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Trinitarian Bible SocietyFounded in 1831 for the circulation ofProtestant or uncorrupted versions of the Word of GodOfficers and Executive Staff of the SocietyPresident:The Rev. G. Hamstra, B.A., M.Div.Vice-Presidents:Mr. G. BidstonMr. G. den BoerThe Rev. B. G. Felce, M.A.*The Rev. Dr. T. GilmerMr. D. OldhamPastor J. StehouwerThe Rev. M. StuartMr. D. VermeulenChairman:The Rev. M. H. Watts*Vice-Chairman:Mr. G. D. Buss, B.Ed.*Treasurer:Pastor R. A. Clarke, B.Sc., F.C.A.*Members:Mr. G. R. Burrows, M.A.*The Rev. R. G. Ferguson, B.A.*The Rev. J. L. Goldby, M.A.*Pastor M. J. Harley*Mr. A. K. Jones, LLB. (Hons.) Solicitor*The Rev. E. T. Kirkland, B.A., Dipl.Th.*The Rev. D. Silversides*The Rev. J. P. Thackway*General Secretary/Chief Executive:Mr. D. P. RowlandOperations Director:Mr. D. LarlhamResources Director:Mr. D. J. Broome, C.P.F.A.Editorial Director:Mr. P. J. D. Hopkins, M.A. Oxf.Senior Editorial Consultant:Mr. L. Brigden, B.Sc.(Hons.), M.Sc., B.A.(Hons.)Editorial Consultants:Mr. G. W. Anderson, B.A.Mr. A. Hembd, M.A.C.S.J. Cammenga, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.G. Fox, B.A. (Hons.), D.D., Ph.D.The Rev. W. M. Patterson Jnr., B.A., D.D.* These are the serving members of theGeneral Committee.

Sabbath SchoolLearning Prize Fund‘…from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures…’2 Timothy 3.15The Trinitarian Bible Society seeks to encourage and enable children in thestudy of God’s Word by means of the Sabbath School Learning Prize Fund.This fund was commenced a number of years ago to encourage Englishspeakingchildren and young people to memorise the Holy Scriptures from theAuthorised (King James) Version of the Bible. Under the programme, we provide alist of verses to be memorised by children in two age groups: those ten years of ageand under, and those aged eleven to fifteen. To the younger children who memorisetheir verses, we present suitably inscribed gilt-edged, bonded leather text Bibles. Forthe older children, gilt-edged bonded leather reference Bibles are awarded. Those whohave memorised the first set of verses may, upon reaching eleven years, receive thereference Bible upon completing the work for the higher age group.The Society would encourage all parents, office-bearers and other supporters of theSociety who seek the spiritual well-being of the young, whether or not the childrenunder their charge attend a Sabbath school, to request further details of the SabbathSchool Learning Prize Fund from Anne Newman (a.newman@tbsbibles.org) at ourLondon headquarters, or from any of the Society’s Branches (contact details on theinside back cover of this Quarterly Record).2

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012expected to use the Bible and, of course,about those who aspire to undertake thetranslation or revision.We will also need to know the answer tothe very important question: Is there a realneed for a new Bible translation, or couldan older edition of the Bible be revised?If it is determined that a revision wouldbe the more appropriate course of action,what will be the nature of the revision?Are the problems with the editions to berevised wholly of a textual nature; does therevision also need to be made more formalto achieve greater accuracy and closerconformity to the underlying Hebrew andGreek texts? Is the vocabulary employedgenerally correct or will it be necessary toamend the wording of specific terms; if soare there adequate words in the language,or must words be either transliterated orimported? What are the distinctive aspectsin the grammar of the language regardingtenses, pronouns, sentence length, andthe like? Is it thought that the revision ofthe Old Testament will be less extensive, asextensive, or more extensive than that of theNew Testament?At the same time, we need to know aboutthose who are proposing to work on thetranslation or revision. Who are they? Whatdo they believe? What is their history?Whom do they represent? Are the churchesto which they belong theologically sound?Are they in good standing within their owncongregations? Do they come with therecommendations of others? What do theyunderstand of the Society’s position, andwould they be prepared to work strictlywithin the framework of the Society’sprinciples? Do those who may undertakethe work commend themselves as humbleand prayerful Christians, whose lives clearlytestify to the saving power of the Gospel?Do they evidence a Christ-exalting spirit,and a true spiritual burden for the Lord’sglory and the spiritual good of their people?What is their understanding of the doctrinesof the faith? Do they adhere to any creedalor confessional statements? And, veryimportantly, has the Lord qualified thesepeople with the necessary gifts for sucha work? Are they proficient in the literaryform of their own language or the languageinto which they propose to render the HolyScriptures? Most particularly, how proficientare they in Hebrew and Greek, the originallanguages in which the Holy Scriptures weregiven: the languages from which it is mostdesirable (if at all possible) that all revisionsand translations of the Word of God shouldbe made?These are some of the questions that needto be asked. Although a certain amountof information can be acquired throughcorrespondence, telephone and Skypeconversations, nothing compares with thegreat advantage of personal acquaintance,especially when meetings can be arrangedin the actual countries where the peoplewho are expected to use the Bible live.Ideally, there needs to be a true spiritualbond established between the Society’spersonnel and those actually undertakingthe work. Therefore, the more research wecan carry out at this early stage before anywork is actually undertaken, the greater theunderstanding we can gain concerning theproblems likely to face us, and the easier andsmoother will be the actual work of revisionor translation when it is commenced.Humility, wisdom and discernment aresome of the graces needed by those whoare involved in undertaking this importantaspect of the Society’s work. Decisions,recommendations and conclusions resultingfrom the asking and the answering ofthese questions can have very considerableimplications for the Society for many,many years. After all, we are talking abouttranslations and revisions of the HOLYSCRIPTURES. What need there is for prayer!Brethren, pray for us!5

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordfor His gracious love and nearness. Shewas needy and Christ alone could meet herneed and give her peace. Only the livingRedeemer can satisfy the heart of God’schildren. Christ is so precious, not only asthe suffering Servant of the Lord, but also inHis resurrection glory. How deep is His loveand compassion; He understands a needysoul. If you and I need help, there is one helpand one only. It is Christ Who has a love forthe needy, for the weary, and for the undone.He applies salvation by revealing Himself tothe heart of the lost.So the Lord’s Day is a memorial ofredemption. The great work of redemptionthat only Christ could do was completed atCalvary. The Lamb of God wrought salvationby His substitutionary atonement. Thissalvation satisfies the neediest of sinners.Everything is complete in the crucified andrisen Redeemer. Each Lord’s Day we mayremember Him: and is there not a need forthis? Are we not needy sinners? Are we nothelpless without the Saviour? Do we notneed His presence and nearness? Do we notneed His love and pardon? Do we not needHis renewing grace? Are we not altogetherdependent on Him? Where is any hope for asinner, if it is not in Christ?Christ came to seek and to save that which islost. He did not come for any other purpose.Oh sinners, flee to Him. Make known toHim all your troubles. Do not hide the worst;do not hide the greatness of your sins. Somedo not go to Christ because they think thatthere is no help for them. But Christ cansave the worst of sinners. How blessed is itto have the Lord’s Day as a memorial of aredemption that is complete in Christ. Pray,Oh Lord, open my eyes for the preciousredemption that is in Christ; let me see itby faith. I am so blind and often neglectthe things I should be busy with. Oh letme be active at the Throne of Grace withmy need of Christ’s redeeming love.How blessed is the Lord’s Day!How can and must we observe andsanctify the Lord’s Day? It seems best thatwe follow the divine instruction givenunto us in God’s own Word. The Bibleteaches us first of all what we ought not todo and secondly what we ought to do. Inthe fourth commandment God forbids usto work and to do business on the day ofrest. Only works of necessity and mercyare permitted. Unnecessary travel andworldly pleasures are not allowed on theLord’s Day. Everything is forbidden thatis not in harmony with the design of theday, which is to worship God in privateand in public and to promote our own,our family’s and other’s spiritual interests.Public worship is a divine ordinanceof the utmost importance. Sincereworshippers have always come togetheron the Sabbath Day to pray to God, topraise His holy name and to be instructedin the truths relating to God and Hisservice. In the book of the Psalms we findmany references to the public worship ofGod. The Psalms abound with expressionsdeclaring a warm and wholeheartedinterest in visiting the house of God. InPsalm 122.1 we read, ‘I was glad whenthey said unto me, Let us go into thehouse of the LORD’. The poet of Psalm 84esteemed one day in the house of theLord better than a thousand elsewhere (cf.Psalm 84.10).‘This is the day which the LORD hathmade; we will rejoice and be glad in it’(Psalm 118.24).8

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012Editorial Reportby Philip J. D. HopkinsEditorial DirectorVisit to Nepal andIndia, May 2012Following the publication of theSociety’s Nepali Bible late in2011, the General Secretary andI were asked by various interestedparties to visit the region in the firsthalf of 2012. The principal aims of thisjourney were to hold thanksgivingservices in the two main centreswhere the work was carried out—Kathmandu in Nepal and Kalimpongin India—to meet with the translatorsand other workers on the field, andto raise the profile of the Societyin these parts of the world. Thearrangements for the thanksgivingservices and additional meetingsrequired meticulous coordinationas we were joined by a party fromFirstBible International (USA), as well as byrepresentatives from a number of differentgroups working in Nepal and India.After an initial overnight flight fromLondon Heathrow to Delhi, which arrivedin the morning of Tuesday, 1 May, theGeneral Secretary and I then took theshorter second leg of our flight from Delhito Kathmandu in the early afternoon.This part of the journey took us acrossthe parched landscape of northern India,and on into the lower ranges of theHimalayas that surround the KathmanduValley. We landed at Kathmandu airportaround 2.00 p.m. local time. On the shortjourney to our hotel accommodation, wewere immediately struck by the relativepoverty—the assortment of ancient andA typical street in Kathmandu99

