That you should praise me! Suppose so, you say, yes, I did not burden you, but I am a dodger and have taken your hands in cunning. Maybe I managed to profit from one of those whom I sent to you? ”(2 Cor. 12: 11–18). “Food for the belly and belly for food ... And you want to turn part of the body of Christ into the body of a prostitute? God forbid! ”(1 Cor. 6: 13–16).

I hope that the celebration of the 140th anniversary of the Synodal Translation will be an occasion to reflect on its improvement.

______
¹ Except for small small-circulation editions of the Moscow Patriarchate, accessible only to a narrow circle of church workers. The first such publication appeared in 1956.

Original record: http://mospat.ru/ru/2016/10/04/news136578/

FIRST EXPERIENCES of translating the Holy Scriptures into Russian were undertaken at the end of the 17th century. In 1816 - 1822 The Russian Bible Society prepared and issued the New Testament and the Psalter in Russian, in 1824 the Russian text of the Pentateuch was printed. In the 30s and 40s of the 19th century, the work of Russian translation continued with the writings of Archpriest Gerasim Pavsky and Archimandrite Makarii (Glukharev).

On March 20, 1858, at the initiative of Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov), the Holy Synod was determined to prepare and publish a full translation of the Bible into Russian. The basis of this translation was the text of the Russian Bible Society, the work of Pavsky and Glukharev. The final edition was carried out by the Holy Synod and personally by Metropolitan Filaret. In 1876, the translation, which received the blessing of the Holy Synod, was fully published and went down in history under the name of the Synodal. The history of the Synodal Translation can be found in the article by Samuel Kim “A Brief History of the Synodal Translation of the Bible into Russian ».

The 1876 edition included Russian translations of non-canonical books (Old Testament texts translated from Greek). In 1881-1882 “With the permission of the Holy Governing Synod,” the Bible “for the English Bible Society” was printed in the Synodal Printing House of St. Petersburg (as it was on the title). This was the first canonical Bible in the Russian translation.

In preparing this edition, non-canonical books were excluded from the Old Testament text (since they were not translated from the Hebrew language as canonical books were), and so-called “inserts from the Septuagint” in canonical books were deleted, that is, places that have no analogue in the Hebrew text and borrowed from the Greek translation of the Bible. In the 1876 edition, these inserts were enclosed in brackets. Unfortunately, parentheses were used not only to highlight borrowings from the Greek translation, but also as a punctuation mark, which created certain difficulties in preparing the publication of the canonical Bible.

So, for example, in the 24:11 book of Leviticus: “The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. And they brought him to Moses (the name of his mother was Salomiph, the daughter of Davriin of the tribe of Dan)". In the first case, a word is enclosed in brackets that is not in the Hebrew original and is an insert from the Greek translation. In the second case, brackets are a common punctuation mark, and not an indication of the Greek origin of the words enclosed in them. To understand where parentheses stand for an insert from the Septuagint, and where are simple punctuation marks, you can only refer to the Hebrew text.

Unfortunately, it was in this part of his work that the editors of the first Russian canonical Bible made a number of inaccuracies. Some parts of the original text were mistakenly deleted from the text of the Old Testament along with Greek insets. These inaccuracies then passed on to the 1947 edition of the American Bible Society (a two-column set with parallel places in the middle), which was repeatedly reprintedUnited Bible Societypublishing House "Protestant", The Bible for AllRussian Bible Society, Bible League and other publishers. Several generations of Russian Protestants have enjoyed this publication.

Researchers at the RBO conducted a reconciliation of the 1947 edition with the Synodal translation of the Russian Bible and the Hebrew original. As a result of this work, erroneously deletedparts of the original text have been restored. The following is a list of these corrections made toNew Edition Russian Bible Society.

Genesis 7: 8
Ed. 1947 g .: And from pure cattle and from unclean cattle, and from all reptiles on the earth.
New ed .: And from clean cattle, and from unclean cattle, and from birds, and from all reptiles on the earth.

Genesis 49:21
Ed. 1947 g .: Naphtali - tall terevinth, dissolving beautiful branches.
New ed .: Naphtali - chamois slender; he speaks beautiful sayings.

Ex 5:13
Ed. 1947 g .: ... do your work every day ...
New ed .: ... do your homework every day ...

Ex 29:22
Ed. 1947 g .: ... and both kidneys and the fat that is on them, the right shoulder ...
New ed .: ... and both kidneys and the fat that is on them, the right shoulder (because it is an Aries priesthood) ...

Ex 38:15
Ed. 1947 g .: And on the other hand - veils of fifteen cubits ...
New ed .: And for the other side (on both sides of the courtyard gate) - a curtain of fifteen cubits ...

Leo 8:15
Ed. 1947: And he stabbed him and took blood.
New edition: And stabbed him Moses took the blood.

Leo 11:13
Ed. 1947 g .: Of the birds, abhor these: an eagle, a neck, and a sea eagle ...
New ed .: Of the birds, abhor these (they should not eat, they are filthy): an eagle, a neck, and a sea eagle ...

Leo 24:11
Ed. 1947 g .: And they brought him to Moses ...
New ed .: And they brought him to Moses (the name of his mother was Salomiph, the daughter of Davriin of the tribe of Dan) ...

Numbers 11:26
Ed. 1947 g .: Two of the husbands remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other the name Modad; but the Spirit rested upon them, and they prophesied in the camp.
New ed .: Two of the husbands remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other the name Modad; but the Spirit rested on them (they were among those recorded, but did not go to the tabernacle), and they prophesied in the camp.

Numbers 21: 8
Ed. 1947 g .: ... make yourself a snake and put it on the banner, and stung, looking at him, will remain alive.
New ed .: ... make yourself a snake and put it on the banner, and everyone stung, looking at him, will remain alive.

Numbers 27:14
Ed. 1947 g .: Because you did not obey My command in the wilderness of Sin, during the feud of society, in order to reveal before my eyes their holiness in the watersMeriva.
New ed .: Because you did not obey My command in the wilderness of Sin, during the feud of society, in order to reveal their holiness to my eyes in the waters. (This is the water of Meriva under Kadesh in the desert of Sin.)

Deut. 3:19
Ed. 1947 g .: Only your wives and your children and your cattle may remain in your cities that I have given you.
New ed .: Only your wives, and your children, and your cattle (for I know that you have a lot of cattle) let them remain in your cities that I gave you.

Deut. 21: 5
Ed. 1947 g .: And the priests, the sons of Levi, will come ...
New ed .: And the priests, the sons of Levi, will come (for the Lord your God has chosen them, to serve him and bless him in the name of the Lord, and according to their word should resolve any contentious matter and any harm done) ...

Deut 24:18
Ed. 1947 g .: Remember that you were also a slave in Egypt, and the Lord set you free from there ...
New ed .: Remember that you were also a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God set you free from there ...

Deut 29:15
Ed. 1947 g .: But as with those who are here with us in the face of the Lord our God, and with those who are not here with us today.
New ed .: But as with those who are here today with us in the face of the Lord our God, and with those who are not here with us today.

Nav 5: 2
Ed. 1947 g .: At that time the Lord said to Jesus: Make sharp knives for yourself and cut the sons of Israel a second time.
New ed .: At that time the Lord said to Jesus: make stone knives for yourself and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.

Nav 5: 3
Ed. 1947 g .: And Jesus made himself sharp knives and circumcised the sons of Israel ...
New ed .: And Jesus made himself stone knives and circumcised the sons of Israel ...

2 Kings 7:18
Ed. 1947 g .: ... who am I, Lord, Lord, and what is my house ...
New ed .: ... who am I, Lord, my Lord, and what is my house ...

2 Kings 16: 4
Ed. 1947 g .: And he said to Siwah: here is all that Memphibosheth has to you.
New ed .: And the king said to Siwa: here is all that Memphibosheth has to you.

1 Pairs 1:36
Ed. 1947 g .: Sons of Eliphaz: Feman, Omar, Tsefo, Gafam, Kenaz, Amalik.
New ed .: Sons of Eliphaz: Feman, Omar, Tsefo, Gafam, Kenaz, Fimna, Amalik.

