A new translation of the Holy Scripture of the New Testament into the modern Belarusian language has been released. New Testament in Belarusian All about the Bible in Belarusian

Publication of the first official translation of the New Testament in Belarusian. Photo - Vasily Molchanov / Belsat

The official Russian translation of the New Testament has absorbed the experience of translation work from all over Europe. The Belarusian version was translated from Greek and checked against English, German, Czech and other languages. Presentation - tomorrow in Grodno and Polotsk. Already this month, translators will start working on the Old Testament.

Back in the early 1990s, Metropolitan Filaret blessed the creation of the Synodal Translation Commission of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, which for 25 years had been translating the New Testament into Belarusian. At the initiative of the Brotherhood of the Three Martyrs of Vilna, a commission of 10 people was created who worked on the translation, based on the original in ancient Greek.

Grodno. Rector of the Holy Intercession Cathedral in Grodno Father Georgy Roy shows the edition of the synodal translation of the New Testament. September 2nd, 2017. Photo - Vasily Molchanov / Belsat

While working, the translators carefully compared the Belarusian New Testament with translations into Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, Bulgarian, Serbian, English, German and French.

25 years of work

“At first they worked on the Gospels, translated them, then corrected, corrected, clarified. It was an extremely difficult job. And then they began to work with the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles, and last year they completely completed the translation. Finally, the Belarusian Orthodox Church has its own synodal translation. Of course, there are translations of the New Testament and the Bible into Belarusian, but the author's. We can recall the translation of Vasily Semukha or Mr. Klyshko, the translation of brother Yakub Kolas. But translation is an extremely difficult task that requires serious competence and really requires the work of not one person, but the whole team. There are such texts in the New Testament that you need to meditate and reason over them. It is better when the translation is done collectively,” explains Father George Roy, a member of the translation commission, rector of the Holy Intercession Cathedral in Grodno.

For all faiths

According to the priest, the new translation into Belarusian has absorbed the results of the translation work of the entire European space. They translated it into classical Belarusian, which makes it possible for representatives of other Christian denominations who accept the New Testament to use it.

Publication of the first official translation of the New Testament in Belarusian. Photo - Vasily Molchanov / Belsat

Father George says that the Belarusian Orthodox and Catholics do not have a common religious terminology, since there are two traditions - Eastern and Western Christian, which developed with their own characteristics.

“The vocabulary, of course, is more understandable to Orthodox believers, but this does not at all limit confessionally,” says Father George. “The translation is absolutely understandable to believers of other Christian denominations.”

According to Father Georgiy, in September, work on the translation of the Old Testament into Belarusian will begin.

Presentation in two cities at once

A total of 6,000 copies of the New Testament were published. Copies were issued in Bialystok at the Orthdruk printing house.

On the 500th anniversary of the first edition of Skarynov's Bible, Belarusians received another gift. Photo - Vasily Molchanov / Belsat

The official presentation of the publication in Belarusian in Grodno is scheduled for September 3, during the celebration of the Day of Belarusian Literature. The celebration will begin with the Belarusian liturgy at 10 o’clock in the Holy Intercession Cathedral, after which at 15 the faithful will gather at the ruins of the Lower Castle Church, where they will read the Akathist composed by Francis Skaryna. The presentation itself will begin at 18:00 in the assembly hall of the parish house of the Holy Intercession Cathedral. Father George also promises to show Skaryna's printing press, which was specially restored by Orthodox priests from Shchuchin.

Paulina Walish/TP

On November 15, 2017, the National Library of Belarus hosted a presentation of the translation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament into the modern Belarusian language (New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ. — Minsk, 2017).

The presentation was headed by the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus. The event was attended by: Minister of Information of the Republic of Belarus A.N. Karlyukevich, Director of the National Library of Belarus R.S. Motulsky, bishops and clergy, heads and representatives of ministries and departments, parliamentarians, leaders, teachers and students of theological schools and secular higher educational institutions.

The presentation was organized by the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Orthodox Church (chairman - ) and the National Library of Belarus.

Archpriest Sergiy Gordun, a member of the Biblical Commission of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, in his report told how painstaking scientific and translation work had been carried out for twenty-five years. The speaker reviewed the existing translations of the New Testament into Belarusian. He pointed out their advantages and disadvantages and told how the long-term work was carried out in the Commission.

Metropolitan Pavel addressed those present with a welcoming speech. The archpastor stressed that the translation of the New Testament into the modern literary Belarusian language, performed at a high professional level, is an event of a national scale. Vladyka Exarch expressed his heartfelt gratitude to all those who worked on the translation, thereby continuing the educational mission of Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the-Apostles and the Belarusian printing pioneer Francis (in Baptism Georgy) Skaryna in the 21st century.

