Roman Catholics in Norway get a unique Bible translation
Catholic Bible translation in Norway. Photo Den Katolske Kirke
Northern Europe
Norwegian Catholics get a new Bible translation in their standard languages. That is a rare event.
Of course, there have been Norwegian translations of the Bible before. However, what is unique about the new Bible is that it includes the deuterocanonical books, Dagen writes. In 2018, these books were translated into the standard Norwegian languages Bokmål and Nynorsk. In Nynorsk, these books had never existed before, Dagen points out.
However, when these translations came out, they were bundled in a separate book. Catholics and Orthodox who believe these books are part of the canon, however, expressed their dissatisfaction about this.
Translations
Sixty people signed a letter to the Bible Society in which they expressed their wish for a complete Catholic Bible. The group was led by Dag Øivind Østereng.
Next year will be the first time since 1994 that the Norwegian Bible Society will present a Bible that includes the books. The Bible will include the latest translations, the Bible Society writes in a press release. General Secretary Øyvind Haraldseid calls the publication a great pleasure. However, he also believes it is “a bit sad that it has taken the Bible Society so long to publish this.”
The Bible Society has been working on the new translation for four years. It will be launched in March 2024.
Pastoral need
The Bishop of the Oslo Catholic Diocese, Bert Eidsvig, is happy about the new Bible, he tells Dagen. “It has been a great loss for Catholics in Norway not to have a complete Bible, so we owe the Bible Society a big thank you for their goodwill and generosity in meeting this pastoral need.”
The Roman Catholic community in Norway is very small. It has only about 3,000 members.
The deuterocanonical books
The deuterocanonical books were written between 300 and 70 BC. Protestants see the books as useful but do not include them in their canon. Orthodox Churches do include some, varying per denomination. The Roman Catholic Church does see them as an essential part of the Bible. In total, there are twelve deuterocanonical books.
Related Articles
