twenty-six ways to say "carry"

 
Imagine a small village in southern Mexico. You’re a missionary and you’ve discovered an unreached people group called the Tzeltal people. Your passion is to see these people trust Christ for salvation so you pull out your Bible and read Romans 6:23, "the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." And the people just stare at you. {blink, blink}


And then you remember, of course, you’re in Mexico, what Bible do you need? You need the Spanish Bible. So you pull out your Spanish Bible and read Romanos seis veinte tres. And again the people just stare at you.

They don’t speak Spanish! These people are descendants of the Mayan Indians who speak their own indigenous language called Tzeltal. Not only is there no Bible in the Tzeltal language, there is no writing system for this language.

That’s where Wycliffe Bible Translators step in. That’s what we’ll be doing in Tanzania. Our vision is to see God’s Word accessible to all people in the language that speaks to their heart. Wycliffe missionaries analyze the language, develop a writing system, teach the people to read and write their own language, and equip nationals to translate the Bible.

Back in Mexico, you’re translating the Bible into Tzeltal and you come to John 5:10, Jesus healed a sick man and told him to take his bed and go home, “The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” Notice that little word “carry.” In the Tzeltal language there are 26 different ways to communicate that idea. Let me give you some of them:

> bahel - carry in a container
> q'uech - carry on the shoulder
> cahnuc'tay - carry over the shoulder
> tuch - carry in vertical position
> pich' - carry an animal by the scruff of the neck
> ch'et - carry by gripping tightly
> chuy - carry in a bag
> lic - carry something dangling
> nop' - carry with the fingers
> lats' - carry under the arm
> lat' - carry on a plate
> yom - carry different objects together

And that’s not even half of them!  Which word will you choose in John 5?

Can you think of other Bible verses with the verb “carry?”

Mark 15:21, A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.

Luke 14:27, And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

II Cor 4:10, always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

I Tim 6:7, For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

Which word will you choose? Can you feel the immense responsibility of Bible translation? Do you see the importance and the value of Bible translation?

Please pray for us. We cannot do this alone. We need your help. In Tanzania, we will be working with mother-tongue speakers from nine languages, equipping them to translate God's Word.  Pray for wisdom, knowledge, and discernment.