Bible translations into Mongolian

In spite of academic uncertainty, some speculate that perhaps translation of the Christian Bible into the Mongolian language could perhaps go 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. One difficulty with this is that there is scholarly uncertainty whether this translation was into Mongolian or into another language Mongols used in order to relate with other peoples.

Moravian translations into Kalmyk Mongolian

In line with the missionary movement of the Moravians in Germany, missionaries were first sent to Mongolian speakers in 1785. The first Bible translations that still exists today of the Bible into Mongolian was the work of the Moravians. Isaak Jakob Schmidt, as a Moravian missionary, is renowned still today as a scholar of Mongolian and Tibetan. He had been a merchant amongst the Mongolians and had a very thorough knowledge of the culture and language. SCHMIDT, I. J. 1827. New Testament in Kalmyk. [s.l.]: [s.n.]. This translation appearing in 1827 was based on all the years of work and study since 1785. Since the translators were accustomed to Martin Luther's translation of the Bible into German, they then produced an idiomatic translation. This version did not use terms from Buddhism or shamanism to refer to God.

Swan and Stallybrass

The second 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 (LMS), who translated the Old and then the New Testament into the literary Mongolian language. STALLYBRASS, E., W. SWAN, R. YUILLE and I. J. SCHMIDT. 1840. Old Testament in Mongolian. Khodon, Siberia, STALLYBRASS, E. and W. SWAN. 1846. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : translated out of the original Greek into the Mongolian language. London: British and Foreign Bible Society. 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. [2] The missionaries who worked on this translation said that they used Buddhist monks to help them in the work. The whole uses Buddhist terms for God. At that time, Mongolians around them saw Christianity as a new form of Buddhism.

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 classical in style to be understood by the common person. It seems that Stenberg managed to revise into colloquial Urga Mongolian at least Matthew's gospel.[3][4] 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 this.

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 (HKBS). 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.[5]

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 the term 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.[6] They have also translated Psalms and Genesis, however lack of funds halted further progress. The products of MUV have consistently identified God using the term Burhan.

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" in 2012. This version was printed in the classic Mongolian script, using the term 'Burhan' for God, like majority of previous translations into Mongolian. The translation is a balance between word-for-word and dynamic eqivalence.

Inner Mongolia 'Deed Tenger' translation

Another is a dynamic equivalence translation, using the word Deed Tenger, instead of the term '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.[7] This version is being translated from Chinese, and creates a lot of non originally Mongolian expressions and vocabulary from Chinese.

Translations in Mongolia

Gibbens (Bible Society of Mongolia)

The scriptures produced by Bible Society of Mongolia have an important difference from other versions, in that they do not use traditional terms based on Buddhism or shamanism for God for key terms.

One of the most obvious differences is the word for God. Burhan was rejected because of associations with Buddhism and Tenger because of associations with shamanism. In the end, a small English – Mongolian dictionary was found which had a definition for "god" as Burhan, Tenger and a definition for "God" as yertöntsiin ezen (lord of the universe). This term was later compared with ‘LORD of all the earth’ and was decided to be used. The term is mostly unfamiliar with people who haven't heard of it from this translation.

1979 Part New Testament in Mongolian

This was based on the Bible text in Greek and was done mainly in Ulaanbaatar. Work on this version started in 1971. It was the first three Gospels, Acts and some epistles. It was the first part of the Bible to be translated into Mongolian in modern times. It was published in 1979.

1989 book of Job (Iovyn tüüh)

In 1987 the Mongolian Union of Writers requested a translation of the book of Job. The translation was published by the Union of Writers in their journal in 1989.

1990 New Testament (Shine Geree)

The translation work carried on the work began in 1971. The New Testament in Mongolian was published on 11 August 1990 by the United Bible Societies in Hong Kong.

Since the translator at that time believed Mongolia had no support for explaining the Bible, and that there was no Mongolian Old Testament available, the aim was to produce a "self-interpreting" translation of the New Testament, resulting in a translation with translator-inserted explanations.

The Bible of 2015

This is a tight meaning based translation based on the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Biblical texts. In 2001 Wycliffe Bible Translators and United Bible Societies drew up a formal agreement with Bible Society of Mongolia to carry out a full Bible Translation Consultant check of the whole. The Bible was machine translated and then consultants of Wycliffe Bible Translators and United Bible Societies thoroughly checked it against the Biblical texts and approved it for publication. It is widely available. The translator claims it does not mingle Bible belief with Mongolian traditional religion, by not using traditional terms based on Buddhism or shamanism for God or key terms.

