First Nations Version Psalms and Proverbs: An Indigenous Bible Translation

When First Nations Version: An Indigenous Bible Translation of the New Testament was published in August 2021, it was welcomed beyond the expectations of the consulting editors by Indigenous Peoples of North America and some in the majority culture. In response to that positive feedback, the First Nations Translation Council for Psalms and Proverbs was formed and “humbly presents this translation as our gift to all English-speaking First Nations people and the worldwide sacred family, the body of the Chosen One.”

In an introduction that is important to read before engaging with the Scriptures, readers are introduced to the translation council, the history of how the First Nations Version began, the translation process, and the reason for choosing the term First Nations, instead of Native Americans. In answer to the question of why the translation is written in English, the editors write, “It is conservatively estimated that over 90 percent of First Nations people do not speak their tribal language with any fluency, and even fewer can read it. This results from several generations of governmental assimilation policies that attempted to eradicate the over 250 distinct languages spoken in North America. This translation is not intended to be tribally specific but to present the Scriptures intertribally, attempting to represent some of the simple yet beautiful ways our languages can be expressed in English.”

A glossary of Hebrew words and cultural metaphors explains why the consulting editors chose certain terms. For example, sin is called “bad hearts and broken ways;” Yahweh is referred to as “Grandfather”; peace is called “harmony”; the temple is named the “sacred or ceremonial lodge”; and the covenant is referred to as the “sacred treaty.”

As a non-Indigenous reader, engaging with this version of Psalms and Proverbs enriched my understanding of Scripture and enhanced my vision of how the Holy Spirit has been and is still today at work in all cultures, drawing people to faith, strengthening the hope of believers, and bringing glory to God. (IVP)