Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Portions of Old Testament Being Translated into South African Bushman Dialect

February 4, 1970
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

Would you believe that major portions of the Old Testament and the Ten Commandments are being translated into one of the major Bushman dialects? According to a report from this fourth largest South African city. Professor E.O.J. Westphal of Cape Town’s University School of African Studies has undertaken the task with the aid of a Kalahari Desert Bushman.

The translation of the Old Testament and the New Testament was initiated by a group of missionaries , academicians, and the South African Bible Society. The dialect used in the translation, Kung, is spoken by only a few thousand of the estimated 50,000 Bushmen surviving in southern Africa. There was no indication of what prompted this pilot project but it could lead to some very interesting developments especially if the chapter on the Prophets from the Old Testament is correctly translated.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement