Ngugi Would Be Pleased About the New Zulu Translation of the Bible

January 23, 2015

Zulu Chritians must be happy about the recently commissioned Zulu bible translation, but so are literary folks like us.

Since the bible is so much about stories, poetry, ideas, literary form, and the politics of language, a Zulu bible is very much a literary triumph.

Here is what is pretty amazing about the project. The translation will be done directly from the biblical languages—Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.

Translating directly from the original languages of the bible into Zulu is a huge deal since most bibles in African languages are translated from English and other non-biblical languages.

A translation on such a scale is bound to bring in a lot of good literary energy and a wealth of new words, style, and ideas into Zulu.

These kinds of projects take time and cost a lot of money. Bishop Mlungisi Pius Dlungwane, who broke the news on BBC Radio, says it will take at least ten years to complete. He also seemed quite pleased with the financial contributions so far and highlighted the 50,000 dollar donation made by the Jacob Zuma foundation

The Kenyan author, Ngugi wa Thiongo, has always advocated the translation of canonical texts into African languages. A Zulu bible sounds like something that will make him quite pleased.

What we need now is a Yoruba translation of Shakespeare and a Wolof Translation of Aristotle.