Tswana Moffit Bible

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British & Foreign Bible Society
Bibela ea Boitsépho 1890 (Sechuana Tlhaping - Moffatt Bible)
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Tswana Moffit Bible (TSNOLD)

Overview

The Bibela ea Boitsépho (1890) is the final revised edition of Robert Moffat’s Tswana Bible, the first complete Bible translated into any Bantu language and the first to be printed in Africa south of the Sahara. [1] Robert Moffat (1795—1883), a Scottish missionary of the London Missionary Society (LMS), settled at Kuruman in 1821 and spent nearly fifty years mastering the Setswana language. [2] He published the Gospel of Luke in Tswana in 1830, the New Testament in 1840, and the complete Bible in 1857, printed by the BFBS in London. [1] Moffat used the Setlhaping (Tlhaping) dialect of Tswana. [1] After Moffat’s retirement to Britain in 1870, he oversaw publication of the first single-volume edition in 1872. [1] A corrected edition by Roger Price and John Brown appeared in 1877, and in 1890 John Mackenzie produced a further revision with standardized spellings, which is the edition represented here. [1] This Bible had an enduring influence among Batswana communities across southern Africa and remains a landmark in the history of African Bible translation.

Language and People

Tswana (ISO 639-3: tsn) is spoken by approximately 5,815,730 people in Botswana. [Glottolog: tswa1253]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by British and Foreign Bible Society.

References