Einheitsübersetzung (EÜ) ("Unified" or "Unity Translation") is a German

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

of the Bible for

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

use in

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

worship. It is published by the Katholisches Bibelwerk ("Catholic Bible Society") and was compiled from 1962 to 1980 by

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

theologians with contributions from

Evangelic Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

al theologians. Collaboration was done on the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

and the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

. The Evangelical side withdrew support from a project revising the Einheitsübersetzung in 2005.

Beginnings

The compiling of the Einheitsübersetzung is a consequence of the reforms of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

. Vatican II authorized the use of non-

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

languages in the Mass and allowed the local languages into the liturgy. A compilation of new translations of the Bible became urgently needed for the liturgical use in local languages: "the Church by her authority and with maternal concern sees to it that suitable and correct translations are made into different languages" ('' Dei verbum'', 22)

Name and purpose

The Einheitsübersetzung was supposed to become the uniform Bible of all German-speaking Roman Catholic dioceses. The name "Einheitsübersetzung" reflects this goal. Contrary to a widely spread misunderstanding, the name does not mean that a common translation of the Bible by the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches should be created. Evangelical theologians were indeed involved since the beginning of the work, but a replacement for the Luther Translation of the Bible used by Evangelical churches was never intended. The Einheitsübersetzung is designed for the complete religious life, from religious instruction to worship. Linguistic comprehensibility and poetic style were considered.

Linguists Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...

and experts in

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

, catechetics,

didactics A didactic method ( el, διδάσκειν ''didáskein'', "to teach") is a teaching method that follows a consistent scientific approach or educational style to present information to students. The didactic method of instruction is often contr ...

, educational media, and

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

worked with the theologians to secure the comprehensive usability. The comprehensive introductions to the individual biblical books which include historical Bible criticism, as well as the numerous explanations of the text, contribute to the understandability and wide application potential.

Text Sources

The objective of the Second Vatican Council was to produce a "suitable and correct" translation of the Bible "especially from the original texts of the sacred books". The preeminence of the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

in the Roman Catholic church up to that point was abandoned. That gave the catholic theologians the challenge of translating from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into German, instead of the usual practice of translating the Latin Bible into German. The Roman Catholic Church thus solved one of the conflicts of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

that demanded a return from the Vulgate to the original sources.

Testing and Acceptance

The translation work lasted from 1962 to 1974, after which the translation was tried in practice then reworked from 1975 to 1978. In 1978, the final edition was accepted by the

German Bishops' Conference The German Bishops' Conference (german: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz) is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrato ...

. Since then, the Einheitsübersetzung has proven that it has accomplished its purpose and has become the official text source for religious life in the German-speaking dioceses.

Ecumenical Meaning and Revision

Evangelical theologians from the Evangelical Brotherhood of St. Michael, a part of the

Berneuchen Movement Berneuchen Movement (german: Berneuchener Bewegung) is part of the Lutheran Liturgical movement in Germany. It originates from German Youth Movement. The movement was born in 1920s, after the radical changes caused by World War I. The founders felt ...

, worked on the Einheitsübersetzung from the start. They did not yet have an official commission from the Catholic Church. The

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in German ...

(Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD, which is generally equivalent to the Luthern church in America) was officially requested to work on the translation of the

and the

. In 1970, the Bishops' Conference and the EKD entered a contract for the joint work on the Einheitsübersetzung, which was a major breakthrough of the

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

in Germany. Since 1980, the Einheitsübersetzung has also been approved for use in Evangelical churches and is especially used with the Luther Translation for ecumenical events. In the last few years, the Bishops' Conference has attempted a revision of the translation. The revision was also supposed to be a joint project with the Evangelical church. A conflict between the Roman Catholic church and the Evangelical side arose during the work which resulted in the EKD terminating the 1970 contract in 2005. The conflict arose from disagreements about the Roman Catholic side's push for a heavier emphasis on church traditions than was found in the original text and the consensus decision-making process used up to that point did not hold, after which common ground between the denominations had to be found. After the completion of the revision it had to be submitted for a Papal

Approbation Approbation may refer to: * Approbation (Catholic canon law), an act in the Catholic Church by which a bishop or other legitimate superior grants to an ecclesiastic the actual exercise of his ministry * The process of granting a medical license ...

, which was also rejected by the EKD. The new edition (February 2010) prefers gender-neutral wording and does not render the name Jahweh. The reactions to the failure of the joint translation were varied. The Catholic side reacted with incomprehension. The chairman of the

Bishops' Conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

at the time,

Karl Lehmann Karl Lehmann (16 May 1936 – 11 March 2018) was a German Cardinal prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mainz from 1983 to 2016, being elevated to Cardinal in 2001. He also served as Chairman of the Conference of the Germ ...

, spoke of a "considerable burden" for the ecumenism and suddenly put the blame on the EKD representatives without clarification. The EKD also regretted the development, but explained that it "made every imaginable effort to avoid the current result" According to information from February 2010, the revision of the New Testament is already complete at this point and the work on the Old Testament was so far along that the conclusion is expected in 2011. When the text is complete it must be approved by various committees in the German-speaking Bishops' Conferences and in the Vatican. The length of the approval process cannot be predicted, which is why no publication date can be planned.

External links

;Online Texts
Online Edition of the Einheitsübersetzung

(Uni

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...

)
''Einheitsübersetzung online''
from the Website of the Katholisches Bibelwerk

;Withdrawal of the Evangelical Church * Rainer Clos

Announcement of the Evangelical Press Service from September 8, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Einheitsubersetzung Bible translations into German Catholic bibles