Swahili Old Bible (NT and OT Portions) (SWHPOR)

Overview

Portions of the New Testament in the Swahili Language of Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, and Tanzania, translation by Dr. Johann Ludwig Krapf. Krapf (1810-1881) was a German Lutheran missionary serving with the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) in East Africa. [1] He arrived in Mombasa in 1844 and established a mission station at Rabai, near the coast, where he undertook pioneering linguistic work in the Swahili language. [1] Krapf began his Swahili Scripture translation in May 1844, publishing the first chapters of Genesis in the Kimvita (Mombasa) dialect, and went on to translate New Testament books into Swahili. [2] His linguistic contributions extended beyond Scripture: he compiled the first Swahili grammar (1850) and dictionary (1882), as well as a comparative vocabulary of six Bantu languages. [1] Bishop Edward Steere of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) at Zanzibar, working with Swahili-speaking collaborators, later completed the New Testament (printed 1883) and the complete Bible in 1891. These early Scripture portions represent some of the earliest Christian texts in the Swahili language and laid the groundwork for subsequent Swahili Bible translations. [2]

Language and People

Swahili (Coastal) (ISO 639-3: swh) is spoken by approximately 16,335,000 people in Kenya. [Glottolog: swah1253]

References