Understanding and Interpretation of Revelation 1:8 by Some Asante-Twi Speaking Scholars

Emmanuel Foster AsamoahORCID iD

Issue: Vol.6  No.3 June 2020 Article 4 pp. 181-189
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2020064    |   Published online 22nd June 2020.
© 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Without Bible translation, it would have been very difficult for the Church to perform its preaching and teaching mandate in a new environment, for Scriptures were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. A faithful translation of the Bible allows the Church to help the local indigenes to understand the text and theologise aright in their mother-tongue. However, the Asante-Twi Bible, an example of a translated Bible has some text that have not been translated accurately. One of such is the translation of Revelation 1:8, the study area for this paper. The present translation of the Greek text in the Asante-Twi Bible does not allow God to possess an Ashanti name. This article delves into the study of the text with the lens of Ashanti scholars in the Asante-Twi context and an exegesis of the Greek text to look for the sameness in the Asante-Twi. The paper argues for the translation of Revelation 1:8 as: Mene Ahyεaseε ne Awieeε no, Awurade Nyankopɔn na ɔseε, deε ɔwɔ hɔ, na ɔwɔ hɔ dada na ɔreba, ade nyinaa so Tumfoɔ no (“I am the Alpha and Omega,” says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty).

Keywords: Bible Translation, Mother-tongue, The Alpha and Omega, Asante people, Asante name, Asante-Twi Bible, to alpha kai to omega.

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Emmanuel Foster Asamoah, MPhil, Research Associate, Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. District Pastor, The Church of Pentecost, Antoakrom, Kumasi – Ghana. Email: hisdivinegrace7@gmail.com

Asamoah, E. F. “Understanding and Interpretation of Revelations 1:8 by some Asante-Twi Speaking Scholars.” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies 6, no.3 (2020): 181-189. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2020064

Article Citations
This article has been cited by:
Asamoah E.F, & Kuwornu-Adjaottor, J.E.T., “A Critical Study of the Designation of Chapter as Ti by Asante – Twi Bible Readers” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 1, no.6 (2020): 220-227. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2020103

Asamoah, E. F. (2020). Was Rhoda Insulted? Re-Reading the Translation of Acts 12:15 in the Asante-Twi Bible. All Nations University Journal of Applied Though (ANUJAT),8(1): 174-185. All Nations University Press. doi: http://doi.org/ 10.47987/AACK7785

© 2020 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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