New Finnish translation of the Old Testament in the making

The new translation is mainly meant for mobile phones, Piplia Society announces on its website. Furthermore, the new version of the Old Testament should be easily searchable and layered. The new translation is the first translation of the Old Testament made for mobile users worldwide. Earlier, the Piplia Society made a mobile version for the New Testament. This includes several links with background information and footnotes.

In addition, special attention is paid to the language skills of the recipients. The process is divided into short sessions, after which regular readers can give feedback on the readability of the text.

The new translation strengthens the clarity of the Biblical text, the Finance Committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Assembly said earlier in a statement. "Thus, it increases interest in the Bible and its message."

The Committee stated that the project contributes significantly to the care of people's spiritual life. "We know that language changes. The new translation of the Old Testament strives for comprehensibility. At the same time, it is faithful to the meanings and style of the original texts."

Ecumenical steering group

A translating team works on the new Bible version, but an ecumenical steering group keeps an eye on the process. The steering group consists of three representatives, nominated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, one of the Orthodox Church, one of the Catholic Church and one of the Finnish Free Council. In addition, the group includes a Finnish language expert.

The primary responsibility of the steering group is to comment on each translation session and discuss it with the translating team to find suitable solutions. Furthermore, one of its most important tasks is to decide on which original text the new translation should be based.

In total, the project costs about 2.2 million euros.