In 1851, the Book of Mormon was published in Danish, the first time it had been translated into a language other than English. Since 1830, the book — or selections therefrom — has been published in 100 languages, including the recently completed American Sign Language with the Book of Mormon on 15 videocassettes.
Moreover, considering that the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are published in 38 languages, it is clear that the scriptures that have come forth in the latter-day dispensation are filling the earth. Last year the Book of Mormon was first published in Estonian, Igbo, Latvian, Armenian East, Lithuanian, Amharic and Xhosa, names which might be unfamiliar to many Church members. That gives an idea of the book's widespread penetration.
Translation of the scriptures has a unique set of challenges and procedures, said David Frischknecht, managing director of the Translation Department of the Church.
"The work is directed from headquarters and not from the area offices. The Scriptures Committee monitors very carefully the various stages of the translation of the scriptures, applying a series of quality-assurance checks on the various chapters and verses," he said.
"The scriptures translation undergoes a step that non-scriptural materials don't, and that is what we call ecclesiastical review." Under ecclesiastical review, a committee is called by the General Authorities and set apart to review the scriptures translation and assure its doctrinal acceptability before it is printed. Committee members are native speakers in the language of the translation with ability in English and a wealth of ecclesiastical and doctrinal background and experience.
There is safety in having so many worthy Church members involved in scriptures translation, said Kai Andersen, who oversees development, production and distribution of Church materials in the languages worldwide. He sees in it an application of the general principle of councils in the Church, whereby a group of individuals receives inspiration from the Lord and apply their collective talents, wisdom and mutual support to the task at hand.
Brother Andersen's purview includes seeing to the publication of the translated version of the scriptures.
Most of the typesetting is done by members of the Church Graphics Division staff of the Curriculum Department in Salt Lake City. With some of the newer translations, that can present a particular challenge. For example, the first full-book printing of the Book of Mormon in the Urdu language will be in the proof-reading stage soon. Most typesetting from Urdu is done from long-hand characters written by calligraphers. "But we're attempting to do it on computer," Brother Andersen said. "So this is something new and exciting. It will take a little while, but we're getting there."
When scriptures are to be translated into a given language, one question concerns which of the existing Bible versions in that language is to be used uniformly by Church members in their study, teaching and worship. The Translation Department is assigned the task of recommending the Bible version to be used, a decision which must be made early on so that translators can use it for their own reference in translating the other materials of the Church.
Another task in translation of the scriptures is providing study aids to accompany the translations. Earlier editions might include what is called the "Reference Guide," an eight-page compilation of scriptural references arranged topically. Later editions would contain the "Guide to the Scriptures," comprising about 300 pages of scriptural references combined with explanatory material, all arranged topically from both the English "Topical Guide" and "Bible Dictionary."