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Swahili language
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The Swahili language was first put into writing by missionaries who wanted to translate the Bible
into Swahili. Portions of the New testament, translated by William Taylor, were published in 1889.
This was clearly based upon the Traditional Test. In 1909 the Church Missionary Society published
the whole New Testament. In 1914, they published the whole Bible. It is hard to find out the textual
basis for these translations. The Union Swahili Bible was published in 1952. It is clearly a critical
Text Bible.
For the past ten years a man by the name of Allen Lear has been working on a translation based
upon the TR. He was born in England and married a missionaries' daughter. They have spent
time in Africa and both are fluent in Swahili. About Mr. Lear's qualifications, I will let Mr. Lear
speak for himself.
"I am truly thankful to God for His help and guidance in my life. While living in Africa, God gave my
wife and me a strong and growing love for the African people and country. God also gave a strong
desire for them to have a Bible translated into their own language that was as accurate as possible,
translated from the original words of God. The desire for accuracy was enhanced by scientific and
other training, which the Lord enabled me to do. I am thankful to God that He has enabled me to
obtain a Master of Health Science Degree (MHS), and Master of Arts in Translation Studies (MA(TS)."
May of 2009 Mr. Lear passed on to heaven but not without having the John and Romans finished
and printed by some of the Bible printing ministries in the U.S. Other missionaries have checked
his work and they have given positive response to its accuracy and faithfulness to the TR. He has
finished other books in the NT but they are in hand written form. There is another missionary that
has stepped forward desiring to finish the New Testament translation.
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