Jonathan E. T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor

Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science and Technology | KNUST · Department of Religious Studies

Bible translation activities have been documented since the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian captivity in the period of the 5th century BCE (Before the Common Era). In Ghana, the earliest translation of portions of Scripture was in Ga in 1805. Bible translation into mother tongues overtly or covertly employs one or more of the philos...

Kumasi is saturated with preachers preaching all manner of messages. The media space, along major streets, the church space, as well as the market centres have all witnessed an insurgence of many different preachers. The preaching of the Gospel occupies a major place in the Christian church. Both Jesus and the Apostles as revealed in scripture made...

Scholars have written on Jesus’ command to make disciples, but little work has been done on the translation of baptizontes. Using the mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics approach, this article analyses the translation of baptizontes in 12 Ghanaian mother tongue Bibles. The findings are that the various Ghanaian mother tongue translations of Matthew...

A critical reading of the Dangme translation of the Bible revealed that there are translation problems of some texts that affect the understanding and application of such texts in the religio-cultural context of Dangme Bible readers. Using the mixed method of research and the mother tongue biblical hermeneutics approach, the author sought to resear...

Bible reading is one of the purposeful activities Christians and users of the Bible engage in it to learn the word of God as well as learning new vocabularies of their native language, especially when they read in their mother-tongue. Asante-Twi Bible readers and users have designated ti for "chapter" in the reading of the Asante-Twi Bible. However...

Bible reading is one of the purposeful activities Christians and users of the Bible engage in it to learn the word of God as well as learning new vocabularies of their native language, especially when they read in their mother-tongue. Asante-Twi Bible readers and users have designated ti for “chapter” in the reading of the Asante-Twi Bible. However...

This paper examines the meaning of Luke 4:18-19 using the historical-critical method to establish the meaning of the text under study. The objective here is to investigate the origins of the pericope to understand “the world behind the text” as well as its applicability in contemporary Pentecostal/Charismatic churches in Ghana. This paper contends...

The teaching of Jesus presents a powerful dimension to the understanding of holistic ministry. In Luke 4 18-19, His announcement of His vision in the synagogue at Nazareth has a powerful component of spiritual and social action. Jesus was purposefully mandated to preach the Gospel to the deprived, heal the blind, set the captives free and liberate...

The Dangme Bible translation of Matthew 6:12 renders the Greek ἄφες ("forgive") as ke pa ("lend"). The word "lend" does not match with the word "sin" in the Dangme text. Using the mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics methodology, this article seeks to determine how "forgive" should be translated in Dangme to make sense to Dangme Bible readers. The f...

The New Testament document did not drop from heaven! This statement sounds strange; and it sounds like a bomb thrown at devoted Bible readers. However, it is loaded with a lot of things that need to be understood by anyone who wants to get good insight into the texts that constitute the New Testament. I came to this conclusion as a student and late...

New Testament Theology for College Students presents the subject in its simplest form to give readers a basic understanding. Chapter one gives a definition of the New Testament (NT) theology to guide the reader to focus on what each writer of a NT book says about major theological themes. A brief history of how NT theology evolved is discussed in t...

The Bible is the word of God written in human language. It is made up of the Old Testament originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament originally in Greek. There is the need to translate the Bible into other languages for people all over the world to hear God speak to them in their own languages. The focus of this work is on how the word met...

The purpose of this paper is to retell the story of Dangme exodus as a pointer to the biblical Israel's own history from slavery to the Promised Land, exploring the occurrences and the experiences along the way. These occurrences and experiences along the way to liberation are what gave Israel 'a god' and a distinct theology. The range of experienc...

Any group of people or society that embraces religion has an experience or a concept of who they perceive to be the Center of the religion or who they consider to be the Supreme Being. The Akan of Ghana as an African people are religious and for that matter has an experience of the Supreme Being. This paper sought to share an Akan experience of God...

Bible translation from the Source Languages (SL) to Receptor Languages (RL) is not a straightforward exercise. The question is whether Bible translation involves interpretation. Using the mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics approach, this study sought to examine Mark 1:12 in the Dangme Bible, comparing it with the Greek. Its objective was to find o...

The translation of Matthew 8:21-22 into Dangme pose a hermeneutical challenge to Dangme Bible readers. This is so because Jesus’ command, “Nyââ ye se, nâ o ha ni gbogboe ômâ a pu mâ nitsâmâ a nô gbogboehi” [“Follow me, and let the dead people bury their own dead people”], is difficult to apply by Dangme Christians who value their culture. Using the...

