When Jesus began his ministry on earth, people were trying to figure out who he was. Mark 6:14-16 says:
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” (ESV)
Now it is clear that Herod had only heard about Jesus, but what about the other people? Had they formed their conclusions after seeing Jesus perform miracles with their own eyes, or had they formed their opinions only after hearing about the miracles that Jesus had done? For English translations, the answer to that question does not matter. But in Enga the answer to that question is an important detail that cannot be ignored.
When drawing conclusions in Enga, a person has to state whether the evidence for the conclusion is visual or non-visual. So, for example, with King Herod, it is clear that his conclusion that Jesus was John the Baptist was based on non-visual evidence, namely, the reports that he had been hearing. But what about the other people who concluded that Jesus was Elijah or one of the prophets? Were their conclusions based on seeing Jesus in action or were their conclusions based only on reports that they had heard about Jesus. The text of Scripture doesn’t tell us, but in Enga, we are required to answer this question. So we decided that the reports of others were based on visual evidence, assuming that the reports had come, at least initially, from people who had been eye-witnesses of Jesus’ miraculous works.
Sometimes translation work can be quite difficult! And I base that conclusion on firsthand visual evidence.
Translation Progress
We are currently in Enga Province for our final visit with the translation team before heading home for furlough on July 1. Over the last three months, we have made steady progress in the translation work. We completed our consultant check of Acts and 1-3 John. I also back-translated Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation and made final edits with the team to prepare those books for consultant check. In addition, we completed the necessary checks to prepare Romans for back-translation. I have also reviewed our translation of Mark, which was the first book that we translated. Often translators find that there are many improvements that they can make to the first book they translated, since their knowledge of the language and translation skills improve over time. I have found that to be the case as well. But thankfully most of the changes that I have noted for Mark are quite minor and should not be difficult to update with the team.
Furlough Preparation
Please keep us in prayer as we prepare for our upcoming year-long furlough. We are thankful that we have found someone to watch our dog for us while we are away, and we are hoping to be able to rent out our house while we are gone. So please pray that we would find renters. From July to November 2019, we will be with my (Adam’s) parents north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In December we will travel cross-country to Southern California to be near Martha’s family, where we will remain until the end of our furlough in June 2020. Please pray that God would provide a good place for us to stay very close to Martha’s dad in Sylmar. Housing can be quite expensive and difficult to find in Southern California, so please do pray for us that God will provide in such a way that we can regularly and easily visit Martha’s dad, sister, and niece.
Your Language Matters!
We were blessed at our biannual conference in March to hear from Dr. Michel Kenmogne, the Executive Director of SIL International. SIL is Wycliffe’s partnering organization that we work with on the ground here in Papua New Guinea. We invite you to watch a short video from Dr. Kenmogne called Your Language Matters! In the video you will hear a sample of various languages around the world, and Dr. Kenmogne will explain why a person’s mother tongue is so important. You can watch the video at tinyurl.com/yxv8dyvt.
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” (ESV)
Now it is clear that Herod had only heard about Jesus, but what about the other people? Had they formed their conclusions after seeing Jesus perform miracles with their own eyes, or had they formed their opinions only after hearing about the miracles that Jesus had done? For English translations, the answer to that question does not matter. But in Enga the answer to that question is an important detail that cannot be ignored.
When drawing conclusions in Enga, a person has to state whether the evidence for the conclusion is visual or non-visual. So, for example, with King Herod, it is clear that his conclusion that Jesus was John the Baptist was based on non-visual evidence, namely, the reports that he had been hearing. But what about the other people who concluded that Jesus was Elijah or one of the prophets? Were their conclusions based on seeing Jesus in action or were their conclusions based only on reports that they had heard about Jesus. The text of Scripture doesn’t tell us, but in Enga, we are required to answer this question. So we decided that the reports of others were based on visual evidence, assuming that the reports had come, at least initially, from people who had been eye-witnesses of Jesus’ miraculous works.
Sometimes translation work can be quite difficult! And I base that conclusion on firsthand visual evidence.
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| On what basis did people form their conclusions about who Jesus was? |
We are currently in Enga Province for our final visit with the translation team before heading home for furlough on July 1. Over the last three months, we have made steady progress in the translation work. We completed our consultant check of Acts and 1-3 John. I also back-translated Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation and made final edits with the team to prepare those books for consultant check. In addition, we completed the necessary checks to prepare Romans for back-translation. I have also reviewed our translation of Mark, which was the first book that we translated. Often translators find that there are many improvements that they can make to the first book they translated, since their knowledge of the language and translation skills improve over time. I have found that to be the case as well. But thankfully most of the changes that I have noted for Mark are quite minor and should not be difficult to update with the team.
Furlough Preparation
Please keep us in prayer as we prepare for our upcoming year-long furlough. We are thankful that we have found someone to watch our dog for us while we are away, and we are hoping to be able to rent out our house while we are gone. So please pray that we would find renters. From July to November 2019, we will be with my (Adam’s) parents north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In December we will travel cross-country to Southern California to be near Martha’s family, where we will remain until the end of our furlough in June 2020. Please pray that God would provide a good place for us to stay very close to Martha’s dad in Sylmar. Housing can be quite expensive and difficult to find in Southern California, so please do pray for us that God will provide in such a way that we can regularly and easily visit Martha’s dad, sister, and niece.
 |
| Dr. Michel Kenmogne, SIL Executive Director |
We were blessed at our biannual conference in March to hear from Dr. Michel Kenmogne, the Executive Director of SIL International. SIL is Wycliffe’s partnering organization that we work with on the ground here in Papua New Guinea. We invite you to watch a short video from Dr. Kenmogne called Your Language Matters! In the video you will hear a sample of various languages around the world, and Dr. Kenmogne will explain why a person’s mother tongue is so important. You can watch the video at tinyurl.com/yxv8dyvt.
