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.
IBT has published an edition of selected parables of Jesus from Luke’s Gospel in three more languages: Tatar, Rutul and Tsakhur. Previous editions of this book were published in Agul (2007), Dungan, Kumyk and Nogai (2016), and Dargi (2017).
At the Institute for Bible Translation we are always reflecting upon the importance of translating the Bible into people’s “heart language”. But what do we usually think of when we speak about one’s heart language? The first idea that comes to mind is that this is the language that a person speaks in his or her daily life, the language that is the easiest and most natural one for conveying meaning to other people. It is interesting that the more we talk with representatives of different people groups and cultures who are working with IBT in Bible translation or Scripture engagement, the more this seemingly obvious picture becomes blurred and loses its defined contours. Surprisingly so! It seems more likely that the concept of “heart language” goes beyond the language itself and involves the whole cultural worldview and the layer of deepest emotions and childhood or even genetic memories...
IBT has published the first-ever full translation of the Bible in the Tatar language. This is the fifth translation of a complete Bible into a non-Slavic language of Russia, following upon Chuvash, Tuvan, Chechen and Udmurt. Worldwide, the entire Bible has been translated into about 565 languages, now including Tatar. IBT’s Bible translation work into Tatar lasted more than 23 years. The work was carried out by specialists in linguistics, biblical studies, and the Tatar language from IBT, SIL and UBS, in cooperation with the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, and was printed with a stamp of approval from the Institute of Linguistics at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
When the Apostle Paul came to preach about Jesus and the resurrection in Athens, he was brought to the Areopagus, since “all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21). By preaching in the Areopagus, Paul humbly implemented the idea of approaching people where they actually are, not where we as Christians would like them to be. People who are just seeking to hear something new are not necessarily seeking God, and there may in fact be just a few in a crowd who are truly ready to hear God. Nonetheless, Paul was not afraid of speaking in vain. He was simply doing the Lord’s work, and it was up to the Lord to do all the rest. There is no doubt that Paul was the most successful missionary among the Apostles.This principle of reaching people where they are was the foundation of the IBT seminar on Scripture Engagement in summer 2015...
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.
At the Institute for Bible Translation we are always reflecting upon the importance of translating the Bible into people’s “heart language”. But what do we usually think of when we speak about one’s heart language? The first idea that comes to mind is that this is the language that a person speaks in his or her daily life, the language that is the easiest and most natural one for conveying meaning to other people. It is interesting that the more we talk with representatives of different people groups and cultures who are working with IBT in Bible translation or Scripture engagement, the more this seemingly obvious picture becomes blurred and loses its defined contours. Surprisingly so! It seems more likely that the concept of “heart language” goes beyond the language itself and involves the whole cultural worldview and the layer of deepest emotions and childhood or even genetic memories...
When the Apostle Paul came to preach about Jesus and the resurrection in Athens, he was brought to the Areopagus, since “all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new” (Acts 17:21). By preaching in the Areopagus, Paul humbly implemented the idea of approaching people where they actually are, not where we as Christians would like them to be. People who are just seeking to hear something new are not necessarily seeking God, and there may in fact be just a few in a crowd who are truly ready to hear God. Nonetheless, Paul was not afraid of speaking in vain. He was simply doing the Lord’s work, and it was up to the Lord to do all the rest. There is no doubt that Paul was the most successful missionary among the Apostles.This principle of reaching people where they are was the foundation of the IBT seminar on Scripture Engagement in summer 2015...