Bible translations into Mongolian

Translation of the Christian Bible into the Mongolian language goes back as far as 1305.

Early translations

In a letter dated from 8 January 1305, Giovanni da Montecorvino wrote that "I have got a competent knowledge of the language and character which is most generally used by the Tartars. And I have already translated into that language and character the New Testament and the Psalter, and have caused them to be written out in the fairest penmanship they have."[1] His work however, seems to be lost, as has any other translations Nestorian missionaries or Christian Mongolian tribes may have translated.

Swan and Stallybrass

The first translation that still exists today of the Bible into Mongolian was the work of Edward Stallybrass and William Swan (missionary) (1791–1866) both of the London Missionary Society, who translated the New Testament into the literary Mongolian language. Their translation was published in 1880 in Mongolian type in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was reprinted in 1881 in Manchu type.[2]

Joseph Edkins and Joseph Schereschewsky, together with a Mongolian lama, revised Swan and Stallybrass's translation of Matthew into colloquial Khalkha Mongolian. It was published in 1894. [3]

In 1899 the British and Foreign Bible Society agreed to bring out a revised gospel, by David Stenberg (of the Scandinavian Mission) and Mr. Netsegaard (of Urga, today called Ulaanbaatar), based on Swan and Stallybrass, which he found too high. It seems that Stenberg managed to revise into colloquial Urga Mongolian at least Matthew's gospel.[4][5] He was working on revising all four gospels and Acts, however his work was cut short when he was killed during the Boxer Rebellion. It is unclear if any of his work survived it.

The New Testament of Swan and Stallybrass was revised by Stuart Gunzel together with four Mongolians and 8,000 copies were printed in 1953 by the Hong Kong Bible Society. This was reprinted in 1988 by the Hong Kong Bible Society. In 1994 Living Stream Ministry reprinted this, using the Cyrillic script instead of the classical Mongolian, but changing nothing else.[6]

In 2009 the ABPPM foundation published a revision of the Bible as "The Classical Mongolian Bible". The old Testament is based on the 1840 British and Foreign Bible Society text, and the New Testament is based on Swanson's 1950 text. The biggest revision that was done was the substitution of the words "Yehovah Tenger" for "Burhan".

Translations in Inner Mongolia

Ibegeltü nom

Missionswerk Unerreichte Völker e.V. (M.U.V.) spent 14 years translating the New Testament into a classic literary Inner Mongolian; this was published in the classical Mongolian script as "Ibegeltü nom" in 2003 and also released on the Internet.[7] They have also translated Psalms and Genesis, however lack of funds halted further progress.

In Inner Mongolia there are at least three modern Bible translations.

Mongolian New Translation

The complete Bible in the 'Mongolian New Translation' was translated and published as "Ariun Nom". This translation uses the word 'Burhan' for God.

Inner Mongolia 'Deed Tenger' translation

Another is a dynamic equivalence translation, using the word Deed Tenger, instead of the word 'Burhan', for God. They published the New Testament as Shine Geree in July 2007.

Amity Press translation

A third translation, sponsored by the three self Church and Amity press is being translated by Bao Xiaolin. A trial version of the four gospels was published in 2011, and a trial version of the New Testament was released on 23 September 2013.[8] This version is being translated from Chinese, and creates a lot of non originally Mongolian expressions and vocabulary from Chinese.

Translations in Mongolia

Bible Society of Mongolia

1990 Shine Geree

John Gibbens, with the help of his wife Altaanchimeg (Altaa) started the Монголын Библийн Нийгэмлэг (Bible Society of Mongolia) and translated the New Testament into Mongolian, their version being published on 11 August 1990 by the United Bible Societies in Hong Kong. This was a "self-interpreting" translation, and included Old Testament quotations, Old Testament allusions, and explanatory notes within the New Testament text, rather than footnoting them.[9] Job was also published in 1990 as "Иовын түүх".

Gibbens Revised Translation

Since the 1990s Gibbens and his team have revised their translation of the New Testament to be less self interpreting. The revised New Testament was published first in 1999 and again in 2002. The Old Testament has also been translated and the complete Bible was published as 'Библи' in 2015.

Terminology disputes

The Bible Society of Mongolia used to be a member of the United Bible Societies, but left because of a dispute with the Mongolian Bible Translation Committee over biblical terminology, especially the word for God. The name was registered by the Gibbenses, and it continued to be the company that publishes their work.

The word Бурхан (Burhan) for God, provoked controversy, as did terms for many religious words. The Gibbenses translations of the Bible use descriptive terminology, instead of the Mongolian terms, which they feel have been used in other senses by Buddhism. An example of this is the term 'Ертөнцийн Эзэн' (Lord of the World) which they use instead of the Mongolian word Бурхан, Burhan. Though Burhan has also been used in Buddhism most Mongolian Christians today also use it to refer to the God of the Bible.

Proper nouns are also often spelled differently (for example, the Translation Committee uses Иохан and Марк, and the Gibbenses use Иоган and Маарх).

Mongolia Union Bible Society

Ariun Bibli

The Mongolian Bible Translation Committee (Монгол Библи Орчуулгын Хороо) began translating the Bible in 1991. The New Testament was completed in 1996, and the complete Bible in 2000. The Translation Committee became the Mongolian Union Bible Society (Ариун Бичээс Нийгэмлэг) and revised the Bible translations in 2004, 2008 and 2011 and 2013.[10]

This has become the most popular translation in Mongolia, being used by most Christians there. This translation uses native Mongolian terminology, and is much more literal than the Gibbenses translation. It is however, perhaps too literal—and people often complain that it is in "translated Mongolian", without native Mongolian expressions, and sometimes hard to understand.