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordbattered vehicles in the airport car park, thepoorly maintained roads and pavements—and the streets packed with pedestrians,cyclists, moped-riders and all mannerof cars, minibuses and other motorisedcontraptions, plus, of course, an assortmentorphanage and a seminary and pastors achurch in Kathmandu, as well as being aboard member overseeing a number ofchurches throughout Nepal.On Wednesday, 2 May we had a morningmeeting with ten other pastors,Kathmandu from the airof ‘sacred’ cows that wandered in the streetswith impunity.After a short period of settling-in, we hadour first meeting‘Sacred’ cows eating rubbish on thestreets of Kathmandu(including dinner) later that afternoon withDr Keen, founder of FirstBible International,and the four men whom he brought withhim on the visit. This was followed by alate evening meeting with Wesley Grahamof the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulsterand his co-worker, Paul Thapa of the NepalMission to the Unreached, who runs anmissionaries and local church leaders drawnfrom different organisations, churches anddenominations, including Wesley Graham,Paul Thapa and Daniel Rai (co-translator ofthe TBS Nepali Bible). The meeting providedan excellent platform for the GeneralSecretary to present the work and principlesof the Society, for Daniel Rai to give a briefoutline of the twenty-seven year history ofthe translation, and for me to explain thepurpose of the visit.As a number of improvements to thevocabulary employed in the TBS NepaliBible had been suggested by severalA motorised contraption10

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012Wednesday meetingbrethrenduring the months since publication,a ‘Read and Review’ committee wasestablished at this meeting to evaluatethe first edition of the Bible systematically.It is planned that this group will providesuggestions and corrections to Daniel Raiand Thomas Kaufmann (the translators ofthe TBS Nepali Bible) in readiness for workon the second, revised edition; this work isdue to begin in December 2013. We werealso thankful that, during the meeting, wewere made aware of the misappropriationof part of the text of the Society’s NepaliBible, which had been re-published as anew work by another body, despite beinglargely word-for-word our text, with onlyslight changes made.It is important at this juncture to explainthat the Society does not hold either soleor joint copyright on our Bibles to restrictthe circulation of the Scriptures, but ratherto protect the text of our Scriptures for ourco-workers, who have usually labouredfor many years on the project, and alsofor our supporters and partners who haveinvested in our Scripture revision andtranslation projects. Moreover, when weare approached for permission to use ourcopyrighted text in other publications,we generally give permission provided asuitable written acknowledgment is made.In the afternoon the Society’s GeneralSecretary, Dr Keen and Daniel Rai all spokeat a thanksgiving service held in GraceBaptist Church, Kathmandu. About onehundred attended, mainly men whowere pastors and church leaders fromdifferent churches and groups withinthe Kathmandu valley, including a goodnumber not supportive of the Society’sposition. Although some of the menopposed the Society’s position at theUlrike and Thomas Kaufmann, and Daniel Rai11Himalayan Mountains as seen from Kalimpong

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly RecordDistributing Nepali Bibles at Kathmandu thanksgiving servicequestion andanswer session held toward the end ofthe service, it was good to see that allthe invited pastors and leaders willinglyreceived a complimentary copy of the TBSNepali Bible.Later that evening, we met two Americanmissionaries working amongst Tibetansliving in Nepal. It was fascinating to learnabout the Tibetan people and culture.As is so often the case, we learnt thatthere is a lack of a good and faithfultranslation of the Bible in Tibetan; theonly available version is based on theCritical Greek Text and is in an olderform of the language. We pray thatGod would raise up workers with thenecessary knowledge and abilities toprovide a good Tibetan Bible in theyears to come.On Thursday, 3 May, the GeneralSecretary and I had a veryproductive meeting with Dr Keen,at which we discussed a numberof projects. During the meeting, we werejoined by an American missionary in India,and as a result were able to initiate anevaluation of the Old Version of the HindiBible. We hope that this will give us anidea of how much work would be neededto revise that Bible to bring it up to theSociety’s standards for conformance tothe underlying Biblical texts. Immediatelyfollowing this meeting, we left for aninternal flight to eastern Nepal and spentthe rest of the day travelling by four-wheeldrive vehicle into India and on into theHimalayan foothills to our next destination,Kalimpong. We were accompanied on thisleg of our journey by Daniel Rai, WesleyGraham and Paul Thapa.On Friday, 4 May, we commenced our firstmeeting at 8.30 a.m., with Daniel Rai andThomas Kaufmann, on the hotel verandahwith the Himalayan Mountains clearlyvisible in the distance. 1 We discussedvarious aspects of the Nepali Bible project,including future plans. This was followedby a meeting at Daniel Rai’s church inKalimpong where we held a short service,giving thanks to the Lord for enablingDaniel and Thomas to work faithfully overso many years to provide the first NepaliBible translated from the Hebrew Masoreticand Greek Received texts. After the service,Distributing Nepali Bibles at thethanksgiving service in Kalimpongwe had a useful discussion concerningcorrections and improvements to be madeto the Nepali Bible in front of an audiencecomprising male members drawn fromdifferent congregations of the El Shaddaigroup of churches.After lunch, we moved to a church hallin Kalimpong for a public service ofthanksgiving, during which Thomas12

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012Kaufmann, Daniel Rai and the Society’sGeneral Secretary spoke to an attentiveaudience of about two hundred people,many of them church leaders and pastors.They were much more receptive to theDiscussions concerning the Nepali BibleSociety’s stance on theDivinely-preserved Scripture texts andprinciples of translation than the groupin Kathmandu, although again at theend of the meeting vocal opposition wasexpressed to the Society’s textual position.Complimentary copies of the NepaliBible were again distributed, and thefree literature stall comprising significantquantities of the Society’s leaflets, articlesand past issues of the Quarterly Recordproved very popular; and, as in Kathmandu,all that was put out was taken.The return drive from Kalimpong throughthe foothills of the Himalayas down toBagdogra in the plains was verydramatic. For much of the fourhourjourney the road followed theedge of a canyon carved out by amountain river, and much of thetime we were literally inches fromthe edge of the road, which fellaway steeply at heights of 50 to100 feet (15 to 30 metres) into theriver below. The dangers of suchtravel were vividly illustrated by thesight of one small truck which hadplunged from the road into theriver beneath. The newspaper inthe hotel lobby the next morningcarried a picture of this incident withan accompanying report stating that oneman had been killed and another wasmissing. Such occurrences illustrate theneed for constant prayer to the Lord forsafety in travelling, and reminded us howdependent we are on the Lord (cf. Psalm121.8). Those of us who travel on behalf ofthe Society are grateful for the prayers ofour supporters and our loved ones, as weconduct business in very different parts ofThe view down from atreacherous mountain road13

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordthe world.We were more thangrateful to arrivesafely in Bagdograthat evening, soberedby our journey,but also thankfulto have sharedwarm fellowshipwith our travellingcompanions duringthat time. 2 The next day, Saturday, wefound that our early morning flight to Delhihad been cancelled, and although wewere able to fly to Delhi on a slightly laterflight, we missed our connecting flight toLondon, resulting in a two day lay-over inDelhi. Eventually we arrived home in theUK late on Monday evening,thankful tothe Lord forpreservingus on ourjourneys,and forprovidingwhat was athoroughlyenrichingexperience.TBSNepali BibleLater, we receivedthe followingencouragement in anemail from Thomas Kaufmann: ‘We enjoyedyour visit to Kalimpong and have goodmemories of it. We thank you and PaulRowland for having taken the trouble tocome all the way to this small town in India,just to visit us. But I believe the Lord hasMt. Kangchenjunga14blessed your coming,and many people herenow are aware of ourBible translation andof the Trinitarian BibleSociety’.The usefulness of suchface-to-face visitscannot be overestimatedin establishing thecontext of a project,building relationshipswith our partners and gaining a betterunderstanding of the environment inwhich they are working. The difficultiesand opposition they face on a daily basisare often things that cannot be wellunderstood at a distance. 3Picking tea leaves in BagdograNew Bibles on order(Armenian, Maori andNdebele)It is a time of rejoicing—and oftenrelief—for all involved in a translationor revision project when the text ofScripture has been finalised, typeset andsent to the printers for publication. Thoseof us on the staff who have been closelyinvolved in these editorial projects wereextremely thankful to the Lord when inone remarkable week in July we were ableto place orders for three complete Bibles,all of them being printed for the first time.Following years of unstinting labours onthe part of many individuals, the Societyplaced orders at the printers for 20,000Armenian Bibles, 26,000 Ndebele Bibles(12,000 with Metrical Psalms and 14,000without) and 5,100 Maori Bibles.This special occurrence was all the moreremarkable in that these Scriptures havebeen funded almost entirely by specificdonations. We rejoice that this has beenpossible against the backdrop of a serious

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012economic slowdown worldwide, and giventhe considerable financial constraints underwhich the Society has been operating forthe last two years.In all, 51,100 complete Bibles are nowawaited in languages in which we havenot published the entireScriptures before.Please pray that theprinting would proceedsatisfactorily, and thatthe Bibles producedwill be to the specifiedhigh quality that God’sWord deserves. Above allpray that the Scriptures,once printed, will be keptsafe as they go out toArmenia, Zimbabwe andNew Zealand respectively.Prayer is also sought thatthe Lord’s blessing wouldrest upon the distributionof these Bibles in thosecountries, and especiallythat they might be blessedto those who read them.Farsi Gospelaccording to JohnNew Bible in preparation(Farsi)Whilst we rejoice when projectscome to fruition, particularlywhen the complete Bible ispublished, we are very mindful of theeffort and commitment required to carrythrough revision and translation projectsfrom start to finish. To revise or translatethe entire Bible requires immense prayerfulperseverance and determination. The typeof spiritual opposition described by theApostle Paul in Ephesians 6.12 is felt muchby those engaged in the work of preparingfaithful and accurate editions of the Wordof God.In addition, unlike projects carried out in15industry, local government or other secularspheres where people are employed fulltime and paid accordingly to work regularhours, the individuals engaged in manyof our Scripture translation and revisionprojects have to fit their work on theScriptures alongside theirother duties. More oftenthan not, the individualsare pastors or missionarieswith other significantresponsibilities, andgenerally they are notpaid for the work theycarry out for the Society.Furthermore, peoplewith the abilities that arerequired for such workfind their time demandedby other organisationsto translate Christianliterature, speak atconferences or set upChristian bookshops anddistribution centres. This is the case, forexample, for the key individual engagedin our Farsi project. As well as being theprincipal reviser of the 1895 Farsi Bible,he is pastor of a busy church in England.Understandably, sometimes his pastoraland ministerial duties leave him with verylittle time and energy for the challengingtask of ensuring that his ongoing revision ofthe Farsi Bible is leading to a more faithfuland accurate version that maintains a highliterary standard of the language.As reported in the Annual Report for 2011,‘In a recent meeting, the amount of workstill to be done [on the Farsi Bible] broughtus to conclude that it will probably be twomore years before the text will be ready forpublication’. This represents a substantialdifference to what was reported two or soyears ago, when the prospect of publishingthe revised Farsi Bible seemed much moreimminent. Since that time, the realisationhas become stronger that a more in-depth

