Part of the Bible in Bemba language was first published in 1904, followed by the New Testament in 1916, and the entire Bible in 1956. Currently a revision is in progress. Paul Mushindo and the Scottish missionary Robert McMinn worked together on Bible translation into the Bemba language for more than twenty years.[2]
The Chichewa, in Zambia still called the more neutral Chinyanja, Bible was translated by William Percival Johnson in 1912. This older version is bound as Buku Lopatulika. The Bible Society of Malawi records that the Buku Lopatulika translation was first published in 1922, revised in 1936 and 1966. A Jubilee edition was produced to commemorate Malawi's 50 years of independence.[3] The new Buku Loyera version is a contemporary Chichewa dynamic equivalent translation first published in 1998.[4]
Chope, Tshopi (Mozambique)
Dinis Sengulane, an Anglican of the Mozambican Diocese of Lebombo, translated into Tshopi.
Ciyawo (Malawi)
Malangano Ga Sambano is the New Testament in the Ciyawo language (Chiyao, Chiyawo). It is published by the Bible Society of Malawi (2011)[citation needed]
The first translations of Biblical texts into Hausa were published during the 1850s and were done by James Schön with the help of Hausa speakers who had been freed from slavery due to the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves and the blockade of Africa that followed. The first complete translation of the Bible (without the deuterocanonical books) was published in 1932 by the Bible Society of Nigeria and was mostly the work of Walter Miller during his stay in Zaria with the help of local informants. The first Bible with deuterocanonical books was published in 1979 by the Bible Society of Nigeria. The Bible Society of Nigeria published a revised translation in 2014. Another translation called Sabon Rai Don Kowa was published in 2020. The same year, the first complete Bible in Hausa ajami script was published (Biblical texts had been published before, the first ones during the last years of the 19th century).
Igbo (Nigeria)
British Anglican Thomas John Dennis[5] translated the Bible into a "standard" "Union Igbo" by 1913.[6] This version was very influential but criticised by artists, among them Chinua Achebe, as stultifying the Igbo language.[7] The Igbo Living Bible was published in 1988.[8]
Isoko (Nigeria)
The translation of the Holy Bible into Isoko took place in different phases and by different people. It started in 1920 when one Mr Omuye and Wilson Oki under the supervision of British missionaries, Rev. Henry Protor and J. C. Aitken translated St Mark's gospel into Isoko. Between 1921 and 1922, the brilliant and indefatigable John-Mark Israel Eloho, who was a catechist at Uzere, translated the other Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles into Isoko. He later embarked on the translation of some other books of the New Testament into Isoko. Other people were also involved at different times in the translation of the Bible into Isoko till the entire Bible was translated. At the end of the day, the complete Isoko Bible (Ebaibol Eri Na) was published in 1977 as a publication of the England-based United Bible Societies for and on behalf of the Bible Society of Nigeria.
Kituba/Kikongo ya Leta (Democratic Republic of Congo)
1934: First portions were published.
1950: New Testament and Psalms published, called 'Luwawana yampa ye Bankunga' by Bible Society of Congo
1982: Entire Bible published, called 'La Bible en Kituba (Kikongo ya Leta), Kuwakana ya Ntama ti Kuwakana ya Mpa'.[9][10][11]
Konso (Sierra Leone)
The New Testament was published in 2008 by the Bible Society in Sierra Leone. The translation of the Old Testament is in progress.
Luganda (Uganda)
1893: A complete New Testament was available in one volume. Then the Old Testament books of Exodus and Joshua were translated by Pilkington and published by BFBS
1894: Publishing of the Books of Genesis, Psalms and Daniel by BFBS but translated by Pilkington.
1895: A new edition of the New Testament with corrections made by Pilkington is printed.
Early 1896:Books of the Pentateuch are translated by Pilkington and published
Mid-1896: Minor prophets are translated by Crabtree
Late 1896: The entire Old Testament is published.
1899: A revised edition of the 1896 Luganda Bible is published by BFBS in London. The revision committee consisted of H.W Duta Kitakule, Ham Mukasa, Natanieli Mudeka, Tomasi Senfuma and Bartolomayo Musoke. The team was assisted by Jane E. Chadwick, a CMS missionary.
