Jumala, jumalat ja kuulija suhteessa tilaan ja toisiinsa. Katekismuksen ensimmäinen käsky eriaikaisissa käännöksissä
The spatial relationships between God, other gods and man in old and new translations of the first commandment in Lutheran catechisms

Summary/Abstract: The first commandment of the Bible is a central text in many religions. Still the Finnish and Estonian translations of the original Hebrew spatial expression lo jihje lecha elohim acherim ‘al-panaj (literally not shall-be to-you gods others before-me) “thou shalt have no other gods before me” in Lutheran catechisms have produced different meanings and presuppositions of the existence of other gods and of their spatial and metaphorical relationship to Speaker-God. The translations reflect the development of theological thinking, from the archaic, concrete conceptions of personified evil forces to the modern conceptions of the abstract and impersonal wickedness of the world. It seems, however, that even the modern translations may need reformulation and perhaps the intention “there is only one God” should be made explicit.

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