Lausanne World Pulse – WORLD EVANGELISM & MISSIONS REPORTS – Bible Translation in the New Millennium: The Changed and Changing Context
In successive eras, translation has been at the heart of the communication of the Christian message. Societal changes and upheavals have not stopped this; indeed, at times they have only accelerated the process. At the beginning of the new millennium we stand on the cusp of major changes in the world as we know it. Language is at the heart of who we are as human beings, and is vitally involved in this rapidly changing situation. The future directions of Bible translation should be considered in light of this.
History of Bible Translation
The history of Bible translation can be understood in various ways. For some it begins with the example of Ezra teaching the law to those who had returned to Jerusalem from the exile (Nehemiah 8). He read in Hebrew, but after long years in exile his hearers no longer understood Hebrew and needed a translation in Aramaic. In the following centuries in the Jewish assemblies, the practice developed of the meturgeman (interpreter) who gave an oral translation (targum) of the scripture being read. For others, Bible translation begins with the translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek (known as the Septuagint or LXX) in Egypt in the second century BC.
William Smalley divides Bible translation into a number of eras:1
| Era | Time | Notable Features |
| Era of spreading the faith | 200 BC | Septuagint (LXX) onward |
| Era of European vernaculars | 405 | Vulgate completed |
| Era of printing | 1450 AD | Gutenberg’s Vulgate completed in 1456 |
| Era of Bible Society | 1804 | British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) founded 1804 |
| Era of professionalised translation | 1943 | Eugene Nida, ABS; W. Cameron Townsend, WBT- SIL Nida’s Bible Translation ‘47 |
| Interconfessional era | 1965 | Vatican II 1962-1964 Dei Verbum |
| Era of non-missionary translation | 1970 |
1. Languages with part or all of the Bible. Bible translation advanced slowly in the first 1,500 years of our era, and then saw significant growth with Spanish and Portuguese colonial expansion (usually the translation of texts for the liturgy and lectionary readings) and the Protestant Reformation. However, as can be seen, the Reformation did not result in the expansion in translation that is often attributed to it.
| Year | Translated Languages |
| 1499 | 35 languages |
| 1799 | an additional 59 languages |
| 1899 | an additional 446 languages |
| 1949 | an additional 667 languages |
| Total: 1207 languages2 |
The figures show that the major development in Bible translation took place after 1800, coinciding with the development of the Bible Society movement. For example, the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) was founded in 1804.
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