Te Kawenata Hou (MRIEBL)

Overview

Te Kawenata Hou is a reformatted edition of the Maori New Testament, based on the 1952 text, published by Bible Society New Zealand Charitable Trust. [1] The copyright dates of 1952 and 2008 reflect the original text and its reformatted presentation. The reformatting project began in 1999 after consultation with the Maori Christian community, with the aim of presenting the text in a more readable format for newer generations of Maori speakers. [1] Te Kawenata Hou was published in 2009 as the first product of this reformatting effort, preceding the full Bible edition (Paipera Tapu 2012) by three years. [1]

Translation History

The Maori New Testament has a long history dating back to 1836-1837, when William Colenso printed 5,000 copies of the first New Testament in Maori at Paihia using a Stanhope printing press. [2] The text was subsequently revised as part of the complete Bible editions of 1868, 1889, 1925, and 1952. [2] The 2008 reformatted edition introduced macrons on long vowels, paragraphing (replacing the verse-per-line format of earlier editions), speech marks, section headings, and book introductions. [1]

References