I've decided that it's time to make a concerted effort to learn Afrikaans. I've been learning slowly over the past few years, but it's time to get serious. To that end, I've been doing my Bible reading in Afrikaans. As I read the text in Afrikaans, I have my English Bible and the dictionary nearby to help decipher the words I don't know.I decided to start with Philippians as it's my favourite book and only four chapters long (can't be too hard, right?). What I didn't expect, however, was that as I read familiar passages in a foreign language and mentally translated them back to English, they took on fresh and exciting meaning because I saw them in a completely different light. Case in point:
Phillipians 4:7 in my English Bible (NIV) says, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
In the Afrikaans Bible (NLV) it says, "Omdat julle aan Christus behoort, sal die vrede van God julle harte en gedagtes soos 'n veiligheidswag oppas."
Which, translated back to English reads, "Because you belong to Christ, the peace of God will guard of your hearts and thoughts like a security guard."
See what I mean? When I think about God's peace being like a security guard that watches over my heart and thoughts, I get an amazing mental image that I didn't have before. And I love it.
1 comment:
Very true!! A good friend once told me that to learn a language well it helps to a) read you bible in the language and b) remember to allways pray in the language.. she said that part was key, bc if you can converse with God you can converse with anyone!!
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