In keeping with my post yesterday about significant steps in Bible translation, my friend and colleague Eddie Arthur had an article in Christian Today (23 November 2016) on the very same theme… which is not surprising since all of us in Wycliffe Bible Translators worldwide are excited by the new stats.
Eddie starts with Shakespeare, continues with Harry Potter, includes the UN Declaration of Human Rights in a sort of league table of many languages they have been published in and then comments…
However, Shakespeare and JK Rowling are miles behind the UN Declaration of Human Rights which is available in 370 different languages from Abkhaz to Zulu.
These are all worthy efforts, but the real champion of international availability is the Bible. This month, Wycliffe Bible Translators released the latest Scripture access statistics which tell a truly amazing story.
The bottom line figure is that there are passages of the Bible available in 3,223 different languages. This includes 636 languages which have a complete Bible and 1,442 more with a whole New Testament.
There’s also a video to look at but I prefer the photo… choose for yourself by reading the whole article
A young boy stands by a display featuring Bible stories translated into Chinese at the Xinhua bookstore in Beijing | Reuters
I like the concluding challenge that Eddie gives to English speaking Christians in his article…
In the English-speaking world, we have more different translations of the Bible than we know what to do with. You don’t have to look very far on the internet to find supporters of the various versions arguing the merits of their particular favourite. Meanwhile, around the world, translators are quietly translating the Scriptures into ever more languages. This is a truly international, cooperative venture that we should be proud of.
Today, Wycliffe, the various Bible Societies and local Christians around the globe are working to translate the Bible into more than 2,400 languages. Harry Potter and Shakespeare would be jealous, but this is a story that many Christians in the UK don’t even know about.
Find out more at www.wycliffe.org.uk and www.wycliffe.net/en/statistics
John 20:21 