Riddles, like folktales are considered an important aspect of speech games that promote critical thinking. Due to the influx of foreign games, local riddles have recently lost their values. But as an important aspect of Akan and Dangme cultures, riddles are included in school curricula, especially at the higher learning institutions, to create awar...

Bible translation is not hermeneutics but it involves interpretation because some of the words in the source languages are difficult to translate into other languages. Using the mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics approach that employs exegesis and information from readers of mother-tongue Bibles, the paper studied the translation of παραβολη (para...

This paper contends that the Greek name Ίησοûς Хριστός [Iēsous Kristos] which is translated and spelt as Yezu Krista in the Kasem New Testament is inaccurately spelt because the /s/ and /o/ sounds exist in Kasem orthography. Also, the translation Yezu Krista does not match with any form of the Greek declining processes. Interestingly, most of the l...

Of the 67 Ghanaian languages (Lewis, Simmons & Fenning, 2015), the complete Bible has been translated into 13 and the NT into 27. Bible Translation in Ghana is done by the BSG, GILLBT and IBS (Biblica). Mother-tongue is a linguistic category that expresses origin, competence, and function (Collins, 2003; Kerneman, 2010). It became a theological c...

The Bible came to us in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; through the ages it has been translated into many languages. But does it lose its meaning when translated? This has been a question for most people who read and used the Bible. Using the Mother-tongue Biblical Hermeneutics methodology, this paper delves into the meaning of the akuakuo in the Asante...

Avno,htoi used by the risen Christ in Luke 24:25 literally means “foolish people”. One wonders whether Jesus Christ used it as an insult on the two disciples on the way to Emmaus who did not understand what had happened in Jerusalem. In the Dangme text, avno,htoi has been rendered kuasiahi (foolish people) which is an affront to Dangme scholars and...

One of the teachings which has become debatable among the academia in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles today is the subject of charismata hamatoon "gifts of healings". The idea that gifts of healings was not for the benefit of believers, but only for unbelievers as an act to confirm the preaching of the Gospel is not in agreement with the teachi...

The Bible was first written in Hebrew and Aramaic (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament) and later translated into other mother-tongues. This was done because the Bible need to be understood by its readers in their own mother-tongues. A critical reading of the Asante-Twi translation reveals that quotation marks are not used for statements that n...

African theologian discourses have tended to remain perpetually foreign and neo-colonist in thought and language, which is quite often irrelevant to the contemporary Ghanaian and African context. This has resulted from the fact that African theological education has been integrated into typical European and North American academic traditions neglec...

The turning of water into wine was the first of 35 recorded miracles Jesus performed. In this miracle, Jesus revealed Himself as the master of quality. He changed water into the "choicest wine" or "best wine" instantaneously to the amazement of people at the ceremony. The study has brought to the fore lessons which African biblical exegetes can emp...

Three texts in the Dangme Bible (BSG/UBS 1999) generated a lot of discussions during a field survey of the eight Dangme speaking areas. The texts are: Ngôô wa tômi ômâ kâ pa wô... [Lend us our wrong-doings…] (Matt 6:12); … Mumi Klôuklôu ô tsε e yi se …[ the Holy Spirit pushed the head from behind…] (Mark 1:12); and Kεkε nε Yesu de mε ke, “Kuasiahi...

Colours have much impact on users-either positively or negatively-when they are used for fashion objects. This paper is purposed to identify major ways in which fashion designers in tertiary institutions within Kumasi metropolis use colours for their fashion objects and the effects of the colours on their clients. Qualitative research approach was...

This paper offers a theological examination of necromancy in ancient Israel and its parallel in Dangme religio-cultural setting about the place of the dead. This endeavour is premised on the question: Was King Saul’s encounter with the spirit of Samuel, rhetoric or realism? Why was necromancy considered a theological aberrant in biblical theology?...

Our topic for discussion at this year’s Bible Society of Ghana Annual Translation Seminar is loaded as it spans a lot of disciplines – from Church History, Biblical Studies, Bible Translations Studies, Biblical Hermeneutics, Language Studies, Linguistics and Philosophy. Since we cannot cover everything within an hour, we will do what can and leave...

The topic for discussion at the Bible Society of Ghana Annual Translation Seminar is loaded as it spans a lot of disciplines – from Church History, Biblical Studies, Bible Translations Studies, Biblical Hermeneutics, Language Studies, Linguistics and Philosophy. A bibliography is given at the end for those who want to explore more on the topic.

