DOING A WRITTEN TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

I recently described how we did an oral translation of the New Testament in an unwritten language. That kind of translation needs to be considered if there are Christians for whom no written translation is being done.

Today I’m sharing about how I did a traditional, written translation of the New Testament in a written language, the Anuak language in Africa.

This is how we translated a New Testament nearly sixty years ago before there were computers. We were a team of three persons -- an eighth grade level Anuak person who had learned considerable English in school, a non-literate person who knew only his own language and myself. . I used 3 by 5 slips of paper, on which I wrote a each translated verse, and then, using a typewriter, typed these up at the end of each day. I was greatly helped in that a missionary colleague, Kitty Crandall, had taught a young Anuak man how to type. One could almost view him as being a fourth member of our translation team.

Having a non-literate, non-English speaking person on the team forced us to discuss our translation in the Anuak language. This was important. Every expression in Anuak had to make sense to this man before it was written as a final draft on a 3 by 5 slip of paper. In fact this man had to be able to say this translated verse accurately and naturally before it was acceptable as our final translation.

On my desk I had two book stands – one for my Greek NT and the other for my RSV English New Testament, the version I used. A small stack of available English translations of the Bible was on the corner of my desk. These served like instant commentaries when further clarification to understand the exact meaning of the text was needed.

We worked at this in a disciplined way almost every single working day. It took us a little over ten years before our final manuscript was delivered to the American Bible Society. ABS printed the first 1,000 copies. A small Reformed Church in NW Iowa provided the $10,000 enabling ABS to do this without delay.. The first five printed copies were delivered to us via MAF, the day they flew us out of Pibor because of the government’s order expelling missionaries from the Sudan.

The last words we heard when that parcel with those five printed copies of the Anuak New Testament was opened were these: “We do not understand why our government is forcing you to leave our country, but we want you to know that you are leaving behind God’s best gift. You have given us His word in our language.”

Let us pray fervently and frequently for all who are currently translating the New Testament in the many remaining languages. And let us pray for needed additional translators, many of whom are now indigenous teams, to complete this important unfinished task in World Mission. And pray for ministries like ours who make these time consuming, costly, sacrificial translations available in audio for the larger numbers of people, who are a non-reading, oral culture people.

Because they need to hear,
Harvey Hoekstra – harvey@talkingbibles.org
www.talkingbibles.org

Goal: AN ANNUAL TALKING BIBLE SUNDAY IN THOUSANDS OF CHURCHES TAKING A SPECIAL OFFERING TO PROVIDE TALKING BIBLES FOR ALL WHO DO NOT READ AND FOR THE BLIND.