Translation, publishing and distribution
of the Bible in
the languages
of the non-Slavic peoples living in Russia and the other countries
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
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news of Bible translation 2008
29.09.08
I
From 24 to 26 September 2008 IBT and the Institute of Linguistics
of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a conference entitled
“Bible translation as a factor in preserving and developing the
languages of the Russian Federation and the CIS”.
 The
participants were welcomed by Mikhail Alekseev, deputy director of
the Institute of Linguistics, IBT’s director Marianne Beerle-Moor,
and by Academicians E.P. Chelyshev and G.G. Gamzatov of the
Russian Academy of Sciences. In the greeting sent by J.L.
Vorotnikov, chairman of the Russian Scientific Humanitarian
Foundation, he noted that Bible translation served as a
 powerful
impulse for national, cultural and spiritual revival among the
speakers for whom the Bible was translated.
During the three days of the conference about 30 speakers read
their papers - linguists, translators, sociologists, biblical
scholars and historians from all over Russia and the CIS. Apart
from methodological problems
 connected
with translation, the speakers also analyzed its sociological,
religious and cultural aspects. Some speakers related their
experiences of Bible translation into the languages of Dagestan,
Evenki, Roma, Ossetic, Komi-Permyak, Khakas, Tajik, Yazgulyami,
Shor, Bashkir, Udi and others.
The
role of Bible translation for the preservation and development of
languages was discussed in many of the papers. At a time when the
languages of small ethnic groups are rapidly disappearing, Bible
translation often proves to be the only written monument of a
language and is regarded not only as a religious text, but as a
normative model, a source of replenishment and enrichment of words
and phrases. Bible translation stimulates the development of the
language and interest among the speakers for their language; it
raises the prestige of the language, which in turn contributes to
the revival of the people and their culture.
Marianne Beerle-Moor highlighted IBT’s Bible translations into
languages under threat of extinction. She also spoke about the
most recent and famous example of languages that have been
preserved thanks to Bible translation – the recently discovered
Caucasian Albanian manuscript in old Udi, a language belonging to
the Lezgin group of Dagestani languages.
Many
of the speakers focused on practical questions of Bible
translation. G.V. Kostochakov stressed the value of the
Shor-Russian dictionary which is included in the Gospel published
in Shor. M.I. Magomedov mentioned the significant role of Bible
translation in non-written languages for the spread of literacy
among speakers of these languages.
The
participants expressed their great appreciation for the high
standard of the conference, its organization and the papers which
were read, which resulted in many lively and interesting
discussions.
19.09.08
I
The first New Testament in Avar published
 On
19 September 2008 the first copies of the New Testament in Avar
were delivered to IBT’s office in Moscow. The Avars (about
800,000) are the largest people group in Dagestan, northern
Caucasus. There are also Avars in northern Azerbaijan and in
Turkey. This is the first New Testament ever published in their
language – a historic event! The translation team has been working
on the translation for 17 years.
The
Avar language belongs to the North Caucasian family and is used in
many areas of Dagestan as the language of communication between
various ethnic groups. The Avars began to write down texts in
their language as early as the 17th century - earlier
than
 any
other people group of Dagestan.
Together with other ethnically related peoples, the Avars formed
part of one of the earliest known Christian states, namely
Caucasian Albania, and from the 4th century onwards
Christianity was widespread among them. However, as the Middle
Ages wore on, the Avars came under the influence of Islam and
their life and culture became thoroughly islamicised. Today they
are Sunni Muslims.
The first Bible portion in Avar, John's Gospel, was published by
IBT in 1979, Mark's Gospel in 1996 and Luke & Acts in 2000.
Proverbs was published in 2005. Translation work into Avar is
continuing with other parts of the Old Testament.
In November 2008 there will be a celebration of the Bible books so
far published in 12 languages of Dagestan: New Testaments in Avar
and Kumyk, books from the New and Old Testaments in Tabassaran,
Lezgin, Lak, Dargin, Tsakhur, Rutul, Agul, Bezhta, Kubachi and
Andi. The event will be arranged by IBT and the Institute of
Language, Literature and Art of the Academy of Sciences, Dagestan,
and will take place in the capital, Makhachkala.
12.09.08
I
Children’s Bible in Khakas
 In
September 2008 the Institute for Bible Translation published the
Children’s Bible in the Khakas language. This is the thirty-fifth
translation of IBT’s well-known Bible for Children, first
published 25 years ago in Russian. Since then this book has been
translated into several non-Slavic languages of Russia and the
CIS. For many people it has become their first step in getting to
know the Holy Scriptures.
The
translation of the Children’s Bible into Khakas, which began in
2002, was carried out by a team of five, four of whom were Khakas.
The first edition is of 3,000 copies, and the books have already
arrived in
 Khakasia.
They will be distributed to libraries, schools and churches, so
that as many readers as possible will be acquainted with this new,
beautifully illustrated book in the Khakas language.
In October there will be an official presentation of the
Children’s Bible in Abakan, the capital of Khakasia, arranged by
IBT together with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of
Education and Science of the Khakas Republic. The first part of
the presentation will be with children of a Khakas boarding
school, while the second part will be a roundtable discussion with
writers, teachers and other representatives of Khakas society.
