Scripture beyond Silence: Bringing God’s Word to the Deaf of South Africa

There’s a profound yet often unseen need within South Africa’s Deaf community: access to God’s Word in a way they can truly understand.

While hearing individuals might take Scripture for granted, for those born Deaf, traditional Bible translations often feel like a foreign language filled with idioms and expressions that simply do not resonate. This reality inspired the Bible Society’s Scripture beyond Silence campaign – an urgent initiative to provide the English Bible for the Deaf to schools, churches and organisations that serve Deaf learners and congregants. More than a fundraising effort, it is an invitation to help overcome a deeply human barrier to understanding.

A vision rooted in experience

Dr Rocco Hough, a linguist and minister who led the translation team for The Bible for the Deaf, knows this struggle firsthand. In a Bible Society podcast, Dr Hough reflected on his decades of ministry among Deaf South Africans and the many words in standard Bibles that left readers confused.

The journey began over a decade ago, sparked by a conversation in Kenya where a pastor revealed that many Deaf Christians could not understand an existing English Bible for the Deaf. Dr Hough examined the text and discovered that even the first chapter contained more than 50 words potentially incomprehensible to Deaf readers. He realised the need was urgent: a Bible translated “by the Deaf, for the Deaf”

Crafting clarity: The Bible for the Deaf

Work officially began in 2011 and took seven years to complete. It was more than a literal translation; it was a translation designed for clarity. The team, including academics like Prof Bart Oberholzer, Prof Francois Tolmie and Prof Hermie van Zyl (later succeeded by Dr Tiana Bosman), worked alongside Deaf contributors to ensure accessibility and meaning.

In November 2019, the English Bible for the Deaf was officially launched in Cape Town. This Bible spans over 2 000 pages, includes almost 200 illustrations and employs a carefully limited vocabulary, footnotes, and visual aids to explain idioms and cultural references – making it accessible to the majority of Deaf English users in South Africa.

Why it matters

Consider this: functional literacy among Deaf South Africans is alarmingly low. Many Deaf adults read at the level of an eight-year-old hearing child – despite having normal intelligence. The problem is not cognitive – it is linguistic. Deaf learners often never gain the language exposure through spoken communication that hearing children receive naturally.

Adding to the difficulty, the Bible is replete with idiomatic expressions – turns of phrase common in spoken English that require cultural nuance to grasp. Without guidance, these can appear as unintelligible jargon.

For someone like Nomsa, a Deaf school learner, the difference is life-changing. Imagine holding a Bible that “speaks” her language – one where she does not need interpretation to understand God’s message. That is the power The Bible for the Deaf holds.

Scripture beyond Silence: A campaign for access

The Scripture beyond Silence campaign sets a tangible goal: to raise R100 000, which will subsidise the cost of distributing 400 of these Bibles free of charge to Deaf-serving institutions.

But this campaign is about more than distributing Bibles. It is about affirming dignity, inclusion, education and spiritual belonging. Each Bible placed in a school or church opens a direct pathway for the Deaf to encounter Scripture on their own terms.

Becoming part of the solution

This is where you – and your generosity – come in. When you contribute to the campaign, you are doing more than funding printing and distribution. You are providing a teaching tool, a spiritual resource, and a symbol of inclusion.

• R250 helps subsidise one English Bible for the Deaf.
• R1 000 equips four learners, classrooms, or Deaf ministries.
• R5 000 can outfit an entire school or group with Bibles.

And time is of the essence. As we enter September, Bible Awareness Month, the goal is to ensure these Bibles reach their destinations swiftly – so that Deaf schools and ministries can begin using them immediately.

A legacy of inclusivity

This new translation builds on the legacy of the Afrikaans Bible for the Deaf (or Die Bybel vir Dowes) published in 2007 – a translation intentionally crafted with language accessibility in mind. That earlier work laid the foundation for including Deaf perspectives in Bible translation, something the English version expands upon.

Conclusion: Hearing God through the eyes of the Deaf

The mission of the Bible Society has always been to ensure that no one is excluded from access to the Scriptures. The Scripture beyond Silence campaign is an invitation to extend that mission into the Deaf community of South Africa.

With Dr Hough’s vision and expertise guiding the translation, and your support stepping in to deliver, we can bring the Word into spaces where it was previously unintelligible. We can make God’s Word accessible not just audibly, but truly understood. Will you stand with us in this initiative? Together, we can see Scripture go beyond silence and into the hearts and hands of the Deaf.