Further Bible Translations Never Thought Of. I'm not making this up.

[Bro.David Drake DeLaurento]

The Good Book has sold more copies than any other around the world. It’s on bookshelves in homes and in hotel drawers. And it’s been translated into 349 different languages (though parts have been translated into far more—upwards of 2000 languages). It is, of course, The Bible.

 

As well as the translations into Chinese, French, and Swahili, there are some more unusual translations in languages that are less well-known, from real-life tongues to fictional ones.

 

1. KLINGON

 

Star Trek fans often like to display their linguistic prowess by speaking, writing, and reading Klingon. So it only seems natural that a Klingon translation of the Bible would come into being. If you’ve ever wondered how to say “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God” to a Klingon (or just a Trekkie in a particularly convincing costume), then be puzzled no longer: it’s quite simple. Make sure to get your glottal stops in order, and hack away: “Daq the tagh ghaHta' the mu', je the mu' ghaHta' tlhej joH'a', je the mu' ghaHta' joH'a'.”

 

2. LOLCATS

 

Though it’s not a practical language, lolcats have invaded our lives online—which is why Martin Grondin set up the LolCat Bible Translation Project in 2007. By 2010 the best passages were printed in a book (LolCat Bible: In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh Skiez an da Erfs n stuffs). Genesis 1:1 (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”) becomes something altogether different in lolcats: “Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.”

 

3. THE WORD ON THE STREET

 

Rob Lacey, an actor and performance poet, published The Word on the Street in 2003 as a modern-day version of the Bible, shrunk down to a more manageable 500 pages. Its cover is about as far from the strait-laced bibles traditionally seen, instead a picture of a lonely street in a built-up city.

 

Lacey himself was wary of calling his work a version of the Bible, but it did retell the story in more conversational language. Take, for example, his retelling of Genesis, which reads more like a Kerouacian beat poetry performance than a religious text:

 

First off, nothing. No light, no time, no substance, no matter. Second off, God starts it all up and WHAP! Stuff everywhere! The cosmos in chaos: no shape, no form, no function—just darkness ... total. And floating above it all, God’s Holy Spirit, ready to play. Day one: Then God’s voice booms out, ‘Lights!’ and, from nowhere, light floods the skies and ‘night’ is swept off the scene.

 

4. PIDGIN ENGLISH

 

If you're a churchgoer, you probably won't find yourself saying "rispek fi yu an yu niem" this Sunday. But that's the word of the Bible—at least in Jamaican patois. What you'd have said was the patois equivalent of "hallowed be thy name." In October 2012, at the Jamaican High Commission in London a new translation of the Bible was officially unveiled.

 

The translation came about through more than a decade of work between linguists at the University of the West Indies and Jamaican theologians. The immaculate conception is announced by the words "De angel go to Mary and say to 'er, me have news we going to make you well 'appy. God really, really, bless you and him a walk with you all de time", rather than the high-flying rhetoric of "And having come in, the angel said to her, 'Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.'"

 

Read the full text here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/52016/4-unusual-bible-translations#ixzz2bFCcSVxu

 

 

 

[Shawnster]

This is wonderful.  Thanks for sharing.  I'll move it to the appropriate forum.

vetlh chaH may Sov vetlh SoH mob, 'Iv pong ghaH joH'a','oH the HochHom jen Dung Hoch the tera'. 

Psalm 83:18 in the "original" Klingon.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Shawnster

[pinkpopcorn]

That is cool! We once had a missionary couple from... somewhere in the foreign field at our DC. They were interviewed and were wearing their native costumes. Very beautiful and colorful. They gave a presentation in Pidgen English that was so way cool The brother said to his wife, "We have two fine hell-of-a magazine here." They called the maternity ward 'the big belly camp.' That is all I can recall of the language. Great thread! 

[bohemian]

My own dialect of Yorkshire has not been left out either:

 

 

 

"Now tha'll see what am goin to do to Pharaoh," He says. "Am goin to force him to let thi go. He'll want thi to go so bad he'll kick thi art of Egypt. I am Jehovah, God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and I promised 'em I'd make land of Canaan theirs and I will an'all. So get thi sen off and tell descendants of Israel that am goin to use me power to mek miracles and get 'em out of slavery. And then they'll know as I'm Jehovah who rescued 'em from Egyptians."
So Moses goes off again and he tells all folk what he'd bin told only no-one would listen to him cos they thought he were daft. It were cos of him that Egyptians were laying into 'em every day so they weren't inclined to listen to owt else he might have to say like.
And then God has a chat wi' Moses again and tells him to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let people of Israel go. But Moses, quite rightly in my book, he says,
"Why's Pharaoh goin to listen to me? He teks no notice of owt I say."