Satisfaction with the translation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament into Belarusian was expressed by the Minister of Information of the Republic of Belarus A.N. Karlyukevich and deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, chairman of the Belarusian Language Society E.N. Anisim.

Welcome address of the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Belarus Yu.P. Bondar was read by the head of the main department of culture and analytical work of the Ministry of Culture V.M. Blueberry.

The Patriarchal Exarch presented church awards to members of the Biblical Commission and employees of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, who had worked especially hard in the matter of translation and its publication.

A leather-bound copy of the book “The New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ” was donated to the National Library of Belarus. In turn, the director of the National Library, Roman Motulsky, presented Metropolitan Pavel with the last volume of the facsimile edition of the Bible printed by Francis Skaryna.

The Metropolitan Choir of the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Minsk (choir director Vitaly Sobolevsky) performed spiritual hymns, the anthem "Mighty God" to the words of Natalia Arsenyeva, as well as songs to the words of the classics of Belarusian literature - Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas.

At the end, the longevity of the Belarusian people was proclaimed.

In 2017, a significant event took place in the life of Belarus - on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the publication by Francis (in Holy Baptism George) Skaryna of the Psalter, the Belarusian Orthodox Church published the New Testament, translated by Orthodox theologians and philologists into the modern Belarusian language from the ancient Greek original. Until now, none of the earlier translations of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament into the Belarusian language could be considered official and generally accepted, since all of them were authorial, carried out from existing translations, and did not always correspond to the norms of the modern Belarusian language and church terminology.

“New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ” is the fruit of the conciliar translation activity of the members of the Biblical Commission of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, who began this work 25 years ago with the blessing of Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk Filaret (Vakhromeev), now the honorary Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, in cooperation with the Bible Society in Republic of Belarus. The following people worked on the translation: Archpriest Sergiy Gordun, Candidate of Theology; Archpriest Alexander Pochepko, Bachelor of Theology; Ivan Charota, Doctor of Philology; Vladimir Vasilevich, candidate of philological sciences; Ales Korol, candidate of theology; Tatiana Matrunchik, executive secretary.

The translation is made from the ancient Greek text traditionally used in the Orthodox Church. In the course of its work, the Biblical Commission carefully analyzed and took into account previous attempts to translate the Holy Scriptures into the Belarusian language (the works of L. Dzekuts-Maley, V. Gadlevsky, J. Stankevich, P. Tatarinovich, V. Chernyavsky, M. Mitskevich, V. Semukha, A. Klyshki). Various translations of the Bible into Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, English and other languages were also used.

The publication was carried out under the general supervision of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Orthodox Church with the participation of the Bible Society in the Republic of Belarus and Medial LLC. The book was printed in a circulation of 6,000 copies in good printing design. Of these, 500 copies are gift-wrapped, bound in leather with gold trim. The text is printed in two colors, there are graphic headpieces with plots traditional for each of the books of the New Testament. The layout of the book was prepared by the Brotherhood of the Holy Martyrs of Vilna. Valery Senchenko worked on the design, Andrey Demchenko did the computer layout. The edition was printed in the Orthodox printing house "Orthdruk" (Bialystok, Poland).

With the blessing of Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavsky, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Pavel, a new translation of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament into the modern Belarusian language has been published in the Belarusian Orthodox Church.

“New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ” is the fruit of the conciliar translation activity of the members of the Biblical Commission of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, who began this work 25 years ago with the blessing of Metropolitan of Minsk and Slutsk Filaret (Vakhromeev) (now the Honorary Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus). The following people worked on the translation: Archpriest Sergiy Gordun, Candidate of Theology; Archpriest Alexander Pochepko, Bachelor of Theology; Charota Ivan Alekseevich, Doctor of Philology; Vasilevich Vladimir Aleksandrovich, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Korol Ales Viktorovich, Candidate of Theology, Matrunchik Tatyana Alekseevna, Executive Secretary.

The publication of "Novaga Zapaveta" was carried out under the general guidance of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Orthodox Church with the participation of the Bible Society in the Republic of Belarus and Medial LLC. The book was printed in a circulation of 6,000 copies in good printing design. Of these, 500 copies. – gift, in a leather cover with a gold edge. The text is printed in two colors, there are graphic headpieces with plots traditional for each of the books of the New Testament. The layout of the book was prepared by the Brotherhood of the Three Vilna Martyrs. V. I. Senchenko worked on the decoration, A. I. Demchenko worked on computer layout. The edition was printed in the Orthodox printing house "Orthdruk" (Bialystok, Poland).

The publication of the texts of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament in a new translation into the modern Belarusian language, without a doubt, has a national and historical significance. It will have the most positive impact on the spiritual and moral state of our society, literature, language, culture, and will serve to strengthen the spiritual foundations of society and the state. We are pleased to state that the citizens of Belarus have the opportunity to read and study the Holy Scripture in their native language in a highly professional translation. The publication makes this study available to everyone.

