Translation Landscape
Translation Landscape
History of Bible translation into Ukrainian
Ukrainian-language Bible translation traces back to the 16th-century Peresopnytsia Gospels (1556-1561), a monastic manuscript translation of the four Gospels now held as a national cultural treasure, though not used for current translation work. The first full Ukrainian Bible translation followed centuries later, the Kulish-Puliui-Nechui-Levytsky translation (New Testament 1871, full Bible 1903), historically significant as an act of Ukrainian linguistic self-assertion under Russian imperial restrictions on Ukrainian-language publishing. The dominant modern translation is the Ohienko translation (Переклад Івана Огієнка, completed 1940, published 1962), produced partly as a continuation of that same project of linguistic and national self-assertion, distinct from Russian-language Bible translation, and it remains the anchor, most widely used and most theologically and linguistically authoritative Ukrainian Protestant/Evangelical translation to this day. Subsequent decades added further translations reflecting Ukraine’s plural church landscape, including a Catholic-tradition translation associated with Ukrainian Greek Catholic scholarship, an Orthodox-tradition translation, and more recent modern-register and dynamic-equivalence editions aimed at broader accessibility.
Bible translations available in Ukrainian
| Translation Full Name | Denomination / Publisher | Source Texts | Translation Style | YouVersion Available | Age / Revision | Key Risks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Переклад Івана Огієнка (Ohienko Translation) | British & Foreign Bible Society / United Bible Societies (Protestant/Evangelical heritage) | Byzantine/Majority Greek text tradition (inferred, common to Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Ukrainian usage) | Formal equivalence, high literary/slightly archaic register | Yes — bible.com/bible/186 | Completed 1940, published 1962 | None systematic beyond general theological conservatism; the recommended baseline for this Language Package family |
| Переклад Р. Турконяка (Turkoniak Translation) | Ukrainian Bible Society, produced under Ukrainian Catholic (Basilian) auspices | Not confirmed | Formal-to-moderate equivalence, more accessible than Ohienko; occasional lexical choices resonate with Catholic/Greek Catholic sacramental theology | Yes — bible.com/bible/1755 (Cyrillic version code; not independently re-verified as a working deep link) | NT 1997, full Bible 1997-2011, revised into the 2020s | Worth a targeted comparison check wherever a curriculum’s doctrine touches sacramental or ecclesiological themes |
| Біблія в пер. П. Куліша та І. Пулюя (Kulish-Puliui) | British & Foreign Bible Society | Not confirmed | Formal, 19th-century literary register | Yes — bible.com/bible/188 | 1903, this edition 1905 | Historically significant but largely superseded devotionally by Ohienko; historical/linguistic interest primarily |
| БІБЛІЯ. Сучасний переклад (modern paraphrase edition) | Ukrainian Bible Society | Not confirmed | Dynamic-equivalence, colloquial (inferred) | Yes — bible.com/bible/3786 | Year not confirmed | Higher doctrinal-precision risk; dynamic-equivalence method smooths forensic/legal vocabulary; clarity aid only, not authoritative for terminology |
| Новий Переклад Українською (New Ukrainian Translation) | Biblica, Inc. | Not confirmed | Modern register (inferred) | Yes — bible.com/bible/3269 (Cyrillic version code; link not independently re-verified) | Year not confirmed | Terminology consistency with Ohienko-tradition baseline not independently verified |
| Переклад Ю. Попченка | Global Bible Society | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Yes — bible.com/bible/3149 (link not independently re-verified) | Year not confirmed | Publisher/translation philosophy unconfirmed |
| Свята Біблія: Сучасною мовою (Bible in Contemporary Language) | Bible League International | Not confirmed | Contemporary, plain-language (inferred) | Yes — bible.com/bible/204 | Year not confirmed | Clarity aid only; not authoritative for terminology |
| Пересопницьке Євангеліє (Peresopnytsia Gospels) | Monastic manuscript | Not applicable (manuscript) | Historical, Gospels only | Not on YouVersion | 16th century (1556-1561) | National cultural treasure; not used for current translation work |
| Переклад Пилипа Морачевського | Independent | Not confirmed | Historical | Not on YouVersion | 19th century | Historical New Testament translation; reference interest only |
| Переклад о. Івана Хоменка (“Rome Bible”) | Ukrainian Greek Catholic (translated in Rome) | Not confirmed | Catholic-tradition, formal (inferred) | Not on YouVersion | 20th century | Reference interest; not this package’s Protestant/Evangelical baseline |
| Переклад Патріарха Філарета (Михайла Денисенка) | Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate | Not confirmed | Orthodox-tradition, formal (inferred) | Not on YouVersion | Year not confirmed | Reference interest; not this package’s Protestant/Evangelical baseline |
| Переклад нового світу (Ukrainian New World Translation) | Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) | Watch Tower’s own revised text | Doctrinally biased, anti-Trinitarian | Not on YouVersion | 2005 (NT), 2014 (full Bible) | Must never be echoed; see Doctrinal-bias note below |
Doctrinal-bias note
The Ukrainian New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses) must never be treated as a reference text; its well-documented anti-Trinitarian textual choices, particularly regarding Christ’s deity, and its treatment of “Law” and “works” vocabulary in ways that can introduce works-righteousness-adjacent renderings, are inconsistent with mainstream Ukrainian Protestant/Evangelical doctrine and must not be echoed. Ukrainian-language material from explicitly non-Trinitarian or syncretistic new religious movements, occasionally circulating online, should likewise never be echoed, particularly any rendering of “Spirit” (Дух) that drifts toward an impersonal force.
Recommended default version
The recommended default YouVersion version for this Language Package family is the Ohienko translation (Переклад Івана Огієнка, version ID 186, code UBIO). It is the most widely used and most theologically and linguistically authoritative Ukrainian Protestant/Evangelical translation, anchored in the Byzantine/Majority Greek text tradition common to both Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Ukrainian usage, with minimal discernible doctrinal bias beyond a general theological conservatism consistent with formal equivalence method.
Correction to a prior recommendation: an earlier draft of this document cited version ID 1614 for the Ohienko translation. That ID has been verified to belong to an unrelated Hausa-language Bible version, not Ohienko’s Ukrainian translation. 186 (UBIO) is the verified, correct YouVersion ID going forward; any prior artifact or hyperlink built against 1614 should be treated as incorrect and corrected to 186.
Worked example — John 3:16:
https://www.bible.com/bible/186/JHN.3.16.UBIO
General hyperlink pattern: https://www.bible.com/bible/186/{BOOK_CODE}.{chapter}.{verse}.UBIO, using the standard three-letter USFM/YouVersion book code (e.g. JHN for John, GAL for Galatians, ROM for Romans). For a verse range: https://www.bible.com/bible/186/GAL.2.15-21.UBIO. This construction pattern applies consistently across every Ukrainian curriculum in this Language Package family.