In the 18th century, a number of Western European political treatises were translated in Russia, significantly influencing the formation of political language. Translators often used direct calques and borrowed terminology from European languages. However, in the second half of the century, linguistic purism and related eff orts to create indigenous political terminology became increasingly prevalent. Another trend was the existence of diglossia: translators often used Church Slavonic expressions alongside modern Russian in the same translations. At the beginning of the 19th century, linguistic purism became an argument for supporters of conservative political policies. Simultaneously, the ongoing borrowing of European political ideas indicates a strong liberal element in Russia’s socio-political life. This article presents the results of a study on the Russian translation of the French bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet’s treatise Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture by Ivan Ivanovich Bedrinskiy, a priest of the Epiphany Naval Cathedral, in 1802, in the context of the political trends of that time. The publication of the treatise in the Imperial printing house shows that this translation aimed for a special place in the intellectual space of the Russian state. The author of the article identifies the main political concepts of Bossuet’s treatise, reflected in Bedrinskiy’s translation: the concept of authority, the contractual theory of the origin of the state, and the idea of the common good. The omission of several themes from the original in the Russian edition can also be explained, particularly those related to the monarch’s special status in the Russian Empire. This includes Bossuet’s discussions on topics such as tyranny, succession, the education of the sovereign, and resistance to the sovereign. The significance of the translation can be understood by examining the political context in which it emerged, the distinctive public climate among the Russian educated nobility, and the personal motivations of the translator. These motivations are reflected in Bedrinskiy’s petition to have his translation included in the educational curriculum of public schools.