Bible Translation In Progress
Bible translation is currently happening in 2,846 languages in 157 countries. This work impacts 1.11 billion people, or about 15percent of all language users, who have new access to at least some portions of Scripture in their first language. This number does not include people who already have a full Bible but are updating their existing translations.
Full Bible Translation Tops 700 Languages For First Time
With an estimated 7,000-plus languages in the world there may be a little way to go, but the full Bible has now been translated into 700 of them.
This means the Bible is now available in languages spoken by around 80 per cent of the worlds population, just over 5.7 billion people, and Bible Societies with other organisations are working to make to make these translations accessible to everyone who wants them.
Almost three-quarters of these Bible translations have been provided by Bible Societies, and it is thanks to the kindness and generosity of people like you that this milestone figure has been reached. With your continued support more translations will be completed, more Bible-based literacy projects will be funded, and millions more Bibles will reach the hands of people who otherwise would never have the privilege of being able to read Gods word in their own tongue.
The milestone was reported in August 2020 by progress.Bible, which compiles data from Bible Societies and other translation agencies across the world.
United Bible Societies Director General Michael Perreau said, This is the fruit of generations of sacrifice and generosity. Each Bible translation takes years of hard work and dedication. We give thanks to God for the men and women who have spent so much of their lives bringing Gods Word to their communities and for those who have supported and prayed for that work.
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Translated Into Over 700 Languages
According to Tyndale Bible Translators, the Bible has been translated fully into 717 languages, meaning that roughly 5.75 billion people have at least one translation of the Bible in their language . Translators who have decided to focus only on the New Testament have managed to get that text translated into 1,582 languages, allowing another 830 million people access, at least theoretically, to that portion of the text. Further, certain portions have been translated into 1,196 other languages, adding another 457 million people to the list of those who, theoretically at least, have access to a Bible or a portion of the Bible.
Of course, that is not the end of the discussion. Some languages have multiple translations for example, according to Christianity.com, there are 450 different translations of the Bible in English alone, about 21 in Spanish , and three ones in French, according to Fluentu.
Meanwhile, according to Tyndale Bible Translators, at least 20% of the worldâs population is still waiting on a translation of the full Bible into their native language.
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There Is Now More Bible Translation Work In Progress Than Ever Before
Which means that in the coming years there is a historic opportunity to get significantly closer to the vision of everyone being able to know Jesus through the Bible.
This work is urgent. That is why Wycliffe is aiming to double the amount of funding we send to translation projects in the next three years.
With your help, together we can say yes to more translation teams that have asked for support.
Where Is The Original Bible
First editions of famous books are carefully kept by collectors or displayed in museums. So, where is the first edition of the Bible? Where is the original handwritten version of the various Bible books kept? Unfortunately, we dont have any originals. The Bible books were written on materials like papyrus, leather and parchment. These materials do not last very long. Therefore, the Bible books were copied by hand to preserve and multiply them. This was a lot of work, and every now and then copyists made a mistake which would then be corrected or taken over by the next copyist. That way, some small differences developed. Sometimes we cant be sure which version is original and which one has been changed over the centuries. The vast majority of these variations are just linguistic, they dont influence the meaning of the text.
Although the original Bible books have been lost, we do have almost 6000 very old manuscripts of the New Testament alone, dating from the 2nd to the 16th century.
Some cover entire Bible books, others just snippets. Carefully studying these manuscripts has helped scholars to establish the original wording of all Bible texts with great certainty. For more detailed information on the question whether our modern Bibles resemble the original Bible text, read our article about this topic. With this background information in mind, lets move on to the main question of this article.
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Languages Of The New Testament
The books of the ChristianNew Testament are widely agreed to have originally been written in Greek, specifically Koine Greek, even though some authors often included translations from Hebrew and Aramaic texts. Certainly the Pauline Epistles were written in Greek for Greek-speaking audiences. See Greek primacy for further details. Koine Greek was the popular form of Greek which emerged in post-classical antiquity , and marks the third period in the history of the Greek language. It is also called Alexandrian, Hellenistic, Common, or New Testament Greek.
Some scholars believe that some books of the Greek New Testament are actually translations of a Hebrew or Aramaic original. A famous example of this is the opening to the Gospel of John, which some scholars argue to be a Greek translation of an Aramaic hymn. Of these, a small number accept the SyriacPeshitta as representative of the original. See Aramaic primacy.
Likewise, some traditional Roman Catholic scholars believed the Gospel of Mark was originally written in Latin. However, the received text of the New Testament is Greek and nearly all translations are based upon the Greek text.
