The new Bible translation, Bibelen 2020, makes biblical books
accessible to readers with little prior knowledge of the Bible, in idiomatic,
contemporary Danish. However, the article argues that the attempt
to make the texts accessible may have problematic consequences
when the translation directly reflects one specific interpretation. Thi s
is particularly the case in the Song of Songs. Bibelen 2020 indicates
the speaker of each passage, and the introduction identifies one female
speaker (“Sulamit”) and one male (her beloved “Salomon”). In a very
problematic way, this interpretation and the idea that the beloved is
“Salomon”, referred to as “king”, have been built into the translation.
The article discusses the once popular interpretation of the book as a
drama including one woman and two men and argues that elements
of such an approach can illuminate important aspects of the text. It is
argued that these aspects are largely lost in the translation in Bibelen
2020.