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordrevision was required than first thought.The main reasons for this are textual andlinguistic. The detailed check of the NewTestament in the 1895 Farsi Bible againstthe Greek Received Text identified 263textual omissions and changes. All of thesehave to be addressed, and that is in additionto the various linguistic issues that have alsobeen brought to light, affecting both theOld and New Testaments. Robert Bruce, theprimary editor of the 1895 Bible, generatedsome grammar problems in several areas,including the way he used prefixes andsuffixes, and how he ordered words insentences, and in drawing on Arabicterminology which is no longer used in Farsitoday. All of these aspects, combined withother heavy responsibilities of our reviser,have meant that progress on the Farsi Biblehas been considerably slower than oncehoped. Nevertheless, the commitment isthere to complete the work.The aspects outlined above have also led todevelopments in our thinking on the bestapproach to take in the revision of the FarsiBible. Although it was originally conceivedthat we would undertake and publish aninitial light revision followed by a morein-depth editing, it is now apparent that itwill be better for us to revise the 1895 Bibleas completely as possible as a first step.This would amount to a medium revisionand would give us a faithful and accuraterendering of God’s Word; but we will alsoaim in the future for a fully new translationto be undertaken, drawing on the 1895Bible and Martyn-Glenn’s older PersianBible.Please pray for the Christian brotherengaged in this project. Much of the workdevolves upon him as the principal reviser,and thus anything which takes him awayfrom the task directly impacts the progressof the whole project.ConclusionDespite some significant difficulties onseveral of our editorial projects during thecourse of this year, there is neverthelessmuch for which to be thankful. To be ableto publish complete new Bibles in threelanguages in such a short space of time is agreat joy, added to which we have also seenin recent days the long-awaited publicationof the Westminster Reference Bible—theSociety’s significant new setting of theAuthorised (King James) Version. For thoseof you wishing to see more details aboutthis Bible, please visit our website atwww.tbsbibles.org where, on thehomepage, you can also find regular newsupdates, including the translation newssection.As we make reports like this of our work,we are very conscious that, under God, themost that any of us can do is to make asmall contribution towards the productionand distribution of God’s Word. We lookto the Lord to add His blessing to our tinyendeavours.Endnotes1. From the balcony on the hotel accommodationwe were able to see the third highest mountainin the world: Kangchenjunga. The highest of itsfive peaks stands at 28,169 feet (8,586 metres). Itsname in English means ‘The Five Treasures of Snows’(Wikipedia, ‘Kangchenjunga’, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangchenjunga, accessed 14 August 2012).2. One lighter moment on this journey through themountains of West Bengal was seeing a monkeyrunning along the suspended telephone wires atthe side of the road, and then a little later a troop ofmonkeys on a tree branch.3. Readers may be interested to know that inWest Bengal, although individual believers mayface serious opposition from their families whenthey profess Christ to the extent that they can bedisowned by their families and disinherited, thestate government is not opposed to Christians, andbelievers are able to worship God freely, and to sharetheir faith everywhere. The same is generally true inNepal.16

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012Preparing ContinentsMr. Adrian StoutjesdykGeneral Secretary, TBS (Canada)Every spring, farmers and gardeners use plough and spade to turn over thesoil compacted by the heavy rains of winter. They sow their seeds only afterthe seedbed has been sufficiently tilled. I believe that this agricultural imageillustrates some of the work the Society is currently doing in Central and SouthAmerica.After centuries of subservience to the Roman Catholic Church, many Spanishspeakingpeople are turning away from its superstitious rites and becoming trueChristians. Regrettably, nearly all of them use an untrustworthy Bible translationsimply because the sound Reina-Valera Spanish Bible of the Reformation is no longeravailable. They do not know that, during the last two centuries, publishers corruptedthe Spanish Reina-Valera Version of the Bible.Some years ago, the Society embarked upon a revision of theReformation-era Reina-Valera Version, basing its work on thewidely accepted ‘old’ edition of 1909. However, the Societyrealises that restoring the Reina-Valera to its originaltrustworthiness will not be enough because the Spanishlanguage has changed so much during the interveningcenturies. In addition, few of the Protestant believersin those countries know they are using a corruptedtranslation; therefore the Society has an obligation totell them that a reliable version of God’s Word is beingprepared. In other words, the Society must prepare theminds and hearts of the people to receive the seed, the revised17

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly RecordReina-Valera Version of the Holy Scriptures.To do this ground-breaking work, the Society at timessends a few members of the revision team to meetwith Protestant pastors and seminary students inthe countries of Central and South America. InMarch 2012, I was invited to join Paul Rowland(General Secretary of the Society), Bill Greendyk(General Secretary of TBS [USA] and head ofthe revision team), and Antoni Mendoza andBill Patterson (both members of the revisionteam) at two meetings, one in San Salvador, ElSalvador, and the other in Managua, Nicaragua.I admit I went to those two cities as a sceptic,wondering if such meetings were indeed a good useof the Society’s money.At the first meeting in San Salvador, Mr. Rowland spoke inEnglish about the history of the Trinitarian Bible Society and thesignificant work it has done since 1831. He emphasized the importance of providingtrustworthy translations to people of all languages and tongues. Our GeneralSecretary’s remarks were translated by Dr. Bill Patterson.Next, Dr. Patterson spoke about the different philosophies and methods of translatingthe Bible from the original languages into the vernacular of the target population.After explaining the differences between the Received Text and the Critical Text,he ably compared the ‘formal equivalence method’ of translating with the ‘dynamicequivalence method’ of translating. The formal equivalence, or word-for-word,method was used by the translators of Reformation times while the dynamicequivalence, or thought-for-thought, method is preferred by contemporary translators.The third speaker, Mr. Antoni Mendoza, highlighted the five basic tenets of faithfultranslation used by Reina and Valera in the 16th century. Our Society has adheredto these five principles since its foundation in 1831. Examples from various SpanishBibles and the Society’s Reina-Valera revision made it clear to the audience that ourrevision holds to the same principles as the translators of the original Spanish Bibles.Mr. Bill Greendyk then outlined the history of the Spanish Bible. He showed hisaudience that our revision incorporates current rules of Spanish grammar andlinguistics while maintaining the eloquent and reverent Spanish used in the originalReina-Valera Bible.Since I do not know Spanish, I must base my conclusions on visual observations, briefconversations with those who knew a little English, and snippets translated for meby the multilingual members of the team. I observed the attendees as they listenedwith riveted attention for three hours to information-packed lectures and PowerPoint18

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012presentations. It was obvious to me that these fellow Christians were hearing thingsthey had never heard before.During the question period in San Salvador, one young man rose to defend the CriticalText-based Bibles used today. As Mr. Rowland passionately explained the need tohave a Bible based on the Received Text, I sensed a tangible shift in the mood of thosepresent. After Mr. Rowland’s remarks had been translated, the men and women (whohad come to the meeting without understanding the need for a revision of the Reina-Valera Version) endorsed the Society’s position by bursting into applause. This moodshift was not the result of a carefully orchestrated melodrama: it was a spontaneous‘stirring of the waters’. I was deeply moved, as were the members of the team.At the close of this meeting, a senior pastor thanked the presenters for their clearexplanation and expressed the hope that the Lord would expedite the work on therevision and add His blessing. Although the response in Managua was more subdued,the appreciation of the audience was also clearly evident.A gardener does not sow seed in soil compacted by the heavy rains of winter. He firstdigs up the seedbed with his spade and then rakes it until the soil is sufficiently fineand smooth. Centuries of Romanism have compacted the hearts of the people inLatin America. In His providence, the Lord is leading many away from that house ofbondage. With His help, the Society must put a sound Spanish-language translationof His Word into their hands. In the months before the completion of our Spanishrevision, the Society must prepare those hearts to receive the seed of the Word.I admit that I went to Central America sceptical about the necessity and utility of thesemeetings. I returned to Canada fully convinced that they are an essential and justifiableinvestment. Pray that the Lord will command His blessing so that His Word may reachthe people in Central and South America and be hallowed to the eternal welfare of ourLatin American neighbours.19

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly RecordThe Treasuryby David J. BroomeResources DirectorIt is with humble thankfulness to the Lord that we are able to report what greatthings He has done for the Society already this year, whereof we are glad(cf. Psalm 126.3).We wrote about the Diamond Jubilee Project in Quarterly Record 599 earlier in the year,and since then substantial donations have been given for this project; we are mostgrateful for these generous gifts. Of the 35,000 Diamond Jubilee Bibles published,the majority have been distributed to schools and prisons in the UK. A further 10,000Bibles are on order and should be available by the time you read this.We acknowledge, thankfully, the Lord’s rich provision through the instrumentality ofseveral key partners: the Society’s branch in Canada, the Gereformeerde Bijbelstichtingin the Netherlands and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Their importantfinancial contributions mean that we have recently been able to place print ordersfor 20,000 Eastern Armenian Bibles and 26,000 Ndebele Bibles (for Zimbabwe). Inaddition, we have ordered 5,100 Maori Bibles, funded by our brethren in the Society’sNew Zealand branch, for those who speak the native language of that land. All of theseBibles have been many years in preparation.So, these are times of rejoicing for the Society. We pray that these Scriptures will notonly safely reach the hands of those to whom they are sent, but more importantly thatthe Word of God will penetrate hearts. May many sinners, as yet only possessing theold nature of sin, find that the Word of God is mighty ‘to the pulling down of strongholds’ (2 Corinthians 10.4) of self, Satan and the world, and to the building of ‘a spiritualhouse’ (1 Peter 2.5).We are deeply grateful for all the donations we receive, whatever the amount. As werealise that some of our donors wish to give to specific projects, we felt it might beuseful to name the following languages in which we have definite ongoing projectsthat would benefit from funding, either to further translation work or to grant Biblesor portions of Scripture once published: Amharic (Ethiopia), Chinese, Dan/Gio (Liberia),Farsi, French, Hebrew, Mongolian, Nepali, Romanian, Shona (Zimbabwe) and Spanish.20