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Who Translated The Bible Into Different Languages
But it was the work of the scholar William Tyndale, who from 1525 to 1535 translated the New Testament and part of the Old Testament, that became the model for a series of subsequent English translations.
What happened to the translators of the Bible?
In March 2016, four Bible translators working for an American evangelical organisation were killed by militants in an undisclosed location in the Middle East. Bible translations, then, may appear to be a harmless activity.
Why was it so difficult to translate the Bible into the vernacular language?
The Bible is addressed to a huge variety of people and was written for different uses e.g. listening, reading etc. This makes the Bible hard to translate since it is very difficultfor some people impossibleto transfer all these features from the Source Languages into the Target Language.
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Nership Aims To Translate Bible Into All Languages
Timothy Cockes / Baptist Press
OKLAHOMA CITY Mart Green envisions everyone in the world having the Bible in their own heart language in the next 12 years.
Green, founder and CEO of Mardel Christian & Education, a chain of 37 stores in seven U.S. states, is helping lead a Bible translation project featuring a variety of organizations with the goal of translating the Bible into all known languages by the year 2033.
The translation effort, called illumiNations, includes a partnership among 10 of the largest Bible translation organizations in the world, including Wycliffe Bible Translators, American Bible Society, Pioneer Bible Translators and Deaf Bible Society.
Green, son of Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green, also serves as the ministry investment officer for Hobby Lobby.
Doctrinal Differences And Translation Policy
In addition to linguistic concerns, theological issues also drive Bible translations. Some translations of the Bible, produced by single churches or groups of churches, may be seen as subject to a point of view by the translation committee.
For example, the New World Translation, produced by Jehovah’s Witnesses, provides different renderings where verses in other Bible translations support the deity of Christ. The NWT also translates kurios as “Jehovah” rather than “Lord” when quoting Hebrew passages that used YHWH. The authors believe that Jesus would have used God’s name and not the customary kurios. On this basis, the anonymous New World Bible Translation Committee inserted Jehovah into the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures a total of 237 times while the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures uses Jehovah a total of 6,979 times to a grand total of 7,216 in the entire 2013 Revision New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures while previous revisions such as the 1984 revision were a total of 7,210 times while the 1961 revision were a total of 7,199 times.
A number of Sacred Name Bibles have been published that are even more rigorous in transliterating the tetragrammaton using Semitic forms to translate it in the Old Testament and also using the same Semitic forms to translate the Greek word Theos in the New Testamentâusually Yahweh, Elohim or some other variation.
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What Makes A Website Most Translated In The World
The starting point is to define what makes a website most translated globally. If to consider different parameters, the answer might actually vary. What is understood here by the most translated website is the number of languages in which the site version is available. It means that the more languages one can choose from for the website interface, the more translated the website is. In accordance with this definition, surprisingly, the most translated is the official Jehovahs Witnesses website JW.org. The number of site versions is hard to imagine as of April 2020, it is available in 1020 languages.
Read also: How to get a Translation Accuracy Certificate from certified translation services online?
How Is A Bible Translated
Translation is a process by which a text in one language is transformed into an equivalent text in another. Paraphrase, on the other hand, means to transform a text from one style into a text in another style, but in the same language. Usually the transformation involves changing from a more elevated, archaic, or difficult style to one more easily comprehended. Sometimes it involves “putting it in your own words.” The Living Bible is a paraphrase because it was created by transforming the style of the American Standard Version into a style that children could understand.
The goal of a translation, however, is usually to create a text in another language that is roughly the same style as the original. It seeks to answer the question, If the original writer or speaker were creating the equivalent text in my language, with the same information and intentions, for the same type of readers or listeners, what would that text look like? We create texts not only to convey or elicit certain information but also to accomplish certain goals and to affect our readers or listeners in certain ways. Texts don’t just mean something they also attempt to do somethingperhaps to make a friend, make someone laugh, cause someone to like or be impressed with us, persuade them to take some action, teach them a skill, and so forth. A translation must attempt to match the goals of the original.
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Is Almost Over And We Still Need Your Support
Published in Europe
VATICAN CITY – The Bible is the most widely read book in the world. It has already been translated into 2,454 different languages , but “much remains to be done.” In fact there are still 4,500 languages waiting to face the Holy Scriptures, and, considering that Bible Societies gave out only 26 million Bibles in 2006, only 1-2 per cent of the two billion Christians have been reached.
Mgr Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Catholic Biblical Federation, presented all this at a press conference this morning in the Holy See Press Office where he illustrated the results of a survey on reading and understanding the ‘Book of Books’.
The Catholic Biblical Federation and the United Bible Societies signed an agreement concerning co-operation in the translation and publication of the Bible in order to meet the need to increase circulation.
The survey results that Archbishop Paglia presented, especially from an ecumenical point of view, shows that the Bible remains the most effective “place”‘ where Christians can meet.
Conciliar Fathers intuitively knew this and the Instrumentum laboris of the Synod currently underway confirms it.
“In general, it is good to know that the Bible is the main meeting point for prayer and dialogue between Churches and ecclesial communities.”
Listening together to the Scriptures can also “lead to announcing them together. The same origin of the ecumenical movement is proof of that.”
Bible Translations Into The Languages Of India
Languages spoken in the Indian Subcontinent belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 75% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 20% of Indians. Other languages belong to the Austroasiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Tai-Kadai, and a few other minor language families and isolates.:283 India has the worlds second-highest number of languages , after Papua New Guinea . The first known translation of any Christian Scripture in an Indian language was done to Konknni in 1667 AD by Ignacio Arcamone, an Italian Jesuit.
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What A Reliable Translation Should Contain
- Sanctify God’s name by restoring it to its rightful place in Scripture .
- To accurately convey the original message inspired by God .
- Render sentences verbatim when the syntax and grammar of the target language allow.
- To convey the real meaning of a word or phrase when a literal translation distorts or obscures the idea.
- Use natural, accessible language that encourages reading .
But How Is The Website Translated
Most of the content is done by well-trained volunteer translators, divided into more than 350 remote offices around the world, to ensure that the translation will be as correct as possible, the offices are located at specific points where the native languages ââare concentrated, which favors the immersion of interpreters, who can test the language in person before using it in the content that will be published.
Several languages ââneed special attention in formatting and specific pages to support the language that sometimes differs greatly from what we are used to reading. All material is directed to the Jw.org center in Warwick, New York, where it’s revised.Incredible to imagine that for over 200 years the religious group has been striving to disseminate its Christian bible in all languages ââto reach as many people as possible, the site has earned the title of âThe World’s Most Translated Websiteâ for years, and will hard to miss that title.
Knowing the target audience and the purpose of the material to be translated is important. Software localization, for example, also consists of adapting design elements. Whereas business translation requires specialized skills to translate official corporate documents. If you want to expand your business, an e-commerce translation is essential. Donât forget the Translation Management Software to optimize time and work.
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A New Way Of Measuring Bible Translation Progress
Statistics provide one lens through which to measure progress in worldwide Bible translation. Progress involves not just publishing translations, but changed lives as people encounter God through his Word and as the global church moves toward greater unity in Christ.
The Alliance continues to explore other important indicators of progress such as:
- How are language communities experiencing life-changing impact from Scripture?
- Are churches increasingly taking leadership in the work of Bible translation?
- Are churches, communities, and organizations partnering more effectively to carry out the work of translation together?
To read more, see: A missiology of progress: Assessing advancement in the Bible translation movement by Dr. Kirk Franklin.
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Wycliffe Global Alliance presentations of global Scripture access statistics are compiled annually from data provided through ProgressBible by Alliance organisations, SIL International, United Bible Societies and many other partners. Data is current as of 1 September 2022, and is based on the most recently available information about first language users in SILs Ethnologue,
Further stories about people and projects are available at wycliffe.net and from your nearest Alliance organisation.
What Bible Translation Should I Avoid
Honorable Mention: Two translations that most Christians know to avoid but should still be mentioned are the New World Translation , which was commissioned by the Jehovah’s Witness cult and the Reader’s Digest Bible, which cuts out about 55% of the Old Testament and another 25% of the New Testament (including …
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List Of English Bible Translations
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The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew. The Latin Vulgate translation was dominant in Western Christianity through the Middle Ages. Since then, the Bible has been translated into many more languages. English Bible translations also have a rich and varied history of more than a millennium.
Included when possible are dates and the source language and, for incomplete translations, what portion of the text has been translated. Certain terms that occur in many entries are linked at the bottom of the page.
Because various biblical canons are not identical, the “incomplete translations” section includes only translations seen by their translators as incomplete, such as Christian translations of the New Testament alone. Translations comprising only part of certain canons are considered “complete” if they comprise the translators’ complete canon, e.g. Jewish versions of the Tanakh.