New Portuguese Bible translation reflects on Biblical violence

Biblical violence is often a source of discomfort for modern readers. Some find it hard to reconcile the histories with texts about God's love. The reflection provides more context to these disputed texts.

According to experts asked by the commission to contribute, the Biblical texts refer to a time when "social and ethnic coexistence was particularly violent." That is reported by Ecclesia.

In the introductory text to the preliminary version of the Bible book, they note that extermination of adversaries "seemed to be the only possible strategy of survival." However, they also point out that reality was probably more nuanced. "Archaeological evidence does not support the thesis of the progressive and total annihilation of the country's inhabitants." They explain that some violence described is a literary device to refer to the "seriousness of the divine world."

Readers are encouraged to contribute to the preliminary version of the new text. They can send their comments to the email address of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference.

Since August 2021, the Conference has digitally published a newly translated Bible book every month. The first volume of the new version, containing the four Gospels and the Psalms, appeared in March 2019. More than 30 researchers worked on the translation from the original languages.