"Internationally, there is a tradition of re-translating the Bible in every generation as language and vocabulary change. The Bible has been one of the core texts of the Estonian language for centuries," said Jaan Bärenson, secretary general of the Estonian Bible Society.

The Estonian Bible Society last published a new translation after the restoration of the Estonian state in 1997. According to Bärenson, that version was a compromise between the old and new translations. Prior to that, an Estonian-language translation of the Bible was published by members of the Estonian diaspora in 1968.

Preparations for a new translation began almost a decade ago.

"In 2015, a committee was formed by the Estonian Bible Society and theological educational institutions along with the Estonian Council of Churches (EKN) with the aim of preparing a new translation, to begin the process and establish the principles. This ended in 2017 with the publication of the first test print of Genesis and Exodus, or Genesis I and Exodus II. The plan at that point was to continue this translation work, but the problem was funding," said Bärenson.

Since then, no funds were made available to begin the translation work. This year, however, they have been provided by the Estonian Ministry of the Interior and the Council of Churches.

"Now the working group of the University of Tartu's Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, which is a working partner of the Bible Society, can begin doing this work," Bärenson said.

According to Bärenson, translating the Bible is an expensive job as it requires the input of a number of different specialists.

"It's not the same as just translating a newspaper article, because it's not only good language that matters. The biblical text is a text that has evolved historically  and in a very specific cultural context," said Bärenson.

"The Old Testament is in Hebrew and some parts of it are in Aramaic, while the New Testament is in Greek. The language goes hand in hand with the entire era in which the text was written and so, the whole historical-cultural process of its interpretation is very important. It is not enough to just have a good knowledge of the language or the original languages. The translation of the Bible needs to be done while taking account of the knowledge of theologians, ecclesiologists, cultural historians, archaeologists and art historians as well as people who know the language," explained Bärenson.

Bärenson also said that once the translation is finalized, there are plans to publish the text online at piibel.net. At a later date, there will also be a paper version and various digital versions, including a possible mobile app.

The print version is expected to be ready in ten years' time.

"If the financial resources are there, it could take up to ten years to translate the Bible, maybe seven, eight or nine years. Translating the Bible requires a lot of manpower and involves not only the translator but a translation team as well as historians and linguists," explained Bärenson.

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