Latest News #304 – Netherlands
February 25, 2005

The following news concerns the Netherlands.

A bookshop displaying copies of the 'house and church' edition of 'De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling', the new interconfessional Dutch Bible translation launched in October 2004. Rotterdam, Netherlands. Photo: NBS (NER05DJ-2.JPG)

New Dutch Bible Translation is second bestselling book

NETHERLANDS — Spectacular sales of the new Dutch New Bible Translation (see Latest News #295 and #298) have made it the second bestselling book in the Netherlands during 2004.

Strictly speaking, the new translation is sold in a number of different editions, not as a single book. Even so, the bestselling of these is the standard edition, sales of which alone put the Bible in third position. Other editions among the bestsellers are a 'home and church Bible' and an edition typeset in a single column and with no verse numbers, for readers interested in the Bible as literature. These ended the year in 14th and 20th positions, respectively, while combined sales of the three put the Bible in second place.

Ironically, the book in the top spot is The Da Vinci Code, a murder mystery based around the notion that Jesus was a mortal man with a line of descent to the present day. But whereas The Da Vinci Code has been on sale since June, the new Bible translation was only published at the end of October.

Commenting on the success of the new translation, Haaije Feenstra, General Secretary of the Netherlands Bible Society, said, "These sales figures show – once again – that the Bible is the world's bestseller. We were impressed: it shows the relevance of the Bible even in a secularised Netherlands."

As well as becoming a bestseller, the New Bible Translation has gained a good deal of coverage in newspapers and non-specialist magazines, let alone in academic periodicals. The magazine Onze Taal ('Our Language') called its publication "the most important literary and linguistic event of the year". (262 words - NETHERLANDS.24.02.05)

A young woman in a bookshop looking at copies of the 'literary' edition of 'De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling', the new interconfessional Dutch Bible translation launch in October 2004. Rotterdam, Netherlands. Photo: NBS (NER05DJ-1.JPG)