Tamil bible translation
The Protestant translators’ main dilemma was whether to create new words as equivalents for sacred terms or borrow from already existing sacred terminology. Unsurprisingly, the missionaries’ plan soon proved to be a ‘mission impossible.’ But at the same time, they preferred that the core sacred terms be uniform in all such versions. On the one hand, they wanted each Indian language to have its own standard version of the Bible. To put it succinctly, the Protestant missionaries (not unlike many other translators throughout history) wanted to have their cake and eat it. What I found especially interesting in Dr Israel’s talk is how the colonial contexts brought to the fore once again the paradoxical nature of translation. Crucially, and questionably, they also promoted using the King James Version of the Bible as the best reliable ‘original’ for Indian language translations. Footnotes, forewords and other notes were not allowed so that all human interference with the scripture was made as inconspicuous as possible. The Bible Society’s strategy was to publish the “unmediated word of God,” which meant that their editions of the Bible had no commentary whatsoever. All attempts to translate the Bible had to be authorised by this powerful organisation whose political actions and editorial decisions were often controversial both in India and 19th century Britain. The British and Foreign Bible Society (or the Bible Society), formed in 1804 to ensure ‘proper’ translation and wide circulation of the Bible, played a very important role in the history of Bible translation in India. However, it was not until the 19th century that the Bible was translated into other Indian languages and that Indian translators started to be included more formally in the translation process. We learned that the first two translations of the New Testament into Tamil were produced in the 18th century by German missionaries – Bartholomeus Ziegenbalg and Johannes Fabricius. The talk started with a brief historical overview of the Protestant Bible’s translation in India. It must be said that the topic of the lecture, as interesting as it was in itself, was made all the more compelling by the speaker’s engaging and energetic presentation.
Tamil bible translation tv#
India, authored by Dr Hephzibah Israel (Credit: Palgrave)Ī fast-paced tale of faraway lands, impossible choices and political intrigues might bring to mind the plot of an enthralling TV drama but, in fact, one could find it all (and more) in a lecture given by Dr Hephzibah Israel from University of Edinburgh as a part of the UCL Translation in History Lecture Series.Īs a specialist in literary and sacred translations within the South Asian context, Dr Israel was just the person for the job of introducing us to the captivating history of Bible translation in 19th century India. Jehovah's Witnesses have their New World Translation in the Tamil language.īiblica has released its NIV Tamil version recently.Image from Religious Transactions in Colonial South On the present day, we can find so many good bible translation works in Christian world such as "Inai vasana vedhaahamam, Parisuttha Bible". Soon after, Roman Catholic Church also, with its scholars, released its authorized pure Tamil version of the Bible called "Thiruviviliyam."Įven though, Now a days, so many denominations are getting translated and printed their own versions of Tamil Bible according to their contexts, however, which is still healthy to common man to realize the Word of God more precisely.Īs encouraging the various translations of the Tamil Bible, Bible Society itself is also printing other translation forms. Finally, they agreed a common (still may not standard with the originals) version of the Bible, which is printed by Bible Society of India, commonly known as "Parisuttha Vedhaahamam." Even after, so many scholars of Bible and Tamil actvists translated The Bible into Tamil through out the world such as Sri Lanka, Palayamkottai, etc.īut, Eventually, when the variety of the translations of Tamil bible touched nine, they felt it won't be healthy to be seperated, so gathered as a summit and had number of discussions and controversies over translations. He was the missionary of Portuguese Protestant Church.For this first translation of Bible, firstly Toddle Printing Machine came into Asia.Īfterwards, Fabricius corrected & reset all the verses whatever translated by B.Ziegenbalg. It's Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg who firstly translated the Holy Bible from Hebrew & Greek in to Tamil, in 18th century.