Last week I visited a friend in hospital. Before leaving, I asked if she had her Bible handy. Slipping her hand under her pillow, she produced the precious volume for me to read to her. But in spite of her eagerness to hear God’s word, I left the ward sad.
Was I sad because the Bible was dirty and water-damaged, cover falling off and pages mildewed and wrinkled? No.
Was I sad because the Bible was the Good News Bible, not a word-for-word translation? No.
I was sad because the Bible was in a language my friend couldn’t understand. When I read the life-giving words of God, the meaning was lost to her because it was not in her language.
In fact, the Bible is not even available in her language. She has to make do with catching a word here and there in a foreign translation and the explanations of others.
Have you thanked God today for your copy of His Word in your own language? What are you doing to help others be able to read the Bible in their own language too?
7 Comments
David (Lumpy) Milson
Jane, you are there on the ground, sometimes literally I’m sure! What is the best way for us to help get the bible into other languages? Are there some organizations which do it better? From far away it is sometimes hard to tell who does a good job.
JANE
You are asking a huge question, and I’m probably not the one with all the answers. Massive debates rage about translation philosophy, some of it connected to the KJV controversy. You may already know someone who does translation whom you can either support regularly or by giving occasional gifts towards their project. You can become familiar with Bible translation needs around the world via the websites and publications of various translation groups. You could think about becoming a translator yourself or helping the work of translation as a support worker. If you ask God to show you how you can get involved and then look around, you may be surprised how He answers.
Ross Webb
Great piece Jane!
Here’s a teeny weeny answer for Lumpy.
As a Bible translator (well, supervisor of such) on the ground in Vanuatu I could suggest ‘liking’ this page. It’ll give you a little insight into Bible translation as it goes on around the Pacifc. The site tries to highlight the joys and challenges of BT, and particularly those of the local people involved in translation. With maybe 60 more languages to translate in Vanuatu alone, it’s a massive job.
As Jane said, “You could think about becoming a translator yourself.” It wouldn’t take me long to tell you how to get on the right track!
david lumpy milson
Thanks Ross, worn out those shoes yet?
Ross Webb
Long gone Lumpy. But I’ve never forgotten the man who introduced foreign croks to me! When are you visiting again?
In my post I tried putting in a URL to translation in the Pacific but failed. Might as well try again…
Ross Webb
Well, I guess those HTML codes allowed don’t work, or I’m using them wrong. Too bad. Less nicely:
http://www.facebook.com/pacificbible
Jason Harris
Hey Ross,
The link is there under “this page.” Comments with links just come up for moderation so that’s why it doesn’t show up right away. Thanks for commenting. =)