This study examines the main characteristics of the Old Testament translation in the New Korean Translation (『새한글』). Published in December 2024, this translation is a significant and welcome gift for those who want to read the Bible in Korean, arriving 31 years after the Protestant New Korean Standard Version (1993) and 19 years after the Korean Catholic Bible (2005). The study highlights three features: (1) the use of inversion, (2) the marking of speech types and addressees, and (3) the use of diverse honorific speech levels.
First, the study considers the use of inversion in light of the distinctive word order between Biblical Hebrew and Korean. Biblical Hebrew typically follows a VO (verb–object) structure, whereas Korean follows an OV (object–verb) structure, often resulting in the flow of thought running in opposite directions. Unlike previous Korean translations that primarily adhered to natural Korean word order, the New Korean Translation boldly adopts the word order of the original by employing inversion where possible. While this inverted structure may impede reading fluency, it encourages readers to engage more deliberately with the text, allowing them to deeply experience the original’s unique rhythm and thought flow. This feature is particularly noticeable in poetic and conversational passages.
Second, the Korean language avoids second-person pronouns when addressing someone of higher status, preferring honorific titles such as “God”, “Lord”, “Teacher”, “Mother”, “Father”, and “King”. This linguistic convention can create ambiguity in Korean Bible translations, making it unclear whether a phrase containing terms like ‘God’ or ‘Lord’ is a soliloquy or a prayer (e.g., Psa 23). The New Korean Translation resolves this ambiguity by explicitly inserting markers for speech types and addressees directly into the text (e.g., “(soliloquy)”, “(prayer)”). This innovative approach helps readers clearly grasp the speaker’s perspective and the target of their speech, thereby significantly enhancing comprehension.
Third, the New Korean Translation employs a much broader array of honorific speech levels than earlier versions, a feature with exegetical significance. For instance, in prophetic texts, where God’s words and the prophet’s words are frequently quoted, the New Korean Translation uses different honorific levels to distinguish them. It renders the prophet’s first-person speech in honorific language, while third-person references to the prophet are translated in plain language. In the book of Jeremiah, specifically, this distinction enables readers to easily discern first-person material likely originating with the prophet himself (using honorifics) versus later third-person additions (using plain language), thus supporting the understanding and application of modern critical biblical scholarship.