Research Description
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religious Studies, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Author
Jonathan Edward Tetteh Kuwornu-Adjaottor
This article is hosted on the Noyam Research Archive with permission from the author.
Date Added to the Noyam Research Archive
Monday, 5th October, 2020
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: Ngɔɔ wa tɔmi ɔmε kε pa wɔ… [Lend us our wrong-doings…] (Matt 6:12); … Mumi Klɔuklɔu ɔ tsε e yi se …[ the Holy Spirit pushed the head from behind…] (Mark 1:12); and Kεkε nε Yesu de mε ke, “Kuasiahi …” [Then Jesus said to them, “Fools…] (Luke 24:25). Exegesis of the Greek texts; and semantic analysis of the texts in Dangme, found out that: An alternative translation of Matt 6:12 in the Dangme as Ne o kε wa tɔmi ɔmε nε ke wɔ [And let go our wrong-doings] will help readers understand forgiveness as “letting go” the offence of an offender, without keeping any record of the offence. The rendering of Mark 1:12 as Mumi Klɔuklɔu ha nε e ho nga a nɔ ya [The Holy Spirit permitted him to go to the wilderness], will clear the confusion in the minds of Dangme Bible readers who do not understand how the Holy Spirit could “push” Jesus into the wilderness. The alternative translation of Luke 24:25 with the phrase Oo nyε juεmi he jɔ, (your mind has become cold) reduces the degrading tone of kuasia which etymology means “a good for nothing person”, “an un-respected person”, “a worthless person.” The significance of the research is that it has evolved alternative translations and interpretations of Matt 6:12, Mark 1:12, and Luke 24:25 for the Dangme Bible reading communities; the researcher has thus started a discussion that other scholars will join.
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©2018 Jonathan Edward Tetteh Kuwornu-Adjaottor
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