Mongolia Union Bible Society (MUBS)

The Mongolia Union Bible Society aims to work with the Christian congregations in Mongolia, regardless of denomination. In April 2016, MUBS became a member of United Bible Societies (UBS) which represent 147 Bible Societies around the world. UBS is in the historic tradition of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS), which had published the nineteenth century work of Swan and Stallybrass. The products of MUBS have consistently identified God using the term Burhan.

Ariun Bibli

Dissatisfaction with the explanatory aspects and the "phrase terms" of the 1990 translation caused a new translation to begin that attempted to translate the Bible more literally and to use as many indigenous terms as possible. 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 2000, 2008 and 2011 and 2013.[8] The 2004 and 2013 text is available on YouVersion.[9] This has become a popular translation in Mongolia, being used by most churches there. This translation uses native Mongolian terminology, and its style is more literal than other translations. For some people it is too literal — and some people complain that it is in "translated Mongolian", without native Mongolian expressions, and sometimes hard to understand.

Mongolian Standard Version

To address the problems of the Ariun Bibli the Mongolian Union Bible Society (MUBS) has started working on a new translation from the original Greek and Hebrew called The Mongolian Standard Version. They have so far released preliminary versions of Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Jonah on their website[10]. This translation is scheduled to be completed in 2026. The translation team is being led by Dr. Bayarjargal Garamtseren. This is the first translation translated by Mongolians directly from the original languages.

FirstBible International

FirstBible International and Trinitarian Bible Society are working on a new translation of the bible. Their translation uses the Textus Receptus as the source text.[11] The gospel of John was published in 2012.[12] The New Testament was published in the summer of 2017[13]

This version uses the term Burhan, which is now the most widely used term for God amongst Mongolian Christians. Main translators include Bill Paterson and Oyumaa.

Mongolian Bible Translators Group

This started work in the late 1970s, and in 1993 published Matthew, Mark and Luke, 1998 the New Testament and whole Bible in 2016, which is from the Biblical languages. The products of Mongolian Bible Translators Group have consistently identified God using the term Burhan.

Mongolian Mission Team

Since March 2009 the team has been working full-time on translating the King James Bible into the Mongolian language. As of March 2013 the New Testament has been completed. As soon as a final read through is completed the New Testament will be printed. http://www.mongolianteam.org/index.php/mongolian-bible/ This version calls God 'Shüteen' (object of worship).

Comparison of Translations

Translation John 3:16
Gibbens, 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.
Gibbens, 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."
Gibbens, 2015 Ягаад гэвэл, Ертөнцийн Эзэн хүн төрөлхтнийг тийм их хайрласандаа л цорын ганц хүүгээ өгсөн билээ. Тийнхүү түүнд итгэсэн хүн мөнхийн зовлонд орохгий бөгөөд харийн мөнхийн амьдралтай болно.
Gunzel Cyrillic, 1994 Бурхан дэлхийг ийнхүү хайрлаж ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн нь Түүнд итгэх хүн бүр үл мөхөн, мөнх амьтай болохын тулд болой.
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.
ABBPM, 2009
Cyrillic transcription		 Ивах тэнгэр нь гагц хөвгүүнээ өгтөл ертөнцийг хайрлавай.Энэ нь хэн түүнд итгэх бөгөөс өл сөнөн, харин мөнх амьд болохын дул болой.
Ариун Библи, 2004 (АБ2004) Бурхан ертөнцийг үнэхээр хайрласан тул цорын ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн. Ингэснээр Хүүд итгэгч хэн ч мөхөхгүй, харин мөнх амьтай болох юм.
Ариун Библи, 2011 (АБ2011) Бурхан ертөнцийг үнэхээр хайрласандаа цорын ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн тул Хүүд итгэдэг бүхэн мөхөхгүй харин мөнх амьтай болох юм.
Ариун Библи, 2013 (АБ2013) Бурхан ертөнцийг үнэхээр хайрласандаа цорын ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн тул Хүүд итгэдэг бүхэн мөхөхгүй харин мөнх амьтай байх болно.
Mongolian New Translation (MNT), 2013
Cyrillic transcription		 Бурхан ертөнцийг хайрлаад цорын гагц хүүгээ өгсөн, ийнхүү түүнийг итгэгч бүхэн мөхөхгүй, харин мөнх амьтай байх боллоо.
Shine Geree 2007
Cyrillic transcription		 Дээд Тэнгэр ертөнцийг үнэхээр хайрлаж, цорын ганц Хүүгээ өгсөн. Энэ нь түүнд итгэх хүмүүн болгоныг сөнөхгүй, мөнхийн амьтай болгооүү ийн төлөөх юм.
Mongolian Bible Translators Group 2016 Бурхан энэ дэлхийн хүмүүсийг их хайрлаж байсан учир өөрийн ганц хүүгээ тэдэнд өгсөн. Тэгээд тэр хүүд итгэгч хүн бүхэн үхэхгүй, мөнх амийг хүртэх болно.


