For most deaf people who use South African Sign Language (SASL), the Bible is a closed book they cannot understand hence Bible Society of South Africa has launched a bible for the deaf at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. Bible of Society of South Africa serves churches and all the South African citizens by providing affordable Bibles for everyone in their own language and in suitable formats so that all may experience the life-giving message of the Word. The Bible is easy to read and was translated by the Bible Society of South Africa for different groups of readers, but specifically for deaf readers who use Sign Language and struggle to understand the words of other Bible translations that were formulated for hearing people and sells for R200. Estimates state that between 500,000 and 600,000 South Africans use SASL.
Team leader Rocco Hough says “The deaf need two bibles, the sign language bible which is very difficult to prepare because there are different dialects, this is a written printed bible, the first printed English bible for the deaf from the bible society in the world, this is the first one fully bible translated from the Greek and Hebrew that not only the deaf can read but other people that have some impairment in the language development.” The purpose of the translation project was to make the Bible available in deaf-orientated English for deaf people in South Africa. The non-profit organization used 50 translators, most of whom are deaf, to write this bible in simple English with thousands of footnotes and illustrations.
The large-print Bible has more than 80 000 footnotes and 45 000 references to drawings that illustrate what objects looked like in biblical times. According to Bible Society, a lot of deaf people who speak Sign Language want a Sign Language Bible on DVD or on the computer to experience the word in a visual form.
According to Bible Society, there are too many different Sign Language dialects and too many deaf people in Africa who do not have computers or DVD machines to watch a Sign Language Bible hence the deaf readers asked Bible Society to translate the Bible by using easier words that they can understand. The readers also asked the organization to use easy English, but not poor or incorrect English and that is why the non-profit company decided to follow most of the rules of the British English language. There were a few language rules which we had to change so that more deaf readers can understand the text.
Deaf readers can get the Bible on the Bible Society online shop: www.biblesociety.co.za
