An Open Letter on Translating
By Dr. Martin Luther, 1483-1546
Translated from:
"Sendbrief von Dolmetschen"
in Dr. Martin Luthers Werke,
(Weimar: Hermann Boehlaus Nachfolger, 1909),
Band 30, Teil II, pp. 632-646
by Gary Mann, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Religion/Theology
Augustana College
Rock Island, Illinois
Preface
Wenceslas Link to all believers in Christ:
The wise Solomon says in Proverbs 11: "The people who withholdgrain curse him. But there is a blessing on those who sell it."This verse speaks truly concerning all that can serve the commongood or the well-being of Christendom. This is the reason themaster in the gospel reprimands the unfaithful servant like a lazyscoundrel for having hidden and buried his money in the ground.So that this curse of the Lord and the entire Church might beavoided, I must publish this letter which came into my possessionthrough a good friend. I could not withhold it, as there has beenmuch discussion about the translating of the Old and NewTestaments. It has been charged by the despisers of truth thatthe text has been modified and even falsified in many places,which has shocked and startled many simple Christians, even amongthe educated who do not know any Hebrew or Greek. It is devoutlyhoped that with this publication the slander of the godless willbe stopped and the scruples of the devout removed, at least inpart. It may even give rise to more writing on such matters andquestions such as these. So I ask all friends of the Truth toseriously take this work to heart and faithfully pray to God for aproper understanding of the divine Scriptures towards theimprovement and increase of our common Christendom. Amen.
Nuremberg Sept. 15, 1530.
To the Honorable and Worthy N., my favorite lord and friend.
Grace and peace in Christ, honorable, worthy and dear Lord andfriend. I received your writing with the two questions or queriesrequesting my response. In the first place, you ask why I, in the3rd chapter of Romans, translated the words of St. Paul:"Arbitramur hominem iustificari ex fide absque operibus" as "Wehold that the human will be justified without the works of the lawbut only by faith." You also tell me that the Papists are causinga great fuss because St. Paul's text does not contain the wordsola (alone), and that my changing of the words of God is not tobe tolerated. Secondly, you ask if the departed saints intercedefor us. Regarding the first question, you can give the papiststhis answer from me—if you so desire.
On the first hand, if I, Dr. Luther, had thought that all thePapists together were capable of translating even one passage ofScripture correctly and well, I would have gathered up enoughhumility to ask for their aid and assistance in translating theNew Testament into German. However, I spared them and myself thetrouble, as I knew and still see with my own eyes that not one ofthem knows how to speak or translate German. It is obvious,however, that they are learning to speak and write German from mytranslations. Thus, they are stealing my language from me—alanguage they had little knowledge of before this. However, theydo not thank me for this but instead use it against me. Yet Ireadily grant them this as it tickles me to know that I havetaught my ungrateful students, even my enemies, to speak.
Secondly, you might say that I have conscientiously translated theNew Testament into German to the best of my ability, and that Ihave not forced an