Bible translation remains one of the core tasks of the Bible Society of South Africa. We aim to provide Bibles in the home languages of South Africans so that all may experience the life-giving message of the Word of God. It takes 10-15 years to translate a complete Bible into a new language. The average cost to translate a Bible is about R20 million.
About 4,000 San who live in Platfontein, near Kimberley in the Northern Cape, speak !Xuhn. The group is mainly from Angola and has been living in South Africa for more than 20 years. Almost 10,000 to 50,000 speakers of this language still live in Angola and Namibia.
The group in Platfontein has a school, a church and a radio station, but not a Bible. Scripture reading is read from the Luchazi (an Angolan language) and Afrikaans Bibles. However, the children no longer understand Luchazi. After thorough research, in collaboration with the Bible Societies of Namibia and Botswana, as well as other Bible translation agencies operating in the area where the San live, a decision was made that the Bible Society of South Africa will translate the Bible into !Xuhn.
A translation team consisting of three members and a Review Committee of about 20 members began the translation in 2018. The three translators have already completed draft translations from Genesis to Revelation. Draft translations of the Deuterocanonical Books have been completed. The Review Committee has reviewed from Genesis to 1 Chronicles.
The South African government has expressed the need to develop national languages, especially indigenous languages. Khwedam, spoken by some of the people in the Northern Cape, is one such language.
This translation will serve the people in the Northern Cape – just like the !Xuhn translation that was started in 2018 – and also those who live in Botswana and Namibia. After discussions with various Bible societies and other Bible translation agencies, a decision was made that the Bible Society of South Africa will handle the translation of the Bible in Khwedam.
This project was started in 2019 and the translators have already completed draft translations from Genesis to Revelation. The Review Committee has reviewed Genesis to Leviticus.
There are about 500 000 people living in parts of Limpopo who speak Khelobedu and currently do not have any printed Bible passages in this language. The project started in October 2021 and the six translators completed the draft translations from Genesis to Mark, 2 Corinthians, Philippians to 1 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy to 1 John, Jude and Revelation. The Review Committee has reviewed Genesis to Ruth.
TjiHlanganu is spoken in Mpumalanga and there are currently no Bible passages available in this language. This project started in January 2022 and the draft translations of Genesis to Daniel, Joel to Zechariah, Matthew to James, 1 and 2 John, Jude and Revelation have been completed. The Review Committee has reviewed Genesis to Numbers, Ruth, Obadiah, Habakkuk and Jonah.
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More than 5,3 million South Africans speak English at home.
The first translation of the complete Bible into English is associated with the name of John Wycliffe. Wycliffe organised a group of ‘poor priests’ to live simply and give the message of Christ to the people in a way that they could understand. He soon came to realise that they must have a Bible in English. How much of the translation he did personally is uncertain, but with the help of Nicholas de Hereford and some others an English Bible was completed in 1383.
In 1535 the first printed English Bible appeared. The first edition of the Authorised/King James Version appeared in 1611. Other more recent English translations that the Bible Society of South Africa sells, include the Good News Bible (GNT), New International Version (NIV) and the English Standard Version (ESV).
This very easy-to-read Bible was translated by the Bible Society of South Africa for different groups of readers but specifically for deaf readers who use Sign Language and struggle to understand the words of other Bible translations that were formulated for hearing people.
This large-print Bible has more than 80 000 footnotes and 45 000 references to drawings that illustrate what objects looked like in biblical times.
This Bible is for anyone who wants to read a very simple and easy formulation of what the Lord said and what He wants to give us.
VIDEO: Translating Bibles for the Deaf
The English Standard Version (ESV) is a formal translation that was first published in 2001. This translation seeks to capture the meaning and structure of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer, while maintaining clear expression and literary excellence. Therefore the ESV is well suited for both personal reading and church ministry, for devotional reflection and serious Bible study.