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012From time to time, the Society receives donations for languages on which we haveno active project and no prospect of one in the foreseeable future, which does causesome heartache as we would love to be in a position to fulfil the wishes of all ourdonors, but are not always able to do so. It is therefore hoped that the list of activeprojects provided in this article will be of help to those wishing to make donations forspecific projects.We are thankful to report that the Society’s financial situation remains stable, althoughthe UK’s budget is more dependent on legacies than is perhaps ideal. Thus, we arestriving to reduce expenditure and increase income where possible. Continual effortsare being made to reduce unnecessary cost and make the most efficient use of theresources that we have. To this end, the Society is currently undertaking a widerangingreview of its computers, I.T. systems and databases to improve efficiency andeffectiveness.Against this background, the Society in the UK is being forced to review its policy inrelation to the amount of postage charged to sales customers, as postal charges haverisen and continue to rise inexorably. At present, we spend around £75,000 per annumon sales postage and carriage, and must seek to recover a larger proportion of thisconsiderable amount than we do at present. This is having an adverse impact upon theSociety’s finances, so it is a regrettable necessity that we must increase some carriageand postal charges later this year.We remain deeply grateful to all our members, supporters and friends for theirpartnership with us in this work, practically, financially and in prayer. We gratefullyacknowledge receipt of anonymous gifts totalling £5,002.50 for the period April toJune 2012 (Matthew 6.4).21

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordk Introductionby C. P. HallihanArabic is a first language of morethan two hundred million people, 1and also serves as the liturgicallanguage for hundreds of millions ofMuslims throughout the world. Thelanguage has historical roots spanningcenturies, from before the Christian erato modern times. In 1973 Arabic wasdesignatedthe sixthofficiallanguageof the UN,alongsideEnglish,French,Spanish,Russian andChinese.It is one ofMajority Arab speakersthe SemiticMinority Arab speakerslanguages,withsimilarities to Hebrew (classical andmodern), Aramaic, Syriac and theEthiopian languages of Amharic andTigrinya. Arabic script has been used,or adapted for use, in Persian, Urdu andKurdish, and, until the 20th century wasused for Turkish, Hausa and Swahili.The main geographical regions of theArabic-speaking world are the Gulf22Peninsula (the ‘Jazeerah’), the FertileCrescent (Nile to Euphrates) and NorthAfrica (Egypt to Morocco). These millions ofsquare miles of land, from Barbary to Basra,Aleppo to Aden, 2 form a strategic bridge tothree continents—Asia, Africa and Europe;it is also a considerable portion of the‘10/40’ window. 3 Today, if the diverse Arabpeoples were classed as a single ethnicgroup, it would be the largest in the worldafter Han Chinese.If wechange theparametersfrom ‘Arabic’to ‘Muslim’,the figuresfor numbersand locationmultiply,and in thesefigures aremultitudeswith someabilityin the Arabic language. The Qur’an iswritten in Arabic and all Islamic terms areArabic, so that millions of Muslims (Araband non-Arab) study the language. It istaught worldwide in many elementaryand secondary schools, especially Muslimschools. Universities around the worldhave Arabic classes as part of their foreignlanguage offerings, as well as their Middle

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012Eastern and their religious studies courses.These simple ‘encyclopaedia’ facts alonewould surely suggest to Christian peoplethe need for an Arabic Bible of goodprovenance and availability.k People And LanguageThe League of Arab States, a regionalorganisation formed in 1946 of countriesdeemed to be the ‘Arab world’, defines anArab as ‘a person whose language is Arabic,who lives in an Arabic-speaking country,and who is in sympathy with the aspirationsof the Arabic-speaking peoples’. 4 Simplydescribed, Arab people (Arabs) live in theArab world, that is, western Asia and Norththe tribes of Arabia well before theadvent of Muhammad, but, as the Islamicconquests progressed, Arabic becamethe language of the conquered peoples:the language of the conquerors and thelanguage of the new religion. Arabic as the‘language of Allah’ has defined attitudes tothe language, and the desire to preserveliturgically correct pronunciation andreading (if not always comprehension) ofthe Qur’an has ensured the maintenance ofClassical Arabic as the absolute standard forthe language.Today there are dozens of different dialectsof Arabic spoken in about thirty countriesaround the world. Many such dialects areJames Gordon/FlickrBedouin Arabs living in the Syrian DesertAfrica; but the word ‘Arab’ has a range ofoverlapping meanings. It has at timesbeen used exclusively for Bedouin 5 (Arabnomads), and the early Arabs were certainlyfrom the tribes of northern Arabia whospoke early Arabic dialects.In its earliest forms, Arabic was spoken bythe small nomadic tribes of the ArabianPeninsula. The earliest historical evidenceof the Arabic language dates to the 8thcentury BC, 6 and traces of the modernArabic language can be found in variousancient texts. Later—around the time ofChrist’s birth—a distinct form of Arabicsprang up in east African regions equatingto modern Somalia and Ethiopia.Arabic had developed and grown among23named for a particular region, as ‘SudaneseArabic’, ‘Iraqi Arabic’, ‘Chad Arabic’ and soon, but the Arabic dialect generally spokenis Egyptian Arabic. Although some Arabicdialects have been used in literature,nearly all written forms of the languagerepresent the ‘Modern Standard Arabic’. 7Many languages have a marked differencebetween the spoken and written, commonand formal forms, and this is very muchso with Arabic. This maintains a universalform of Arabic while allowing for regionalnuances.The Arabic script, daunting but beautifulto European eyes, disguises its likeness tothe other Semitic languages. The capacityof 19th-century Christian missionaries and

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly RecordBible translators to master all the Semiticlanguages, amazing as it is, was in parthelped by the family similarities behindthe different scripts. The Arabic alphabetis written from right to left, like most otherSemitic languages, 8 and shares the customin writing of having consonants only, withsmaller indications of vowel sounds anoptional extra. There are now several stylesof script: Naskh is used in print and bycomputers, and Ruq’ah is commonly used inhandwriting.Every Arab country makes its owncontribution to a rich mix, sharing acommon Arab culture in most aspects.it referred to the whole peninsula. TheGreeks and the Romans were familiar withthe region.The pre-Islamic times of Arabian historyare now referred to by Muslim scholarsas Al Jahiliyah—‘the time of ignorance’.Herodotus (425–485 BC) in The Historiesrefers to the influence of the Arabiansin the 6th century BC extendingthroughout Assyria (modern Iraq). Theytraded in frankincense, myrrh, cassia andcinnamon with Greece, and paid tributeof frankincense to King Darius. In the 1stcentury AD following the conquest ofEgypt, Rome began trading directly withMiskan/FlickrGillmore/FlickrExamples of decorative Arabic calligraphyToday most Arabs are Muslim, but Arabidentity is defined independent of religion,and well predates the rise of Islam, withhistorically attested Arab-Christiankingdoms and Arab-Jewish tribes. However,non-Arab people account for over eightyper cent of the world’s Muslim population:not part of the ‘Arab world’, but of thegeographically larger, more diverse ‘Muslimworld’. For them, Arabic is, at the veryleast, a familiar second language, as Latinwas in medieval ‘Christendom’. In terms ofBible need and provision we should think,perhaps, of the ‘Arabic-aware’ world.k Some HistoryArabia, as a name, was anciently applied tothe desert region from the east of the NileDelta and round toward Syria; subsequently24Arabia, dramatically redrawing the old‘incense routes’.There were numerous tribes of heathenArabian origin who had willingly, withoutcoercion, converted to the religion of theJews (Mosaic faith), or later to Christianity,or who became Hanifs: believers in the Godof Abraham. Contact between Hebrewsand Arabs was continuous throughout theirhistories. Jews probably moved amongthe Arabs as merchant traders, and suchmigrations grew during the Greek andRoman occupations of Judea, especiallyafter the destruction of the Temple ofSolomon in AD 70 and the later JewishRevolt of AD 135.By the time of Muhammad in AD 620,there were numerous and very prosperous

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012‘Jewish’ tribes—Judaised Arabs—alongthe Red Sea coast. 9 The Judaised Arabshad very important settlements, includingMecca, and their prosperity came from agreater knowledge of agriculture, methodsof irrigation and the science of metallurgy;they were integrated and accepted by thenatives.The peoples of the peninsula were Arab, butthere was no sense of unity or nationalism.Each tribe was a separate and independententity, with different dialects and religiousbeliefs, without affinity or loyalty to anyother except in terms of mutually beneficialand convenient alliances. The sense of theUmma-al-Arabia (the nation-and-people ofArabia) was achieved only after all Arabiawas united under Muhammad.A ‘Christianity’ of the Monophysite sect 10began to spread in the Middle East startingin Syria shortly after the Roman Empireproclaimed itself Christian in AD 324.Emperor Constantine sent a first embassyto Arabia c. AD 356 under the leadershipof Theophilus Indus, who succeeded inbuilding three churches in Aden and theHimyarite country (modern Yemen). Thiswas known to the Greeks and the Romansas the ‘Homerite Kingdom’, at that time a‘stress-point’ between Christian Byzantiumand Zoroastrian Persia. Christian-Arab tribeswere mostly pro-Byzantium and against theSassanid (Persian) Empire. Some strikingand lengthy wars in pre-Islamic ArabiaMark B/Flickr25were fought between Christian-Arab tribes!Historians mention the conversion of Najran(on the northern border of modern Yemen)to Christianity around AD 500. These wereindigenous Arabs, not strangers to Arabia.All such Christian-Arab and Jewish-Arabtribes were subsequently dispossessed oreradicated from the Arabian Peninsula.In the context of current troubles in Syria,recall that Antioch, where the disciples werefirst called Christians (Acts 11.26), was apowerful fount of mission, reaching fromSyria to India. After Syria became part ofthe Arab world there was continuance ofmuch Christian work and witness, 11 and arelatively easy entrance to the Arab worldthrough generations and centuries.Muslim ImpactIt is no part of this article to trace or analysethe beginnings of Islam, but the panel onpage 26 provides a brief glimpse of therelevant dates. The Kaaba, the granite cubeenclosing a black meteorite stone, nowfocus of Muslim pilgrimage, was erectedin Mecca in 608 as a shrine to numerousArabian tribal gods sometime beforeMuhammad with his followers annexedthat city.The serious challenge of Islam to theBible’s teaching of our Triune and PersonalGod, His incarnate Son the Lord JesusChrist, the work of redemption and thenature of revelation, together with fiercehostility to the presence and practice ofGospel Christianity, cannot be denied ordiminished. Nor can we ignore the strangelyinadequate, even heretical religion of suchprofessedly Christian peoples amongstwhom Muhammad formed his ownopinions of Christ and Christianity and hisopposition thereto. 12We now have one of the greatest fields ofneed for the Gospel and the Bible—theArab and Muslim world. We also have a

