the following is a document she uses in the teaching of her classes of Readings on Luther
Luther on Scripture and Translation
New Testament Translation
• Prior to 1518, 18 German translations of the Bible had been printed. Most were translations
from the Vulgate, but in 1521 Luther’s friend from Erfurt translated the Gospel of Matthew from Erasmus’s Greek New Testament.
• In 1521-22, Luther finishes the translation of the entire New Testament into High German in
about three months, while in hiding at the Wartburg castle.
• Luther uses Erasmus’s 1519 second edition of the Greek New Testament.
• In March 1522, after returning to Wittenberg he enlists the help of Melanchthon, Spalatin, and
others to work on its revision, including maps and illustrations. Brief marginal glosses
explained difficult terms and names, critiqued the Roman church, and provided theological
interpretations. Sometimes allegorical interpretations were provided, but these were largely
removed from later editions.
• Luther provides his own prefaces to “counteract” the often allegorical (and otherwise
theologically suspect) prefaces found in other printings of the Bible.
Highest priority given to the “true kernel and marrow of all the books” (Lull, p. 111):
• John
• 1 John
• letters of Paul (especially Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians)
• 1 Peter
Lowest priority given to:
• James
• Jude
• Revelation (particularly in 1522; shift in 1530)
• Luther’s approach to translation: an oral style rather than a literary one.
“We do not have to inquire of the literal Latin, how we are to speak German, as these asses do. Rather we must inquire about this of the mother in the home, the children on the street, the common man in the market place. We must be guided by their language, the way they speak, and do our translating accordingly. That way they will understand it and recognize that we are speaking German to them…
“…[W]hen the angel greets Mary, he says, ‘Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you!’ Up to now that has simply been translated according to the literal Latin. Tell me whether that is also good German! When does a German speak like that, ‘You are full of grace’? He would have to think of a keg ‘full of’ beer or a purse ‘full of’ money. Therefore I have translated it, ‘Thou gracious one,’ so that a German can at least think his way through to what the angel meant by this greeting. Here, however, the papists are going wild about me, because I have corrupted the Angelic Salutation; though I have still not hit upon the best German rendering for it. Suppose I had taken the best German, and translated the salutation thus: ‘Hello there, Mary’—for that is what the angel wanted to say, and what he would have said, if he had wanted to great her in German…. Listen well to this! I shall say ‘gracious Mary,’ and ‘dear Mary,’ and let them say ‘Mary full of grace.’
• Observations of 20th century scholar Theodore Bachmann:
“Very simply, the task of the translator is not that of reproducing in one language words exactly equivalent to the words of another language, but of reproducing in vigorous vernacular idiom the meaning originally expressed in the foreign tongue. To do this properly, philological skill is indispensable—only, however, as the handmaiden of an even greater theological competence. Ultimately the sense itself in the original must determine whether the rendering in translation will be literal or relatively free.”
• The printing of the New Testament was completed in September, 1522. Luther’s name is not
attached.
• Luther requested (and received) no honorarium. The printers profited. Luther complains that
they didn’t even give him enough complimentary copies!
• The New Testament was distributed in Electoral and Ducal Saxony, despite Duke George’s
prohibitions. (One objection: anti-papal woodcuts.)
Old Testament Translation
• Printed in several parts, for speed and to keep it affordable.
• Pentateuch translation completed quickly; first draft done by December 1522. Melanchthon
and Matthew Aurogallus help with revisions. Spalatin helps with translation of animal names.
Printed edition available by middle of 1523.
• Preface to the Old Testament
“Here you will find the swaddling clothes and the manger in which Christ lies, and to which the angel points the shepherds. Simple and lowly are these swaddling cloths, but dear is the treasure, Christ who lies in them.” (Lull, p. 114)
• Joshua through Esther finished in 1523; published in early 1524.
• Challenges in translation of poetic books, such as Job and the prophets.
“We are sweating over the work of putting the Prophets into German. God, how much of it there is, and how hard it is to make these Hebrew writers talk German! They resist us, and do not want to leave their Hebrew and imitate our German barbarisms. It is like making a nightingale leave her own sweet song and imitate the monotonous voice of a cuckoo, which she detests.”
• Job through Song of Songs published in 1524.
• Lengthy lull in publication, in part due to Luther’s illnesses and the demands on his time.