The Good News Bible in Today’s English Version is an easy-to-read translation which does not conform to traditional vocabulary or style, but seeks to express the meaning of the original texts in words and forms accepted as standard by people who use English.
This translation was first published in 1976 for use throughout the world.
The King James Version (KJV), a formal translation where each word of the source text was translated into the target language, was first published in 1611. This translation is traditionally loved and accepted by all Christians.
Despite the many modern translations that are available, the KJV is still read by a large number of people throughout the world.
The New King James Version (NKJV), also a formal translation, was first published in 1982. This version is a modern language update of the original King James Version. The purpose was to update and modernise the original KJV but also to preserve the KJV as much as possible.
The New International Version (NIV) is a modern translation. The purpose of this translation was to produce an accurate translation, suitable for public and private reading, as well as teaching, preaching, memorising and liturgical use.
First published in 1978, the translators also sought to preserve some measure of continuity with the long tradition of translating the Scriptures into English, and the NIV thus retains wording which is the same as, or similar to, the earlier versions on many passages.
Setswana, spoken in Botswana, is also the mother tongue of more than 5 million people living in South Africa.
The pioneer translator of the Bible into Setswana was Robert Moffat who started translating the Bible soon after his arrival in Kuruman in 1817.
Setswana was the first South African language to receive a complete Bible. As each section was translated by Moffat, it was printed on a missionary press at Kuruman. The complete Bible was available by 1857 and was revised in 1908. This revision was mainly done by Alfred Wookey.
The latest translation of this Bible was completed in 1970.
More than 10 million South Africans speak isiXhosa.
The earliest Bible translation into isiXhosa was mainly the work of missionaries of the Wesleyan Missionary (WMS) Society such as William Shaw, William Boyce and others.
The history of the isiXhosa Bible started in 1833 when the first book of the Bible (Luke) was translated in Grahamstown. The first complete Bible followed in 1859 but was published in one volume in 1864. The latest revision of this Bible was done in 1975 and is still widely used.
The latest translation of the Bible in isiXhosa was completed in 1996 and is a thought-for-thought translation.
More than 4,8 million people in South Africa speak Sesotho as their home language and the majority of Sesotho speakers live in the Free State and Gauteng. It is also spoken in Lesotho.
Eugène Casalis and Samuel Rolland, two mission-aries of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, started translating the Bible into Sesotho as early as 1836 and the first Scriptures, the Gospels according to Mark and John, were published in 1839.
The translation of the complete Bible was finished in 1878 and printed in parts on the missionary presses at Morija and Masitisi in Lesotho. The first Bible to be published in one volume was printed in England in 1881, however, due to the Basotho wars the Bibles only reached the Basotho in 1883. This Bible which is still in use, was revised in 1909.
The most recent translation of the Sesotho Bible was published in 1989.
IsiZulu is the most widely spoken language in South Africa with more than 15 million speakers in the country. The greatest concentration of isiZulu speakers (80%) live in KwaZulu-Natal.
Missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) arrived in Port Natal in 1835. This group distinguished themselves as the first translators of the isiZulu Bible. The first complete book of the Bible to be translated into isiZulu was the Gospel according to Matthew translated by George Champion and revised by Newton Adams.
The first complete isiZulu Bible which incorporated the translation work of the ABCFM missionaries was published by the American Bible Society in 1883. A new edition was published in 1893.
In 1959 a new translation of the isiZulu Bible appeared. In 1997, this translation was published in a new orthography according to the latest rules of the then Zulu Language Board.
A new, source-text orientated translation which is dynamic where necessary and suitable for reading aloud in worship services and Sunday school, Bible study as well as for personal use, was published in 2020.
Sepedi is the home language of more than 6,2 million South Africans and is mainly spoken in Limpopo and Gauteng.
The translation of the Bible into Sepedi was first undertaken by the missionaries of the Berlin Missionary Society. The pioneer translator was Pastor JFC Knothe. After his death in 1892, the translation work was continued by G Trümpelmann and H Kuschke assisted by A Serote and G Eiselen. The first complete Bible appeared in 1904 and was revised in 1951. This revised edition is still in use today.