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly RecordBrief Timeline ofMuslim Beginnings(all dates AD)610: Muhammad of the Quraysh tribepreaches a new religion, Islam, whichis at that time a model of religioustolerance—all gods are allowed.615: Muslims travel to Ethiopia.622: Muhammad and his followers(‘Muslims’) migrate (hejira) to Yathrib,which was renamed Medina byMuhammad.From this point, ‘Arab’ and ‘Muslim’ aregenerally (if inaccurately) synonymous.630: Muhammad conquers Meccaand establishes the first religiousdictatorship in the world; all other godsare banned.632: Muhammad dies. The Shiites claim thatAli should succeed Muhammad, sincehe is a blood relation; the council of theelderly, the Sunnites, prefer Abu Bakras the first Muslim caliph (‘prophet’ssuccessor’).636: Arabs capture Jerusalem .639: Arabs conquer Nestorian Syria.642: Arabs conquer mainly MonophysiteEgypt. They destroy the library ofAlexandria and place the first mosquein Africa on the site of future Cairo.642: Oldest extant manuscript in Arabic.655: The text of the Qur’an is finalised.656: Ali (cousin and son-in-law ofMuhammad), the first ‘imam’ of Shiah,moves the capital from Medina to Kufa.695: Arabs build the Dome of the Rockin Jerusalem, with a first Quranicinscription.696: Arabic becomes the official language ofthe Islamic world.definitive Classical Arabic tongue andscript, and the labours to produce the Biblein print in that tongue and script makefascinating reading.k Arabic BibleEarly WorksArabic translations of Biblical materialbegan early. Tatian’s Diatesseron 13of AD 163 certainly existed in Arabictranslation in medieval times, and Jerome(AD 342–420), through his masteryof Aramaic and Syriac, certainly had afamiliarity with Arabic. The language,though, had no clear shape or form untilthe text of the Qur’an was settled andArabic became the standard tongueof the Islamic world in the late 7thcentury. Almost all early printed ArabicScripture was the work of Roman Catholictranslators, and Latin dependent: a legacynot always faced up to in later years.The first printed Arabic Scripture was anedition of the Psalms in 1516 at Genoa,the work of Petrus Paulus Porrus. The firstprinted Arabic Gospels were produced in1590, in Rome; these were based on theAlexandrian text of the Latin Vulgate. Afirst Arabic New Testament was printed in1616 in Leyden, edited by T. Erpenius froma manuscript in the Leyden library datingfrom 1342. In 1645 came the Paris PolyglotBible, a massive and vastly expensive tenvolumeproduction containing, amongother languages, a first complete ArabicBible, edited from manuscripts of Aleppoand Constantinople. Walton’s LondonPolyglot used the same Arabic text ina nine-language, six-volume edition ofthe Bible. The ‘Propaganda Edition’ ofthe Arabic Bible was produced in 1671at Rome by the College de PropagandaFide, under the general guidance ofSergius Risius, the Maronite 14 Bishopof Damascus. Early versions of this Old26

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012Testament were withdrawn while still inpreparation, as insufficiently in agreementwith the Vulgate text! At first ignored, itbecame widely accepted amongst ArabicChristians, being reprinted by the Britishand Foreign Bible Society from 1820 andthe American Bible Society from 1841.A curious ‘Holy Bible…in the Arabiclanguage’ based on the London Polyglottext appeared in 1811; it was the workof Sarah Hodgson at Newcastle uponTyne and published after her death.The Society for the Propagation of theGospel secured one thousand copies tobe distributed in Africa and Asia, as didthe British and Foreign Bible Society.Even more interesting is the existence ofan Arabic New Testament translated byNathaniel Sabat under the supervisionof Henry Martyn, and published bythe British and Foreign Bible Society inCalcutta. The British and Foreign BibleSociety and the American Bible Societycontinued to produce these Bibles, withgrowing unease. The Society for PromotingChristian Knowledge attempted new workin 1851 with a New Testament, and a Biblein 1857, which follow the Authorised (KingJames) Version too closely for the likingof some. 15 Pressure for a wholly improvedArabic Bible was growing, particularlyin the American Syrian Mission and theAmerican Bible Society.Every work of Bible translation facesdistinct problems. With some there is noexisting language or literacy; others havean existing, but inadequate, version of theBible which is difficult to displace. In Arabicthe language and the people possess whatthey consider a ‘holy book’—the Qur’an—not the possession of a minority group,but defining the very language (in bothscript and style), the religion, the very lifeand meaning of a vast people. An Arabiclanguage Bible will be seriously scrutinisedfrom every aspect, by both Muslims andArabic Christians, who may be ready tosneer or to take offence.In the 19th century, it was realised that afresh translation needed to be made, usinglinguists and theologians of good quality,able to confer with native speakers, andmaking rigorous use of the Greek andHebrew texts. Such a project had begunin Syria in the 1830s under the directionand support of the American Board ofCommissioners for Foreign Missions. Theresulting Scriptures in Arabic, printedin Beirut in 1860 (New Testament) and1865 (Bible), were to be accepted as thestandard Bible of Protestant missionarywork in the Arabic-speaking world. These,the work of Eli Smith, DD, and Corneliusvan Alen van Dyck, MD, 16 were wellaccepted and are, in essence, what theSociety publishes today.The Smith–Van Dyck ArabicBibleEli Smith was born in Northford,Connecticut, in 1801, of a ScottishPresbyterian family. He graduated fromYale in 1821, and began training forChristian ministry at Andover College in1823. After ordination he was directed toMalta, which was then the familiar bridgebetween Europe and the Arabic nations.There he began to learn Maltese, with itsmix of Italian and Arabic, written then inArabic script. The American Board agreedto his studying Arabic, and he moved toBeirut in Lebanon (Syria) to pursue this.Returning from furlough to the MiddleEast in 1833, now with a wife, Eli Smithoversaw the removal of the Americanprinting press from Malta to Beirut in1834 and began the heroic labour of Bibletranslation into Arabic. 17 On the textualside, Dr Smith with his knowledge not onlyof Biblical Hebrew and Greek, but otherSemitic languages, ancient Greek, Latin,Turkish, and not forgetting Maltese and27

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly RecordItalian, was able to study old Scripturemanuscripts with competence and widelyacknowledged authority. As to the Arabicscholarship of his day, he was able, by anoutstanding provision of Almighty God,to gather to himself a ‘fellowship’ of nativeArabic language scholars who had becomeChristians of the Reformed faith.Even whilst this work was in its very earlystages, Eli Smith was considering therequirement for its production in print.Existing Christian works in Arabic left muchto be desired in presentation. Calligraphywas handmaid to the Qur’an, continuallyreproduced in manuscript. How couldprinting avoid the crudeness which wasso offensive to Muhammadans? Thenecessary type fonts did not exist. Smithset about producing what he felt wouldsatisfy the need. With a reed pen he copiedthe best Arabic models to serve as thebasis of the type. Every Arabic consonantchanges its form according to its placein a word and then has to be suppliedwith vowel signs, so that one practicalfont of Arabic type needed around 1,800individual characters.The design complete, Smith took all toSmyrna to oversee the cutting of thetypeface. In a solemnising similarity toother Bible translation pioneers, Dr Elimet with shipwreck and had to beginthe whole task again, collecting morespecimens of fine writing and making anew set of models to replace those at thebottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Steelpunches were, at last, cut at Smyrna (whereJohn Burgon had been born in 1813), to becast in Leipzig in 1838 by Tauchnitz, underSmith’s direct supervision, so excellentlyreflecting the sweeping swell and taperof Arabic as to bear scrutiny of the mostfastidious judge. By 1841 the MissionPress at Beirut at last had Arabic type, trulybeyond compare throughout the printingoffices of the world, and this ‘Beirut Type’became the universal model of printedArabic.In 1842, to his great distress, Eli Smith’swife died. His labours were intense, forhis translation and print responsibilitieswere only part of the ongoing caresof a missionary situation—preaching,teaching, lecturing, training, pastoral care,and church visitation. Small wonder thathis health, too, was now seriously affected,and furlough needed.Returning from furlough in 1847, with hisnew wife, Henrietta, and with renewedenergies, his overriding task was tocomplete, print and publish the ArabicBible. Printed proofs of the book of Genesiswere shared out in 1850 and over the nextsix years Dr Smith completed translation ofthe New Testament and much of the Old.In early 1857, knowing that his departurewas near, he forbade the use of his ownname in connection with any part ofthe future Bible publication other thanGenesis, Exodus and Matthew 1–12, whichalone had been brought fully to readinessfor publication under his hand. When hedied on the morning of the Lord’s Day,11 January 1857, all elsehad to be considered asunfinished, awaiting anew hand.Cornelius van Alen vanDyck was not reallya new hand, but hadbeen in the area andan Arabist since 1840.Van Dyck was bornat Kinderhook,New York, in1818, educatedat JeffersonMedical College,Cornelius van Alen van Dyck28

