2.6 Ntumbuluko - the Bible translators' perspective
2.6.1 The profile of Rev. Mavulule and Priest Nhagumbe and their understanding of ntumbuluko
what they understood by the word ntumbuluko when they used it to translate various concepts in the Bible. In other words, they were not to just describe it, but to explain the reason why they used the word they way they did.
2.6.1 The profile of Rev. Mavulule and Priest Nhagumbe and their understanding of ntumbuluko
The two translators will be presented together because the interview was a group interview in which both participated. The use of information from each will follow the same style as in the case of Dule and Nhanombe, above.
Rev. Victor Zefanias Mavulule was born in 1952, graduated from the United Seminary of Ricatla in 1984, and is an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church in Mozambique. He is a Bible translator in the Txitxopi59 language. Since 2001 he has been a full-time translator and coordinates United Bible Society team of translators in Txitxopi. His field is the New Testament and Greek.
Pe. Jose Chamice Nhagumbe was born in 1954, and is a 1978 graduate of Makere University, Kenya. He was ordained as an Anglican Priest in 1979 and has been a lecturer at the Anglican Theological Seminary since 1979. His field is Greek and he
Due to misspelling by the Portuguese, Txitxopi, the language of Vatxopi, is known in the Mozambican literature as Chope or Chopi, and the people as Chopes (see Feliciano 1998:37,90,469 following Junod). But in Christian literature, especially the Bible, the misspelling is corrected as above. But, in the 1999 Txitxopi New Testament one still notes the Portuguese distortion. The publisher had to call it Txopi to produce equivalence to Chope, rather than spelling the word in its original form.
has been a translator in the Txitxopi language since 1980. Both translators (Mavulule and Nhagumbe) pastor local churches or parishes.
When Pe. Nhagumbe was asked to explain why the new Tsonga bible version (Mahungu la Manene) has a more prominent use of the word ntumbuluko than the others, and why Txitxopi and Gitonga also use ntumbuluko, which seems to be a Tsonga concept, he, as translator, said that they had a problem. The language the'y use is a learned language, from school or church, which does not give one the freedom to express one's thoughts. 'We try hard to find ways to express our thoughts in our own languages. And it is Jesus himself who puts us into this problem by becoming human, taking on our nature and communicating with us' (Nhagumbe 2003, interview). 'We used ntumbuluko [as nature] to demonstrate that it is in human nature that Jesus wants to communicate' (Nhagumbe 2003, interview). Here, Nhagumbe indicates that ntumbuluko was used in order to replace abstract words with clear and expressive ones.
According to Mavulule, when we speak of ntumbuluko I ntumbunuko60: 'it means nature and is related to the originality of things...in my understanding, when one speaks of ntumbuluko is indicating or pointing to what gave origin to everything that exists' (Mavulule 2003, interview). He concluded by saying that all the different ways of writing the word ntumbuluko in all the three Tsonga languages, and in Txitxopi and in Gitonga, are in reference to one and the same concept, which has to do with existence or pre-existance:
Things came to exist because there was pre-existence, which gave existence to all things.
Everything came from nature, they are born and made by that naturality. Then this and that appear, but owing their origin to a beginning, naturality or nature, which we call ntumbuluko.
(Mavulule 2003, interview)
There is variation in the spelling of the word. In Txitxopi it is spelled ntumbunuko and mtumbunuko. In Gitonga is tumbuluko.
When asked to comment on various and opposing uses of the word in the Bible (Jn 1:3; Rm 1:26-27; 8:6,13; 1 Co 11:14 and Hb 1:3), Mavulule says:
There is ambiguity in the above verses. In a positive sense ntumbuluko, is about existence; it promotes life and health, and guarantees the acceptable in everything when observed. But when ntumbuluko is not observed, it will punish the disobedient. One will be under punishment [non- natural punishment] for not having observed a certain ntumbuluko code. Here, ntumbuluko produces or originates a negative situation, which is contrary to the acceptable originality that brought things to existence. There is contradiction here. Ntumbuluko is a double-edged sword, one is positive, to save, and the other is negative, to punish those who disobey ntumbuluko. But at the same time there is ntumbuluko i.e. the following of which is a contradiction to Christian faith. This way, we find that the positive side of ntumbuluko is in contraction with the will of God. This way, we do not benefit or enjoy the privilege of the positive side that ntumbuluko offers. When we feel we are losing something, we start following even the negative side of ntumbuluko and we reap punishment, curse and death.