1968: A newer edition of the 1899 Luganda Bible is published with a revised orthography prepared by Christopher MS Kisosonkole. It was published by the Bible Society in East Africa.
1974: A Joint Translation Committee composed of the Anglican Church of Uganda, Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Seventh Day Adventist Church is set up and tasked with the publishing of an ecumenical version of the Gospel according to Mark.
1975: The Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John are published.
1977: The Book of Ephesians is published
1979: The first Joint Ecumenical Luganda New Testament is published by the Bible Society of Uganda. Bible Society of Uganda was established in 1968 although the work of translation had been started earlier by the British Foreign Bible Societies.
1984: The first revised Contemporary Luganda New Testament is translated by two people: Rev Yafesi K. Mwanje and Mr E. K. K. Sempebwa. It is published by Living Bibles International and is widely accepted as an easy-to-read version by people from all walks of life.
2001: A complete version of the Joint Ecumenical Luganda Bible is published by the Bible Society of Uganda. However, it faces a lot of resistance because of the change in nomenclature of the Bible books, as well as the inclusion of the Apocrypha. Even though the Apocrypha is accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, it is not considered Canonical especially in the wider Anglican Church, Pentecostal Church or Seventh Day Adventist Church.
2014: The First Revised Contemporary Luganda Bible (both Old Testament and New Testament) is published by Biblica Africa. It includes a concordance and names index. The team tasked to translate the work consisted of Omukulu. E. K. K. Sempebwa, Rev. Can. Yafesi K Mwanje, Rtd Bishop Dunstan Bukenya, Mr. Solomon Mpalanyi, Ven. Can. Nelson Kaweesa, Rev. Isaac Mukisa and Dr. Amos Mwesigwa Kasule.
Oromo is one of the many languages of Ethiopia. The New Testament was published in 1893, the complete Bible in 1899, the work of Aster Ganno and Onesimos Nesib. A new translation of the entire Bible was published by the Ethiopian Bible Society in 1992.
Johann Ludwig Krapf - Anglican, parts into Oromo, Amharic, Nyika (Rabai) and Kamba.
Samuel Rolland (1801–1873), first missionary of the Paris Missionary Society, translated some parts of the New Testament and several hymns into Sotho language in the 1840s. Today there are Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho versions.[13]
Swahili (Kenya, Tanzania)
The first translation of parts of the Bible into Swahili was accomplished by 1868, with a complete New Testament translation following in 1879 and a translation of the whole Bible in 1890. Since that time, there have been several translations into different dialects of Swahili as spoken in different regions of East Africa; these include the Union Translation published by the Bible Society of Tanzania in 1950 and the Swahili Common Language version.
Kwa maana jinsi hii Mungu aliupenda ulimwengu, hata akamtoa Mwanawe pekee, ili kila mtu amwaminiye asipotee, bali awe na uzima wa milele.
Biblica, 1989
Kwa maana jinsi hii Mungu aliupenda ulimwengu hata akamtoa Mwanawe wa pekee, ili kila mtu amwaminiye asipotee, bali awe na uzima wa milele.
Xhosa (South Africa)
Henry Hare Dugmore, a Methodist, translated into Xhosa language. Tiyo Soga (1829–1871) was ordained the first African Presbyterian minister in 1856 and also translated.
Ndandililo ni Kutyoka is a translation of the books of Genesis and Exodus from the Old Testament into the Yao language published by The Bible Society of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi, 2004.
Yoruba (Nigeria)
Samuel Ajayi Crowther translated the Bible into Yoruba language and concluded it in the mid-1880s known as "Bibeli Mimo". The complete Yoruba Bible was first published in 1884. In addition to this, several translations have been released by different authors. These include Iroyin Ayo, Iwe Mimo ni Itumo Aye Tuntun, Bíbélì Mímó ti Ìtúmò Ayé Tuntun, etc.
