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**List: Rarotonga Ministry the Bible ( te
Bibilia )
RAROTONGAN.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: n.d. John 1:1-14 unknown.] |
Rarotonga Bible History (3)
**List: Rarotonga Ministry
the Bible ( te Bibilia )
Rarotonga...
RAROTONGAN. "RAROTONGA, the largest and most important of the Hervey Islands, lies between five and six hundred
miles west of Tahiti, in lat. 21° 20' S., and long. 160° W. It was discovered by the Rev. John Williams
of the London My. Society, in 1823. It is about thirty miles in circumference, and its inhabi-
tants twenty years ago numbered between 6000 and 7000. Its present population does not exceed
3500. The language of Rarotonga prevails throughout the other six islands of the Hervey group, the
collective population of which may amount to 12,000 or 13,000: it also extends to the Maniki group,
and as far as the Gambler Islands. It resembles the dialect of New Zealand more closely than any
other, its chief distinguishing peculiarity being the rejection of the letter h; but in many instances itsoftens some of the harder articulations of the New Zealand dialect; and thus appears in closer affinity
--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only: priests?]
to the more simple Tahitian and Marquesan idioms. It is also so similar to the Tahitian that, when
the mies. first visited the Hervey Islands, they endeavoured for three years to convey Christian
instruction to the natives through the medium of the Tahitian language; but a distinct version of the
Scriptures was afterwards ascertained to be necessary for each group.
The preparation of the Rarotonga version mainly devolved on the Rev. John Williams, aided by
Messrs. Pitman and Buzacott of the London My. Society. The work occupied five years, and
underwent five several revisions by each translator; Mr. Williams, who had laboured eighteen years
among the Polynesian islanders, being the final umpire. Much assistance was received from the native
chiefs and priests who had been converted to Christianity, particularly from a chief named Pa, who
evinced great judgment and discrimination in the proper selection of terms. Where no native word
could be obtained exactly corresponding in signification with the original, a Polynesian inflection was
given to the Greek or English word; but, in general, the character of the Rarotonga dialect admitted
of a very close and literal adherence to the text. The translation was made from the Tahitian version;
but the original texts and the principal commentators were diligently consulted. The Gospel of
St. John and the Epistle to the Galatians were printed in 1830; and in 1836 an edition of 5000 copies
of the New Testament was published in London under the superintendence of the Rev. John Williams,
and at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This was followed in 1842 by a second
edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament, printed at the expense of the same Society. In 1840,
funds were granted by this Society towards printing portions of the Old Testament: the book of Genesis
and the Psalms were printed in 1845, and the remaining books were at the same period in a state of
preparation for the press. But in a devastating storm which occurred the following year, the chapels,
school-houses, and dwelling-houses of these islands were laid in ruins, the MSS. of the version were
defaced, and the progress of the edition greatly retarded. Shortly after the catastrophe, Mr. Buzacott
returned to England for the purpose of printing the edition of the Old Testament in London. For
seven years he had been engaged, in concert with the other mies., in a careful revision of the
Rarotonga version; and on his arrival in London he devoted his time to the prosecution of the
same work, under the valuable superintendence of the Rev. Thomas Meller. An edition of 5000 copies
of the entire Scriptures, from this revised version, was completed in 1851, at the expense of the British
and Foreign Bible Society. In 1852, Mr. Buzacott was enabled to return to Rarotonga (after an absence
of more than five years) carrying with him this invaluable supply of the revealed Word. The ardent
delight manifested by the islanders of Rarotonga and other members of the Hervey group, at the arrival
of the my. ship "John Williams," which bore the precious freight, is described in affecting and
interesting terms by those who witnessed it. A subsequent edition of 5000 copies was rendered necessary
in 1854, so eagerly had the Rarotongan islanders availed themselves of the means afforded them for
becoming acquainted with the Word of Life. This second edition is now in course of circulation.
The good effects of reading this version have already appeared. The change thereby produced
in the state and character of the natives of Rarotonga has been thus described by the martyred Williams:
--"In 1823 I found them all heathens; in 1834 they were all professing Christians. At the former
period I found them with idols and maraes; these, in 1834, were destroyed. I found them without a
written language, and left them reading in their own tongue the wonderful works of God.""RAROTONGAN.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: n.d. John 1:1-14 unknown.]
[Christian Helps Ministry (USA)] [Christian Home Bible Course]