In consequence of the above publications the examination into the origin of the text of Luther’s Bible and into the principles which determined its compilation enters upon a new phase. In the same way the significance of the text for the history of the German language stands out more clearly because such discoveries bear the strongest testimony to Luther’s untiring endeavours to adapt himself to the true German mode of expression, to his dexterity in finding synonyms and to his skill in construing.
On the Language and the Learning Displayed in Luther’s Bible
The excellence of Luther’s translation of the Bible from the point of view of its German is unquestionable.
For, what the author above all aimed at, viz. a popular rendering of the text which should harmonise with the peculiarities of the German language, that he certainly achieved. Through his Bible, too, owing to its general use throughout so large a portion of the nation, he exerted a greater influence on the upbuilding of the German tongue than by all his other vernacular works.
In his other writings, in which he was ever striving to improve his mode of speech, we may often find real models of good German, which, consciously or not, had a widespread influence on the language. In the case of his Bible, however, this was far more noticeable, for not only was his language there more polished, but the fact of the text being so frequently committed to memory, quoted from the pulpit and surrounded by that halo which befits the Word of God, helped to extend its sway.
Not only did he take infinite pains to translate aright such phrases as ring unfamiliar to Western ears, but he was also assisted by his happy gift of observation and his knack of catching the true idiom. His habit of noting the words that fell from the lips of the populace, or, as he says, of “looking into the jaw of the man in the street,”[1967] was of the utmost service to him in his choice and use of terms. “No German talks like that,” “that is not put ‘germanice,’” “the German tongue won’t stand that,” and similar utterances, frequently recur in the minutes of the conferences when he is finding fault with the renderings proposed by others or even with his own earlier ones.
It was fortunate for him, that, as his medium of intercourse, he chose to use a kind of German, not indeed unknown before, but, which, with his rare gifts, he exploited with greater independence and vigour. Wittenberg was favourably situated from the geographical point of view, and the students who flocked thither from every part of Germany were ever bringing Luther fresh elements, thus enabling him to select among the various dialects what was common to all. The short journeys he made and his correspondence with so many people in every part of Germany were also of assistance to him.
“I have,” Luther says himself, “no particular, special German language of my own, but I use the common German language so that both the Upper and the Lower Lands may understand me. I write according to the speech of the Saxon Chancery which is used by all the princes and kings of Germany. All the Imperial Cities and Royal Courts in writing make use of the language of the Saxon Chancery and of our sovereign; hence this is the kind of German most widely spoken. The Emperor Maximilian, the Elector Frederick and the Duke of Saxony, etc., have fused all the different modes of German speech in the whole Roman Empire into a uniform language.”[1968] Hence, on his own admission, the language was not new. “The language of Upper Germany,” he says, “is not the real German; it is broad and uncouth and sounds harsh. But the Saxon tongue flows quietly and easily.”[1969]
When we try to determine in detail the language of which Luther made use, and how much he actually did to further its development, we are met by great difficulties. German philologists have not yet been able thoroughly to explore this domain, because so little is known of the German prints of the 15th century, of the manuscripts and the various groups of writers.[1970] Protestant theologians have often contented themselves with a few quotations from certain German philologists and historians, which exaggerate the case in Luther’s favour.[1971] Of such exaggerations Protestant scholars had been guilty even in the 16th century;[1972] for instance, the German preacher and grammarian, Johann Clajus, says, in 1578: “As the Holy Ghost spoke pure Hebrew through Moses and Greek through the Apostles, so He spoke pure German through His chosen instrument Martin Luther. It would not otherwise have been possible for a man to speak so accurately.”[1973]