READING, England - February 16, 2003 — The Scripture Language Report for 2002, shows the complete Bible can now be read in more languages worldwide, than ever before.
The report, an annual publication of United Bible Societies (a Fellowship of Bible Societies around the globe, and of which the Canadian Bible Society is a member) pegs the current number of languages at 405. One year ago, the number stood at 392.
The number may come as a disappointment to some
The number may come as a disappointment to some. The report says, "Set against a total of some 6,500 or more languages spoken in the world as a whole, the figure seems small and the task which remains immense." But the report goes on to point out there is cause for hope. It adds, "Thankfully, the number of languages in which the work of translating the Scriptures is under way is much larger and growing.
"Languages which have some part of the Bible now amount to 2,303, compared with 2,287 a year ago, and the number of languages which have gained a complete New Testament over the period is 22, taking the total from 1,012 to 1,034."
Canadian Bible Society currently involved in a dozen translation projects
Hart Wiens is the Director of Scripture Translation for the Canadian Bible Society. While his organization wasn't responsible for adding to the tally of Bibles or New Testaments in 2002, Wiens says they will be contributing this year. "We published one New Testament (in 2001); the James Bay Cree," said Wiens. "We will publish the Dogrib this year."
Wiens also said he anticipates the Canadian Bible Society will be publishing the complete Plautdietsch Bible later in the year, but added, "Most of our publications in recent years have been New Testaments."
At present, the Canadian Bible Society is involved in about one dozen translation projects in Canada.
Report highlights impact on communities of receiving Scripture in their own language
In addition to providing an accounting of Scripture translations worldwide, the Scripture Language Report also highlights the impact that receiving a Bible in their own language can have upon a community.
It says, "The simple existence of the Bible in the tongue of a people can affirm the identity of the whole community as a symbol of its status and culture. This is especially valuable to a community whose very existence may be in danger, for economic reasons, for example.
Receiving the Bible in one's own language can 'restore a sense of dignity'
"For a people who are divided, receiving the Bible can signal the start of a process of reconciliation; among those who cannot read, it can initiate a literacy movement or add impetus to educational development; to a people who are few in number and struggling to find their way as a community, it can restore a sense of dignity, or even national pride."
The Scripture Language Report is based on Scripture translations added in the past calendar year to the collections of the American Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. It records every new Scripture translation - whether a complete Bible or part of the Bible - added in the past year to the collections of the two Bible Society deposit libraries. These libraries are those of the American Bible Society in New York and the British and Foreign Bible Society, which is housed in the Cambridge University Library.
The report provides the most up-to-date account available of all the languages and dialects in which the complete Bible, the New Testament and individual books of the Bible have been published.
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