Accurate and Understandable: Linguistic Insights from the Prefaces of Modern Canonical Bible Translations

Abstract

The Scripture is a text read and researched by inspired readers. However, Scripture can also be read and researched as an important cultural-historical, desacralized text. This study presents linguistic and translation-theoretical approaches to the prefaces of the Hungarian Bible translations prepared in the 20th and 21st centuries: how publishers and translators approached the communication of linguistic and translation solutions and problems of the Hungarian target language texts. Finally, the study also attempts to support or refute Christiane Nord’s claim that the prefaces to the Bible translations do not deal with theoretical and practical linguistic issues.