New Testament in Matengo Language (MGVWFW)

Overview

The New Testament in Matengo Language is a translation published by The Word for the World International and Matengo Language Translation in 2020, containing 27 New Testament books. Matengo (also called Chimatengo or Kimatengo; ISO 639-3: mgv) is a Bantu language spoken by approximately 484,000 people in the Mbinga District of Ruvuma Region, southern Tanzania. [1] The Word for the World, together with The Word for the World Southern Africa, has been actively involved in supporting the Matengo translation project. [2] After the launch of the Gospel of Mark, visits to Matengo-speaking villages revealed the community's enthusiasm for having Scripture in their mother tongue, with one young man beginning to preach the Gospel in nearby villages using only the Matengo translation. [3] The text circulates on YouVersion as the Matengo Bible Version (MaBV) and is distributed by eBible.org under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license.

Language and People

The Matengo people are an ethnic and linguistic group based in southern Tanzania. [1] Their language is a Bantu language, and many speakers are primarily monolingual, with neighboring languages not being mutually intelligible. [3] Approximately 80% of the Matengo people identify as Christian, and the group is classified as "significantly reached" by the Joshua Project. [4]

References