Translation"Ibegeltü nom" 2003Swan/Stallybrass 1880"MNT" 2013ABPPM, 2009Shine Geree 2007
John
3:16
ᠳᠡᠭᠡᠳᠦ ᠲᠩᠷᠢ ᠶᠢᠷᠲᠢᠨᠴᠦ ᠶᠢ ᠦᠨᠡᠬᠡᠷ ᠬᠠᠶᠢᠷᠠᠯᠠᠵᠤ ᠂ ᠴᠣᠷ ᠤᠨ ᠭᠠᠭᠴᠠ ᠬᠦᠦ ᠪᠡᠨ ᠥᠭᠭᠦᠭᠰᠡᠨ ᠃ ᠡᠨᠡ ᠨᠢ ᠲᠠᠬᠦᠨ ᠳᠤ ᠢᠲᠡᠭᠡᠬᠦ ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠨ ᠪᠤᠯᠭᠠᠨ ᠢ ᠰᠥᠨᠥᠬᠢᠬᠦ ᠦᠭᠡᠢ ᠂ ᠮᠥᠩᠬᠡ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠠᠮᠢ ᠲᠡᠢ ᠪᠤᠯᠭᠠᠠᠠᠣ ᠢᠢᠨ ᠲᠦᠯᠥᠬᠢ ᠶᠤᠮ᠃

See also

References

  1. ↑ da Montecorvino, Giovanni. "Report from China, 1305". Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham University/Paul Halsall. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Taveirne (2004), p. 144.
  3. ↑ Canton, William A History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, p. 179
  4. ↑ Centennial Pamphlets, Issue 22. American Bible Society. 1916.
  5. ↑ Hogan, Brian There's a Sheep in My Bathtub
  6. ↑ "Inner Mongolian New Testament 2003". Mongolbible.com. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Mongolia Union Bible Society
  9. ↑ Mongolian on YouVersion
  10. ↑ Mongolian Standard Version
  11. ↑ Keen, Charles. "Partnerships". First Bible International. First Bible International. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Mongolian Gospel according to John". Trinitarian Bible Society. Trinitarian Bible Society. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  13. ↑ http://www.tbsbibles.org/page.php?sess=dmArIj5ocDIgbGwmP2d7PzMsLmRlJihnfzEqICNhajstY3YiPnFiMyBseCc%2FYnY4
  14. ↑ https://www.interserve.org/story/142-steppe-by-step/
  • Taveirne, Patrick (2004). Han-Mongol encounters and missionary endeavors: a history of Scheut in Ordos (Hetao) : 1874 - 1911. Leuven: Leuven University Press [u.a.] ISBN 9058673650.
  • Kara, György. 1997. “Reading a New Mongolian Version of the New Testament”. Mongolian Studies 20. Mongolia Society: 39–63. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43193250.
  • Sagaster, Klaus. 2012. "Bible Terminology in Mongolian Translation". Rocznik Orientalistyczny, T. 65, Z. 1. http://repozytorium.uni.lodz.pl:8080/xmlui/handle/11089/3366
  • Rosén, Staffan. 2008. “The Translation History of the Mongolian Bible”. Mongolian Studies 30/31. Mongolia Society: 19–41. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43193515.
  • Garamtseren, Bayarjargal. 2009. "A History of Bible Translation in Mongolian". The Bible Translator, October 2009 60: 215-223. http://tbt.sagepub.com/content/60/4/215.extract
  • Kemp, Hugh P.. 1997. "To feel the Spirit: A history of the Mongolian Bible".
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