The Translation of The Bible into Slavic

Abstract

Old Slavic or Palaeo-Slavic generally refers to the language spoken by the populations that were part of the great family of Slavic peoples. It is possible that, initially, these populations shared a common language which subsequently gave birth to the various more or less mutually similar Slavic languages and dialects. Be that as it may, Old Slavic or Palaeo‑Slavic should not be regarded as the ‘mother’ of today’s Slavic languages, but rather as its ‘sister’. During the time of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who were considered to be ‘the Apostles of the Slavs’, this language was spoken by the Slavic populations around Saloniki and Byzantium. After the mission of the two saints, it would be adopted as a literary language by the vast majority of Slavic peoples. As an instrument of culture, Palaeo-Slavic was quite widespread, from Great Moravia (the current territory of Czech Republic and Slovakia) to old Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, and old Russia, and subsequently came to be used as a liturgical language even in non-Slavic countries such as the Romanian Provinces and Lithuania. Having become a dead language in time, Old Slavic remains the official liturgical language of the Orthodox Churches of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Czech Republic, and Poland to this day. Given the spread of Old Slavic and its role in promoting Christian teachings, we deemed it important to highlight in the present study how the translation of the Bible was carried out in the Slavic sphere of influence. An overview of main translations and editions will be provided, starting with the first texts translated by Cyril and Methodius, on to the Novgorod Bible (1496) and ending with the synodal translation of the Russian Bible of 1876.