The Bible in India by George H. Rouse

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jun 2, 1904

The Bible in India

By George H. Rouse

(Concluded)*

If we speak of “the Bible in America,” we should refer to what is simply a matter of distribution, and this would relate almost exclusively to the English Bible. If that Bible needs revision, the only difficulty in the way is to select the best scholars to do the work out of scores of suitable men. “The Bible in Europe” is also simply a matter of distribution; the Bibles would need to be in many different languages, it is true, but these Bibles are all in existence, and have been for centuries. But “the Bible in India” has meant for the last hundred years a large work of preparation; and the men to do it have been merely the ones and the twos who could with great difficulty be spared for the work out of the mere handful of missionaries on the field. Moreover, they have almost all been foreigners, who had to spend many years in the study of the language they work in before they could begin their labor; and that language is a heathen language, with no words to express the distinctions of Christian teaching, and sometimes without even a word for “God” which is at all suitable. Not only so, but all these languages are more or less in a state of flux, being year by year considerably modified by the influences of Western thought and the increasing spread of the English language. In regard to the languages of the hill tribes, missionaries have found no grammar or dictionary existing for any of them, but have been forced to pick up the language as best they could, and then put it in shape themselves, before they could even begin the work of translating the Bible or preparing a Christian literature.

Be it remembered also that the translation of the Bible is no easy matter. When we translate any other book, we may add, omit, or alter the matter as we deem fit, so as to represent the teaching of the book in the way best suited to the people for whose benefit and in whose language we are translating the book. “Pilgrim’s Progress” in Chinese, it is said, has pictures representing a Christian as a Chinaman, with his pigtail. Quite right; and the wise translator, in putting any Western book in the language of the Eastern people, will put the pigtail into the letterpress as well as into the picture; that is, he will adapt his matter to the people for whom he is writing. We have put “Pilgrim’s Progress” simply as an instance of a book to be translated, but as a matter of fact it is remarkable how readily this immortal book bears literal translation into other languages; this fact struck the writer when revising the translation of “Pilgrim’s Progress” into Bengali; yet even this book should be adapted to a certain extent. But we can not do this with the Bible; that sacred book, the authoritative declaration of God’s will, and of the way of salvation, must be rendered as literally as possible. On the other hand, we must not be so literal as to be unintelligible. And it is also extremely desirable that every translation of the Bible should be as far as possible idiomatic and sweet in sound, so as to reach the hearts of the readers or hearers. How to meet these more or less irreconcilable requirements, and to make a version at once literal, intelligible, and idiomatic, is a most difficult work. Every first attempt is sure to need revision, and that more than once. The Bengali version, for instance, has had four clearly marked revisions, and the fifth revision is now proceeding. The first Tamil translation of the Bible was completed as long ago as 1725, and still it is felt that the Tamil version is not altogether satisfactory. It is a cause for great thankfulness that the construction of Hebrew, and to a large extent also of New Testament Greek, is so simple that a literal translation brings with it generally a simple construction.

What has been accomplished in the way of Bible translation in India during the last century? According to the report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the whole Bible has been translated into nineteen Indian languages, the New Testament into nine other languages, and Scripture portions into eighteen more.

One of the chief aims of the Serampore missionaries was to produce the

Bible, or portions of it, into all the languages of India, and it is astonishing how much they are able to accomplish in this line. But their versions were necessarily very imperfect, and so often they were altogether unaccompanied with the living voice. God’s plan is that the two should go together; and for the most part Bible translation in India has proceeded on this principle. Translations have been made only in the languages of those among whom missionaries are at work.

The whole Bible has been translated into almost, if not quite, all the main languages of India, and revised in many of them. One of the hill languages, spoken by rather less than two hundred thousand persons, the Khassi, has its Bible, owing to the fact that the Welsh Presbyterians have a very successful mission among this people. Other hill languages have the New Testament or one or two Gospels. Many different branches of the church of Christ have taken their part in this work of providing for the people of India the Bible which all sections of the church alike reverence.

In all parts of India the distribution of the Bible is being carried on by agents of missionary societies and by colporteurs. We may safely say that fully half a million copies of the Bible or of Scripture portions are being distributed every year in India. We have had many instances of these scattered portions of the Word of God leading men to believe in Christ and become members of the Christian church. We also have not infrequently heard of men who never joined the church, but remained in their Hindu homes, who, through a Gospel which had been received, were led to see that the Jesus therein revealed was the only one Saviour, gave up idolatry, and told the people of their village that they trusted only in the Saviour of whom the Book had told them. For every case of this kind of which we accidentally hear, we believe there are many people of whom we never hear who in quiet villages live and die with a simple hope in Christ alone, unknown to any professing Christian on earth, but who will be met with in heaven. It is not very unusual to meet with people living in Hindu homes who read the Bible daily, and regard it as the most precious book they have. The Bible is doing a great work in India, and its influence is growing year by year among those who are not professedly Christians. The importance of supplying the Bible for Christians of every tongue is self-evident; and there are no Christians in India who have not a portion of Scripture, and hardly any who have not the Bible, or at least the New Testament, in their own language.—Rev. George H. Rouse, D. D., in Missionary Review of the World.