Te Rongopai and Bible Translation by Rev Allister Lane
Te Rongopai and Bible Translation
by Rev Allister Lane
6th February 2022
Psalm 119: 105-108, 129-135
2 Timothy 3:14-17
Where were you in 1989?
Take a look at the inside cover of the NRSV Bible in your pew.
1989 was the year this version was published.
And this year it is being updated (fruit of four years work).
20,000 changes.
Example 1:
Terms referencing physical disabilities pose particular challenges.
When context permits, the updated edition translates the text that identify people in terms of a disability,
as in Matthew 4.24:
NRSV: 24So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them.
NRSVue: 24So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them.
These updates avoid identifying people in terms of a disability (e.g. epileptics).
This brings a modern sensibility to bear, because we now believe that an illness or symptom is something a person has, not who they are.
The changes are attempts to get the meaning of the texts across, recognising that expressions in language and culture change over time.
Example2:
Various forms of “whore” terms were revised to comparable forms of “prostitute”
e.g., Hosea 1.2
the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.
the land commits great prostitution by forsaking the Lord.
Does it matter whether John the Baptist said he was not fit to untie the “thong” of Jesus’ sandals or the “strap?”
The change of “thong” to “strap” in the John the Baptist verse was done because “thong” in English has come to primarily refer to underwear!
Why fiddle with the text of the Bible? Surely it’s fine…?
After all, our reading said today: “All scripture is inspired by God…” (v16)
· ALL scripture…
· Scripture is “Inspired” = theopneustos = ‘God breathed’.
But the Bible did not mysteriously materialise;
it didn’t drop out of the sky;
it certainly didn’t come from God in the form we have in our pews!
People wrote it out,
stored the scrolls,
looked after them
and applied them to their lives together.
As well as being 100% inspired by God, the Bible is 100% the work of humans.
(Just as Jesus is fully human and fully divine)
We can’t split into ‘human part’ and ‘God part’.
The scriptures are useful – that means we apply them to how we live. And that application whereby we learn and grow involves understanding the texts as well as we can – both by our own effort and by submitting ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Why does there need to be a translation?
Very simply: because not everyone in the world reads both Hebrew and Greek – which are the languages of the Old and New Testaments.
The first Christians displayed an immediate willingness (perhaps even necessity) to translate into the languages of those with whom they wanted to share the message of the Bible.
In the preface to the King James Bible it is acknowledged that there is never an ideal or final translation.
That doesn’t mean it’s all up for grabs – the same preface asserts that through the human languages, symbols, images and imperfect cultural comparisons, the Bible witnesses to the truth that:
· God is Creator and Covenant-maker;
· God comes to earth in person to create a new and universal community of believers by the death and resurrection of the Word made flesh and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Already, I hope you can see how we have a relationship with the text.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
…give me life, O Lord, according to your word.”
Any meaningful relationship isn’t fixed/static, but dynamic,
with continuing discovery, and delight in that discovery as it reveals more truth.
The motivation for translating the Bible from the original languages in which it was first written was this dynamic of delight in the discovery by others of the truth;
to share the wonderful truth about God, us and the world.
I’m guessing the first believers felt they HAD to translate the texts, as an essential expression of the wonderful power of the new and universal community that God has created for everyone.
The Bible continually witnesses to the world-transforming activity of God, through the Holy Spirit.
Its message liberates the individual believer from enslavement to egocentrism,
isolation, apathy and hopelessness.
AND the message reaches out to all people and the whole creation.
It announces the new reality – new relationships,
new politics, peace between people.
The Bible was brought to New Zealand by the missionaries, so the wonderful witness to the transforming activity of God could be shared with the people of this land –
the Tangata Whenua.
And so, the missionaries committed themselves to the difficult task of taking the oral Māori language and putting into written form.
This was a departure from Samuel Marsden’s ‘civilise first’ approach to mission. Henry Williams believed in the importance of Māori having the Bible in their own language.
The first Māori New Testament was printed at Paihia in (what year..?) 1837.
5000 copies were printed and it set in motion a passion for understanding this new Atua (God) and Ihu Karaiti (Jesus Christ).
There was a hunger for the truth the texts witness to.
There are lots of amazing stories of people walking hundreds of kilometres to get a copy of the New Testament in Māori.
The New Testaments became a taonga (treasure) among Māori.
You can imagine, the missionaries were delighted, and they also took it all over New Zealand to share its message with the Tangata Whenua, in their own language.
God’s transformation was being seen in this land:
“In the 1870’s, an elderly Hawkes Bay chief, reflecting on the changes that had occurred in his community over his lifetime, concluded that
“It was only after the Word of God was preached that the evil of the deeds and life of olden times was seen, that is these were condemned, murdering, family quarrels, seduction and cannibalism””
(Jay Ruka, p38)
Instead of carrying out Utu (revenge) Māori chose to practice peace-making
– living the message of Good News (Te Rongopai).
The story of Tarore is only one of many about Māori embracing peace.
Māori themselves were sharing the message of the scriptures with other Māori – sometimes acting as courageous ambassadors to former enemies.
And there was a steady transformation of tribal conflict toward the practice of peace with one another.
The message of the Bible – the Goods News (Te Rongopai) – was on the move and influenced relationships, politics and the practicing of peace.
When the British came to negotiate the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi, they relied heavily on the Bible-based Māori literacy, that was by 1840 widespread.
The credibility of the Treaty was in part because it was written in Māori, using concepts familiar to Māori – some of which were from the Māori Bible text.
We know that there continues to be dispute among some historians about specific textual differences in the English and Māori translations of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Others believe that is it the spirit of the Treaty that matters;
that people have entered into a covenant relationship together that will forever need ears to listen, voices to dialogue and noble hearts to understand one another.
“…the genius of God is woven into the narrative of our history. There is a divine thread of justice and a rugged grace embedded in the Treaty. All along, God’s hopeful intention has been to create a culturally partnered landscape called Aotearoa New Zealand.
(Jay Ruka Huia Come Home, pp137-8)
The problem is not the Treaty, but how it has been neglected.
The Land Wars cause disillusionment among many Māori towards what they believed was a Christian Government acting in a manner contrary to their understanding of the Gospel.
There is an important place for accuracy in how the biblical text articulates the content passed on to us all, in our own language, symbols, images and cultural comparisons.
But these careful commitments never eclipse the spirit of the texts.
The text isn’t alive on its own;
it is dynamic because of its witness to the Good News
– Te Rongopai.
The texts are part of how God chooses to communicate with us.
We can affirm that historical reliability is vital,
but more important than the accuracy of every detail is the truthfulness of the Gospel as a witness to the central events of the life, death and resurrection of Christ.
It matters to faith whether Jesus really befriended sinners, blessed the poor, and gave his life willingly for others.
Today, this is the Good News for everyone
– Te Rongopai mo te katoa
Amene.