2 Pairs 6:30
Ed. 1947 g .: ... for You know the heart of the sons of men ...
New ed .:,. .for you alone know the heart of the sons of men ...

Ride 4: 3
Ed. 1947 g .: ... as Cyrus the king of Persia commanded us.
New ed .: ... as King Cyrus the king of Persia commanded us.

Ps. 145: 1
Ed. 1947 g .: Praise, my soul, Lord.
New ed .: Hallelujah. Praise, my soul, Lord.

Ps. 148: 1
Ed. 1947 g .: Praise the Lord from heaven ...
New ed .: Hallelujah. Praise the Lord from heaven ...

Ps 149: 1
Ed. 1947 g .: Sing to the Lord a new song ...
New ed .: Hallelujah. Sing to the Lord a new song ..

Ps. 150: 1
Ed. 1947 g .: Praise God in His holiness ...
New ed .: Hallelujah. Praise God in His holiness ...

In some cases, from the text of the 1947 edition wereexcluded septuagint inserts:

2 Kings 19:37
Ed. 1947 g .: But, your servant,my son Kimgam let him go with my lord, the king, and do with him as you please.
New ed .: But let your servant Kimgam go with my lord, the king, and do with him as you please.

2 Kings 22: 8
Ed. 1947 g .: Shook, the earth shook, trembled and moved the foundations of heaven, for he was angrythe Lord is upon them
New ed .: Shook, the earth shook, the foundations of heaven trembled and moved, for He was angry.

Ps 71:17
Ed. 1947 g .: ... and bless in himtribes ; all nations will please him.
New ed .: ... and everyone in him will be blessedearthly tribes ; all nations will please him.

In addition, the New Edition wasa number of textual additions based on ancient translations, the authority of which is supported by modern textology (NOTTR - Hebrew Old Testament Text Project), as well as modern translations into Western European languages. These places in the new edition are enclosedin square brackets:

Genesis 4: 8

Ed. 1947 g : And Cain said to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field ...
New ed .: And Cain said to his brother Abel: [let us go into the field]. And when they were in the field ...

Deut 30:16
Ed. 1947 g .: I, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to obey His commandments and His decrees and His laws: and you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God bless you on earth which you go to take possession of it.
New ed .: [If you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God,] which I command you today — to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to obey His commandments and His decrees and His laws; and you willyou to live, and multiply, and the Lord your God bless you on the earth into which you go to possess it.

Nav 15:59
Ed. 1947: Maaraf, Beth-Anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages.
New ed .: Maaraf, Beth-Anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages. [Feko, Ephrafa, aka Bethlehem, Fagor, Etam, Pendant, Tatami, Sores, Karem, Gallim, Bethir and Manoho: eleven cities with their villages.]

Judgment 16: 13-14
Ed. 1947 g .: He told her: if you stick seven braids of my head into the fabric, and nail it with a nail to the weaving deck. And she attached them to the deck, and said to him: The Philistines are coming against you, Samson!
New ed .: He told her: if you stick seven braids of my head into the fabric, [and nail it with a nail, then I will be powerless, like other people. And Delilah put him to sleep on her lap. And when he fell asleep, Delilah took seven braids of his head and stuck it in a cloth] and nailed it with a nail and said to him: Philistinescoming at you, Samson!

Ride 8: 5
Ed. 1947 g .: Of the sons of Shekhaiah, the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundredhuman male ...
New ed .: Of the sons of [Zafoy] Shehaniah, son of Yahaziel, and with him three hundredhuman male ...

Rides 8:10
Ed. 1947 g .: Of the sons of Shelomith, son of Joseph, and with him one hundred and sixtyhuman male ...
New ed .: Of the sons of [Baanias] Shelomith, son of Joseph, and with him one hundred and sixtyhuman male ...