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The New Testament in Belarusian was presented in Minsk. The Bible Commission at the Belarusian Orthodox Church has been working on its translation from the ancient Greek original for 25 years. At the presentation, the head of the BOC told how the book was prepared, why it is important for the church and parishioners, and also why he has not yet learned the Belarusian language.

Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus Pavel with a copy of the New Testament published in Belarusian

“The New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ” is the name of the book on which Belarusian theologians and philologists have been working for 25 years. Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavsky came to its presentation at the National Library Pavel, head of the Catholic Church Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. Among those invited were the new Minister of Information Alexander Karlyukevich, Member of Parliament Elena Anisim.

The New Testament was translated from the ancient Greek original by the Biblical Commission of the BOC. The publication was timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the publication of the first book of the Belarusian educator Francysk Skaryna.

The head of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Pavel, remembered both Francysk Skaryna and the educators Cyril and Methodius.

- If we pay attention, every educator, missionary, preacher,
who carried the word of God in order to have the success of sermons, understood that it was necessary to speak in their native language ( the people to whom he went. — Approx. TUT.BY). (...) The fact that now people can read the New Testament in their own language is extremely important. This is an outstanding event, I would even say historical. Some parts were translated before, chapters of the Gospel, but today it is a whole collection, which has been translated into Belarusian.

So far, the circulation of the book is small - 6,000 copies. The Bible in Belarusian can be bought in church shops, in the Cathedral. In addition, they promise to digitize it in order to make it available to everyone.

“We will see: if there is a demand, we will republish it,” the metropolitan noted, commenting on the fact that the circulation is still small.

— Does the appearance of the New Testament in the Belarusian language mean that there will be more divine services in the Belarusian language in Belarus? TUT.BY asked.

— I would not associate the appearance of this book with services in the Belarusian language. You understand, we do not have such a canonical or dogmatic attitude regarding language. People will desire - you can perform worship (in Belarusian. - Approx. TUT.BY). The fact is that many people who go to church today are used to praying in Church Slavonic. We had an attempt. A few years ago, one of the abbots, such a zealous one, decided to immediately translate the entire service into the Belarusian language. So what - people stopped going, because it was not clear to them then. Today, a generation is growing up to which the Belarusian language will be closer.

“People will be drawn to worship in the Belarusian language, and the pastor, who must take care of every person, will treat and pray with people in which it will be convenient and useful for them.

Soon after his appointment to Belarus, Metropolitan Pavel of Minsk and Zaslavl said that the Belarusian language itself.

“You know, I’ll sincerely say: I sucked, dragged out everyday administrative activities,” the head of the BOC admits. — I “understand” a lot of what I hear in the Belarusian language, but like that wise dog, I understand everything, but I can’t say everything. I think that over time I will continue to do this. The hustle is eating up.

Those who worked on the translation were awarded honorary church certificates and medals.

At the event at the National Library, many people spoke Belarusian. Among them are Minister of Information Alexander Karlyukevich, MP Elena Anisim.

Minister of Information of Belarus Alexander Karlyukevich

In addition to them, Orthodox priests - for example, Father Sergiy Gordun, who spoke about why it was necessary to translate the Bible into Belarusian again. He noted that after the first presentation of the New Testament this summer, in addition to positive reviews, one had to hear bewilderment.

— Well, the Orthodox church doesn’t know that the Holy Scripture has already been translated into the Belarusian language and has been issued more than once? Sergiy Gordun quoted reproaches. - I want hell for the first time in the name of the Belarusian biblical camissia on this test. Kali hvertsya stagodzia there we stepped and pratsy, we were in charge of peraklads, they were already, we read them. Right now, the fathers sang yashche peraklady, right yakiya we knew the dachshund. We have read all these peraklads, analyzed them, appreciating their pluses and minuses for ourselves.

Father Sergiy Gordun noted that each of the previous translations deserves attention and serious analysis:

- On the first varta, we remember the names of those translators, who were engaged in translations.

He spoke about the translations of the Bible into Belarusian by Lukasz Dekut-Maley, Vincent Godlevsky, Yanka Stankevich, Nikolai Matsukevich, Vladislav Chernyavsky, Vasil Semukha, Anatol Klyshka.

Remembering the names of the translators, the representative of the Biblical Commission gave specific excerpts, where the texts of the predecessors do not correspond to the norms of the modern Belarusian language or have other inaccuracies. In the near future, this digression into the history of the BOC promises to publish in the public domain.

The event was completed by the Metropolitan Choir of the Minsk Holy Spirit Cathedral. Among others, the choir sang the song "Mighty God".

It is interesting that soon, on November 25, the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus will also present its first official translation of the New Testament into Belarusian.