Norsk Bibel

The Norsk Bibel of 1930, known in Norwegian as Bibelen av 1930, is the classic translation of the Scriptures into Norwegian bokmål, one of the two official written forms of modern Norway. It was published by the Norwegian Bible Society (Det Norske Bibelselskap) and became the official Bible of the Church of Norway, of Lutheran tradition, throughout much of the twentieth century.

The translation methodology proceeded from the Masoretic Hebrew and Greek texts, with careful reference to the Scandinavian Protestant tradition and modern critical editions. The bokmål employed is literary and formal, but aligned with the Norwegian linguistic norm stabilized after the orthographic reforms of the early decades of the twentieth century, which progressively distinguished written Norwegian from Danish — a heritage of the long union between Denmark and Norway that ended in 1814.

Bibelen av 1930 played a central role in the religious and cultural life of Lutheran Norway during the twentieth century. It was present in services, schools, Christian homes, and devotional literature, and profoundly shaped the theological vocabulary of bokmål. It was later complemented and partially replaced by the translations of 1978 and 2011, but maintains active use among conservative congregations, traditional readers, and scholars of the Norwegian Lutheran tradition, being appreciated for its literary dignity.

The text is in the public domain worldwide. It may be freely reproduced and distributed, and remains available on digital Bible platforms, apps, and printed editions for the Norwegian-speaking public around the world.