Is 40: 5
Ed. 1947 g .: all flesh will see the salvation of God
New ed .: all flesh will see [the salvation of God]

In some casesseptuagint inserts not excluded, but stood outin italics , which means the absence of these words in the Hebrew text. Other corrections relate to replacing direct spelling with italics or vice versa, as well as clarifying certain places in the Jewish script.

Genesis 2:24
Ed. 1947 g .: ... and there will be one flesh
New ed .: ... and there will be two one flesh

Genesis 3:11
Ed. 1947 g .: ... and said: who told you ...
New ed.: ... and the Lord God said : who told you…

Genesis 4:10
Ed. 1947 g .: And said: what have you done?
New edition: And the Lord said: what have you done?

Genesis 7:16 1947: And the Lord shut him after him.
New ed .: And the Lord shut behind himthe ark .

Genesis 18: 5
Ed. 1947 g .: ... then go; since you walk past your slave.
New ed .., then go toyour way ; since you walk past your slave.

Genesis 18:10
Ed. 1947 g .: I will be with you again at the same time, and Sarah will have a son ...
New ed .: I will be with you again at the same timenext yearand Sarah will have a son ...

Genesis 19: 9
Ed. 1947 g .: But they said ...
New edition: But they told him ...

Genesis 19:25
Ed. 1947 g .:. .and the growth of the earth,
New ed.:. And all land growth.

Genesis 21:16
Ed. 1947 g .: And she sat down, and raised a cry, and wept.
New ed .: And she sat at a distance, and raised a cry, and cried.

Genesis 23: 8
Ed. 1947 g .: And he said to them and said ...
New edition: And Abraham spoke to them and said ...

Gen 24:61
Ed. 1947 g .: And Rebekah and her maid stood up, and sat on the camels, and went after that man.
New ed .: And Rebekah arose, and her handmaidens, and sat on the camels, and went after that man.

Gen 27:26
Ed. 1947 g .: ... come, kiss me, my son.
New ed.: ... come to me kiss me, my son.

Gen 31:32
Ed. 1947 g .:. at our relatives find out what is mine, and take it for yourself.
New ed .: ... with our relatives find out thathave your with me, and take it for yourself.

Gen 32:26
Ed. 1947 g .: And said: let me go ...
New edition: And he said to him: Let Me go ...

Gen 37:14
Ed. 1947 g .: And he told him ... 1994: Israel told him ...

Genesis 38:28
Ed. 1947 g .: ... a hand appeared ...
New ed .: ... a hand appearedone ...

Genesis 44: 9
Ed. 1947 g .: Which of your servants is to die ...
New ed .: Which of your servants will be foundchalice, that is death ...

Genesis 45: 6
Ed. 1947 g .: For now there are two years of famine on earth: another five years in which they neither shout nor reap ...
New ed .: For now two years of famine on earth:remains another five years, in which they neither shout nor reap ...

Exodus 13:13
Ed. 1947 g .: And replace any of the donkeys that open ...
New ed .: And of all the donkeys that openthe womb, replace ...

Ex 25: 4
Ed. 1947: And wool blue, purple and scarlet, and fine linen and goat ...
New Edition: And Wool blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen and goatwool ...

Ex 28:21
Ed. 1947 g .: These stones should be twelve,by the number of sons of Israel, by their names, ..
New ed .: These stones should be, according to the number of names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according tothe number of their names ...

Ex 29:12
Ed. 1947 g .: ... and pour all the blood at the base of the altar ...
New edition: ... and the rest pour blood at the base of the altar ...

Ex 32:26
Ed. 1947 g .: who is the Lord - to me!
New Edition: Who the Lord Come to Me!

Ex 35: 6
Ed. 1947 g .: ... and fine linen and goat hair ...
New ed .: ... and fine linen and goatwool ...

Leviticus 10:16
Ed. 1947 g .: And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar ...
New edition: And Moses was angry on Eleazar and Ithamar ...

Leo 25:31
Ed. 1947 g .: ... you can redeem them, and on the anniversary they depart.
New ed.: ... always buy them You can, and on the anniversary they depart.