Nitori O̩lo̩run fe̩ araiye tobẽ̩ ge̩, ti o fi O̩mo̩ bíbi rè̩ kans̩os̩o funni, pe e̩nike̩ni ti o ba gbà a gbó̩ kì yio s̩egbé, s̩ugbo̩n yio ni ìye ti kò nipe̩kun.
"Torí Ọlọ́run nífẹ̀ẹ́ ayé gan-an débi pé ó fi Ọmọ bíbí rẹ̀ kan ṣoṣo fúnni, kí gbogbo ẹni tó bá ń ní ìgbàgbọ́ nínú rẹ̀ má bàa pa run, ṣùgbọ́n kó lè ní ìyè àìnípẹ̀kun.
Zulu (South Africa)
In 1837, the first portions of the Bible in the Zulu language were published; in the "First Book for Readers," portions of Genesis and two Psalms were published. The first book of the Bible to be translated into the Zulu language was Matthew's Gospel, published in 1848 by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). This was translated by George Champion (missionary) and revised by Newton Adams. The completed New Testament was published in 1865, translated by several missionaries of the ABCFM. The complete Bible, also translated by many members of the ABCFM, corrected by Andrew Abraham, and finally edited by S. C. Pixley, was published in 1883.[14][15] A 1917 revision by James Dexter Taylor was rejected by the churches for being a poor revision, full of errors in poor Zulu. It was reprinted by ABS in 1924 but not distributed. Therefore, a revision committee was established to do a proper acceptable revision of the 1893 Bible. The revision was published in 1959 and published in London by the British and Foreign Bible Society. It was further revised in 1997 to use modern orthography. A Modern Zulu New Testament and the Psalms was completed in 1986 and published in Cape Town by the Bible Society of South Africa. This was translated by Dean Nils Joëlson, and project co-ordinated by Mr. D. T. Maseko and Mr. K. Magubane. John William Colenso and Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder are also said to have worked on the Zulu Bible translation.
The Vulgate, sometimes referred to as the Latin Vulgate, is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Bishops' Bible is an English edition of the Bible which was produced under the authority of the established Church of England in 1568. It was substantially revised in 1572, and the 1602 edition was prescribed as the base text for the King James Version that was completed in 1611.
Johann Ludwig Krapf was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the first Europeans to see Mount Kenya with the help of Akamba who dwelled at its slopes and Kilimanjaro. Ludwig Krapf visited Ukambani, the homeland of the Kamba people, in 1849 and again in 1850. He successfully translated the new testament to the Kamba language. Krapf also played a key role in exploring the East African coastline, especially in Mombasa.
Bible translations into Chinese include translations of the whole or parts of the Bible into any of the levels and varieties of the Chinese language. The first translations may have been made as early as the 7th century AD, but the first printed translations appeared only in the nineteenth century. Progress on a modern translation was encumbered by denominational rivalries, theological clashes, linguistic disputes, and practical challenges at least until the publication of the Protestant Chinese Union Version in 1919, which became the basis of standard versions in use today.
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.
There are two main translations of the Bible into Japanese widely in use today—the New Interconfessional Version and the New Japanese Bible. The New Japanese Bible, published by the Organization for the New Japanese Bible Translation (新日本聖書刊行会) and distributed by Inochinokotoba-sha, aims to be a literal translation using modern Japanese, while the New Interconfessional Version, published by the Japan Bible Society, aims to be ecumenically used by all Christian denominations and must therefore conform to various theologies. Protestant Evangelicals most often use the New Japanese Bible, but the New Interconfessional Version is the most widely distributed and the one used by the Catholic Church, the United Church of Christ, Lutheran Church factions and many Anglicans in Japan.
The New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) is an English-language Catholic translation of the Bible, the first major update in 20 years to the New American Bible (NAB), which was translated by members of the Catholic Biblical Association and originally published in 1970. Released on March 9, 2011, the NABRE consists of the 1986 revision of the NAB New Testament with a fully revised Old Testament approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2010.
The earliest preserved translation of the Bible into the Mongolian language dates to 1827, but there is a written record of what may perhaps have been a translation existing as early as 1305. Since 1827, numerous other translations have been made.
