Hijazi New Arabic Version 2024
Overview
The Hijazi New Arabic Version 2024 is the New Testament (plus additional Old Testament selections — 35 books total) in Hijazi Arabic, published by Strategic Resource Group and available via YouVersion/Bible.com (ID 3878). Translator names are not disclosed, reflecting the security-sensitive context of producing Christian Scripture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Strategic Resource Group (SRG) specializes in Bible translation for languages in restricted-access regions; they also published the companion Qatifi New Arabic Version in Gulf Arabic (AFBSRG, YouVersion ID 3901) and other sensitive-context Arabic translations.
Language and People
Hijazi Arabic (ISO 639-3: acw; Arabic: حجازي) is a spoken Arabic dialect of the Semitic/Afro-Asiatic family, spoken by approximately 14.5 million people in the Hejaz (al-Ḥijāz) — the western coastal strip of modern Saudi Arabia encompassing Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, and Taif. Ethnologue classifies it as EGIDS 6a (Vigorous) — actively used across all generations and not endangered. Hijazi Arabic differs substantially from Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), Gulf Arabic (Eastern Province), and Najdi Arabic (Riyadh/central highlands), having been shaped historically by centuries of pilgrimage-season contact with speakers from across the Islamic world. The Hejaz attracted Arabic-speaking pilgrims from North Africa, the Levant, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and South Asia, making Hijazi Arabic the most cosmopolitan Arabian dialect.
The Hejaz historically was the political and religious center of the Arabian Peninsula. It was a semi-independent kingdom (the Kingdom of Hejaz, 1916–1925) under the Hashemite Sharif Hussein bin Ali before being conquered by Ibn Saud in 1924–1925 and incorporated into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. Hejazi regional identity — distinct from the Najdi culture that dominates the Saudi state — remains alive, particularly among Jeddawi families with long urban lineages.
Religious Context
Saudi Arabia prohibits public Christian worship; there are no churches in the country, and proselytism toward Saudi Muslim citizens carries severe criminal penalties. Bibles may be imported for personal use but not publicly distributed. The YouVersion platform provides private digital access — a significant resource for the estimated tens of thousands of Christian expatriates resident in the country, and for curious Muslim readers. The identities of translators working in this context are withheld for their protection.
Publishing and Organizations
Published by Strategic Resource Group, a Bible translation organization specializing in security-sensitive and restricted-access language contexts.