SOUTH AFRICA, February 14, 2008 — 75 years after the Bible was first made available to speakers of Afrikaans in their own language, a new form of God’s Word in Afrikaans has been launched: the Afrikaans Bible for the Deaf. Welcoming this significant development, it was mainly deaf people who made up the congregation at the church of Worcester-De la Bat for the launch ceremony on February 3.
The Bybel vir Dowes is only the second Bible produced anywhere in the world aimed specifically at deaf people. Started by the Bible Society of South Africa in 1997 at the request of the Church, the translation is aimed at those who, because of the way their deafness has influenced their acquisition of language and reading skills, find it hard to understand ordinary written Afrikaans. It uses a limited vocabulary and extensive footnotes, along with a range of illustrations, including some by deaf artist Karen le Roux.
The idea to produce a Bible for the deaf, who number around 12,000 in South Africa, originated from a deaf man, Pietie Boonzaaier. In the early 1980s he asked his young minister, Dr Rocco Hough, to translate the Bible into a language that deaf people could understand. Dr Hough initially thought that this was not possible, but he later arranged for the Synod of Afrikaans-speaking Churches to approach the Bible Society. A number of deaf people participated in the resulting project, which involved making a translation directly from the Hebrew and Greek texts. Several Portions were launched along the way as the translators’ work began to yield fruit, the last one being the Book of Psalms in 2005.
The launch of the full Bible for the Deaf marks the beginning of a year of special events to mark the 75th anniversary of the Afrikaans Bible.
“It is a privilege for us to be able to make the Bible more accessible for this group of Afrikaans speakers in this very special year,” said the Rev Gerrit Kritzinger, Chief Executive of the Bible Society. “It is the prayer of the Bible Society that deaf people will be able to read and understand this Bible and that they, as well as those with hearing who will read it, will understand what God is saying to them.”
An initial print run of 4,000 copies of the Bible was supplied from China by Amity Printing Company.
|
