Open Translation

Why an Open Translation?

Note: the Open Translation is a Dutch-language Bible translation. This page describes the project in English; the translation itself is in Dutch.

All modern Dutch Bible translations (HSV, NBV21, BGT) are protected by copyright. That means you may not freely copy, share, or reuse them without permission from the publisher.

There are translations that are in the public domain, such as the Statenvertaling (1637/1888) and the Petrus Canisius Translation (1929). But these are hard to read for many people because of their outdated language. They do, however, form an excellent starting point: faithful to the original text and free of rights.

We believe that God's Word does not belong behind a copyright. That is why we are working on the Open Translation: a revision of the Statenvertaling in understandable Dutch that is free of copyright.

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.

Core principle

Dutch Bible translations form a spectrum from literal to free:

The Open Translation stays as close as possible to the SV1888. Deviations are made only for grammatical cases that are no longer understood, the divine Name, and outdated conjugations.

What is changed

Minimal modernization

Only these categories are adjusted (Dutch source words and their replacements):

Biblical idioms retained

Sentence structure

Divine names

Old Testament

New Testament

Source text

Old Testament

New Testament

Theological choices

• Realm of the dead: “realm of the dead” instead of “hell” in the Old Testament (Sheol consistently)
• Spirit/flesh: where set against each other (Romans 8): “spirit” with a lowercase letter

Avoiding time-bound disputes

No qualification of God's Word

Formulations in margin notes that qualify or relativise God's Word are removed. For example, “Spoken about God in human terms” at Gen. 8:1 suggests the text means something other than what it says. We take God's Word literally.

Margin notes

The original margin notes of the Statenvertaling are carried over and translated into contemporary Dutch. In content they remain as close as possible to the original.

Hebrew and Greek words

Where a margin note discusses a Hebrew or Greek word, the word is given both in its original script and in transliteration:

Type designations

1. Explanation — clarification of the text
2. Cross-reference — parallel passages
3. Textual criticism — manuscript variants
4. Source text — Hebrew/Greek word meaning
5. Name explanation — etymology at first mention

Translation rules

1. Spell out Hebrew/Greek words — always with original script + transliteration, e.g. “Heb. tsaba (צָבָא), host”
2. Bible references as clickable links
3. Abbreviations spelled out — “D.” → “That is to say:”, “N.” → “Namely”
4. Modernize book abbreviations — Psal. → Ps., Actor. → Acts, Genes. → Gen., Apocal. → Rev.
5. Avoid time-bound disputes — the text must remain purely biblical

Formatting

• Words of God: red, italic, between quotation marks
• Direct speech (people): italic, between quotation marks
• Margin-note markers: superscript numbers, clickable

Technical principles

Data model

All Bible data is stored as JSON — one file per Bible book (83 books: 66 canonical + 16 apocryphal + 1 prayer book). Each verse contains multiple editions:

Source text and Strong’s

The complete source text (441,868 words, 83% coverage) is linked to Strong’s numbers for direct access to the Hebrew and Greek meaning. Sources:

• OT: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (OSHB/morphhb)
• NT: Open Greek New Testament (OpenGNT)
• Lexicons: BDB Hebrew (~8,700 entries) and Abbott-Smith Greek (~5,600 entries)

Direct speech and God-quotations

• God-quotations: 6,322 verses manually identified. Rendering: red, italic, with quotation marks.
• Human quotations: 5,000 quotations with speaker and verse range. Rendering: italic with quotation marks.

Phrase-level diff

An automated diff system compares the Open Translation with the SV1888 at the phrase level, using known replacement patterns (cases, divine names, etc.). This has exported 24,722 verses with changes.

Paintings

937 paintings are linked to Bible references: 815 from statenvertaling.net and 122 by Jan van ’t Hoff (gospelimages.com). Each painting includes metadata (artist, year, museum, biblical text).

