Translation of the Bible into the non-Slavic languages of Russia and neighboring countries
Tatar-language edition of The Taurat, Zabur, Injil, and Koran: Parallel Passages
24/02/2019

The Institute for Bible Translation is pleased to announce a new edition of The Bible and the Koran: Parallel Passages, a scholarly work that presents the reader with passages from the Jewish and Christian Scriptures that find their parallels in the Koran, the sacred text of Islam. Whereas IBT’s earlier editions of this book came out in Russian (in 2005, 2012, 2014 and 2018), this time the book has been published in the Tatar language.

 

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Jonah video in the Chukchi language
13.02.2019

IBT has published an animated video of the story of the prophet Jonah in the Chukchi language. The video’s visual component comes from artwork produced by Irina Pavlishina for the 2018 illustrated Chukchi edition of this Old Testament book. The video allows viewers to read the Chukchi translation in streaming captions while listening to an audio recording by mother-tongue Chukchi speaker Dina Talpygyrgina, who was the philological editor of this translation. Studies show that captions are an effective tool for promoting mother-tongue literacy in primarily oral cultures such as that of the Chukchi.

The New Testament in the Lezgi language
November 30, 2018

The Institute for Bible Translation has published the New Testament in the Lezgi language with an official stamp of approval from the Institute of Linguistics at the Russian Academy of Sciences. This marks the completion of many years of work by talented Lezgi writers and poets, theologians, and scholars of the Lezgi language, including Dr. B. B. Talibov, Dr. M. E. Alekseyev, Dr. N. A. Abdulgamidov, Dr. Marianne Beerle-Moore, and others.

Daniel and Ruth in the Kabardian language
October 24, 2018

Following quickly on the heels of last year’s presentation of the Kabardian translation of Proverbs in Nalchik, IBT has published yet another Scripture portion in Kabardian, the books of Daniel and Ruth in a single edition.

The Kabardian language, also known as Circassian or Cherkess, is spoken by approximately 516,000 speakers in the Russian Federation. It is one of the official languages of the Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachaevo-Cherkessia areas of southern Russia. Previous Kabardian Scripture editions include the New Testament, a revised version of Luke, Ruth, Jonah, and Proverbs. The current publication is a reprint edition of Ruth together with the first-ever translation of Daniel.

Seminar on translating the Pentateuch
October 18, 2018

How should a translator approach the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, called “Torah” in Hebrew? How does one begin the translation of this foundational part of the Old Testament? How can translators avoid getting buried under the many minute details in the ancient text that modern readers are usually not aware of? How can one find the spiritual and meaning core of these texts? Without a doubt, any translator of the Pentateuch must face these questions.