Oral Bible Translations

[Jerome]

Podcast from just last week:

The Future of Bible Translation - National Association of Evangelicals

"Samuel Chiang joins NAE president Leith Anderson to discuss the current state of Bible translation and what its future looks like. In this podcast, you’ll hear...What role orality plays in Bible translation work"

"Samuel Chiang is president and CEO of Seed Company ['God's Word in Every Language']. Before coming to Seed Company, Chiang served as executive director of the International Orality Network"

 

[John of Japan]

Podcast from just last week:

The Future of Bible Translation - National Association of Evangelicals

"Samuel Chiang joins NAE president Leith Anderson to discuss the current state of Bible translation and what its future looks like. In this podcast, you’ll hear...What role orality plays in Bible translation work"

"Samuel Chiang is president and CEO of Seed Company ['God's Word in Every Language']. Before coming to Seed Company, Chiang served as executive director of the International Orality Network"

Thanks for the link. Very interesting.

 

[HankD]

1. We may rightly ask if the oral method truly does shorten the process. Is it the ideal way to produce the Bible in an unwritten language? Or is it simply a stopgap measure to be used until an actual printed book is produced?

A stopgap would be my choice realizing of course that the path to a printed book would require the sylabary and/or the development of a localized alphabet, then onward and upward.

Thank you for this work effort and thank you for your life long service for the LORD John.

 

[John of Japan]

A stopgap would be my choice realizing of course that the path to a printed book would require the sylabary and/or the development of a localized alphabet, then onward and upward.

Thank you for this work effort and thank you for your life long service for the LORD John.

At times the stopgap method is all that is possible.

I appreciate your kind words.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

At times the stopgap method is all that is possible. I appreciate your kind words.

Thanks for all of this, JoJ. Truly fascinating and encouraging. A few thoughts:

The oral approach, if really prone to obsoletion, might avoid the dread KJVO-syndrome.

Why would there be no souls saved or churches started when developing oral transmission?

The “Hidden Christians” comparison is not apples to apples, if there is recording tech.

A book may be consulted when there’s enough light, when hands are free, eyes are free, etc.

There is no reason to believe an oral culture will not eventually become literate, but starting where they are makes a lot of sense.

 

[John of Japan]

Thanks for all of this, JoJ. Truly fascinating and encouraging. A few thoughts:

You're welcome!

The oral approach, if really prone to obsoletion, might avoid the dread KJVO-syndrome.

Interesting thought. Hadn't occurred to me. The dread syndrome can happen to a lesser degree in non-English languages, as witness the Union Version in Chinese and the Classical Japanese Version.

Why would there be no souls saved or churches started when developing oral transmission?

The truth is, if the Gospel is being proclaimed while the Bible is being translated, souls are saved and ready for the Scriptures as they are translated. Usually NT books are released as they are done in the traditional 3rd world translation effort.

The “Hidden Christians” comparison is not apples to apples, if there is recording tech.

Very true.

A book may be consulted when there’s enough light, when hands are free, eyes are free, etc.

Hmm. (Thinking.)

There is no reason to believe an oral culture will not eventually become literate, but starting where they are makes a lot of sense.

I think the goal of the oral translator would normally be literacy and printed Bibles eventually. However, the translator must not stop with the oral translation.

I know of a case where an oral translation was done for a large people group in Asia, but now it languishes in analog format, not doing much good. The translators apparently thought they were done when it was recorded. That is unfortunate.

 

[RighteousnessTemperance&]

I think the goal of the oral translator would normally be literacy and printed Bibles eventually. However, the translator must not stop with the oral translation.

I know of a case where an oral translation was done for a large people group in Asia, but now it languishes in analog format, not doing much good. The translators apparently thought they were done when it was recorded. That is unfortunate.

This may be a significant sticking point. Not everyone is forward thinking. That is the job of leadership above the primary missionary level. Obviously, an oral ministry must plan to convert to other formats/platforms, meaning they will need technical support, and money for the purpose. And there must be someone monitoring the situation.

Stopping with oral translation does sound unwise, though others may need to be involved in the transition to literacy. All of this seems a monumental task. Those who undertake it are likely not appreciated nearly enough.

 

[John of Japan]

This may be a significant sticking point. Not everyone is forward thinking. That is the job of leadership above the primary missionary level. Obviously, an oral ministry must plan to convert to other formats/platforms, meaning they will need technical support, and money for the purpose. And there must be someone monitoring the situation.

Stopping with oral translation does sound unwise, though others may need to be involved in the transition to literacy. All of this seems a monumental task. Those who undertake it are likely not appreciated nearly enough.

Teaching literacy to a people group is indeed a monumental task: creating an alphabet, setting up a school, training teachers, etc. I'm currently reading about one such effort by Mildred Larson, who did a pioneer translation in Aguaruna, the language of a large people group in Peru. It's very enlightening about the whole process--and Larson did a huge job for the Lord.

The job of transcribing and printing an oral translation would be a smaller task. In fact, I don't know how you do an oral translation that's very accurate without having it first in written form. There is software out there to have a tribal person simply translate on the fly, but that won't be very accurate. Here's a link: Render Translation Software - Faith Comes By Hearing