ON DECEMBER 10, the Biblical Society introduced the first Slovak ecumenical translation of the Old Testament. Work on the translation of the Bible took nearly 20 years.
Preparations for the translation started in 1989 when representatives of all churches registered at that time in the country met for the first time.
Experts from six churches worked on the Slovak version of the fundamental book of Christianity and all official Christian churches in Slovakia recognize it, Tatiana Kamenská, the director of the society, told the press on December 10, the ČTK newswire wrote.
“The ecumenical bible will serve during meetings of Christians of various denominations, and some churches will use it as the basic material for masses and theological studies,” said Kamenská.
The translating process was not easy and translators had to solve a number of questions. “If ecumenicism exists, then it is in translation commissions,” Ján Bándy, who led the Old Testament translation group, told TV Markíza.
Up until now, there were three official translations of the Bible in Slovakia: the catholic, the evangelic and the so-called Roháč translation.
Another benefit of the ecumenical Bible is, according to Bándy, that it is written in modern, accessible Slovak.
The ecumenical translation of the New Testament was published in 1995.
Slovakia was the last Central European country to translate the ecumenical Bible, said Kamenská.