Leo 25:37
Ed. 1947 g .: Do not give your silver to him in height, and do not give your bread to him for profit.
New ed .: Do not give your silver to him in height, and do not give your bread to him formaking a profit.

Nav 8:29
Ed. 1947 g .: And he hanged the king of Paradise on a tree, until the evening ...
New ed .: And he hanged the king of Paradise on a tree,and he was on a tree until the evening…

Judgment 20:47 1947: And the rest turned and fled into the wilderness ...
New edition: And the remaining and fled to the desert ...

Judgment 21:14
Ed. 1947 g .: Then the sons of Benjamin returned, and gave them wives whom ...
New ed .: Then the sons of Benjamin returned, and gave themThe Israelis are wives whom ...

1 Samuel 5: 8
Ed. 1947 g .: ... let the ark of the God of Israel go into Ref.
New ed .: ... let the ark of the God of Israel go intoHeph.

1 Kings 2:22
Ed. 1947 is also a friend.
New ed .: And king Solomon answered and said to his mother: why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonia? ask himalso and kingdoms; for he is my elder brother, and to him the priest Aviathar, and Joab the son of Sarwyn,friends .

4 Kings 9:15
Ed. 1947 g .: K said Jehu: if you agree, then let no one leave the city ...
New ed .: And Jehu said: if you agreewith me , then let no one leave the city ...

1 Par 27: 8
Ed. 1947 g .: ... Prince Shamguf of Israel ...
New ed .: ... Prince Shamguf the Israchite ...

Psalm 101: 3
Ed. 1947 g .: Do not hide Your face from me; on the day of my sorrow, bow your ear to me; in a day,when I call to youhear me soon.
New ed .: Do not hide Your face from me; on the day of my sorrow, bow your ear to me; the day I call to you, hear me soon.

Isaiah 49:26
Ed. 1947 g .: And I will feed your oppressors with my own flesh ...
New Edition: And I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh ...

Dan 6:28
Ed. 1947 g .; And Daniel sang well in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus of Persia.
New ed .: And Daniel blessed both in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus of Persia.

Hosea 3: 2
Ed. 1947 g .: And I bought it for myself for fifteen pieces of silver, both for the homer of barley and the half-homer of barley.Of Israel (Exodus 3:11) and many more etc. Sometimes typos lead to the appearance of fantastic readings. So, for example, in verse Am 9: 7 the Lord says to the sons of Israel: “Have I not brought Israel out of the land of Egypt and ... Aramlyan from Cyrus?” In the 1947 edition these words take the following form: “Didn't I brought Israel out of the land Egyptian and ... Aramlyan - from Cairo? ”(For reference: Cyrus is a place in the front of Asia, also mentioned in Am 1: 5, Isa. 22: 6, 4 Kings 16: 9; Cairo is the capital of modern Egypt, founded in the X century. AD) In \u200b\u200bthe new edition, these and many other typos (their total number has reached several tens) are corrected. Texts containing a summary of the chapters were also slightly edited.

Textual Markup in the New Testament

There are a number of textual differences between the various manuscripts and the New Testament editions. When the authors of the Synodal translation were not sure of the authenticity of certain places in the New Testament text (these could be words taken from later Greek manuscripts, or from a Church Slavonic translation), they enclosed them in brackets. Unfortunately, in the 1947 edition, these textual brackets were indistinguishable from brackets - punctuation marks. In the new editionwords taken from Slavic translation or late greek manuscriptsconcluded in square brackets.

Spelling and punctuation

More than a hundred years have passed since the first publication of the Synodal Translation. During this time, a reform of Russian spelling was carried out, the spelling and punctuation standards changed repeatedly. Although the Synodal Translation has been published in modern spelling for several decades, it was considered necessary for the new edition to make a number of spelling corrections. It is mainly about replacing obsolete endings - for example, spellingHoly Alive fixed on Holy, Alive; Saint Zhivago - on the Holy, Living; face, father - on the face, father . At the same time, many spellings corresponding to the spelling and punctuation norms of the 19th century were left untouched in the new edition - for example, the spelling of lowercase and capital letters in the names of peoples or inside direct speech. The punctuation of the Synodal translation is characterized by the limited use of quotation marks - they are, in fact, only put in two cases: to highlight a quote taken from a written source, and to highlight direct speech inside another direct speech. In the new edition, this punctuation norm is implemented more consistently.

