Why We Needed Another Bible Translation | Terry Wildman
It all started when Terry found a Hopi translation of the Bible that no one could read.
Sadly, the Hopi people were never taught to read their language, so it sat in a shed gathering dust. This made Terry realize that the Native American people didn’t have a translation that spoke to them in their heart language.
Terry started small. He wrote and recorded, The Great Story from the Sacred Book. And it won the award for Best Spoken World from the Native American Music Awards. This began the journey that resulted in him and a team of translators translating the New Testament into what we now call the First Nations Version. A beautiful translation that will speak to your heart, Native American or not.
Some highlights from our conversation:
- Terry shares the backstory of the FNV. It all started when he was serving as a pastor to the Hopi people, and he found a Hopi translation of the Bible that no one could read. This helped him realize that most First Nations people could not read in their own language and there was no translation that really spoke to them in their heart language. Terry started slowly with audio recording. This recording won the Best Spoken Word award for the Native American Music Awards. Terry realized then that this was a needed project.
- We talk about some of the decisions he and the translation team made with names. And why that matters so much in the Native American culture.
- We discuss the oral culture – and how this translation leans into the patterns of oral storytelling.
- The FNV is a dynamic equivalence translation. Dynamic equivalence allows the translator to make edits as needed, so the translated text is comprehensible within the receiving culture. Oftentimes the target audience is not familiar with the source language or culture and needs idioms and references explained or localized to make sense.
- Terry shares the Lord’s prayer with us and how he thought through the phrase, “give us our daily bread.” And how daily bread for native American people would have been different than bread. So he used words like buffalo, corn, squash, and wild rice to communicate this truth.
- Another important change they made was in how they translated the word “sin.” Many Native American people were told long hair was a sin, speaking in their native language was a sin – even being a Native American person felt sinful to them. Since this word had been abused, Terry sought a new way to communicate this truth. He came up with “bad hearts and broken ways.”
- Terry also shares his vision for how all people groups can learn from each other. It’s beautiful.
- We end with a discussion on Ephesians 4 and Terry closes us by reading the Lord’s Prayer and praying over us. Don’t miss this!
You can find Terry and the FNV at: https://firstnationsversion.com/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FirstNationsVersion/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fnv.nt/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerryMWildman
Great News! You can order the FNV for 30% off and free shipping from IVP until June 7, 2023 at:
https://www.ivpress.com/first-nations-version-paperback
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