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History of Bible translation ctd...
The Bible goes global
The Bible, however, was virtually a European book since the majority of Scripture translations were done in languages spoken only in Europe. Missionaries changed that. Matthew's gospel in Malay, which appeared in 1629 was the first non-European Scriptures. In America, John Eliot translated the Bible into the language of the Massachusetts Indians. His translation appeared in 1662 and became the first Bible for missionary use in America.
By 1800 there were 66 languages with some portion of Scripture, 40 with the whole Bible. God used an English cobbler named William Carey to forward translation in India and Asia. Believing that the Bible was the most effective way to advance Christianity, Carey translated or helped translate Scripture in over 20 Indian languages. With his colleagues he translated and printed Scripture in 45 languages and dialects in Asia, 35 for the first time. This work was done between 1793 and 1834.
Beginning in 1804 Bible societies were formed for the translation, publication and distribution of the Scriptures, and translation became a worldwide effort to reach people who had never heard the Good News.
Missionary efforts in our twentieth century have resulted in giant leaps in Bible translation. More translations were done in the last 100 years than in the entire previous history of the Church.
A new vision
In 1917, a young missionary named William Cameron Townsend found it difficult to evangelize the Cakchiquel people with a Spanish Bible. While working on a Cakchiquel New Testament, Townsend caught a new vision for Bible translation--every people group, no matter how small or remote, should have a Bible they could read.
Townsend founded Wycliffe Bible Translators and its sister organization, the Summer Institute of Linguistics, to fulfill his vision. For over 50 years, these organizations have worked with others, united in the belief that God wants people to read His Word.