(Mavulule 2003, interview)
The two translators criticized what they called external influences in translation, which are very visible in Tsonga (Shangaan). The Txitxopi language exists only in Mozambique and, because of that, the Mozambican people themselves are translating the Bible to Txitxopi. But the translation of the Bible into Tsonga was done 90% in South Africa, according to the Executive Secretary of the United Bible Society of Mozambique. This fact is blamed for the occurrence of non-Tsonga expressions in the Mahungu la Manene text. The two translators say that in Mozambique the new Tsonga version has lost its acceptance in relation to the old version. It is no longer selling as does the old version. The two translators make an appeal saying: 'while serving as translators, theologians and pastors to the people, let us keep in mind the need to find adequate ways of essentially and accessibly transmitting the word of God in the language of the people' (Mavulule 2003, interview).
The next two informants are not professional interpreters working in the Bible Society, but are the "masters" who trained Mavulule in theology and biblical languages (as well as many others now working in the Bible Society, including its Executive Secretary).
2.6.2 The profile of Rev. Simao Chamango and his understanding of ntumbuluko
Rev. Chamango was born in 1935 at Manhica, Maputo and is a Ronga/Shangaan. He has a doctorate honoras causa from Canada. From the 1970s to the 1990s he worked as the Rector of the United Seminary of Ricatla. After retiring from the seminary he became the Synod President for the Presbyterian Church of Mozambique. He has now also retired from the church, but is still lecturing in dogmatics, exegesis and systematic theology, and has also published some chapters in books. He participated in the revision of Tsonga Bible (Mahungu la Manene) in the last two years of that project.
According to Rev. Chamango, the Greek word sarx has several meanings, including
"nature," "flesh" and "human nature." It is this variation that allowed the use of the word ntumbuluko in translating the word sarx. He argues that the use of "nyama"
(flesh) to translate sarx, as in previous translations, imposed a huge problem of understanding for the Tsonga people. This problem was one of the reasons why translators changed from "nyama" to ntumbuluko. However, for Chamango, the problem was not totally solved. The question is how people understand the word itself; 'It is not easy to find an exact meaning and a common understanding' (Chamango 2003, interview). He points out that: 'the difficulty that translation faces here is the absence of a word that is more comprehensible. Either we use one,
"nyama", or the other, "ntumbuluko", but we still need to give an explanation to understand the word ntumbuluko (Chamango 2003, interview).
Any alternative to "nyama" (flesh) needs explanation. The use ntumbuluko in Romans 8 requires explanation in both the old and new version. Ntumbuluko, according to Chamango, appears very negative but, in reality: 'ntumbuluko may not necessarily be negative; it may have a positive meaning; and therefore we need explanation (Chamango 2003, interview). So, for Chamango, ntumbuluko is also abstract and complex, it is not an easy solution. Nonetheless, he agrees that it is a better option than "nyama."
Because of such difficulties in translation, Chamango argues for a close working relationship between translators and theologians. Translation needs a constant update, exchanging archaic words with current ones, such as the case of "nyama" to
"ntumbuluko." With such close relationship between theology and translation, the translators will better handle difficult terms and concepts in keeping up to date with contemporary theological contributions (Chamango 2003, interview).
Chamango proposes a close relationship between translation (translators) and theology (theologians) 'the translators must know what other theologians say' (Chamango 2003, interview). The translators need to be in constant contact with theological development, through studies, debates and publications. To use Bediako's language, one might say that he is saying "theology is the shaper of translation" while
"translation is the shaper of theology." It is theology that dictates the choice of words and terms in the process of translation. But, once the process is completed, the translated text shapes the theology.
Much could be said about this relationship between theology and translation, but we need to give space to the last informant of this category.