Lament and HOPE
Dear Family and friends,
Among the Old Testament books which our team has worked on this year has been the book of Lamentations, a book written by the prophet Jeremiah after the city of Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 B.C. It mourns the horrors of the very tragic fall in a vivid, eloquent, heart-wrenching way. While the book is quite poetic in nature, it has a very heavy, dirge-like feel.
You probably know that the process of Bible Translation, has many levels of careful checking. Pais Asesfi drafted the book of Lamentations in 2014. In 2015 Martin Ases and Steven Dazim both had a hand in doing basic checked, editing for smoothness, and spell checking the draft. In April 2016 our exegetical checking team – Robin Namai, Pais Asefi and I carefully checked through every aspect of the book for accuracy and faithfulness. In June 2016 Francis Dagonov and a team of Aruamu checkers did comprehension and naturalness checking. At this point the back-translation into English has been completed and in the hands of PBT consultant Jill Riepe, who is carefully comparing that with the original Hebrew. Later this month Jill and a team of Aruamus will do the final consultant check on the book.
One of the poetic aspects of Lamentations is that in Hebrew the first word of the primary sections of each chapters begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. As the Aruamu team has worked on this book, the Aruamu translators came up with the idea of doing that with the Aruamu translation of Lamentation. They are thinking that it is interesting to give Aruamu readers this flavor of Hebrew poetic style.
Pais Asefi is saying that he wants to do the recording of Lamentations in the style of the Aruamu mourning wail/chant – a very haunting chant that is performed at every Aruamu time of mourning. Pais wants to record Aruamu women wailing, and have that faded in at certain points in the recording.
On remarkable insight that the Aruamus have had in working through the translation of this book, is that in the midst of the deep sorrow expressed throughout this book, right in the center of it, at the peak point in the text there is a bold, comforting message of HOPE:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end!
They are new every morning.
How great is your faithfulness!
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24
As each of us counts our blessings this Thanksgiving season, may this message of HOPE bless each of us. Thank you SO much for your partnership and prayers in bringing this message of HOPE to the Aruamus.
In Christ,
Marsha Relyea Miles
(For Nathan, as well)
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You are invited to partner financially in Bible Translation ministry. You can give online at the link below to my ministry, and also to the Aruamu Translation Fund, or Aruamu Scripture Printing Fund:
https://pioneerbible.org/give/MarshaRelyeaMiles
(Of course, the normal “check” method list below works great, as well. Gifts to assist with bringing Aruamu translators to the US this next year may be made to the Aruamu Translation Fund.)
