Bible/Portugal: Letters of James and Jude concludes publication of translations of the New Testament

Commission prepares new publication of the Gospel texts, including contributions from readers

Lisbon, May 1, 2024 (Ecclesia) – The Commission that coordinates the new translation of the Bible of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference (CEP) today launched the provisional text of the Letters of James and Jude, concluding the publication of the translations of the New Testament.

Father Mário de Sousa, coordinator of the commission and president of the Portuguese Biblical Association, tells the ECCLESIA Agency that, in the coming months, a new provisional translation of the text of the four Gospels will be published, “with the input of readers already integrated”.

“It is also the result of a review of the text that had been published and which, having followed the guiding criteria of the time (as literal as possible), had a somewhat harsh Portuguese. Without losing this literalness, this review avoided falling into literalisms, presenting a more literarily fluid text”, he explains.

In March 2019, the Portuguese Episcopal Conference presented the first volume of the new translation of the Bible into Portuguese made by 34 researchers from the original languages, with the publication of the edition of ‘The Four Gospels and the Psalms’.

Since August 2021, a new book of the Bible has been made available monthly in digital format and published by the ECCLESIA Agency.

The Letter of Jude, one of the texts released in May, was addressed to “Judeo-Christians of the diaspora”.

“The author’s reaction to the doctrines of infiltrated false teachers is the key to understanding the theological reach of the letter, in particular the salvific value of faith and the centrality of Jesus Christ in salvation, as opposed to the affection and veneration shown by the community , or part of it, to angels and beings of another nature”, indicate the translators, in a note released to journalists.

The Letter of James presents a theological content that is “eminently practical and, in this sense, quite exhortationary, with the main objective of substantiating and encouraging the experience of faith”.

The provisional translation of this and other biblical texts are available for download on the Portuguese Episcopal Conference website.

The CEP Bible Translation Coordinating Committee invites the community to “get involved in the process of translating and revising this document and is willing to welcome contributions from readers, in order to improve the comprehensibility of the text”.

O.C.

Church/Bible: Translation of the Gospels will have a new version, integrating readers’ observations