Background to the Project and Examples of the Written Text

Background to the project and examples of the written text.

The Jamaican New Testament, 'Di Nyuu Testiment', will be launched at a series of public events in the UK and in Jamaica, starting at the Jamaican High Commission in London on 9 October.

It’s the result of 20 years’ work by the Bible Society of the West Indies and is the first time that Patois has been written down.

It has been met with opposition from traditionalists. Some have said Patois is too ‘base’ a language to convey the truth and beauty of Scripture, but Revd Courtney Stewart, General Secretary of the Bible Society of the West Indies, says that having the Bible in Patois means the language has ‘come of age’.

‘We have blazed a trail that no one in the 400-year history of our language has done.’ he says, ‘Yes, Patois has played a part in music, drama and entertainment. But we have taken the language and gone directly to the most serious and highly-regarded and most respected work, the Bible.’

‘To suggest that certain languages are not worthy of the word of God is arrogant and ignorant,’ he says. ‘Patois is the language in which we dream.

‘The Scriptures are not meant to be obscure and inaccessible, that’s why they have been translated from Greek and Hebrew. Who are we to determine which languages are worthy of the Bible? They all are.’

For generations Jamaicans have used the 400-year-old King James Version of the Bible and the biggest hurdle for Courtney was convincing the Church in Jamaica, that the project was worthwhile. But he predicts that within a year, some 60 per cent of Jamaican churchgoers will be reading the Bible in Patois. He says, ‘For society, the JNT will put to bed those criticisms that the Bible in Jamaican shouldn’t be done.

‘Instead, we have the word of God staring us in the face and the Bible will start to speak to Jamaica’s issues in a new way.

‘Furthermore, all the domains that have been closed to Jamaican will be challenged. Politics, education, business… This Bible could have a serious impact on education. If our own language is Jamaican, then should we teach English in schools as a foreign language? Should we teach them Jamaican first as their own language?’

Over the last ten years, a team of translators from the Bible Society of the West Indies, in partnership with the Department of Linguistics at the University of the West Indies and leading theological institutions in Jamaica, have worked to complete the new Bible.

The printed version is a diglot – published with two languages side by side on the page – with the King James Version and the Jamaican New Testament (JNT) next to each other. It’s been typeset in the UK and 10,000 copies are being run off. There is also an audio version of the Bible available for download.

We will have audio clips soon. This link will take you to our web page for JNT and a link to a sample of the printed version. http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/news/jamaican-nt-launch/

Some examples Bible in Patois from the new Jamaican New Testament

1. Matthew 1: 23 The prophecy of Jesus birth: ‘Lisn op! Di uman we neehn slip wid no man a- go get beibi…’ rather than, ‘Behold a virgin shall be with child’.

2. Matthew 2: 11 The wise men give Jesus their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, reads, ‘Dem tek out di present we dem did bring, an gi di pikni – guol, frangkinsens an mor.’

3. Mark 1:16 Jesus calls his first disciples saying, ‘Fala mi’, rather than ‘follow me’.

4. Mark 4: 39 Jesus calms the storm. In English it reads, ‘Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, “Be quiet!” and he said to the waves, “Be still!”. In Patois this now reads, ‘ So Jiizas get op an taak chrang tu di briiz, an tel di sii fi sekl dong.’

5 Luke 1: 28 The Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will give birth to Jesus. Read in church services every Christmas as, ‘Hail though that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.’

This now reads, ‘Mieri, mi av nyuuz we a-go mek yu wel api. Gad riili riili bles yu an im a waak wid yu all di taim.’

6. Luke 2: 7 Mary wraps Jesus in ‘swaddling clothes’ when he is born. In Patois this is now, ‘Shi rap im op iina biebi blangkit ‘.

7. Luke 6: 27 ‘Love your enemies’ becomes ‘lov unu enimi’

8. John 2:3 Mary tells Jesus that the wine has run out at the wedding in Cana, before he turns water into wine in his first miracle. In English this reads, ‘They have no more wine’. In Patois it now reads, ‘Dem na’av no muor wain lef’. 9. John 6:35 Jesus says, ‘I am the bread of life’. This becomes ‘A mi a di bred we gi laif.’

10. The opening line of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:2 ‘Father, hallowed be thy name, ‘ now reads, ‘Faada, med piipl av nof rispek fi yu an yu niem.’

11.The most famous verse in the Bible (John 3:16) which begins ‘For God so loved the world’ is now ‘Gad lov di worl so moch ‘.