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Blog / A Day in the Life of Bible Translators

A Day in the Life of Bible Translators

Ways of translating the Bible     Ways of translating the Bible

Meet Jock and Katy Hughes with Wycliffe Bible Translators (@wycliffeuk). In 1984 they traveled to Indonesia to begin translating the Bible for the Aru People. In this video, the Hughes take us on a tour of what it’s really like to work in the world of Bible translation.

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According to the Encyclopedia of the Bible on Bible Gateway, “the ordinary reader cannot read the Scriptures in the original Hebrew and Greek. Only a Bible-reading Christian can be an effective Christian to the limit of his potential; only a Bible-reading church can be truly effective in service to God and in witnessing to the world. These considerations require the translation of the Scriptures into all languages of the world, including English, and the progressive revision and improvement of translations.

[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Why So Many English Bible Translations? Free Webcast Gives the Answer]

“The English language continues to change. Since the earliest Bible translations into English, the language has changed so much that the versions of 600 years ago are barely intelligible to the ordinary reader today. The language is still changing, with new words and expressions coming into use and old ones becoming obsolete and, in time, unintelligible. If the Bible is to be understood and believed by present-day people it must be in a language which conveys a clear meaning to them. As long as English continues to be a living language there will be a need for new and improved translations of the Bible in English.”

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Filed under Bible, Bible Reference, Translations, Video