Statistics

All revision principles in detail

Changelog

v0.11

• 8,000+ outdated words replaced: indien→als (2,000x), alzo→zo (2,854x), aldaar→daar (700x), geschieden→gebeuren (604x), u zijt→u bent (388x), enigen→enige (198x), wassen→groeien (144x), beginsel→begin (130x), and more.
• Cases resolved: Koninkrijk Gods→Koninkrijk van God (142x), kinderen Gods→kinderen van God (181x), Zoon Gods→Zoon van God (29x), toorn/Lam/engelen Gods→van God.
• Speech-v2: segment-based quotation marking. Genesis and John fully audited.
• Glossary John: 285 concepts with clickable popup explanations.
• Change-principles system: 57+ principles with 97% linkage to individual changes.
• Concepts mode in the Bible reader: toggle on to see words that occur in the encyclopedia.

v0.10

• Improved quotation boundaries: quotations now start after the colon, not at the beginning of the verse. Introductory verses (“saying:”) are no longer marked as quotations. Genesis fully audited.
• 599 outdated words replaced: eer→voordat (277x), moede→moe (82x), wien→wie (240x).
• 1,130x dezer/dezes → van deze.
• Glossary Genesis: 922 concepts — people, places, peoples, theological concepts, outdated words. Clickable words with popup explanations.
• Tag system: topical tags on Bible verses (e.g. “God's guidance”). Coloured dots next to verse numbers.
• Statistics page: live statistics with counts per book, word changes, quotations, source-text coverage.
• Angel of JAHWEH / Angel of God: as a concept with Hebrew.
• Gen. 6:4: Nephilim instead of giants.
• Direct-speech quotation marks: human quotations now also with quotation marks.
• Broken words fixed: “ondervin den” → “ondervinden”, “kin deren” → “kinderen”.
• Principles expanded: eer→voordat, moede→moe, wien→wie, dezer→van deze.
• Search function: search all 83 Bible books for a word or phrase.
• Verse selection & copy: click verses to select, copy with or without formatting.
• Biblical encyclopedia: 8,842 articles from Easton's (1897) and Nave's (1896), translated into Dutch.

v0.9

• Curated God-quotations: 6,322 verses manually identified, stored in god-speaks.json. 100% reliable application by verse number.
• All direct quotations: 5,000 quotations (God + man) identified with speaker and verse range.
• God-quotation formatting: red, italic, with quotation marks.
• 22,112 outdated words replaced: doch→maar, ganse→gehele, hetgeen→wat, iegelijk→iedereen, wederom→opnieuw, terstond→meteen, mitsgaders→en ook, desgelijks→evenzo, and 20+ others.
• Spelling of introductions: 83 book introductions and 158 chapter introductions modernised.
• Gen. 6:4: giants → Nephilim.
• Reading edition: static HTML export with book/chapter navigation.
• JSON as single source of truth: direct JSON files, no more SQLite intermediate layer for Bible data.
• KT Diff column: phrase-level diff for margin notes (SV1888 vs OV2026), 24,722 verses.
• Paintings: 937 paintings linked to Bible references.
• Principles expanded: no qualification of God's Word, 30+ word replacements documented.

v0.8

• New principle: SV1888 as starting point, minimal changes.
• Genesis fully revised (50 chapters): as close as possible to SV1888, incl. 50 chapter introductions.
• Complete SV1888: all 66 books + 16 apocrypha (37,314 verses).
• Source text: 441,868 words with Strong’s numbers (83% coverage).
• Inline Strong’s: clickable Strong’s numbers in OV text with lexicon tooltip.
• 937 paintings: 815 statenvertaling.net + 122 Jan van ’t Hoff.
• Lexicon page: searchable BDB Hebrew + Abbott-Smith Greek.
• Columns: SV1637, KT1637, SV1888, KT1888, OV2026, KT2026, Heb/Gr, Diff.
• Principles revised: JAHWEH, Heere≠HEERE, avoid time-bound disputes.

v0.7

• Translation principles revised: literalness above readability.
• Biblical register retained: gedierte, gevogelte, uitspansel, afgrond, alzo.
• Genesis 1-4, John 3, and Romans 8 revised on the basis of new principles.
• Margin notes of all books retranslated: modern Dutch, Hebrew and Greek words with original script.
• Calvinistic bias neutralised: Acts 13:48, Rom. 8-9, John 3:16.
• New design: The Little Ark house style (navy/gold/teal).

v0.6

• Margin notes 1637 and retranslated margin notes as columns.
• Lexicon tooltips for Hebrew/Greek words.
• Cross-references as clickable links.

v0.5

• Strong’s numbers and source-text display.
• Column toggles for flexible display.
• HSV and NBG-51 comparison columns.

v0.4

• Editable verses with local storage.
• Status per verse (empty/draft/review/final).
• Import/export functionality.

v0.1–0.3

• Initial translation-tool setup.
• Genesis 1-3 as pilot.
• Divine-names system (JAHWEH).

Licence