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Nearly 100 years after translators finished the Chinese Union Version (CUV) of the Bible, a newer version in Mandarin Chinese and translated directly from Greek and Hebrew has almost reached completion—thanks in part to a $200,000 grant from the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention back in 2007.
Jim Cook, senior vice president for international sales at B&H International, a branch of LifeWay’s B&H Publishers, said the New Testament of the Chinese Standard Bible (CSB) has already been released and said the entire Bible should be finished and available by the end of 2014.
The project is part of a LifeWay gospel initiative called “A Defining Moment” and done in conjunction with The Asia Bible Society, B&H International publishing group, Holman Bible Outreach International, and GrapeCity, an Asia-based software company.
“The translation that they are basing it on is the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB),” Cook said. “The teams are working from the original Greek and Hebrew into Mandarin using the same philosophy as the HCSB used. This is the very first Chinese translation that’s ever been done where every word can be traced back to the original Greek or Hebrew words”
Colleyville resident Jimmy Draper, LifeWay’s president emeritus who spearheaded the Mandarin Bible translation as part of “A Defining Moment” gospel initiative during his presidency at LifeWay, said the new translation comes as Chinese language culture has changed and shifted from a century ago.
“The CUV is very hard to understand,” Draper said. “It can be used, but it takes highly educated Chinese theologians to use it.”
Cook said many Chinese people do not read the older version, released in 1919, because of its lack of readability.
“The old [version] was done basically by the government,” Cook said. “It was not done with theology in mind. The people that worked on it were not necessarily even Christians. It makes a big difference.”
Draper said the new version, which is being translated by Chinese Christians, theologians and scholars, will act as a complement to the CUV and in the finished product, both translations will lay side by side on two-column pages in the Bible.
Chinese native Louie Lu, a booster of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a long-time member of Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth, said the Mandarin translation would allow many more Chinese people to read and understand the Bible.
“[It is important] to have an accurate translation in a language that today’s generation can understand and feel relevant to their lives,” Lu said, explaining that the CUV has become difficult for many to understand.
Lu said the language differences between the CUV and the CSB would be similar to the differences between the King James Version (KJV) and the New King James Version (NKJV), except more pronounced.
Cook and Draper both said the New Testament of the Mandarin translation, which has already been released, has so far been well-received among Chinese people, and since it acts as a complement to the CUV, they say they have not seen hostility toward it.
“They’re actually pirating it in China,” Cook said, “Which is good, because otherwise they’d be burning it. Their copying it is actually a compliment.”
While translators have completed drafts of every book of the Bible, Draper said scholars would spend the remaining months editing, revising and refining the drafts.
“It will be gone over with a fine-tooth comb to make sure there is nothing inaccurate in it,” Draper said.
Aaron Ma, director of Bible translations for the Asia Bible Society, said, “We have found the HCSB to be very accurate and literal to the original texts yet fluent, a well balanced translation. The HCSB has taken the middle road in a very optimal way and is neutral in its handling of textual criticism issue while respecting heritage.
“At the same time,” he said, “it is not overly academic nor does it follow recent trends such as gender inclusiveness. All of these principles are very consistent with those of the CSB.”
Yet presenting a new Bible translation to a field as large as China will be challenging, Ma said.
The translation project, which involves numerous native Chinese-speaking Greek and Hebrew scholars, includes many phases of editing and review, cross-checking and unification checking, testing and evaluation.
“In addition, our approach and methodology is constantly reviewed and revised from a quality control standpoint,” he said. “We are determined not to compromise in any way in terms of the quality.
“God is at work in China and in the Chinese-speaking community worldwide,” said Ma. “We pray that he will use the CSB in a powerful way to bless Chinese speakers, those who are Christians and those yet to be saved. All of this is for his glory.”
The SBTC’s $200,000 gift toward the multi-million dollar project was earmarked from surplus funds that year.
Cook said anyone who wishes to contribute to and support the project could still help by contacting Steve Drake at steve.drake@lifeway.com. n
—With additional reporting by Russ Rankin of LifeWay Christian Resources
