Bible translations into Cherokee

There have been translations of the Bible into Cherokee language.

## History

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In 1824 the first portion of the Bible was translated into the Cherokee language: John 3, translated by a native Cherokee, ᎠᏥ (At-see, also known as John Arch). It was circulated in manuscript, and received with wonderful avidity, being copied hundreds of times.[1] He completed the Gospel of John by 1824[2] The complete New Testament was translated in September 1825 by David Brown, also a native Cherokee; this was also circulated in manuscript form, as a type for the Cherokee syllabary had not yet been created. Both Archer and Brown translated the full New Testament into Cherokee.[3]

Samuel Worcester, and Elias Boudinot, editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, published a revised translation of Matthew in 1829. This was published by the Cherokee National Press, New Echota. In the second edition, published in 1832, there is a statement that this translation had been "compared with the translation of George Lowrey and David Brown."[4]

Worcester and Boudinot continued with translation, publishing Acts in 1833 and John in 1838. Worcester, together with Stephen Foreman, published John 1-3 in 1840, 1 and 2 Timothy in 1844, James in 1847, 1 and 2 Peter in 1848, Luke in 1850, Exodus in 1853, Genesis in 1856, Mark in 1857, and Romans through Ephesians in 1858. With the assistance of Charles C. Torrey, they published Philippians through 2 Thessalonians, Titus through Hebrews and Jude through Revelation in 1859. Besides the first three books translated together with Boudinot, Matthew (1829), Acts (1833), and John (1838), which were published in New Echota, Georgia, all the rest of Worcester's texts were published by the Park Hill Mission Press. In the meantime, Evan and John B. Jones had published Mark, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Titus, Jude, and Philemon in 1847, and Galatians through Colossians, 1 and 2 Peter in 1848 and Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Hebrews and Revelation in 1849. Their work was published by the Cherokee Baptist Mission.[5]

With the help of Stephen Foreman, Worcester also translated portions of Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah.[6]

Jonah, translated by Amory N. Chamberlain, was published in Tahlequah in 1888. Joshua was at an advanced stage of translation, and was perhaps even completed.[7]

### 20th century

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Revisions of John (1948) and the New Testament (1951) were published in Westville, Oklahoma.[5]

In 1965 the Perkins School of Theology published a translation of Haggai by Jack and Anna Kilpatrick.[8]

### 21st century

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In 2001, The Cherokee Bible project, with permission of the American Bible Society, placed the book of John online in both Cherokee Syllabary and in Latin phonetic transliteration and accompanying English translations. This was and is a bilingual version available starting with the gospel of John. The earliest remaining example of this is from 2003.[9]

The Cherokee Bible Project 2001 bilingual passages were speedily followed by postings of the entire New Testament as well as portions of the Old Testament that were available in 2005, including the entire books of Jonah, Haggai, Genesis, Exodus, and portions of many others including Kings, Proverbs, Psalms, Isaiah, Samuel, and Obadiah. The printed copy of Haggai was donated by a generous supporter after it was located in a library discard and posted online in 2013. After consideration for the size of the project and to save costs, it was moved to google sites for hosting.[10]

In 2006, Timothy Legg began a project to compare the English and Cherokee translations of the New Testament, with verse-by-verse scans and transcriptions. In 2019, Legg abandoned that website and a copy was published to another site.[11]

## References

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1. ^ Foster, Biography of Se-Quo-Yah, p. 120
2. ^ Cherokee Messenger, by Althea Bass
3. ^ Dodds, Richard T. (22 July 2022). "Cherokee - English (2014) Diglot New Testament" (in Cherokee). Franklin, North Carolina: Cherokee Bible Project, American Bible Society. Retrieved 16 September 2024 - via Digital Bible Society.
4. ^ Early Bibles of America, by John Wright, pg. 278
5. ^ a b Eric North, Eugene Nida, The Book of a Thousand Tongues, United Bible Societies, 1972
6. ^ Early Bibles of America: Being a Descriptive Account of Bibles Published in the United States by John Wright
7. ^ American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1857). The Missionary herald. Published for the Board by Samuel T. Armstrong. p. 241. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
8. ^ The book of Haggai translated into Cherokee | WorldCat.org. OCLC 13025593.
9. ^ "Archived copy". www.cherokeebible.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2003. Retrieved 13 January 2022.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. ^ "Cherokee Bible Project online since 2001". sites.google.com.
11. ^ "Cherokee Dictionary". www.cherokeedictionary.net. Retrieved 2024-04-18.

## External links

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* American Bible Society Translation 1860
* Old and New Testaments Cherokee Bible Project
* Cherokee New Testament Online