The Bible Society of Ghana has launched New Revised Akuapem Twi Bible which is youth friendly
The revision was single handedly done by the late Rev.Felicia Adu-Kumi ,a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in synch with Bible Society of Ghana’s objective to revise all three Akan language Bibles targeting general issues such as language ,grammar and syntax, review of colloquialism,correct typos and punctuation marks.
The features of the New Revised Akuapem Twi Bible include; New Second titles to the first five Books of Moses.
For instance, “Mose Nhoma a Edi Kan anaa Genesis” has been revised as “Gyenesis anaase Mfitiase “.
“Mose Nhoma a Etia Abien anaa Exodus ” has been revised to “Eksod)s anaas3 Otuk)”
The revision also changed certain key terms, expressions and passages for example, the Divine name of God which was written in smaller letters in the old Bible as “Awurade” is now capital “AWURADE.”
The revised main tittle of the book of Judges in previous edition was referred as “Atemmufo Nhoma ” but in the new revised Bible it is “Atemmufo Nhoma anaas3 Akannifo Nhoma.”
The other new features of the revised Akuapem Twi Bible include introduction and table of contents, weight and measurement objects in the Bible revised to give a dynamic equivalent to our local settings.Font sizes have been enhanced ,words and statements attributed to Jesus are in red letters ,it has cross references, parallel references ,footnotes, illustrations ,maps ,among others.
Launching the New Bible at the Grace Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Akropong -Akuapem in the Eastern Region on Sunday October 9,2022
Rev.Prof.John David Ekem, Translation Consultant,Bible Society of Ghana ,said about 6 million cedis was spent on the revised Akuapem Twi Bible project.
He underscored the importance of the revision to meet the understanding of the new generation.
“Communication is very important and you will be able to communicate to the other to the understanding of the other when the person really get the message in the language that he understands most importantly when it is mother tongue. so I believe that with this new translation and taking into consideration the dynamism of language ,the modern person will appreciate it the more because the language is such that they will be able to understand , it is straight forward and it is going to impact positively upon whatever understanding they get out of it through their faithful journey, so I strongly that it is timely and it is appropriate”
Rev.Prof.John David Ekem said the translation did not change the content of the message in the Bible
He stated that, electronic version of the Revised Akuapem Twi Bible will be developed to meet the technological needs of the youth.
The Guest Speaker at the ceremony Rev.Christian Amankwah Kwafo, District Minister,Christ Church who is also Chairperson of the Local Council of Churches,said the revised Akuapem Twi Bible is timely and appropriate for the contemporary times.
“God speaks all languages , He is the creator of languages and it is a great privilege for a community to be provided with scriptures in the language that they can understand and so the revision has come at the right time and Akuapem community has been blessed and I pray that it will transform their fortunes positively to the glory of God” Rev.Christia Amankwah Kwafo said.
Late Rev.Felicia Adu-Kumi ,a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana was honoured posthumously for single handedly revising the Akuapem Twi Bible.
Sources: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Obed Ansah
