Luther and the German Bible, AD 1522-34
A number of translations of the Bible into the local (vernacular) languages had appeared in different countries of Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. For example, a translation of the Bible into German had been made in the middle of the 14th century, and it had even been printed at Strasbourg in 1466, but the language was clumsy and difficult to understand, and it was based (like Wycliffe’s translation into English) on the Vulgate text. By the beginning of the 16th century, some scholars were growing dissatisfied with the Vulgate, and they preferred to base their translations on texts in the original languages. Many church leaders saw this as a challenge to their authority, as the Vulgate text was the accepted Bible of the European church of the day.
A translation of the Bible into German from the original languages played a significant part in Martin Luther’s efforts to reform the church. Luther finished a German translation of the New Testament in 1522 and of the whole Bible in 1534. For the first time in Western Europe since Jerome’s day, a translation into the vernacular had been based, not on a Latin translation (the Vulgate), but on Hebrew and Greek texts. Despite some changes in spelling and punctuation, Luther’s Bible has remained the standard text of German Protestants, and it also had a considerable influence on later English translations.
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