Die Revision der Einheitsübersetzung: Eine kritische Würdigung

At the end of 2016, a new version of the German Einheitsübersetzung, the official translation of the Bible of the German speaking Catholic dioceses, appeared, in order to replace the former edition (of 1980). The article evaluates some of the numerous changes. A few of them are matters of style, while most of them lead to a more literal and more concordant text. Many formulations of the 1980 edition which interpreted or explained the text are avoided. This probably renders the translation less fluent, but more faithful to the Hebrew and Greek Biblical texts. The changes are not too widespread, so the reader does not have the impression that he is reading a totally new Biblical text, an exception being the Psalms, which are full of changes, many of them merely stylistic ones. This might lead to problems in reception of the new version when it will be introduced in new editions of the liturgical books.