Read about St Jerome's translation work in Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter and find out about the work of modern day translators here.
St Jerome is the patron saint of translators and scholars for his devotion to making Scripture accessible to others. He translated the entire Bible into Latin, the common language of his day, whereas previously it could only be read in its three original languages, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
Bible translation work is still ongoing today. There are an estimated 7,000-plus languages in the world and the full Bible has been translated into some 670 languages and parts of it into over 2,000 more. The Bible is now available in languages spoken by around 80 per cent of the world’s population, just over 5.7 billion people. Bible Society works with Bible Societies and other organisations around the world to make Bible translations accessible to everyone who wants them. Almost three-quarters of all Bible translations have been provided by Bible Societies thanks to the kindness and generosity of our supporters.
Discover more about the work of St Jerome, modern day Bible translators and translations of the Bible into art here.
Pope Francis has written an Apostolic Letter for the 1600th anniversary of the death of Saint Jerome the "great doctor and father of the Church, who put the Bible at the centre of his life."
Fr. John Hemer explains why we need to receive the Bible in our own language and the translation methods used to do this.
Fr Michael Hall shows us how the choices made by Bible translators can have a huge impact on the reader.
Watch our new video showcasing the completed God who Speaks artwork and the artist, Pete Codling, explaining the process of translating the story of the Bible and several saints into art.