Mongolian Standard Version

The Mongolian Union Bible Society has started working on a new translation from the original Greek and Hebrew, The Mongolian Standard Version. This translation is scheduled to be completed in 2026. The translation team is being led by Dr. Bayarjargal Garamtseren.

FirstBible International

Bill Paterson and Oyumaa of FirstBible International are currently working on a translation of the Bible. The Trinitarian Bible Society published their gospel of John in 2012.[11] This is translated from using the Textus Receptus as the source text.[12] The translation of the New Testament was finished in November 2015[13] but has yet to be published.

Comparison of Translations

Translation John 3:16
Gibbens, United Bible Society, 1990 Ертөнцийн Эзэн хүн төрөлхтөнд үнэхээр хайртай учраас ганц хүүгээ илгээсэн юм. Учир нь, мөнхийн зовлонд орох ёстой хүмүүс хүү Есүст нь итгэвэл мөнхийн амьдралд орж чадна.
Gunzel Cyrillic, 1994 Бурхан дэлхийг ийнхүү хайрлаж ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн нь Түүнд итгэх хүн бүр үл мөхөн, мөнх амьтай болохын тулд болой.
Gibbens New Translation, 1999 Ертөнцийн Эзэн Хишгээд үнэхээр хайртай учраас ганц хүүгээ илгээсэн юм. Учир нь Мөнхийн Зовлонд орох ёстой Хишгээ хүү Есүст нь итгэвэл Мөнхийн Амьдралд орж чадна."
Ibegeltü nom, MUV, 2003
Cyrillic transcription		 Бурхан орчлон дэлхийн хүмүүсийг тэр мэт хайрламой, тэгэх түүниӣгээ ганц үрээ хүртэл өршөөн. Хэмээх бүхий түүнийг сүсэглэн шүтэгчийг эс сөнөөх бөгөөд харин тэд нарт мөнхийн амь насыг хүртээмой.
Ариун Библи, 2004 (АБН) Бурхан ертөнцийг үнэхээр хайрласан тул цорын ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн. Ингэснээр Хүүд итгэгч хэн ч мөхөхгүй, харин мөнх амьтай болох юм.
Ариун Библи, 2011 (АБН) Бурхан ертөнцийг үнэхээр хайрласандаа цорын ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн тул Хүүд итгэдэг бүхэн мөхөхгүй харин мөнх амьтай болох юм.
Mongolian New Translation (MNT), 2013
Cyrillic transcription		 Бурхан ертөнцийг хайрлаад цорын ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн, ийнхүү Түүнийг итгэгч бүхэн мөхөхгүй, харин мөнх амьтай байх боллоо.
Translation "Ibegeltü nom" 2003 Swan/Stallybrass 1880 "MNT" 2013 ABPPM, 2009 Shine Geree 2007
John
3:16
ᠳᠡᠭᠳᠦ ᠲᠡᠭᠷᠢ ᠶᠢᠷᠲᠢᠨᠴᠦ ᠢ ᠦᠨᠢᠬᠡᠷ ᠬᠠᠢᠢᠷᠠᠯᠠᠴᠦ ᠂ ᠴᠤᠷ ᠤᠨ ᠭᠠᠠᠨᠴᠨ ᠬᠥᠤ ᠪᠠᠨ ᠦᠭᠬᠥᠠᠰᠠᠨ ᠃ ᠡᠨᠡ ᠨᠢ ᠲᠠᠬᠦᠨ ᠳᠤ ᠢᠲᠡᠬᠢᠬᠦ ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠨ ᠪᠤᠯᠭᠠᠨ ᠢ ᠰᠥᠨᠥᠬᠢᠬᠦ ᠦᠬᠢᠢ ᠂ ᠮᠦᠭᠬᠢ ᠢᠢᠨ ᠠᠮᠢ ᠲᠡᠢ ᠪᠤᠯᠭᠠᠠᠠᠣ ᠢᠢᠨ ᠲᠦᠯᠥᠬᠢ ᠶᠤᠮ᠃

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ da Montecorvino, Giovanni. "Report from China, 1305". Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham University/Paul Halsall. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Taveirne (2004), p. 143.
  3. ↑ Taveirne (2004), p. 144.
  4. ↑ Canton, William A History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, p. 179
  5. ↑ Centennial Pamphlets, Issue 22. American Bible Society. 1916.
  6. ↑ Hogan, Brian There's a Sheep in My Bathtub
  7. ↑ "Inner Mongolian New Testament 2003". Mongolbible.com. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  8. ↑ Yeo, Tan Tan. "A Bible Translator Raised From The Line Of Genghis Khan". UBS China Partnership. United Bible Societies China Partnership. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Suchy, Tom and Lynn Our Position and Perspective on a Critical Controversy
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ "Mongolian Gospel according to John". Trinitarian Bible Society. Trinitarian Bible Society. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  12. ↑ Keen, Charles. "Partnerships". First Bible International. First Bible International. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Patterson, Bill. "Bill Patterson: November 2015 Prayer Letter". Mount Abarim Baptist Mission International. Mount Abarim Baptist Mission International. Retrieved 25 November 2015.

References

External links

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