Q'eqchi" Bible' (KEKIBS)

Overview

The Q'eqchi' Bible, known in the vernacular as Li Santil hu, is a New Testament translation into Q'eqchi' (Kekchi), a Mayan language spoken by approximately 500,000 people primarily in the departments of Alta Verapaz, Peten, Izabal, and El Quiche in Guatemala, as well as the Toledo district of Belize [1][2]. The translation was produced by Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. and copyrighted in 2000, building on decades of linguistic work by Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) researchers in Guatemala, notably William Sedat in the 1950s and Francis Eachus and Ruth Carlson in the 1960s, who developed the original Q'eqchi' orthography used in this translation [1][3]. SIL arrived in Guatemala in 1952 and over its tenure completed 24 New Testament translations, with the Kekchi Bible being one of only two complete Bible projects (the other being Garifuna), produced in cooperation with the United Bible Societies [3]. The translation uses a Spanish-influenced orthography developed by SIL that remains widely circulated due to the popularity of this Bible text, even though an updated official orthography was later established by the Proyecto Linguistico Francisco Marroquin in the 1980s-1990s [1][4]. A separate complete Bible edition in Q'eqchi' was later published in 2005 by the Bible Society in Guatemala [5].

Language and People

Kekchí (ISO 639-3: kek) is spoken by approximately 1,147,600 people in Belize. [Glottolog: kekc1242]

Publishing and Organizations

Created by Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. Published by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA. Translation type: First.

References