Category: Bible Translation

My freshman year of college, I walked into my dorm kind of nervous and afraid, but fortunately there was a kind girl named Lisa Voth that lived a couple doors down from me.  She was quirky, full of life, and welcoming and thus we became friends quickly.   The next year, we went to Israel through a program at our college and were roommates.  I was struggling in my classes because I did not know much of anything about the Old Testament coming into the program.  However, Lisa was very patient with me and time and time again explained about how…

One of our Greek professors said that Greek should be like your underwear: it is important, you should have it, it should support you, but no one needs to see it. When I write posts on here I try to follow that principle, but today I must address Greek head-on. I have heard a lot of people recently challenge the common translation of the Great Commission with an appeal to the Greek participle used. So here is the Great Commission as you know and love it: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth…

If you check out the Bible translation statistics on Wycliffe’s page, you will find that of the world’s 6,800+ languages only 513 have a copy of the entire Bible (that is around 6.6% for those keeping score). However, you may also notice that 1,276 languages have access to the New Testament. This means that we have 763 languages that have the New Testament, but not the Old. And as I have talked to translators, there are many translation projects that stop with the New Testament. If I understand correctly, one of the reasons for these statistics is that translators at…

Have you ever thought to praise God for his power in creating the world’s languages? There are currently around 6,900 languages in the world today. Some languages have evolved and borrowed from other languages so that if you were to listen closely you could pickup a word here or there. Other languages are so different from English that at best you could ignorantly nod your head and pray that the people talking in front of you  are not making fun of you. And no matter how similar the language, it is almost impossible to acquire a new language without an…

by Dave I have had this conversation perhaps a million times: Me: [talking about the Gospel] The Bible says… Person: Well, you know that the Bible has been corrupted. Me: Oh it has? Person: Yes, it has been around for thousands of years and has been tampered with by men throughout the years.  Who knows what it said originally? Me: Okay. So, what parts have been tampered with? Person: Excuse me? Me: If the Bible has been corrupted and the earliest manuscripts are so different, what parts have been corrupted? Person: … Perhaps you have been on one side of…

I recently read an article by National Geographic entitled Vanishing Languages. It begins with these words: “One language dies every 14 days. By the next century nearly half of the roughly 7,000 languages spoken on Earth will likely disappear, as communities abandon native tongues in favor of English, Mandarin, or Spanish.” The internet, cell phones, and air travel have changed the world in many amazing ways. It really is a small world these days, and is getting smaller. There is a prayer meeting that takes place at our church in Louisville, KY where they try to Skype with a different…

I have been reading my Father’s Day gift recently, it is a book called Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. It is a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and with a title like that I could hardly resist! Bonhoeffer was a pastor and a leader in the German resistance to Hitler, earning him the title of ‘spy’. His life was ended by the Nazi’s in a concentration camp as a result of this resistance. I have been so inspired by Bonhoeffer’s example and even though I am only 40% through the book, I thought I would post something he said that has…

When discussing some of the difficulties of Bible translation with people, often I will hear them say, “I think you should just translate the Bible word-for-word.” Actually, I think I have said that before! However, as it turns out, it is not that easy.  As I have studied linguistics for the last 20 weeks a host of translation issues have come up. Consider this section of Zechariah’s Prophecy in Luke 1: 76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to…

One of the most exciting aspects of being at GIAL has been the fact that I am (literally) surrounded by experienced missionaries. All of the professors, administrative assistants, grounds keepers, doctors, cooks, and IT guys have been on the field and they all come with some great stories. Not just great because they are exciting, but great because they encourage me to trust Christ and teach me what it really means to be a missionary. Because they have been so encouraging for me, I thought I would share a couple with you. What was happening at 3am? One of my…

Do you love tough theological issues? Do you have a desire pull your hair out at all hours of the night? Do you want to be in academics for the rest of your life? Would you like to give an entire people group the opportunity to worship Christ forever?… How about Bible Translation! When we were in seminary, the Greek and Hebrew classes seemed to be among the most popular (and the most feared!). Yet applying the languages to Bible translation seemed to be the least popular (yet still the most feared!). Why would this be? If you are among…