Togo —
*ABWE has worked for almost 15 years to complete the New Testament in the Kabiye language for the Kabiye people in Togo, West Africa. ABWE missionary Lynn Silvernale and intern Erin Schuh spent more than a year editing the final translation, which will be printed and distributed throughout the country as early as next year. Bible translation is just one of many life-changing ministries ABWE has started in Togo, Africa as part of its church planting focus.
The Kabiye tribe (in Togo, West Africa) has a limited vocabulary. Many of their words can describe a half-a-dozen entirely different things. The proper meaning, it seems, is understood from the context in which the word is used. As a Bible translator with ABWE working on the Kabiye New Testament translation, I’ve found, however, that there isn’t always enough context to make the meaning of the word clear.
For instance, at one point while working on the Kabiye Bible translation project, we were discussing the color of the fourth horse mentioned in Revelation 6:8. The dictionary gives the meaning of the horse’s color as “pale, yellowish, pale green, sickly gray.” The word used in the Kabiye translation, however, meant, “black, like the leaves of a tree.” When we questioned that phrasing we learned that the Kabiye language has only three colors: black, white and red (fortunately, the colors of the first three horses). It was understandable why the translator hadn’t been able to come up with a word for the color of the fourth horse. After some creative thinking, we decided that description for the fourth horse would be the words, “like the color of seaweed.”
Then we were discussing a verse that mentions the colors dark blue and yellow. We translated that as “like the sky when it wants to rain” and “like millet” (a grain which is yellow) in Kabiye to convey the correct meaning to the people.
Kabiye has the same word for “law” and “commandment.” But what do you do with a verse like Matthew 22:36: “What is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
These are some of the problems we encountered during the translation.
Despite the obstacles, the Kabiye Bible translation will soon be finished and available to the approximately 730,000 Kabiye speakers in West Africa. This translation in their mother tongue will open up doors of understanding and serve to further the gospel among the Kabiye people. We are excited to see how God will use this Bible to reach into the hearts of this people group.
SIDEBAR: Translating in Kabiye
- The word for sky is “the skin of God.”
- To be patient is “to control your liver”; when you are impatient, your “liver is sour.”
- To warn or to scold someone is “to nail his head.”
- To save someone is “to buy his head.”
- To fast is “to attach your mouth.”
- To make a covenant is “to give your mouth.”
- To obey is “to walk on the law.”
To learn more about ABWE’s translation ministries visit, www.abwe.org/serve/translation-word-ministries
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Togo
