Ladakhi New Testament (LBJWBT)

Overview

The Ladakhi Bible translation has deep roots in Moravian Church missionary work that began in the mid-19th century. The first Moravian missionaries arrived in the region in 1855, and a permanent station was established in Leh, the capital of Ladakh, in 1885, where a church was built that still stands today [1][2]. Pioneering missionaries William Heyde, Edward Pagel, and Heinrich August Jaeschke produced the first Gospel of John in a Tibetic language, printed in 1862 at Kyelang in Lahul [1]. Jaeschke's successor F. A. Redslob completed the full New Testament in Classical Tibetan in 1885 [1]. Jaeschke recognized that Ladakhi Christians were more attentive when hearing Scripture in the colloquial vernacular rather than the high register of Classical Tibetan, and he translated the Harmony of the Gospels into vernacular Ladakhi [1]. Dr. August Hermann Francke, one of the Moravian Church's greatest missionary scholars in the Himalayan region, continued this colloquial approach, publishing a Ladakhi version of Mark's Gospel in 1908, and his colleague Yoseb Gergan produced a revised Ladakhi St. Mark published at Lahore in 1919 [1][3]. Gergan completed a draft translation of the entire Old Testament into a Tibetan dialect understandable by all Tibetans by 1935, with the full Tibetan Bible finally published in 1948 [1]. A modern project to translate the Bible into the low register of spoken Ladakhi (Leh dialect) using a more phonemic spelling structure is ongoing under the auspices of the Moravian Church, with the New Testament and portions of Genesis completed [4][5]. There are currently three Moravian churches in Ladakh, in Leh, Shey, and Khalatse [2].

Language and People

Ladakhi (ISO 639-3: lbj) is spoken by approximately 27,000 people in India, Map 1. [Glottolog: lada1244]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA.

References