This paper represents selected Adinkra symbols of the Akan and brings out the philosophical, educational, historical and moral values inherent in them. It seeks to encourage the understanding and usage of the Adinkra symbols in a more meaningful way by Ghanaians and foreigners, contemporary artists, designers, craftsmen, teachers, and all who appre...

Excessive noise beyond certain levels of intensity adversely affects human health and decreases productivity. One would expect that a religion like Christianity in Ghana would be spared in the discussion of noise making since the Bible commands Christians to “make a joyful noise unto God” and not mere noise. However, there has been a debate regardi...

The phrase bny ysr"l-sons of Israel‖ in the Masoretic Text of Deuteronomy 32:8 is rendered in some Ghanaian mother-tongue translations as follows: je ma tsuaa je ma-each town of the world‖ (Dangme Bible 1999), Nyôåmô webii-the people of God‖ (Gã Bible 2006) and, Mawu viwo-children of God‖ (Ewe Bible 2010). The contention of this paper which also lo...

Galatians 3:24 has to do with the function of the law before Christ came. The understanding of the word paidagōgos and the phrase eis Christon are crucial to the translation, exegesis and interpretation of the verse. The way the verse has been rendered in the Dangme translations of the Bible does not bring out the full meaning of the law as our pai...

There seem to be translation and interpretation challenges facing mother-tongue readers of the Bible in their cultural settings. One of such cultural issues is the translation of 1Thess 5:26 in some Ghanaian mother-tongue Bibles which borders on the mode of greeting among Christians. This paper is a study of the 1 Thess 5:26 in the Greek New Testam...

A study of the grammar of the Greek text of John 14:1 shows that pisteuete appears twice in the verse – on in relation to God and the other in relation to Jesus. Pisteuete has a double meaning; it is an active indicative verb and at the same time an imperative. Both meanings are found in different translations of the text. This study argues that th...

Religious people have objects of worship; and what they do as they worship constitute “religion,” which is the human being’s attempt to relate with deity. This paper is a reading of Acts 17:22-23 through the lenses of Graeco-Roman religion and Ghanaian mother tongue translations of the Bible. The paper compares and analyses how Paul’s description o...

In 1Cor. 6:9-10 Paul gives a warning to those who will not enter into the kingdom of God. Among them are the arsenokoitai. Who are they? Eighteen (18) of the southern Ghana mother-tongue translations of the text were studied. Fifteen (15) of them say the arsenokoitai are “men who have sexual relations with other men,” while two (2) say they are “me...

The study contends that Greek word Kristos should be translated and spelt Klisto in the Dangme New Testament because the Dangme orthography has no “r;” the nearest in sound is “l.” The motivation for the study stemmed from the writer’s exploration of how to make the study of New Testament Greek “boredomless” and relevant to students. Comparing the...

Paul links the concept of the Spirit given to indwell believers with living the Christian life. The Spirit is not only the power of God convincing believers of the truth of the Gospel, and promoting its preaching, but the Spirit is the power of new creation to those who have come to faith in Christ. The believer is expected to rely on the Spirit fo...

Before Jesus died on the cross He made seven statements which can be classified into word – forgiveness (Lk 23:34), salvation (Lk. 23:42, 43), anguish (Matt. 27:48), suffering (Jn. 19:28), victory (Jn 19:30), and commitment (Lk. 23:46). Mainline churches reflect on these words on Good Friday, as a way of commemorating the passion week of Jesus. But...

The problem of suffering is a multifaceted one. It has moral, physical, philosophical, psychological and theological dimensions. Suffering is said to be a moral problem because some belief that it occurs as a result of sin against God and the spirits. Physically, we experience unpleasant things as human beings, thus we suffer. Philosophically the p...

This was part of an ongoing opinion study to determine the relationship between character and employability of entrée graduate applicants. From the results, the ideal expectation for graduate entrée employment should be portrayal of three qualities: academic performance, job skills and disciplined character. However, in a keen competition Students...

The Ebenezer Miracle Worship Centre is one of the largest and growing neo-prophetic movements in Kumasi. Using it as a paradigm for a new strand of Pentecostal Christianity in Ghana which is attracting a considerable number of following because of the prophetic unction on their leaders, the author contends that responding to the call to become a pr...