• Translation of the prophets published in 1532. (Isaiah was published separately in 1528.)
He did some of us work at the Coburg Castle at the time of the Diet of Augsburg in 1530.
• Luther left most of the Apocrypha to colleagues Melanchthon and Justus Jonas.
• Full version of the Bible, including Apocrypha, was published in 1534. 117 woodcuts,
probably by artists associated with Lucas Cranach’s workshop.
Luther on the book of Judith:
“If one could prove from established and reliable histories that the events in Judith really happened, it would be a noble and find book, and should properly be in the Bible. Yet it hardly squares with the historical accounts of the Holy Scriptures, especially Jeremiah and Ezra…. Some people think this is not an account of historical events but rather a beautiful religious fiction by a holy and ingenious man who wanted to sketch and depict therein the fortunes of the whole Jewish people and the victory God always miraculously granted them over their enemies…. Such an interpretation strikes my fancy, and I think that the poet deliberately and painstakingly inserted the errors of time and name in order to remind the reader that the book should be taken and understood as that kind of a sacred, religious, composition…. It may even be that in those days [the Jewish people] dramatized literature like this, just as among us the Passion and other sacred stories are performed. In a common presentation or play they conceivably wanted to teach their people and youth to trust God, to be righteous, and to hope in God for all help and comfort in every need, against all enemies, etc.
Therefore this is a fine, good, holy useful book, well worth reading by us Christians. For the words spoken by the persons in it should be understood as though they were uttered in the Holy Spirit by a spiritual, holy poet or prophet who, in presenting such persons in his play, preaches to us through them.”
• Ongoing work to revise and correct. In 1531 Luther revises the Psalter “so that David might
sound purely German.”
• Problem with unauthorized printings: defective reprints. Luther says: “They ruin it, willy-
nilly. It’s all for money.”
• During Luther’s lifetime, a total of 91 printings of the Bible published in Wittenberg; 253
editions (including partial editions) published elsewhere; during his lifetime, 750,000 copies of
his biblical translations circulated. In addition: translations done by Luther’s opponents who
nevertheless based their translations on his!
Approaches to Biblical Interpretation
Medieval Background: The Fourfold Sense of Scripture
Amongst various patristic and medieval interpreters one will find variations on this, including different interpretations of “allegorical” and “anagogical.” Sometimes “allegorical” and “anagogical” will be used interchangeably, or the term “allegorical” will refer to both the allegorical and anagogical sense. Some interpreters will speak of only two senses of scripture: the plain meaning of the text and the “spiritual” meaning. The spiritual meaning may include allegorical, moral, and anagogical.
• Literal – the “plain sense” or “historical sense” of the text
• Allegorical – doctrinal meaning; typological meaning (e.g., symbols of Christ and the
church)
• Moral (tropological) - moral lessons to be gleaned from the text
• Anagogical - mystical meaning; symbols of union between God and the
soul; the soul’s ultimate rest in heaven
Mnemonic poem from the 13th century:
Littera gesta docet The letter teaches things that happened
Quid creas allegoria Allegory teaches what you should believe
Moralis quid agas The moral teaches what you should do
Quo tendas anagogia Anagogy teaches where you are going.
Luther’s approach to interpretation of scripture
• Literal/historical (“plain”) reading of the text—except for a small number of exceptions:
• Such as when there is New Testament precedent for reading a text allegorically (example:
in Galatians 4:24, Paul says that the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar may serve as “an
allegory”; in Acts 4 causes Luther to interpret Psalm 2 “Why do the Gentiles rage?” in a manner that completely contradicts the plain meaning of the text; the “Gentiles” are interpreted as the “Jews.”)
• Other times; example, Psalm 45, where Luther believes that the “sons of Korah” liked to
use allegory:
“Here we should call to mind again what we said above, that the psalm is
purely allegorical and that beneath these metaphorical words like “king” and
kingdom: a spiritual kingdom and the church are to be understood. So all these
things ought to be drawn away from the sense and sight of the worldly realm and
transferred to the invisible, where matters transpire quite the opposite from their
procedure in the kingdoms of this world.”