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012Philadelphia, graduating MD in 1839.The following year he was sent by theAmerican Board to Lebanon as a medicalmissionary for the Dutch Reformed Church.In the sovereign wisdom of our God helearned Arabic in Beirut from Butrusal-Bustani and Nasif al-Yaziji, Christianconverts of Eli Smith’s ‘fellowship’ and laterto be famous Arab writers; he also studiedthe language with Yusuf al-Asir, afterwardshis collaborator on the Arabic Bible.Van Dyck married in 1842, and beganto organise a school to train evangelicalministers. Scarcity of materials obliged himto write his own Arabic language texts fortheir general education; they continuedin use in Syrian schools long afterwards.Along with his medical missionary laboursVan Dyck also studied theology, and in1846 accepted ordination to the ministryby his fellow missionaries. He took up thework of Smith’s Arabic Bible in 1857, andthe New Testament was published in Beirutin 1860. As the whole Bible became readyfor printing in 1865, Van Dyck went to NewYork to see it through the press.In their translation work, Smith and vanDyck used the historic Arabic word for God,Allah. The term, then as now, was not usedsolely by Muslims, but by all Arabic speakers,whether followers of Islam or not. Justas Hebrew Bibles use elohim to indicateboth the true God and false gods, Arabiceditions of the Bible use allah as a translationof elohim, both for the true Godand for false gods. The van DyckArabic New Testament, whichwas adopted as the standardby all Protestant missionariesof that era, used this word forthe almighty, one true God. It isthe acceptable word, not only for thegod of the Muslims and other falsegods, but also for the true God, and isa tradition that the Society follows.Whilst in New York van Dyck taughtHebrew at Union Theological Seminary fortwo years and studied ophthalmology, thebetter to serve medical needs back in Syria.Returning there in 1867, he was appointedprofessor in the medical school of therecently founded Syrian Protestant College(afterwards the American University ofBeirut). In 1882 an address given at thecollege exhibited the school’s distinctDarwinist leanings, and van Dyck resignedhis post. He retired from his labours in1893, and died on 13 November 1895. 18Such was the general esteem in whichhe was held that there is a street in Beirutnamed in his honour: Rue Van Dyck.The Arabic printing press brought arevolution in knowledge, education andjournalism for the Arab World. The fact thatthe first mass-printed major work in theArabic language was the Bible, and a Bibleof such quality, meant that Arab readersand Arabic-language scholars couldscarcely avoid reading it. It was such agreat ‘furtherance of the Gospel’, and sucha monument to the work of Dr Eli Smith,Dr Cornelius van Dyck, and the 19thcenturyAmerican Syrian Mission.k The TBS Arabic BibleFor many years the Society publishedthe standard Van Dyck Arabic Bible.However, one lack in this edition wasthe vowelling—those dots and linesthat indicate the vowel sounds.The standard editioncontained onlynecessary vowelling,which for 21st centuryArabic readers hasproven problematic.Thus, in the last fewyears the Societyhas worked to produce a more fullyvowellededition. This was completedand published in 2011, and has been29

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordwell received by Arabic speakers round theworld.We would covet your prayers that theseScriptures would prove to be a blessingand a means of salvation to manyparticularly throughout the Muslim world.Endnotes:1. Recent figures in National GeographicMagazine (vol. 222, no. 1, July 2012, p. 60), showit fourth in a listing of ‘first language speakers’ at221 million.2. The region covered by the ministry of MERF(Middle East Reformed Fellowship) today.3. A term coined in the 1990s referring toregions between 10 and 40 degrees north ofthe Equator, having high levels of social andeconomic challenge, and yet the least accessto the Gospel, the Bible, or Christian ministry.Roughly two-thirds of the world population livesin the 10/40 Window, people predominantlyMuslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Animist, Jewishor Atheist, having governments formally orinformally, passively or aggressively, opposed toChristian work.4. Nahla Haidar, ‘Arab Identity Questioned’,Beirut Institute (beirutinstitute.net/forum/getattachment.ashx?fileid=43, accessed21 August 2012).5. The Bedouin way of life depended on camelsand horses. The famous ‘Arabian’ horses werebred for war, with speed, endurance, soundness,intelligence and a good disposition. Prized warmares would be kept inside the family tent forprotection from weather, theft and predators.6. The earliest surviving texts in any form ofArabic are the inscriptions of eastern SaudiArabia, from the 8th century BC.7. To be ‘hands on’ with written Arabic try TheArabic Alphabet, How to Read and Write it byNicholas Awde and Putros Samano (London,England: Saqui Books, 1986).8. Other than the Roman-written Maltese (anArabic/Italian conflation), and the West Africanlanguages with the Ge’ez script.9. Roman province of Petraea, now Saudi Arabia,home to Mecca and Medina, still known asHijaz—The Barrier.10. Monophysites were a Christian sect from451, who held that Christ’s natures were sounited that, although the ‘one Christ’ was partlyhuman and partly divine, His two naturesbecame by their union only one nature, thus‘mono-physis’.11. This was of uncertain quality over thecenturies; however, no one who ever met thelate Fouzi Ayoub (a long-standing missionarysupporter of the Society) could be uncertain ofhis blistering commitment to Christ, the Word,and his determination to use his privilege asan Arab from the region to preach Christ to theArab people. The Society’s project to provide anArabic Bible with fuller vowelling would havethrilled him.12. I have heard it said that after Constantine’simperial Christianity, there were no truly new‘Christian’ heresies. Muhammad was exposed toall that there were!13. A Greek harmony of the Gospels by a Syrian(Assyrian?) Christian of very shaky doctrinalunderstanding.14. Roman Catholic minority group in Syria.15. This may seem an absurd judgment, and yeta plague of translation work is the inclinationof workers to follow AV English rather thanAV principles. A version of the Bible which is atranslation of a translation cannot be completelytrue to the Biblical languages. It becomestoo often clumsy in syntax and sentenceconstruction, uncouth to native readers as wellas unfaithful.16. This is the full version and, I think, the correctspelling of the name: usually just Van Dyck orCornelius van Dyck in the literature.17. He also produced an Arabic Psalter-hymnal,and an Arabic edition of the WestminsterConfession Standards.18. I have had the great pleasure (thank you,TBS) of researching and writing these articlesfor over fifteen years, and the accomplishedworkload of these men humbles me utterly, asdoes the price paid by so many wives. Brethren,pray for the missionaries and families of our day.30

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012The Word of GodAmong All NationsAlthough certain phrases and expressions used in these letters may not be doctrinallyaccurate or in correct English, we reproduce the letters essentially as received, knowingthat the Lord is using His Word to the glory of His Name and the furtherance of HisKingdom as the Scriptures are distributed among the nations of the world.EuropeFrom Encausse, FranceI want to thank you for thecalendars. They are one great opportunityfor me to reach out to the ChristianGypsies, most who are Spanish speaking.To reach out to that community whichis throughout France, that is the reasonfor asking for more Spanish calendars.We had in Toulouse a great shaking inthe Jewish community because of thekilling in the Jewish school there. God isopening many doors there so let’s workwhile it is daylight.From Lydbury North,ShropshireThank you for the Bibles for ourchildren. Although they are homeschooled,it is good to know that they can participatein your Sabbath School Learning PrizeFund.From EnglandA colleague has suggested I contact youas it is possible you might provide somecopies of the Authorised Version of theBible for the use of our service userswho are in-patients in our several NHShospitals. The Gideons Association havegenerously supplied us with copies ofSabbath School Learning Prize Fund children withtheir Biblesthe NIV but several traditionswithin Christianity only accept the AVas the Lord’s Word. It is our experiencethat the Scriptures provide a real lifelineon the road to recovery for many withmental illness, and it is our privilege to bealongside them as they do—hence my31

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordrequest. We would be most grateful if youwere able to help.From a school in Walworth, London,EnglandOn behalf of all the pupils and parents atour primary school, we would like to say avery special thank you for sending us thebeautiful Jubilee edition Bibles. All childrenreceived one and we had four spare forour partner school in Malawi as four headteachers came over for a week to visit ourschool. We really appreciate your kindnessand how marvellous it was to receive agift like this during such a special year.Many thanks again and we wish you all atthe Trinitarian Bible Society a very happysummer.From Llandrindod Wells, Powys,WalesIt is with great gratitude to the Lord thatI enclose this cheque towards the workof the Society. My husband and I arealways most appreciative of the factthat you so kindly continue to send usthe Quarterly Record magazine, whereinthere is much cause for thankfulnessand rejoicing. It is indeed good still tosee the occasional station poster, and todraw others’ attention to same; also thelovely Scriptures on church notice boardswhen travelling around the country. Youare surely aware that no less than threedifferent TBS texts are displayed on amajor thoroughfare outside Bridlington’sPresbyterian church! We have recentlybeen at Ibsley and were delighted to seethe offer of Jubilee Bibles advertised onthe chapel railings and to hear of thework in the schools of that area and wellbeyond. During the past six months twodear saints, close friends of ours in their90s, have gone to their ‘desired haven’,and the enclosed gift is in part a smallthanksgiving for their lives, both of whomcherished the Authorised Version. May youall know God’s richest blessing upon yourlabours.From a school in the Isle of Skye,ScotlandThank you for getting in touch regardingthe Jubilee Bibles. I was encouraged that10 Bibles went so quickly, one in oneclass and nine in another. On this basis, if Iperhaps place an order for 30 with a viewto making them available at the start ofthe new term this should be enough toget going with. I do not want to place toohigh an order in case there is not a hugeuptake. I assume if these go just as quicklyI could place a further order? Thank youvery much for making the Bibles available;we have a very low budget and wouldnot have the liberty to use what littleresources we have to purchase Bibles togive away to pupils; from this perspectiveyour contribution is invaluable. Whenthe first order arrived, I had just finishedteaching the ‘parable of the sower’ to theclass. The parcel arrived at the end of thelesson; I took the opportunity to explainto the class a little about the AuthorisedVersion and informed them that copieswere available to anyone who would likeone. As the class ended one girl came tomy desk immediately asking for a Bible;upon receiving the Bible I overheard hersay to her friends ‘I have never owned aBible before, this will be interesting’.From Glasgow, ScotlandI pray that this letter may serve as anencouragement to you. Last week I wastravelling into Charing Cross Station,32

