New Dutch Bible Translation Drawing Attention
An elaborate and carefully planned marketing campaign has resulted in wide attention for a new inter-confessional Dutch translation of the Bible
An elaborate and carefully planned marketing campaign has resulted in wide attention for a new inter-confessional Dutch translation of the Bible both from the media and many Church denominations.
Produced by the Netherlands Bible Society and the Flanders Bible Society in cooperation with the Roman Catholic Bible Foundation and the Flemish Bible Foundation, the new translation, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling (NBV), is the first official translation to be published since 1951 and has already been acclaimed for giving Scripture "a modern feel".
"This level of media interest in the Bible – not least from the secular press – has never been seen in Flanders," said Pascal Lauwaert, Director of the Flanders Bible Society.
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Throughout the ten-year project, sample editions of selected books were offered to the public, to universities and to a specially selected team of reviewer-proofreaders, including many Flemish.
An official presentation to Queen Beatrix in the De Doelen concert hall, Rotterdam, on October 27, at which the Belgian Cardinal Daneels was the keynote speaker, also brought wide media coverage, the United Bible Societies (UBS) reported.
Two days later there was a launch in Antwerp for the Belgian market. At a thanksgiving ceremony in Antwerp cathedral 800 people were welcomed by the Bishop of Antwerp and the six representatives of the churches in Belgium were presented with copies of the new translation.
That afternoon saw a seminar for academics in the nearby Lessius College, which provided the project with linguistic advice, and the day ended with a reception hosted by the council at Antwerp's town hall.
The most prolonged exposure, though, occurred at the annual Antwerp Bookfair, held during the first two weeks of November. “The Bookfair was well attended and, thanks to good media coverage, demand for information about the NBV there was high,” reported UBS.
UBS said that the location was particularly appropriate as, along with Geneva, Antwerp was one of Western Europe's acknowledged centers of Bible printing in the sixteenth century.
At a special event at the Bookfair, Paul Van Grembergen, the Flanders Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs, was officially presented with his own copy of the new translation, and one of Flanders' most accomplished actors read excerpts from it.
Although the main event may be over as far as the media are concerned, the task of bringing the new translation closer to ordinary people continues, UBS stated. In order to promote the NBV at 'street level', the Flemish Bible Society has produced a series of posters, featuring “eye-catching” texts, which can be now be seen in the windows of homes and in hospitals, schools and churches across Flanders.
Summarizing the importance of the whole project for the region, Lauwaert said that three significant elements were its inter-confessional nature, its highly praised literary qualities and the synergy and close partnership it had spawned between scholars and the Bible Societies in the Netherlands and Flanders.
According to the UBS, Dutch is spoken by around 22 million people in Europe, 16 million in the Netherlands and six million in Flanders, where it is also informally called Flemish. It is an official language of both the Netherlands and Belgium. Other countries where Dutch is an official language are Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, South Africa and Namibia.
