A biblical task: translating the Bible in the 21st Century
When scholar and priest William Tyndale decided to translate the Bible into English in the 1520s, he set out on a dangerous journey that eventually led him to be burned at the stake.
At the time, the only authorised Bible in England was a 4th Century Latin version, and translations were forbidden. Tyndale's crime was an intense desire to see his fellow countrymen read the Bible in their own language.
Five hundred years later, Bible societies around the world are pursuing the mission of having the 'Book of Books' translated into every single language known to man, and the number of new versions grows every year.
According to the United Bible Societies, the complete Bible has been translated into over 475 languages, and the New Testament into more than 1,240.
Whether working on a business text or a novel, it is often said that a translator of should be 'invisible'. This means that the text that reaches the reader should be practically identical to the original - a very difficult result to achieve, as languages and cultures often simply do not translate.
However, the pressure is even higher for a Bible translator: "Knowing that you're translating a text that is considered holy or God's word, you somehow put a limit to your own work," says Mr Morava.
Mr Morava gives an example of how this delicate balance is achieved, citing the concept of redemption. It is an important aspect of Protestant theology and refers primarily to the event of the crucifixion, whereas, says Mr Moravia, it does not find a lot of favour among the Eastern Orthodox Church.
"The Old Testament speaks often of God redeeming Israel from Egypt," says Mr Morava.
"A Protestant translator would prefer to keep this term in order to echo the redeeming act of God that finds full expression later in history in the story of crucifixion. However, an Orthodox translator finds this unnecessary and rightly points out that the use of such terminology in these verses does not make sense for the reader."
According to Mr Morava, a suitable alternative is to translate as 'saving' or 'liberating' the people of Israel from Egypt.
But other translators have opted for different strategies: "There are parts of the world that translate the Bible using Muslim terminology, so it is no surprise to find a Bible speaking about Musa [Moses] and Allah [God]," says Mr Morava.
"This is done not only to connect with a society that is rooted deeply in a Muslim religion, but also for linguistic reasons. Arabic and Hebrew share many similar features as they are part of the same Semitic family, so what we might think of as a Muslim influence is just a natural translation between two Semitic languages."
The translators are hoping that their final work will reach churchgoers and non-believers alike. Mr Morava says that, at this stage, it will probably not be used by the traditional churches as a liturgical text, as that requires more work by the Church authorities to authorise it, but he hopes that will happen in the future.