汉译圣经书名的演变

The Development of Titles of Chinese Bible Translations

圣经之书名的订定是要帮助读者了解圣经全书的主旨与内容,事实上也传达了译者的诠释。汉译圣经的书名因政治和文化因素而演变。例如,英译圣经书名是一贯地以"e Holy Bible,Containing the Old and New Testaments"(《圣书:旧遗诏和新遗诏》)来命名。而汉译圣经的书名中,有些与英译圣经相对应,如《古新圣经》《神天圣书:载旧遗诏书兼新遗诏书》等。但也因政治和文化因素演变出《新旧遗诏圣经》或《新旧约圣经》或《新旧约全书》等具中国特色的圣经书名。

One major function of a book title is to communicate the main theme and contents of the whole book;in addition,how the book title is translated conveys the translator’s interpretation of the text.This paper re-examines the development of the book titles of Chinese Bible translations.While the English Bible book title has long been largely named as The Holy Bible,Containing the Old and New Testaments,Chinese Bible translations of the book title have undergone changes throughout.The older versions Gu Xin Shengjing(《古新圣经》)and Shen Tian Shengshu:Zai Jiu Yizhao Shu Jian Xin Yizhao Shu(《神天圣书:载旧遗诏书兼新遗诏书》)though followed the English Bible title tradition,the scripture titles have been largely adopted as Xin Jiu Yizhao Shengjing(《新旧遗诏圣经》)or Xin Jiu Yue Shengjing(《新旧约圣经》)or Xin Jiu Yue Quanshu(《新旧约全书》).It is thus proposed in this paper that these titles and their changes can be ascribed to unique Chinese political and cultural factors.