 

and this is great (remember Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch to get the sound right)

 

"And int future when children ask, 'Nar then Dad. What's all this reet boring Passover clap trap?' Tha can tell 'em straight. Tha can give 'em a clip rarnd ear'oil for a start and tell 'em, 'It's to mark when God brought us art on Egypt son."

Edited August 7, 2013 by bohemian

[LoneWanderer]

So if some joker in the ministry asks our opinion of their translation, should we ask them to fetch it from the bookshelf and be ready to read a Scripture using the translation/"translation" they possess?  

 

Perhaps if such a situation arises maintaining one's sense of humour would be good, instead of merely shouting "YOUR TRANSLATION IS A TRAVESTY!" ;)

 

In a fictitious language I came up with/worked on around 2004 or 2005 I had completed the Good News for People of All the Nations message...however translating the complete Bible could be quite a task as one would need to come up with new words all the time...

 

Tra rasverti do tra alna konta perti
 

Me mo duisa, snu me meujos traru. Mose vel nat inna gisa spradi, vel mo susara gipotrisa nem ro ati, mers vorti kar sansat proitino bes vortilna lidi. Kant me denna fragina nem tra van fulsa fragi: denna tra lidna bes kroi, snu vorti nas beuna kjuso fjidi, vjeutino, hotino do nas kveu dobri?
 

Tra pjinsara ketina, mers do radus mosu absos sesa. Pjinsara tra srundo kina, mers mo do pjinsa. Ta, do mo! Tovokeuri Gudi Jehova hemes mo jesuen, mers ha remjiso kvos dosra eivino. Ros Buidi tena, velt Gudi keba mues ros puidanji: "Ha vederna kliu tovo rimsino nem nesne bernino do dobri nas viu mouda. Velt dosra koudra mosu, ro mo freen." (Kemiti 21:3, 4.)
 

Tra douna des kanti lidi mo treivisa, snu ponti foino veigana! Kanti koika tra flenna susana, mers tra do trane famloi mento kiukaso notuso nem fjutini voip tovo konta? Tra flenna keiso nem ros Buidisa botjikasi, velt vel kar. Me krenna duisara van publiti, rus mo bes trane mu spradi. Me frenna ros publiti kev tra.
 

Me mo van Jehovalna kouni. Vel kidina puino, mers nes radus flenso dudruiso Ros Buidi. Me tena kev tra, velt mo mene vei do me radus denso trane vei. Radus tra denso betrina konta osabotji kev me, mers retno flenna also nem ro konta perti. Sanbjanna kev tra!

[Dages]

Awlso, let dem kno yu are teh Jehovah Cat, owna of teh howse!

Psalms 83:18 Lolcat version

[Qapla]

How about Ebonics

 

 

Ebonibible - Genesis Chapter 1

[1] In da beginnin' Big Daddy created da heaven an' da earth.

[2] And da earth wuz widdout form, an' void; an' darkness wuz upon da face o' da deep. And da Spirit o' Big Daddy groved upon da face o' da waters.

[3] And Big Daddy enunciated, Let dere be light y'all: an' dere wuz light.

[4] And Big Daddy seen da light, dat it wuz fine ass: an' Big Daddy divided da light from da darkness.

[5] And Big Daddy called da light Day, an' da darkness Night. And da evenin' an' da mornin' wuz da first day.

[6] And Big Daddy articulated, Hey beotch, let dere be uh firmament in da midst o' da waters, an' let it divide da waters from da other waters.

[7] And Big Daddy made da firmament, an' divided da waters which wuz under da firmament from da waters which wuz above da firmament: an' it wuz so.

[8] And Big Daddy called da firmament Heaven. And da evening an' da morning wuz da second day.

[9] And Big Daddy rapped, Let da waters under da heaven be gathered together unto one place, an' let da dry land appear: an' it wuz so.

[10] And Big Daddy called da dry land Earth; an' da gathering together o' da waters called he Seas: an' Big Daddy seen dat it wuz pimp-tight.

[11] And Big Daddy did verbalize, Let da earth bring forth grass, da herb yielding seed, an' da fruit tree yielding fruit afta his kind, whose seed iz in itself, upon da earth: an' it wuz so.

[12] And da earth brought forth grass, an' herb yielding seed afta his kind, an' da tree yielding fruit, whose seed wuz in itself, afta his kind: an' Big Daddy seen dat it wuz pimp-tight.

[13] And da evening an' da morning wuz da third day.

 

[Bro.David Drake DeLaurento]

I see we have more translations. Remind me to file them away for future reference.

DDD