16.06.08
I
The Four Gospels
and Acts in Crimean Tatar
 In
the summer of 2008 the Four Gospels and Acts were published in
Crimean Tatar for the first time.
The Crimean
Peninsula is the historic homeland of the Crimean Tatars. However,
in 1944 they were accused of being Nazi collaborators and deported
to Central Asia and other areas of the Soviet Union. Many died of
disease and malnutrition. For a long time the Crimean Tatars were
not recognised as a distinct ethnic group, they were deprived of
all rights, with no freedom to travel. Only in 1989 did the Soviet
Union allow the Crimean Tatars to return to Crimea. Today more
than 250,000 Crimean Tatars are back in their homeland, struggling
to reestablish their lives and reclaim their national and cultural
rights, including the use of their language, against many social
and economic obstacles.
The first attempt to
translate the Bible into Crimean Tatar took place during the
period 1978-1996. In 1999 a translation group was established
locally and since then several Bible books have been published
(“Stories of Jesus”, illustrated by a national artist, in 2002; a
book on the prophets in 2005; a revision of Matthew’s Gospel in
2006, and a book containing Proverbs and Ecclesiastes in 2007).
The work is done in cooperation with the Pioneer Bible Translators
and the Ukrainian Bible Society.
The Crimean Tatars
are hungry for spiritual literature and the books published so far
have been well received. Our hope is that the Four Gospels and
Acts will be a great blessing to the Crimean Tatars.
15.05.2008
I
"In the beginning was
the Word”. Easter Prologue Polyglot
 For
Easter 2008 IBT Russia/CIS published a book containing the
first seventeen verses of John’s Gospel in 76 languages – some of
them are ancient, as Koine Greek, Syriac, Latin and Church
Slavonic, while others are modern languages spoken or used in
Russia.
Every Easter night, in the Russian Orthodox Church tradition,
these verses are read in many languages. Easter is the oldest
feast of the Church and has always been celebrated on the night
between Holy Saturday and Easter Day. From the third century it
was the night when new believers were baptized and received into
the community of faith.
The
tradition of reading John 1:1-17 goes back to the tenth century
and is believed to have been initiated by the Bishop of
Constantinople. From the very beginning it was read in two
languages, Latin and Greek. Hebrew was added to this reading as
the third language used in the inscription on the cross: “Jesus of
Nazareth, King of the Jews”. When local languages started to be
used in the liturgy, the text was read in these languages, too.
In
Russia today the Prologue is read in these ancient languages and
in several modern ones. There is a symbolic significance: the good
news of Christ whose victory over death is celebrated especially
on Easter night is meant to be heard in all languages of the
globe.
We
hope that this book will make it possible for the churches to read
John 1:1-17 in many “new” languages, especially in those which
have previously had no Bible translation.
21.03.2008
I
Basic training course for Bible translation
 From
11 to 21 March within the framework of a new educational program
the Institute for Bible Translation held its first intensive basic
training course in Moscow for translation team members. Taking
part were twelve people from nine translation projects (Ingush,
Kabardian, Lezgi, Erzya-Mordvin, Moksha-Mordvin, Nogai, Tabassaran
and from Central Asia), including translators, exegetical
checkers, philological and
 stylistic
editors and also one local coordinator. They attended sessions on
introduction to the Old and New Testaments, the historical and
cultural context, linguistics, translation theory, exegesis,
testing, philological editing and organisation of the translation
process from IBT staff, lecturers from a Moscow theological
college and professors from the Institute of Linguistics (Russian
Academy of Sciences).
The participants’ feedback was encouraging: “The workshop has
challenged me to learn more, to know the source text better; it
has captivated me and made me more interested in the subject of
Bible translation.” “After the workshop I wanted to change a lot
in my translation.” “I’m happy that after this seminar I can make
my own small impression on my project and help the rest of the
team members.”
Following this success IBT is now considering the
possibility of holding a more advanced course.
05.03.2008
I
Presentation
of the Mari New Testament
 On
4 February the New Testament («U Sugyn») in the Eastern
Mari language was launched at the National Library in the city of
Yoshkar-Ola. The translation was by the Institute for Bible
Translation, Helsinki.
At this important celebration in the life of the Mari El Republic
a large gathering heard speeches by Archbishop John of Yoshkar-Ola
and Mari El, Minister of Culture
 Mikhail
Vasyotin, and Professors Ksenofont Sanukov and Sergey Starikov.
They stressed the importance of the translation of the Holy
Scriptures into Eastern Mari, in the context of the
historical-spiritual development of the Mari people and of the
other peoples in the Mari El Republic.
This
was followed by greetings from the
 guests
who had travelled to Yoshkar-Ola
for the celebration
–
Director of Finno-Ugric
branch of the Institute for Bible Translation
in Helsinki, Anita Laakso, theological editor Tiina Ollikainen and
translator Leonid Yandakov.
The
leader of the translation commission in the Yoshkar-Ola and Mari
Diocese, Rev. Nikolai Chuzayev, read the Lord's Prayer from the
new Eastern Mari translation.
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