The Lezgi New Testament (LEZIBT)

Overview

The Lezgi New Testament was published by the Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) in 2010 (this edition), with a subsequent edition in 2018 that received an official stamp of approval from the Institute of Linguistics at the Russian Academy of Sciences. [1] The translation was produced by a team of distinguished scholars including Dr. B. B. Talibov, Dr. M. E. Alekseyev, Dr. N. A. Abdulgamidov, and Dr. Marianne Beerle-Moore, described as "talented Lezgi writers and poets, theologians, and language scholars." [1] The translation is notable for passages stylized according to the Lezgi poetic tradition, including the Lord's Prayer, the Song of Mary, and the Song of Zechariah. [1] IBT's Lezgi project began with excerpts from Matthew — the Sermon on the Mount and Parables of the Kingdom — in 1990, followed by Mark (1996), Luke and Acts (2004), John 1:1–17 (2008), a Children's Bible (2009), Ruth, Esther and Jonah (2010), and the Four Gospels (2014), with the Pentateuch published in 2023 and Psalms in 2024. [1] The Lezgi people have ancient Christian roots: in the 4th century A.D., the kingdom of Caucasian Albania, which included ancestors of the Lezgi, adopted Christianity, and early Bible portions were translated into the related Agwan (Caucasian Albanian) language. [1]

Language and People

Lezghian (ISO 639-3: lez) is spoken by approximately 623,700 people in Southern Dagestan and northern Azerbaijan. [Glottolog: lezg1247]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow.

References