Within the framework of the exhibition project “Belarus and the Bible” a lecture “Translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Belarusian language” by the Сandidate of Theology, Archpriest Sergiy Gordun, was held in the library.
Sergiy Gordun is professor of the Minsk Theological Academy and Seminary, the first vice-rector of the Institute of Theology of Saints Cyril and Methodius of the Belarusian State University, participant of the Belarusian Biblical Commission, a cleric of the Holy Spirit Cathedral of Minsk.
The speaker identified the main stages of the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Belarusian language and stressed that each of them has its own specifics, due to the influence of the historical period, confession, environment, and even the subjectivity of the translator's opinion. The lecturer noted the contribution to the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Belarusian language by Francysk Skaryna, Vasily Tyapinsky, Vincent Godlevsky, Pyotr Tatarinovich, Yan Stankevich, Nikolai Matsukevich, Yan Petrovsky, Vasil Syomukha, Anatoly Klyshko, Vladislav Chernyavsky, Mihas Mitskevich. Sergiy Gordun also described the specifics of the translations, gave a comparative analysis and emphasized the language advantages and disadvantages of each of them.
The Very Reverend Father Sergius drew the attention of the listeners to the uniqueness of the exhibition “Belarus and the Bible”, where there are Belarusian biblical manuscripts, old printed Bibles and modern translations of the Holy Scripture into the Belarusian language. He noted the significant contribution of the National Library of Belarus to the facsimile reproduction of handwritten and printed book monuments, the relevance and the need for further work in this direction.
