Features of the biblical translations made on the territory of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th century

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Biblijos vertimai, XIV amžius, Lenkijos karalystė, Didžioji Lietuvos kunigaikštystė, Ekleziastas. Keywords: Biblical translations, the 16th century, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Book of Ecclesiastes.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Biblijos vertimai; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Lenkija (Lenkijos karalystė. Kingdom of Poland. Poland); Tekstologinė analizė; Bible translations; Textological analysis.

ENThe article provides an overview of biblical translations created in the 16th century on the territory of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On the example of verses 1.5–7 from the Book of Ecclesiastes a specific translation technique and the reasons for the differences between the original and translated text are considered. The study uses the method of textological analysis. The author comes to the following conclusions. Firstly, it can be a clash of different language systems, since the original language and the language of biblical translation refer not only to different language groups, but also to different language families. Secondly, a strong opposition to the accuracy of the translation is a different understanding of the text, due to differences in religion. By the time of the creation of most Slavic translations, Christian exegetics was fundamentally different both from the ancient understanding of sacred texts and from the interpretation adopted in the rabbinical tradition. Thirdly, intertextual differences may be due to differences in culture that have nothing to do with the religious system. Fourthly, the difference between the original and the translation is due to the fact that not all translators were equally gifted linguists; they didn’t know the original language and the subject in question equally well. Therefore, in the textual structure of the translation, we can meet with various kinds of deviations from the essence and form of the original, up to language and substantial mistakes. [From the publication]