This is the fascinating and important story of how God’s Word came to East Africa. Beginning with the pioneering efforts of Krapf and Rebmann, Aloo Osotsi Mojola traces the history of Bible translation in the region from 1844 to the present. He incorporates four decades of personal conversations and interviews, along with extensive research, to provide the first comprehensive account of the translations undertaken in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The maps and tables included assist the reader, as does a history of the Swahili language – its standardization, role as lingua franca, and impact on the work of translation. Mojola’s writing is a tribute to those who sacrificed much in their quest to see the word of God accessible to all people, in all places – and the many who continue to sacrifice for the peoples of East Africa. This book is a key contribution to the important and ongoing narrative of how God has met us, and continues to meet us, in our own contexts and our own languages.

This book is critically important for Bible translation theorists, postcolonial scholars, church leaders, and the general public interested in the history, politics, and nature of Bible translation work in Africa. It is also useful to students of gender studies, political science, biblical studies, and history-of-colonization studies. The book catalogs the major work that has been undertaken by African scholars. This work critiques and contests colonial Bible translation narratives by privileging the importance African oral vitality in rewriting the meaning of biblical texts in the African sociopolitical, political, and cultural contexts.

Dr Napo Poidi, linguist andBible translation consultant, issues a clarion callfor solidarity and for the commitment of the Church in Africa tosupport the translation of the Bible and the development of African languages."

The translation of Scripture into non-European languages has been an essential undertaking of the modern missionary movement. However, when translators cling to the ideal of scholarly objectivity or fail to interrogate the lenses through which they view Scripture and the world, they risk perpetuating a belief in the West’s political, cultural and epistemological superiority, with dangerous consequences for the good news of the gospel. This study provides detailed historical accounts of the origins of two of Africa’s most revered vernacular Bibles: the Efik Bible of modern-day Nigeria and the Nyanja Bible of Southern Africa. It illustrates the nature and challenges of early missionary translation work, highlighting the impact of particular translation theories and tracing the development of modern approaches. Evaluating Hugh Goldie’s and Robert Law’s translation practices against the interwoven backdrop of imperialism, the modern missionary movement and the Enlightenment’s belief in objectivity, Dr. Misheck Nyirenda demonstrates how the missionaries’ presuppositions often dominated their projects at the expense of African agency and epistemology. Issuing a powerful warning for those involved in the vast ongoing task of translating Scripture into the world’s vernacular languages, Nyirenda reminds us that we must first reckon with our social, cultural and historical embeddedness when seeking to communicate gospel truth across linguistic or cultural barriers.

The Africa Study Bible brings together 350 contributors from over 50 countries, providing a unique African perspective. It's an all-in-one course in biblical content, theology, history, and culture, with special attention to the African context. Each feature was planned by African leaders to help readers grow strong in Jesus Christ by providing understanding and instruction on how to live a good and righteous life--Publisher.