Ndebele Contemporary Version (NDEBIB)

Overview

The Ndebele Contemporary Version — IBhayibhili Elingcwele LesiNdebele Elifinyelelekayo — is a full Bible in North Ndebele (isiNdebele), the Nguni language of the Ndebele (Matabele) people spoken across Matabeleland in western Zimbabwe and by communities in Botswana and Zambia. The language descends from the migration of Mzilikazi's followers north from the Zulu kingdom in the early nineteenth century. Published by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society) with copyright dates of 2003, 2006, and 2022, this translation uses a contemporary, meaning-based approach to make Scripture accessible to modern isiNdebele readers; the 2006 line corresponds to a completed full-Bible edition. [1] The Ndebele language did not have a written form until missionary William Sykes reduced it to script around 1860; Sykes translated the Gospel of Matthew in 1884 and later the entire New Testament. [2] The first complete Ndebele Bible was published in 1971 by the Bible Society of Zimbabwe, whose separate complete Ndebele Bible tradition is distributed in print partnership with the Trinitarian Bible Society. [2] The Ndebele Contemporary Version represents a fresh contemporary-language translation produced by Biblica, with a 2022 revision reissued on YouVersion under the abbreviation BEN and released under a Creative Commons license. [1]

Language and People

North Ndebele (ISO 639-3: nde) is spoken by approximately 1,642,000 people in Zimbabwe. [Glottolog: nort2795]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Biblica. Translation type: New.

References