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012Glasgow. The lift was out of order, soI had to take the stairs. What a lovelysurprise I got too!! Here was a poster witha Christian message (Acts 16.31) and thepromise of God in big bold black letters.A few months ago, I boarded a train atQueen Street Station and as it stoppedat one of the stations I noticed anotherposter sharing the ‘good news’. How Ipraised God for both! It encouraged me noend. When everything in the newspapersand media is doom and gloom, here ishope in the darkness: God cares. May theLord truly bless you for your faithfulness.You are touching lives daily.From our ArmeniantranslatorsThe New Testament and Psalms havearrived in our building in Yerevan. What ahappy day that was last week! Mum hasbeen working so long now on translationinto Eastern Armenian and we were all sooverwhelmed at this wonderful newbatch of Testaments arriving atour charity’s headquarters. The charity’sworkforce and a group of young volunteersall turned up to help unload the preciousload of God’s Word. Please pray now as theNew Testaments start to be distributed.Pray that they go to hungry homes andthat they are read and understood andthat lives are changed!From Fastov, UkraineWe are very thankful for the workyou are doing. We’ll keep you in ourprayers. All the people who received theBibles you’ve sent to us were so happy tohave God’s Holy Word. May the Lord blessyou and your families! We couldn’t imagineto have such a great present from God andour hearts are full of praise. And we dareask…is it possible to have more Bibles?Thank you once more.AustralasiaFrom Napier, New ZealandDear believers in the Lord JesusChrist of the Trinitarian BibleSociety in London and NZ: Warmgreetings in His alone preciousand peerless Name. As promisedon receipt of the last shipment ofBibles, here is our latest report of afew of our day-to-day experiencesamong the Islanders and theseamen at the Port of Napier.Firstly we desire to thank each oneinvolved for the ongoing supplyof Bibles. This is so meaningful tous and we bow before the Lordin grateful thanksgiving for hisgracious provision through yourexercise of heart. Please know that yourgreat kindness has far reaching effects.Seamen on lonely night watches can pullout a pocket Bible and read. Islanders whohave never owned a Bible now possessone of their very own. We just pray that33

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordthe great cost and effort in production anddistribution will bear fruit to eternity. Thatis what counts in God’s economy. Almostall the Vanuatuand SolomonIslanders whohave come intoHawkes Bay underthe Work Schemehave returnedhome; just a fewremain. Somemen from PapuaNew Guinea havebeen located inthe district andit seems they willcontinue to be withus until September.One commentedthat he had neverheard such aclear gospel, so that encouraged us. Thenit will not be many weeks until Novembercomes round once more, DV, when thefirst influx of Vanuatans arrive at the startof another season. Many of these Islandershave been given Bibles. Some specificallyask for them and some even offer to pay,but it is the ones that desperately want aBible and can’t pay that touch your heart.Now for a little about the Port. A containership on the Japanese/Korean/Chineserun was in Port in June. The Filipino crewon a previous visit were given two Bibles.The Second Officer was so pleased to bein touch again and said they were havingBible readings on the ship on Sundaysusing a Tagalog and a KJV English Bible.The next day we were enabled to get theCaptain off another container vessel tothe Gospel Meeting. The Captain’s run isthe Pacific circle including New Zealand,Container vessel docked in Napier34Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji,etc. He is on the ship four months at a timeand each round trip takes four weeks. Heis from Bangladesh, acountry of 170 millionpeople. We do praythat something in themessage will havetouched his heart and theSpirit of God will bringconviction in his life andultimately salvation. Hehas only one more tripbefore he goes homeafter which he will beposted somewhere elsein the world.Another container vesselvisiting Australia andthe Pacific circle washere in July. Many Fijian crew came out andwere taken to town, offered Bibles, texts,magazines and CDs. All gladly accepted.Two Chinese-crewed log vessels, both onthe China/New Zealand run, were in the 3rdweek of June. A number of crew acceptedChinese Bibles, texts and CDs. It was veryspecial as we had not long received ashipment of Chinese Bibles from Hong Kong.From Morocco, another ship left for Lyttletonand Dunedin (Port Chalmers) after being inport for a few days. It was a fertiliser vesseltransporting rock sulphur, and althoughit was wet, the crew were able to unload.Manned with crew from the Ukraine, wediscovered they could speak and readRussian. The Chief Engineer enquired aftera church of his denomination, but there isnone in the district. He was offered a RussianBible and given a Russian John 3:16 text andthanked us for it. The next night I saw him

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012and he thanked so much again for the Bibleas he had started reading it. Another youngseamen off the same vessel was offered aRussian Bible and he accepted gladly also. Itwas a very cold, wet day and night but heartwarmingresponses to the Word of God.A container ship moving between Japan/Korea/China and New Zealand was in Portabout the same time. This vessel used tobe manned with an all-Chinese crew, butrecently a change took place, and now thereis a Sri Lankan Captain and Chief Engineer;rest of the crew is Filipino with one or twoChinese. The Captain has since been advisedto see the man in the gospel van outside theport gates, so on the way to the supermarkethe requested to hear gospel music, finallygoing away with a Bible, magazines, textsand gospel message CDs. Captain has sinceemailed and asked to be met the next timehe is in port.A ship carrying woodchips came from theBluff, in Queensland, Australia, and on herway to Japan. She had a Korean Captainand Chief Engineer with a Vietnamesecrew. Over at the port we were able togive the Vietnamese John 3:16 texts intheir own mother tongue! What a joy!Two days later the Captain, on our way tothe supermarket, among other questionsasked, ‘What is the meaning of the word“gospel”?’ to which queries I explained Iwas a born again Christian. Captain replied,‘Me a Christian too!’ The Chief Engineercame out later and introduced himselfsaying he was a born again Christian. Anolder Korean gentleman with a bright,smiling face gave the Captain a KoreanJohn 3:16 text and found another in thevan for the Chief Engineer. They boththanked and thanked, and accepted Bibles.‘See you next time we are in!’ We do praythat both of these men are truly the Lord’s.A regular to our waters, one ship movingwood pulp and timber between here andJapan, was also in Port later that week.Two Filipino boys off the ship asked, ‘Haveyou got any more of your good readingmaterial please?’ They were given furthermagazines and a selection of gospelmessage CDs. Gospel tracts are readilyavailable for whoever will take them.Will close with renewed thanks for theScriptures you provide.[Ed.: this group, as with others, use ourScriptures along with those publishedby other organisations, some of whichmay not hold our stance on text andtranslation. This letter gives clear evidenceof the need for the continuing work ofproducing sound editions of the Scripturesfor people around the world.]AfricaFrom Nungua-Accra, GhanaI greet you in the name of ourLord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Howare you and the entire working staff ofTrinitarian Bible Society? We are prayingfor you and the good work that you aredoing. Every recipient of the Bibles andthe Golden Thoughts Calendars send theirsincere greeting to you all (Philippians4.23). I took delivery of my consignmentin December. I thank God: I received theconsignment at the nick of time. I receivedall my consignment except some fewBibles that were taken by the customofficers during inspection. No money wascollected from me this year to help with35

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Recordthe payment of the tax. A pastor camedown to Accra with the pick-up truck andhe helped to transport the Bibles andGolden Thoughts Calendars to the northfor the conference. The general theme ofthe conference was ‘building one another’,and the key verse from Ephesians 2.21.The total number of the people at theconference was two thousand threehundred; the number of churches thatattended the conference was sixteen.The Golden Thoughts Calendars weremore than enough for everybody at theconference because I went with threethousand copies. The difficulty I faced wasthe distribution of the Bibles. The demandfor Bibles is constantly growing every year.I took the opportunity to request financialprayer support for TBS. I told them TBS isnot able to print more Bibles because ofthe downward fall in financial donations.We are told that the whole world isfinancial broke and that is also affectingthe donations to TBS.I returned to Accra and went to do mysecond Bibles and Golden ThoughtsCalendars distribution at the conferencein Dobro. The churches that attended theconference were sixteen, and included achurch from Togo. The church in Ghanais growing and souls are getting savedevery day by the preaching of the Gospel.We thank God that the youth are now themajority in our churches. They are also thebeneficiaries of the free distribution of theBibles and the Golden Thoughts Calendarsin the rural areas. All the beneficiariesof the free Bibles and Golden ThoughtsCalendars are expressing their sinceregratitude and thanks to TBS for providingthem with the precious word of God. Theyhave all pledged and promised prayersupport for TBS to get funds to continuewith the good work that you are doing.I personally would always thank God forworking in partnership with you in thisgreat ministry.From Abuja, NigeriaThis photo is of when wedistributed the New Testaments tochildren under our care.IndiaFrom Kerala, IndiaHow we thank God for TBSfor faithfully standing withus through many years in meeting theScripture needs in this area. Last Saturdaywe took 51 small children to a town aboutthree hours’ travel from our village. Theydid very much enjoy this outing. Some ofour children have never seen an airplaneor an airport and therefore we madean extended trip to our capital city ofTrivandrum to see the international airport.From Karnataka, IndiaGreetings to you in the Holy name ofour Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thankyou very much for your prayers, lettersand the literary help of English Bibles36