• Acknowledgement of the creative and literary hand of the text’s human authors
On the binding of Isaac:
“Up to this point Moses has described the example of obedience of both, the father as well as the son, in a long narrative and has kept the reader in suspense to the point of weariness with extraordinary expectation. Now that the altar has been built and the epitasis has come, Moses has nothing to say. He either does not venture to state what took place, because the subject matter is greater than can be expressed by any eloquence, or his tears made it impossible for him to write. He lets the amazement and surprise remain in the hearts of his readers and he wants them to form their own idea of a situation which he is unable to describe adequately with words.”
On Job (note Luther’s avoidance of what in the 19th and 20th century would be a “literal”
reading of the text):
“Job didn’t speak the way it is written [in his book], but he thought those things. One doesn’t speak that way under temptation. Nevertheless, the things reported actually happened. They are like the plot of a story which a writer, like Terence, adopts and to which he adds characters and circumstances. The author wished to paint a picture of patience. It’s possible that Solomon himself wrote this book, for the style is not very different from his. At the time of Solomon the story which he undertook to write was old and well known. It was as if I today were to take up the stories of Joseph or Rebekah. The Hebrew poet, whoever he was, saw and wrote about those temptations, as Vergil described Aeneas, led him through all the seas and resting places, and made him a statesman and soldier. Whoever wrote Job, it appears that he was a great theologian.”
Addendum: Preface to the Epistles of St. James and St. Jude (1522/46)
“Though this epistle of St. James was rejected by the ancients, I praise it and consider it a good book, because it sets up no doctrines of men but vigorously promulgates the law of God. However, to state my own opinion about it, though without prejudice to anyone, I do not regard it as the writing of an apostle; and my reasons follow.
“In the first place it is flatly against St. Paul and all the rest of Scripture in ascribing justification to works…. In the second place its purpose is to teach Christians, but in all this long teaching it does not once mention the Passion, the resurrection, or the Spirit of Christ. He names Christ several times; however he teaches nothing about him, but only speaks of general faith in God. Now it is the office of a true apostle to preach of the Passion and resurrection and office of Christ, and to lay the foundation for faith in him, as Christ himself says in John 15, “You shall bear witness to me.” All the genuine sacred books agree in this, that all of them preach and inculcate Christ. And that is the true test by which to judge all books, when we see whether or not they inculcate Christ…. But this James does nothing more than drive to the law and its works. Besides, he throws things together so chaotically that it seems to me he must have been some good, pious man, who took a few sayings from the disciples of the apostles and thus tossed them off on paper. Or it may perhaps have been written by someone on the basis of his preaching.
“Concerning the epistle of St. Jude, no one can deny that it is an extract or copy of St. Peter’s second epistle, so very like it are all the words. He also speaks of the apostles like a disciple who comes long after them [Jude 17] and cites sayings and incidents that are found nowhere else in the Scriptures [Jude 9, 14]. This moved the ancient fathers to exclude this epistle from the main body of the Scriptures. Moreover the Apostle Jude did not go to Greek-speaking lands, but to Persia, as it is said, so that he did not write Greek. Therefore, although I value this book, it is an epistle that need not be counted among the chief books which are supposed to lay the foundations of faith.”
Addendum B: Why you should study Hebrew:
“….I have often advised you to learn the Hebrew language and not to neglect it so. For even if this language were useless otherwise, one should still learn it out of thankfulness. It is a part of religion and division worship to teach or learn this language through which alone we can learn anything at all of the divine. In it we hear God speak, we hear how the saints call upon God and achieve the mightiest deeds; thus study directed toward learning this language might rightly be called a kind of Mass or divine service. Therefore I earnestly admonish you not to neglect it. There is a danger that God may be offended by this ingratitude and deprive us not only of the knowledge of this sacred language, but of Greek, Latin, and all religion. For how easy it would be for Him to stir up some savage people who might eradicate these languages in one fell stroke.
“In addition to the fact that this study is a part of divine service, it is also eminently useful…. I know how useful it has been to me against my enemies. For that reason I would not be without this knowledge—however small it is—for infinite sums of gold. You, too, as future teachers of religion, should apply yourselves to the task of learning this language, unless you want to be taken for dumb cattle and uninstructed rabble who somehow teach the Sunday Gospels and the Catechism with the help of books that have appeared in German. We need theological leaders, we must have fighters who stand on the battlefront against men of other nations and languages, men who are teachers, judges, and masters in this language.”
submitted by
Joy A. Schroeder
Professor of Church History
Bergener Professor of Theology and Religion
Trinity Lutheran Seminary and Capital University