In 2000, a new Sepedi Bible translation was published by the Bible Society of South Africa.
Xitsonga is the home language of more than 2,9 million South Africans, who live mainly in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
The pioneer translators of the Bible into Xitsonga were Paul Berthoud, his brother Henri, and Ernest Creux; missionaries of the Swiss-French Mission who came to South Africa in 1875.
In 1892, the first two books of the Bible – The Gospel according to Luke and the Book of Acts – were translated into Xitsonga. The first New Testament appeared in 1894 and the first complete Bible – printed in two volumes – in 1907. This translation was revised in 1929 and in 2012, it was published in a new orthography.
A new translation in Xitsonga was published in 1989.
Afrikaans is the home language of more than 6,5 million South Africans.
Portions of the Bible were translated into Afrikaans for the first time by CP Hoogenhout, A Pannevis and SJ du Toit since 1878. The first complete Bible was, however, only published in 1933. A revised version was published in 1953. Today, the translation is known as the 1933/1953 translation and is still a very popular, traditional translation, translated from the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic source texts.
On 5 July 1968, during a seminar for translators of the Afrikaans Bible and other interested parties, a unanimous decision was taken to request that the Bible Society of South Africa begin with a new translation in Afrikaans. The translation had to take the development of the Afrikaans language into account and be as faithful a rendering of the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic source texts as possible.
On 2 December 1983, ‘Die Bybel: Nuwe Vertaling’ was launched in Cape Town. The translation is meaning-based, more so than the 1933/1953 translation, and exceeded in its goal to address Afrikaans-speaking people within and outside the church in a contemporary yet proper Afrikaans.
‘Die Bybel vir almal’ was originally published by the Bible Society of South Africa as the Bible for the Deaf in 2007. It was translated from the source texts in an easily readable Afrikaans without losing the crux of the original text.
This Bible is printed in large print and that makes it easy to read. The large variety of footnotes provide explanations of words, concepts and interesting information.
The Afrikaans 2020 translation of the Bible was started by the Bible Society at the request of the Afrikaans-speaking churches. They recognised that there was a need for a Bible translation that was better aligned to the source texts (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) than the existing translations. Many believers had a need for a Bible that was a faithful rendering of the source text, but that was still easy to understand.
The translation brief, therefore, was to create an easily understandable, source-text orientated Afrikaans translation of the Bible, which would be suitable for public reading and use in worship services, as well as for Sunday school instruction, Bible Study and personal use.
Tshivenda is spoken by more than 1,5 million people in South Africa and is also spoken in Zimbabwe.
The pioneer translator of the Bible into Tshivenda was the missionary and linguist Dr Paul Erdmann Schwellnuss who was employed by the Berlin Missionary Society. He completed the first Tshivenda Bible in 1936.
The latest translation, an easy to read translation in Tshivenda was completed in 1998. It was translated by Mr FC Raulinga, Mr AR Mbuwe and Prof JA van Rooy. They were assisted by various other people as well as a Review Committee.
Siswati is the language of the people of Swaziland but also the mother tongue of more than 1,7 million South Africans.
The Gospel according to Mark was the first book of the Bible published in this language by the Bible Society of South Africa in 1976. The first complete Bible, translated by Miss H Eschen, Mrs T Zwane (née Maphalala) and Mr A Simelane, was published in 1996.
This easy-to-read translation is used in both South Africa and Eswatini.
IsiNdebele is spoken by more than 1 million individuals in South Africa.
The first book of the Bible to be published in isiNdebele, the Gospel according to Mark, was published in 1977. The New Testament and a selection of Psalms appeared in 1986. In 2012, the translation of the complete Bible was published. IsiNdebele was, at the time, the last of South Africa’s 11 official languages to receive a complete Bible.
