Dagestan, April 10, 2019
Photo: ibtrussia.org The Institute for Bible Translation, dedicated to translation Holy Scripture into the languages of the non-Slavic peoples living in Russia, continues its work with a new publication of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles in one volume in the Lak language, reports the Institute’s website.
The Laks are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native to the inland region of Lakia in Dagestan, Russia. There are about 175,000 Laks in Russia, 160,000 of which live in Dagestan. The Laki people, who traditionally profess Islam, have the chance to read the Gospel of Christ in their native tongue thanks to the Institute for Bible Translation.
The Lak language is part of the Nakho-Dagestani language group. It has been a written language since the 15th century, based on the Arabic script, though it has been written using the Cyrillic alphabet since 1938.
The new volume is entitled Injill, which is the Arabic translation of “Gospel.” It includes a revision of the Gospel of Luke (which had been previously published in 2003 and 2012) and the first-ever publication of the Acts of the Apostles in the Lak language. The translation is accompanied by footnotes with relevant cultural and historical information, a glossary of key Biblical terms and difficult Lak words, maps of the ancient Mediterranean world, and other materials.
The Gospel of Matthew was published in 2016 and is can be found in the Institute’s e-book section along with the new publication. The Lak translation team is currently working on the book of Revelation, which will be published in one volume with the four Gospels and the book of Acts in 2020.
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