Bible translations into Persian have been made since the fourth or fifth century, although few early manuscripts survive. There are both Jewish and Christian translations from the Middle Ages. Complete translations of the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament from original languages were first made in the 19th century by Protestant missionaries.
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.
Bible translations into Oceanic languages have a relatively closely related and recent history.
The history of Bible translations into the Tamil language commences with the arrival of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg at Tranquebar in 1706.Johann Philipp Fabricius, a German, revised Ziegenbalg's and others work to produce the standard Tamil version. Seventy years after Fabricius, at the invitation of Peter Percival a Saiva scholar, Arumuka Navalar, produced a "tentative" translation, which is known as the "Navalar version," and was largely rejected by Tamil Protestants.
There are many different translations of the Bible into Burmese.
The entire Bible was published in Thai in 1894 and there are currently several translations of the Bible in the Thai language.
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.
The Bible has been translated into the Nepali language several times. Beginning in 1821 with the first New Testament translation, these were historically translated and published in India. More recently, translations like the Nepali New Revised Version in 1997 have been translated and published in Nepal. Other recent versions like the Trinitarian Bible Society edition continue to be made in India specifically in the dialect of Nepali spoken in India.
Thomas John Dennis (1869-1917) was an Anglican priest who was the main translator of the Bible into the Igbo language.
Bible translations into Malay include translations of the whole or parts of the Bible into any of the levels and varieties of the Malay language. Publication of early or partial translations began as early as the seventeenth century although there is evidence that the Jesuit missionary, Francis Xavier, translated religious texts that included Bible verses into Malay as early as the sixteenth century.
The Bible Society for the Netherlands and Flanders is a non-denominational Bible society in the Netherlands and Flanders devoted to translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible at affordable costs. The NBG is based in Haarlem and was formed on 29 June 1814 on the initiative of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS).
↑ The struggle for control of education in Zambia Dan O'Brien - 2006 "As late as 1947 McMinn refused to take tea with Mushindo despite the fact that they had been working on a translation of the Bible (into Bemba) for over twenty years"
↑ The Bible in Africa: transactions, trajectories, and trends, p. 326. Gerald O. West, Musa W. Dube Shomanah - 2000: "Much of Igbo Christianity may be summarised by the phrase "Is it in the Bible?" The first and to date, the only standard Igbo Bible was translated by Archdeacon Thomas J. Dennis between 1913 and 1917."
↑ Emerging Perspectives On Chinua Achebe, p. 435. Ernest Emenyo̲nu, Iniobong I. Uko - 2004 - 459: "To Achebe, Union Igbo was a mechanical standardization, and its use in the translation of the Bible into Igbo in 1913 was a legacy detrimental to the growth and development of Igbo language and culture."
↑ The Bible in Africa: transactions, trajectories, and trends, p. 327. Gerald O. West, Musa W. Dube Shomanah - 2000: "The next significant translation of the Bible into Igbo language is the Living Bible Version whose New Testament was produced in 1966 while the whole Bible was published in 1988".
↑ Dictionnaire Kikongo (ya Leta) Anglais-Francais, Harold W. Fehdereau, Ph.D., 1960, Editions LECO, Kinshasa, République Démocratique du Congo,p.ix
↑ La Bible en Kituba, 1982, 1990, La Société Biblique du Congo
↑ A history of the church in Africa, p. 490. Bengt Sundkler, Christopher Steed - 2000: "With the consent and support of the young King Radama I, they found a group of twelve talented Malagasy to serve as their linguistic co-workers. The first edition of the Malagasy New Testament appeared in 1830 and the Old Testament in "
↑ Robert C. Germond Chronicles of Basutoland 1967 "Samuel Rolland - Born at Pierrefontaine (Doubs), on 13th May, 1801. Died at Hermon (Basutoland), on 18th January, 1873. With Prosper Lemue and Bisseux, Rolland belonged to the first team of missionaries sent to South Africa by the mission."
↑ The Zulu Yesterday and To-day: Twenty-nine Years in South Africa by Gertrude Rachel Hance, p. 45.
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