Difficult conditions for translators working towards complete Bible in modern Estonian

By Tomas Lindroos, Editor of the Swedish Bible Society’s Bibelns Värld

TALLINN, Estonia — Expectation was in the air. The assembly halls in the National Library in Tallinn, the capital, were crowded with people. Reporters and cameramen from two television channels fought for space with newspaper and radio reporters.

A lot of ‘ordinary’ people were present, too, of course. They wanted to experience the great moment when the first test translation from the Estonian Bible Society’s Old Testament translation project, the Book of Jonah, was presented.

Jaan Bärenson, the General Secretary of the Estonian Bible Society, gave a speech and then presented the first, slim volume of the translation. The significance of the moment lay not in the number of pages, however, but in the fact that it was a visible sign that the work has begun that will give the Estonians a complete Bible in modern Estonian.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, its grip on the Baltic states loosened, signalling revival for the Christians of Estonia. At that time their only translation of the Bible had been done by Estonian exiles and smuggled into the country.

Flaws

It had considerable flaws, however: the language was rather strange and the edition contained many misspellings. The people longed for a Bible in their own living language.

In 1991 the Estonian Bible Society was re-established and work on a new Bible quickly got under way. A Lutheran clergyman, Toomas Paul, led the work of translating the New Testament, and when it was finished it was decided that a slight revision of the Old Testament should be carried out, much as it had been in Sweden. This edition of the Bible was published in 1997 but, again, it was not felt to be as good as it could be.

Resources limited

Work on a fresh translation of the Old Testament began in 1999. The task ahead is extensive and demanding. Estonia is a poor country and the resources of the Bible Society are extremely limited. Without gifts and support from other countries such as Sweden, it could not function.

Led by Tarmo Lilleoja of the Bible Society, the translation team is a group of very gifted Bible scholars and linguists from a range of churches and confessions. They include people from the Lutheran and Orthodox churches, Baptists and Methodists. The translation is intended to be interconfessional – capable of being used by all the different churches. After finishing the Book of Jonah, the group began work on Genesis.