What is anthropology? Anthropology is the study of
people, of human beings and their culture and relationships. This includes, but
is obviously not limited to, languages. But not just the words that are used
but also the expressions, figures of speech, etc. We all have them. Idioms run
rampant throughout English to the point that we do not even recognize that they
are being used the majority of the time.
For example if I said “get your head out of the clouds” I hope we could
recognize that as an idiomatic expression. Someone’s head is not actually “in
the clouds” it is a figure of speech. But, what if I said “well, the ball’s in
your court,” would we immediately recognize that that is also idiomatic? Every
language has them and they most often do not translate into other languages
with the same meaning. This is a huge part of linguistic anthropology.
The former way of doing Bible translation which is
still being done today and is highly valuable in terms of relationships and
accuracy of translation is using a linguistic anthropologist. This scientist
would be trained as a missionary, funded, and sent to a remote location. They
would then spend years upon years learn the language, culture AND IDIOMS of the
language before even beginning to translate the Bible.
Who knows a language better, a scientist from
another country who is trying to learn it, or someone who was born into and
grew up speaking and using it? The answer here is obvious. Therefore, who would
be better at translating the Bible into that particular language? Again, an
obvious answer! This is the new method of Bible translation.
I, along with many other people, work together to
create a non-copyright resource to send to remote areas so that the indigenous (we call them MTTS or Mother Tongue Translators) can translate the Bible into
THEIR OWN LANGUAGE! Their heart language! Two things happen when we use this method, 1) the Bible gets
translated much, much faster, and 2) it is much, MUCH more culturally accurate.
Therefore quickly created a more usable and readable Bible for those particular
people! It’s great!
Please pray for these MTTs around the world
currently working on their Bibles and pray that the Lord will bless their
efforts and assist them as they move forward!
Pray also for me as I am creating tools and resources for these MTTs that I would be able to provide everything necessary and provide it effectively.
In Christ, and Christ alone,
Andrew J. Belcher
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