Da Jesus Book

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From what I can gather pidgin is slang and is somewhat like the Good News Bible.

The translation although interesting does not reflect what is truly being said in the Bible but someones idea of what is being said.
 
My wife brought me back a copy of Da Jesus Book when she returned from visiting her best friend in Hawaii. I use it for serious study, but it is fascinating to see how that culture expresses concepts that we are familiar with, but express another way.

Here’s part of today’s Gospel reading, John 1:1-5
Da time everyting had start, had one Guy. “God’s Talk,” dass who him. Dat Guy an God, dey stay togedda, and da Guy stay God fo real kine. Dass da Guy, da time everyting had start, him an God stay togedda. God wen make everyting, but da way he do um, he tell dis Guy fo do um. No mo notting dis Guy neva make. He da Guy, if you like come alive fo real kine, you come by him, cuz dat kine life come from him. Wen peopo come alive lidat, jalike dey stay inside one place dat get plenny light. Den dey can see and undastan. No matta stay dark, da dark no can pio da light. Everytime get light.
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DaveBu
 
Thanks for your replies. I guess being one haole I no know how fo ack! 😉

I guess one concern for me is whether it really is an accurate translation. It seems to me to be more of just a fun project done by some people who speak pidgin and love the bible and thought it would be fun and entertaining to have a pidgin bible. It doesn’t sound like there’s really any authority behind it and it seems like inaccuracies could be introduced – more than what would be introduced by translations done by biblical scholars. A wouldn’t think a translation into a non-standard language would be a project likely undertaken by serious biblical scholars however.

On the other hand, anything that brings others closer to Jesus or gets people to read the bible who normally would not can’t be all that bad. Similarly, there are also children’s bibles, but I wouldn’t say anything is wrong with them either just because the translation misses some things.

Back to the other hand, there’s still an element of silliness to it (at least to me) and that seems irreverant. What about a Texas-drawl bible, a Cajun bible, an Ebonics bible, or a British bible? If you’re reading it to get a good laugh, then that type of bible probably isn’t for you.

Switching back to the other hand, if the only reason someone would pick up the bible would be for entertainment and not to come to know Jesus and truth, yet they come to know more about Jesus and truth anyway, it’s hard to find fault with that.

I guess the real question is whether this type of bible really brings people closer to Jesus or increases irreverance.
 
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milimac:
Thanks for your replies. I guess being one haole I no know how fo ack! 😉
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Dass me too, brudda! 😃
I guess one concern for me is whether it really is an accurate translation. It seems to me to be more of just a fun project done by some people who speak pidgin and love the bible and thought it would be fun and entertaining to have a pidgin bible. It doesn’t sound like there’s really any authority behind it and it seems like inaccuracies could be introduced – more than what would be introduced by translations done by biblical scholars. A wouldn’t think a translation into a non-standard language would be a project likely undertaken by serious biblical scholars however.
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It was done under the auspices of the Wycliffe Bible Translators, which is a pretty serious organization. They used 26 informants who were native Pidgin speakers (Pidgin before English) from all over the islands. They worked from the original Greek, with the help of WBT personnel. They also referred to English translations and commentaries.

DaveBj
 
Hi Millimac,

Pidgin may sound funny to us but it is is a language on its own and should have its bible like any other language. In the same way, Creole sounds funny to me, as a French-speaker, yet it is an official language in Haiti.

Verbum
 
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