First Nations Version

Last updated
First Nations Version
First Nations Version Cover.jpg
Full nameFirst Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the First Testament
Language First Nations English
NT  publishedAugust 31, 2021 (Gospels only)
Translation type Dynamic equivalence
Publisher InterVarsity Press
Website www.firstnationsversion.com
John 3:16
“The Great Spirit loves this world of human beings so deeply he gave us his Son—the only Son who fully represents him. All who trust in him and his way will not come to a bad end, but will have the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony."

First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament is a translation of the New Testament in First Nations English.

Contents

History

Development history

The development of the First Nations Version was spearheaded by Terry Wildman, who worked with a core group of twelve translators representing different Native American tribes to create the translation. [1] Wildman, who has Ojibwe and Yaqui heritage, was inspired to create the translation while working on the Hopi Reservation when he realized that few people could read the Hopi language translation of the Bible. [2] Wildman stated in a 2023 lecture at Furman University that he "noticed that the English Bible we were reading wasn't connecting well" which he blamed on historical trauma from European assimilation attempts. [3] Initially, Wildman created short recordings of Bible verses over Indigenous music before receiving an offer from OneBook Canada to fund a complete translation. [2] The core group of translators was assisted by freelance reviewers and consultants, with one draft version of the book being sent to 1,300 scholars for review. [1] The translation follows the principle of dynamic equivalence rather than formal equivalence in order to mimic the oral tradition of many Native American tribes. [4] To that end, names in the book were translated into a structure that matches traditional Native American naming schemes—for example, the names of Mary and David were translated as "Bitter Tears" and "Much Loved One" respectively. [4]

In July 2022, InterVarsity Press announced that they would be publishing a translation of the books of Psalms and Proverbs, with development led again by the First Nations Version Translation Council. [5]

Publication history

The translation was published by InterVarsity Press on August 31, 2021. [6]

Reception

The First Nations Version was received positively in the popular press, although it did not receive significant academic attention. Publishers Weekly praised the translation in a starred review, writing that the translation gave the Bible "new life and new meaning" while maintaining a consistently evangelical tone throughout. [7] The Christian Century described the translation as representing a step towards reconciliation between traditional Native American religions and Christian beliefs while offering mild criticism towards the substantial renaming the translators engaged in. [8] Grist praised the book on similar grounds, noting that the Bible had historically been interpreted to justify environmental exploitation and that the First Nations Version consistently emphasized the co-existence of humans and nature. [9]

The translation was named Reference Book of the Year by the Academy of Parish Clergy. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Septuagint</span> Greek translation of Hebrew scriptures

The Septuagint, sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy, and often abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Hebrew. The full Greek title derives from the story recorded in the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates that "the laws of the Jews" were translated into the Greek language at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus by seventy-two Hebrew translators—six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bible translations</span>

The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As of November 2024 the whole Bible has been translated into 756 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,726 languages, and smaller portions of the Bible have been translated into 1,274 other languages according to Wycliffe Global Alliance. Thus, at least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 3,756 languages.

More than 100 complete translations into English languages have been produced. Translations of Biblical books, especially passages read in the Liturgy can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into Old and Middle English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern English Bible translations</span> English Bible translations published since 1800

Modern English Bible translations consists of English Bible translations developed and published throughout the late modern period to the present.

Bruce K. Waltke is an American Reformed evangelical professor of Old Testament and Hebrew. He has held professorships in the Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, and Knox Theological Seminary in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The New Century Version (NCV) is a revision of the International Children's Bible (ICB).

The Old Testament is the first section of the two-part Christian biblical canon; the second section is the New Testament. The Old Testament includes the books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) or protocanon, and in various Christian denominations also includes deuterocanonical books. Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Protestants use different canons, which differ with respect to the texts that are included in the Old Testament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Bible</span> Catholic Church canon of Bible books

The term Catholic Bible can be understood in two ways. More generally, it can refer to a Christian Bible that includes the whole 73-book canon recognized by the Catholic Church, including some of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament which are in the Greek Septuagint collection, but which are not present in the Hebrew Masoretic Text collection. More specifically, the term can refer to a version or translation of the Bible which is published with the Catholic Church's approval, in accordance with Catholic canon law. The current official version of the Catholic Church is the Nova Vulgata.

The Common English Bible (CEB) is an English translation of the Bible whose language is intended to be at a comfortable reading level for the majority of English readers. The translation, sponsored by an alliance of American mainline Protestant denomination publishers, was begun in late 2008 and was finished in 2011. It uses gender-inclusive language and some editions sold include the books of the Apocrypha which are used by the Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, and in some Anglican congregations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Good News Bible</span> English translation of the Bible

Good News Bible (GNB), also called the Good News Translation (GNT) in the United States, is an English translation of the Bible by the American Bible Society. It was first published as the New Testament under the name Good News for Modern Man in 1966. It was anglicised into British English by the British and Foreign Bible Society with the use of metric measurements for the Commonwealth market. It was formerly known as Today's English Version (TEV), but in 2001 was renamed the Good News Translation in the U.S., because the American Bible Society wished to improve the GNB's image as a translation where it had a public perception as a paraphrase. Despite the official terminology, it is still often referred to as the Good News Bible in the United States. It is a multi-denominational translation, with editions used by many Christian denominations. It is published by HarperCollins, a subsidiary of News Corp.

Cherokee is a member of the Iroquoian language family.

The complete Bible has been translated into three of the dialects of Inupiat language, the New Testament in two more and portions in another.

Part of the Bible was first available in the Kurdish language in 1856. Modern translations of the whole Bible are available in standard Kurmanji and Sorani, with many portions in other dialects.

Biblical translations into the indigenous languages of North and South America have been produced since the 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bible translations into the languages of the Philippines</span>

The Bible has been translated into multiple Philippine languages, including Filipino language, based on the Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines.

Romani languages are the languages spoken by the Roma people, commonly called Gypsies. The language is often called Romanes.

Traditionally Russia used the Old Church Slavonic language and Slavonic Bible, and in the modern era Bible translations into Russian. The minority languages of Russia usually have a much more recent history, many of them having been commissioned or updated by the Institute for Bible Translation.

The New Testament was first published in Scottish Gaelic in 1767 and the whole Bible was first published in 1801. Prior to these, Gaels in Scotland had used translations into Irish.

Frank Derek Kidner was a British Old Testament scholar, best known for writing commentaries.

References

  1. 1 2 Gryboski, Michael (2021-09-01). "New Bible translation embraces Native American storytelling for indigenous believers". The Christian Post . Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  2. 1 2 "Experience the Story Again". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. 2021-09-03. p. A6. Retrieved 2024-04-16– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Faithful storytelling inspires Indigenous translation of New Testament". Furman University . 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  4. 1 2 Black, Eric. "First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament". Baptist Standard . Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  5. ↑ "IVP Announces Contract for the Release of First Nations Version: Psalms and Proverbs". InterVarsity Press . 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  6. ↑ Bailey, Justin Ariel (2021-10-20). "Gained in Translation: A Review of the First Nations Version". In All Things. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  7. ↑ "First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  8. ↑ Aldred, Catherine (2022-05-18). "A New Testament that connects the heart languages of First Nations people". Christian Century . Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  9. ↑ Huska, Liuan (2022-05-03). "A Bible written from an Indigenous perspective could reframe Christians' connection to the earth". Grist . Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  10. ↑ "First Nations Version Named Reference Book of the Year by Academy of Parish Clergy Inc". InterVarsity Press . 2022-04-01. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.