Just recently, St. Pauls Online published a ‘New Testament Bible – Pinoy Version’ with scriptures translated to Taglish, a combination of Filipino and English and a common language in today’s time. However, the post has drawn attention to many, including the outrage of some.
Here is an excerpt of their promotional post:
“Sa bersiyon na ito, ginamitan ng Taglish o pinagsamang Tagalog at English ang mga berso. Bukod pa riyan, ginamitan din ng mga napapanahong salita para mas maging relevant at interesting sa audience at lalong lalo na sa mga kabataan para mas maintindihan nila ang salita ng Diyos.” – excerpt from the promotional social media post of St Pauls online.
The post also included examples of some translated scriptures:
After ilang minutes, may nakapansin ulit kay Peter at sinabi sa kanya, ‘Isa ka sa mga kasamahan nila.’ Pero sumagot si Peter, “Hindi po ako ‘yun, sir!” After one hour, may lalaking nag-insist, “Sure ako, kasama ni Jesus ang taong ito, kasi taga-Galilea din sya.” (Luke 22:58-59)
“Sobrang na-shock ako sa inyo. Ang dali n’yo namang tinalikuran ang Diyos. Imagine, sobrang bait n’ya at pinadala n’ya si Christ sa atin. Ang Diyos mismo ang pumili sa inyo, tapos ngayon, ine-entertain n’yo ang ibang Gospel?” (Galatians 1:6)
The book is said to cost Php 145.
Here are some comments of netizens, outraged by some of the translations.
“I am disappointed St Pauls Online. This should not even be published,” states netizen Amiel Robby Relox. Meanwhile, netizen Migel Dela Vega comments “I hope the CBCP will look into this. I understand the need to bring the Word of God across everyone in every generation, but not at the expense of sacrificing the richness and contextual meaning of scriptures as translated from the original languages. Language is an important factor in understanding the Bible, translating it however into modern language or everyday speech is not a good idea. Please reconsider the implications.”
