The Bible teaches that God gave humans the ability to communicate through spoken and written language at creation. After the Tower of Babel, God supernaturally divided people by giving them different languages (Genesis 11:1-9). Since then, humanity has developed thousands of diverse languages and means of communication.
While the Bible was originally written predominantly in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, it has now been translated into over 2,000 different languages. This allows people from all nations, tribes, and tongues to read God’s Word in their heart language (Acts 2:1-12; Revelation 5:9).
Some of the major languages into which all or part of the Bible has been translated include:
- English – The most widely used Bible translation in English is the King James Version (KJV) published in 1611. Other popular English translations include the New International Version (NIV), English Standard Version (ESV), New King James Version (NKJV), and New American Standard Bible (NASB).
- Spanish – The most widely used Spanish Bible is the Reina Valera translation first published in 1569. Other popular Spanish translations include the Biblia Latinoamericana, the Nueva Versión Internacional (NVI), and the Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy (NBLH).
- Portuguese – Popular Portuguese Bible translations include Almeida Revista e Atualizada (ARC), Nova Versão Internacional (NVI-PT), Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje (NTLH), and Nova Versão Transformadora (NVT).
- French – Well-known French Bible translations include Louis Segond (LSG), Nouvelle Version Second Révisée (NVSR), Parole de Vie (PDV), and La Bible du Semeur (BDS).
- Russian – Leading Russian language Bibles include the Synodal Translation completed in 1876 and the New Russian Translation (NRT) finished in 2011.
- Chinese – Some of the major Chinese Bible translations are the Today’s Chinese Version (TCV), the Chinese Union Version (CUV), and the Chinese New Version (CNV).
- Arabic – Popular Arabic Bible translations include the Van Dyck Version (VDA) from 1865, the Literary Arabic Version (LNA) from 1923, and the New Arabic Version (NAV) from 1988.
- Hindi – Common Hindi Bible translations include the Hindi Common Language Translation (CLT) and the New Hindi Translation Version (NHTV).
- German – Well-known German Bible translations include the Luther Bibel from 1534, the Elberfelder Bibel from 1905, the Schlachter Bibel from 1905, and the Gute Nachricht Bibel from 2017.
- Korean – The most widely used Korean Bible translation is the Revised New Korean Standard Version (RNKSV) originally published in 1961, with revisions in 1998 and 2005.
Beyond these major languages, at least portions of Scripture have been translated into hundreds of smaller regional languages and dialects. Wycliffe Bible Translators estimates at least one book of the Bible has been translated into over 700 languages, while the whole Bible has been translated into over 650 languages and the New Testament into more than 1,500.
Some examples of smaller language groups that now have access to Bible translations include:
- Meru – spoken in Kenya (New Testament first published in 1980)
- Kabiye – spoken in Togo (New Testament first published in 1986)
- Chichewa – spoken in Malawi (whole Bible first published in 2016)
- Dinka – spoken in South Sudan (New Testament first published in 1983)
- Haitian Creole – spoken in Haiti (whole Bible published in 1977)
- Telugu – spoken in India (whole Bible first published in 1862)
- Ilocano – spoken in the Philippines (New Testament first published in 1829)
- Quechua – spoken in South America (New Testament first published in 1548)
- Vietnamese – spoken in Vietnam (whole Bible first published in 1934)
This proliferation of Bible translations has happened largely over the past 200 years through the determined work of numerous Bible translation agencies. Some of the largest organizations involved in this effort include Wycliffe Bible Translators, Pioneer Bible Translators, The Bible Society, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL International), and United Bible Societies.
Their work has helped fulfill Jesus’ command before His ascension to take the Gospel message to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Now people from all languages, races, cultures, and nations can read God’s Word in a language they understand and come to saving faith in Christ.
The Holy Spirit supernaturally empowers those called to translate the Bible and guides the challenging work of communicating God’s truth across diverse languages (1 Corinthians 2:10-13). While challenges remain, continuing advances in linguistics, biblical scholarship, and technology assist Bible translators.
Ongoing translation work focuses both on starting translations for languages that still need the Bible, as well as revising and improving existing translations to ensure they are accurate, clear, natural, and relevant.
Some key factors Bible translators consider when starting work in a new language include:
- Carefully studying the language’s grammatical structure, syntax, writing conventions, and figures of speech.
- Learning from mother-tongue speakers and testing translation ideas with local focus groups.
- Finding natural equivalent terms for biblical words and concepts that communicate accurately.
- Using clear, natural everyday language that is easily understood when read aloud.
- Capturing the meaning of source texts accurately without imposing outside theological bias.
For individuals and communities receiving Bible translations in their language for the first time, it opens up access to study God’s Word in a profound new way. People can hear the Gospel clearly in their heart language and be discipled in their faith using Scriptures they can easily understand.
Having the Bible in their own language also enables people to share the Gospel sensitively and accurately with their own culture. When people have the Word of God in their heart language, it comes alive by the Holy Spirit’s power to transform individuals and entire communities.
Some examples of language groups that have experienced revival, growth of the church, and social transformation after receiving Bible translations include:
- The Bugotu people of the Solomon Islands who converted to Christianity in the 1970s after receiving a Bible translation in their language.
- The Kimyal people in Papua New Guinea who experienced renewal when the Kimyal New Testament was published in 1980.
- The Kupsabiny people in Uganda who became predominantly Christian after the publication of the Bible in their language and now use it extensively for church teaching.
- The Agta people in the Philippines who went from being less than 2% evangelical Christian to over 90% Christian after receiving the New Testament in their language in the 1960s and 1970s.
While not every culture experiences overnight transformation, Bible translation consistently plays a key role in opening communities to the Gospel message. Vernacular Scriptures aid evangelism, discipleship, church planting, theological training, and biblical literacy in thousands of communities worldwide.
Ongoing translation also aims to make the Bible available to illiterate people through mediums like audio recordings, radio broadcasts, visual storytelling, and video. These help communicate God’s Word clearly and accurately in accessible ways that overcome illiteracy barriers.
The proliferation of Bible translations and explosion of Bible publishing around the world shows God’s living and active Word achieving a global reach. The Holy Spirit is fulfilling Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:8 to empower believers to take the Gospel to every nation, tribe, and tongue.
As a result, people from all languages and cultures can know the hope found in Jesus Christ. Revelation 7:9-10 beautifully describes worshippers from every language and nation gathered around God’s throne in eternity. The gift of Bible translation is helping make this vision a reality as people from every tongue discover new life in Christ now.