This paper is the study of the translations of logos in John 1:1 and 14. Traditionally the logos has been translated as the “Word” to conform to Hellenistic and Jewish thoughts. A critical study of the Greek text and some Ghanaian mother-tongue translations of the Prologue of the Gospel of John reveals that, the logos can also be translated as Jesu...

The Pauline imagery of salvation as adoption explains what happens when one expresses faith in Jesus −one becomes an adopted child of God with rights of inheritance. This paper contends that the la pomi rite among the Krobo of Ghana has semblance with the concept of adoption used by Paul in his letters. According to the letters when a person believ...

Matt 5:2 has been translated. A study of the text in 18 Ghanaian mother-tongue translations of the Bible, from six languages in southern Ghana revealed that nine of the translations rendered the verse as it is in the Greek New Testament; nine have to omit a phrase, anoixas to stoma auto "he open his mouth" because it is culturally irrelevant to the...

A cursory reading of Romans 13:1 and 1Peter 2:13 shows that they are talking about the same issue-recognizing, showing honour and respect for people in authority. However, a deeper study of the texts shows that even though the talk about the same issue, the contexts in which they were written differ, thus a study of the contexts gives deeper insigh...

Biblical Studies is the study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. It seeks to determine the meaning of the biblical books or given passages, especially as intended by the biblical writers for their addressees. Biblical Studies over the past few centuries have been categorized into three broad areas. First, there are those that locate th...

There is a scholarly debate as to what in 1 Cor 12:1 really means. As a result, the phrase has been rendered in various ways: 'spiritual things'; 'spiritual gifts'; 'spiritual persons'; 'spiritual manifestations'. In this paper the writer contends that in 1 Cor 12:1 can be translated creatively as 'spiritually-gifted persons'. This rendering has a...

The translation of 'kephalē,' 1 (head) in Ephesians 5:22-23 in the New Testament of the 'Ngmami Klôuklôu ô,'-the Dangme Bible 2-to mean, '… huno ô ngε yo ô nô he wami,' (…the husband has authority over the wife), has come under criticism by many Dangme Bible readers, especially women, because it is too patriarchal. Apart from making women in genera...

Tel.: +233 (0) 244 564 079 +233 (0) 208 093 350 ABSTRACT Biblical Studies is an academic discipline in the sense that it involves a rigorous scientific study of the Bible that leads to a systematic evolution of new knowledge criticized by academic departments or faculties in universities and colleges, and in academic journals where such researches...

The need for the translation of the Scriptures into the vernacular to enable people read the bible in their mother-tongues started in the third century BC in the ancient city of Alexandria in Egypt. Since the first mother-tongue translation-from Hebrew to Greek-many vernacular translations have been done. As of 2009, Bible Agencies in Ghana have tr...

‘Be subject to the governing authorities’ (Rom. 13:1) has been the subject of discussion by scholars for centuries. Different interpretations have been given. The interpreters used mainly two traditional methods of biblical hermeneutics to interpret the text namely: (1) Historical critical methodologies which locate the meaning of a biblical text b...

In contemporary times the relationship between sin and forgiveness is a problem in Christian Communities. This article explores this problem in relation to the translation of the rendering of forgiveness to the Dangme people of Southern Ghana. The translation in the Ngmami Klouklou o (Dangme Bible) of forgiveness has led to people feeling continual...

This paper surveys some of the interpretations of mais gunaikos andra, normally translated as "husband of one wife" in 1Timothy 3:2a, one of the qualifications of an aspiring candidate to the office of an elder/bishop. The writer gives a background to the situation in the church at Ephesus when Paul wrote 1Timothy 3:1-16, the pericope of the text u...

The Dangme are a people group comprising eight tribes found in the Greater-Accra and Eastern Regions of Ghana. The Bible has been translated into Dangme. One of the texts in the New Testament of the Dangme translations of the Bible that poses a hermeneutical challenge is Matthew 6:12. The Dangme translation of the verse literally means that God "lo...

Scripture Union Ghana, the Evangelical Christian Organization in Ghana which started as a schools and Bible study movement in the early 1950s has since the early 1970s, grown beyond the boundaries of traditional evangelicalism into a hybrid-an evangelico-charismatic movement-as a result of Spiritual gifts influence and emphasis on deliverance from...

In the Gospels the concept of forgiveness is discussed in relation to the Son of Man who has power to forgive sins and the community of faith who must forgive in order to receive God's forgiveness. Sin and forgiveness is the main emphasis of Jesus in Matthew 6:12. However, the reading of the text in the some Ghanaian mother-tongue translations of t...