Moved By Light

I always enjoy helping start new translation projects. A few weeks ago I was able to meet and train the new translators for the language Piaroa. I first flew to Caracas and then on to Puerto Ayacucho, along the Colombia – Venezuela border.

They are working on a revision of the New Testament. Why do a revision? One reason is that language changes. English is a very stable language that does not change much. Languages that have very little written tend to change more quickly and dynamically. So we often have people like the Piaroas say that they don’t talk like that anymore.

Another reason for doing a revision is that the Church has matured. First translations are often quite free in style. Years ago many translators followed the principle of making everything explicit and also explain terms within the translation. So instead of using a term like prophet, translations would use things like; “one who speaks the voice of God”, or “one who speaks for God”, or “the messenger sent by God”. Key terms almost always need revision.

One of the exciting aspects of revisions projects is that they are almost always done by the people themselves. Years ago missionaries help the Piaroa with their first New Testament. Now there are no missionaries there and they are doing this themselves. Pray for the translators: Ramón, Guillermo, Teolinda and Benjamín. Translation is hard work and discouragement is common.