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012and 2013 Calendars to continue in theLord’s ministry in this part of India. Thetwo parcels which you had despatchedreached safely about a month later. Thankyou very much for your sacrificial gifts andcontinual supply of English Bibles andprayer support for the Lord’s work here.The rich Lord abundantly bless you andmeet all your needs.Your gifts are helping us for theGospel outreach. In July we had goneto Pandharpur which is the religiousJerusalem of Hindus of Maharashtra. Thisyear ten thousand people had attendedthis religious festival. We had travelled thewhole day to go there and we were therefor a week. Please pray for the salvation ofmany people who have heard the goodnews as we had shared the gospel withthe pilgrims. The religious hunger of thesepeople is so great that they have beenwalking to this shrine for many days; somany were tired and some were killed inaccidents before they reached this placeon the way. I felt so sad to see the picturesof those who were killed on the road,going to eternal lake of fire on the way toa religious pilgrimage. In many places theevil one has kept them busy not to carefor their salvation.The Lord granted us safety on the roadsas we travelled on the very busy roads.We were able to distribute free of costtotally 623 New Testaments in variouslanguages. We visited four schools andhundreds of students heard the gospeland some received the New Testaments.In one school we had the experience asPaul and Silas had: they wanted to honorus in a Hindu religious way and it was verydifficult for us to restrain them from doingso. Please pray for the owner of the schoolthat he might turn to the Lord; he is a veryinfluential political man.Please pray for the Christians whohave turned to the Lord from Muslimbackground in Kashmir area in thenorthern part of India; they are very badlypersecuted for their faith in the Lord.I have been visiting schools and sharingthe Gospel through astronomy. Manychildren were blessed as a result andsome are visiting our planetarium. InJune I had very good time in one Muslimschool, and in July 105 Hindu High Schoolstudents and six teachers came to see theglory of God in Asha Kiran planetarium:these children were very happy to hearabout the great things the Lord hascreated.Regarding the TBS Bibles the Englishknowingtrue enquirers come and theyrequest and we give the needy theword of God free and they become sohappy to receive the word of God. In themonth of May two deserving studentswere presented the Bibles and theyare thankful to you for the gift. We hadfinished the stock of Bibles; thank youvery much for the supply of 50 Bibleswhich we received today. The 2013calendars will be distributed by the end ofDecember 2012.From Bangalore City, IndiaGreetings! We are very thankful to theTrinitarian Bible Society for makingScripture available for free of cost. Severalstudents and teachers have been blessedby your kind gifts.Normally the order will be placed as perthe number of students who register forlearning either Greek or Hebrew. As usual,37

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly RecordI discussed with our language teacher.She said that this year the class will beusing another book, ‘The Greek Testament’edited by Kurt Aland and others,published by United Bible Societies. It hasdictionary also.Last year we could not teach Greekexegesis, because the class wasexpecting to get their own copies of theGreek Testament before start the class.Unfortunately the books didn’t arrive. Wehave around nine copies in the library. Thisyear they may use the same and teachGreek exegesis. We believe that the UnitedBible Societies have already stoppedproviding copies to students.Regarding the Hebrew Old Testament,she said that we may not use Hebrew OldTestament this year, due to some reasons.Regarding Textual Key to the NewTestament and the Authorised Version:we already got one copy each, which wewill use as library copy. We let the studentsborrow and return to the library.Therefore, thank you once again formaking these available to us, but we donot intend to get copies for our collegecommunity this year.From Hyderabad, IndiaDear saints of Jesus at Trinitarian BibleSociety. Manygreetings in themost mercifulname of Jesus,from the landof India. I amoverwhelmedwith joy forthe eight bigparcels fromyou have sent me. I thank you very much.I have already started distributing theprecious literature here in India. I havegiven a few English Holy Bibles and EnglishNew Testaments to two pastors. I amsending their picture here for your kindinformation.Those Windsor Bibles are so preciousand so beautiful. So far I have given sixWindsor Bibles to the people whose housewitnessed a tragedy and the whole familyand their relatives were in a great sorrow.These Bibles are a great source of solaceand peace to them. All glory to Jesus.Amen.I am always grateful to you all at theTrinitarian Bible Society. May the LordJesus bless you, strengthen you in all theyears to come. For the present I stop here.North AmericaFrom a port worker inAlabama, USAI had the opportunity to have apreaching service upon a Russian vesselloading frozen chicken at the port ofMobile to deliver to St. Petersburg, Russia.After the service the chief engineer, aman from the Ukraine, cameup to me and asked if I couldgive him three more of theRussian Bibles to take hometo his pastor and friendsin Odessa. He said ‘That isthe best translation I haveever seen and I must seethat my pastor has one’.This encouraged my heartgreatly and reminded me38

Issue Number: 601 – October to December 2012of the importance of the Trinitarian BibleSociety’s work as I minister to so manymerchant seamen from around the world.My prayer is that you will have the fundsand the workers to continue your greatministry. We are so much in need of thenew Romanian that you are working on.From a supporter in the USAI love this Westminster Bible. You folksreally ‘knocked it out of the park’ (a veryAmerican expression!). The maps evenshow the Hebrew people going throughthe Red Sea instead of over it, under itaround it, etc. I’m really enjoying it. Thankyou so much.”Wehave begun studying the Lord’s miraclesrelated in the Gospel according to John.There is much enthusiasm amongst thestudents. The Gospel has been a greatSouth AmericaFrom missionaries distributing ourSpanish ScripturesWhile work continues on the revision of theSpanish Bible, the Gospel according to Johnand verses revised for our Words of Life andGolden Thoughts Calendars are alreadybeing distributed. Recipients report:VenezuelaThe local church of Naguanagua,Venezuela, has begun Lord’s Daymeetingsfor the youngusing the Gospelaccording toJohn. Photosare of somestudents fromthe afternoonSunday Schoolclass, along withtheir teacher.blessing for us. Some adults have also joinedin the study of John’s Gospel.The layout and the cover of the Gospel ofJohn has been very well-received by thepeople, and the size of the text is excellent.We thank the SociedadBíblica Trinitaria forits support and for itswillingness to carry out theReina Valera revision project.Each week we continue tostudy the Gospel accordingto John. May the Lord grantthat we will soon have theNew Testament.39

Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly RecordVenezuelaWe are bringing the Gospel accordingto John to the hospital in Naguanagua,Venezuela. A portion of the grantedJohn’s Gospels have been useful to us forevangelization, and we have seen manysouls with a hunger for the Lord.NursesweregivenJohn’sGospel.TheGospelswerereceivedby someThe Venezuelan people received the Wordwith much interest. We give thanks to theLord for the Gospels donated to us by theSociedad Bíblica Trinitaria. The copies ofJohn’s Gospel are a useful tool to bring theGospel to all people. Thank you, belovedbrethren.PeruWe distributed the SpanishScriptures in the streets in SanPedro de Lloc, Peru.Thank you very much. The copies ofthe Gospel according to John havebeen of much help. Even the childrenare reading it.women in the surgery wardand Scriptures were given to patients, and totheir families.We also had the privilege of distributingcopiesof theGospelaccordingto John tomembersof theNationalGuard.BoliviaA copy of the Gospel according toJohn was given to all the clients ofthe Christian bookstore in Santa Cruz,Bolivia.40

Trinitarian Bible SocietyInternational HeadquartersTyndale HouseDorset RoadLondonSW19 3NNEnglandTelephone: (020) 8543 7857Facsimile: (020) 8540 7777email: contact@tbsbibles.orgwebsite: www.tbsbibles.orgOffice Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pmEnglish Charity Number: 233082Scottish Charity Number: SC038379V.A.T. Registration Number: GB 215 9219 67Auditors:Jacob Cavenagh & Skeet5 Robin Hood LaneSuttonSurreySM1 2SWSolicitors:Bates, Wells & Braithwaite2-6 Cannon StreetLondonEC4M 6YABankers:Arbuthnot Latham & Co. Ltd.Arbuthnot House20 Ropemaker StreetLondon, EC2Y 9ARSterling Account No.: 71529601 Sort Code: 30-13-93Swift ID Code: ARBUGB2LEuro Account No.: 31529601IBAN Euro Account No.: GB19 ARBU 3003 0831 5296 01International BranchesAustralian BranchNational Secretary: Mr. A. Brown, B.E.Trinitarian Bible Society (Australia)P.O.Box 1381GRAFTON NSW 2460, AustraliaTel.: +61 2 6642 8880 Fax: +61 2 6642 8881email: TBS@trinitarianbiblesociety.org.auBrazilian BranchPresident: The Rev. Dr. T. L. GilmerExecutive Secretary: Pr. H. R. Gilmer, M.A.Sociedade Bíblica Trinitariana do BrasilRua Julio de Castilhos, 108/120Belenzinho03059-000 São Paulo, SP, BrazilTel.: (11) 2693-5663 Fax: (11) 2695-3635email: sbtb@biblias.com.brCanadian BranchGeneral Secretary: Mr. A. Stoutjesdyk, B.Ed., M.Ed.Office Manager: Mr. J. van HuigenbosTrinitarian Bible Society (Canada)9136 Young RoadChilliwack, B.C., V2P 4R4, CanadaTel.: (604) 793-2232 Fax: (604) 793-2262Toll free.: 1-855-793-2232email: office@tbscanada.orgNew Zealand BranchSecretary: Mr. U. HaringaTrinitarian Bible Society (New Zealand)17 Heatherlea StreetP.O. Box 740, Gisborne, New ZealandTel. & Fax: 06-863-3700email: sales@tbsnz.org.nzUSA BranchGeneral Secretary: Mr. W. Greendyk, B.A.Trinitarian Bible Society (USA)927 Alpine Commerce ParkSuite 100, Grand RapidsMichigan 49544, USATel.: (616) 735-3695 Fax: (616) 785-7237email: tbsusa@sbcglobal.net

To publish and distribute the HolyScriptures throughout the world in manylanguages.To promote Bible translations which areaccurate and trustworthy, conforming tothe Hebrew Masoretic Text of the OldTestament, and the Greek Textus Receptusof the New Testament, upon which textsthe English Authorised Version is based.To be instrumental in bringing light andlife, through the Gospel of Christ, to thosewho are lost in sin and in the darkness offalse religion and unbelief.To uphold the doctrines of reformedChristianity, bearing witness to the equaland eternal deity of God the Father, Godthe Son and God the Holy Spirit, One Godin three Persons.To uphold the Bible as the inspired,inerrant Word of God.For the Glory of God and the Increaseof His Kingdom through the circulationof Protestant or uncorrupted versionsof the Word of God.For introductory literature andcatalogue please write to the Societyat the address givenISSN 0049-47129 770049 471000Tyndale House, Dorset Road,London, SW19 3NN, Englandemail: contact@tbsbibles.orgwww.tbsbibles.org