Parallel Seat System

The compilers of the index of parallel places for the 1947 edition were guided by the formal principle: parallel places were selected according to the principleword matches in different fragments of the text, despite the fact that the meaning of the combined passages might not coincide. In the new edition, the system of parallel places is based on the principlesemantic correspondence, that is, as "parallel" are indicated parts of the text that are close in meaning. All parallel places of the previous index that satisfy this principle are preserved in the new edition.

Description

The Synodal translation text, widely used on the Internet and in biblical computer programs, was prepared by the German mission “Light in the East” with the participation of the Russian Bible Society in the early 90s of the 20th century and reproduces the Orthodox edition of the 1988 Bible, with some borrowings from non-canonical books from Brussels Bibles (Protestant editions of the Synodal translation, in addition to the number of books, differed, for example, in punctuation or spelling variations - “saint” / “holy”, “come” / “come”, etc.). There are three versions: the full text of the Synodal translation with non-canonical books, the text of only canonical books (in the Protestant milieu) and the text of canonical books with Strong's numbers.

After publication, the translation “met a lot of criticisms both scientifically and especially in literary terms”. According to I. Sh. Shifman, the desire of translators to follow Orthodox dogma led to the fact that "as a result, the Synodal translation contains numerous deviations from the Masoretic text, as well as biased interpretations of the original." I. M. Dyakonov indicates that this translation "does not meet the level of scientific requirements."

Translation history

The history of the Russian translation of the Bible goes back to the Russian Bible Society created at the initiative of Alexander I, under whose auspices translation work began around the time.

The translation was done on the basis of the Masoretic text, but in full accordance with Orthodox dogma.

The Synodal translation of the New Testament Bible is based on the printed editions of the Greek New Testament, primarily Christian Friedrich Mattei (1803-1807) and Johannes Martin Augustine Scholz (1830-1836). In brackets, the Russian translation included words that were not in these books, but were present in Church Slavonic texts.

Alternative translations

In the 19th century, other attempts were made to make a Russian translation; some of them are very innovative and bold, such as translations prot. Gerasim Pavsky († 1863), Archimandrite Makarius Glukharyov († 1847); were rejected and even forbidden by the Synod.

Notes

Literature

The centenary of the Russian translation of the Bible. // « Church News published under the Holy Governing Synod". Additions. February 13, 1916, No. 7, pp. 196-208 (Speech by Professor I. E. Evseev on January 31, 1916 in the assembly hall of the Imperial Petrograd Theological Academy at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Scientific Edition of the Slavic Bible, dedicated to the memory of the centenary of the day of the beginning of the Russian synodal translation Bible).

References

The beginning of the history of the Russian translation of the Bible and the Russian Bible Society
Hieromonk Alexy (Makrinov). Contribution of the St. Petersburg - Leningrad Theological Academy to the development of biblical studies (translations of the Holy Scriptures into Russian and biblical textology)
The experience of translating into Russian the sacred books of the Old Testament Metr. Filaret Drozdov (eat Jewish text).
Anniversary of the synodal translation of the Bible Svobodanews.ru 12.28.06

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what the "Synodal Translation" is in other dictionaries:

- ... Wikipedia

SINODAL TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE - See TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE TO THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE ... Bibliological dictionary

Scripture New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures Hardcover front cover

Bible Portal Bible Judaism Christianity ... Wikipedia

The Bible ... Wikipedia

Russian Orthodox Church OTSBSS ROC Address: 109004 Moscow, 57 Nikolayamskaya St., building 7. Type of organization ... Wikipedia

The generally accepted term in the periodization of the history of the Russian Church, which usually refers to 1700 1917: two decades of Locum Tenens (1700 1721) are usually considered within this period (P.V. Znamensky, A.V. Kartashev, ... ... Wikipedia