The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) and the Russian Bible Society (RBS) have released the first complete edition of the Bible in the Buryat language. The text underwent scholarly review at the Buryat State University and the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, according to the IBT website.

This full edition, which includes both the Old and New Testaments, marks the tenth Bible translation into the languages of Russia's indigenous peoples. It follows the previous separate releases of individual biblical books in Buryat. The project is not only significant for the spiritual growth of the Buryat people but also for the preservation and development of their language and culture.

The translation is the culmination of decades of work by well-known Buryat writers, linguists, and theologians. The efforts began in 1975 with a facsimile reprint of Buryat editions of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. In the 1990s, a translation into modern Buryat was initiated, led by prominent figures such as Professor Tsyrendashi Budaev and poet Gunga Chimitov. This extensive process involved translating the Bible from the original Greek, ensuring language comprehension by native speakers, and thorough editorial revisions.

The final publication required meticulous editorial work to standardize terms across all books of the Bible. For example, in the Old Testament, the Buryat term elshen (messenger) was used for "angel," while in the New Testament, elgeemel (sent one) was used to differentiate "apostle" from "angel." This consistency was applied throughout the entire Bible, along with the creation of a comprehensive set of scholarly tools, including biblical glossaries, commentaries, geographic maps, and tables of measures.

The Buryat language, part of the Mongolic language family, adopted the Cyrillic alphabet in 1937. It is spoken in Russia’s Republic of Buryatia, Zabaykalsky Krai, and Irkutsk Oblast by an estimated 318,000 to 369,000 people. In 2005, UNESCO classified Buryat as an endangered language. Despite this, Buryat remains the second official language of Buryatia, with media outlets like the Buryad Unen newspaper and local radio and television broadcasts in the language. Beyond Russia, related Mongolic languages are spoken in regions like Mongolia and Afghanistan.

Photo: A temple in Yugovo, Buryatia / © Alexander Tsilikin / Lori Photobank