{"id":44493,"date":"2022-11-09T14:30:42","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T05:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=44493"},"modified":"2022-11-10T09:56:21","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T00:56:21","slug":"vomk-report-228","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2022\/11\/09\/vomk-report-228\/","title":{"rendered":"VOMK RELEASES NEW JOHN ROSS BIBLE \u201cREADER\u2019S EDITION\u201d GOSPEL OF LUKE"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”44500″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea, an NGO which serves persecuted Christians worldwide, announced the official release of its new John Ross Bible \u201cReader\u2019s Edition\u201d Gospel of Luke at a press conference at its Jongneung office today. Reporters were treated to a celebratory lunch of North Korean noodles prepared by some of Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s North Korean defector students.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]2022 marks the 140-year anniversary of the release of the first portion of scripture ever translated into the Korean language: Missionary John Ross\u2019 Gospel of Luke, first published in 1882 and smuggled into Korea from <\/span>Moukden<\/span>, China (today\u2019s Shenyang).\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The Ross Bible is how the voice of Christ first came to ordinary Korean people<\/span>,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley<\/span>. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Ordinary Korean people deserve to hear that voice again today. <\/span>The Ross Bible was completed before the Korean language was standardized<\/span>, so in <\/span>its original form it is not readable by modern Koreans.<\/span> The new John Ross Bible \u2018Reader\u2019s Edition\u2019 Gospel of Luke <\/span>updates the text direction, w<\/span>ord order, <\/span>letters, <\/span>grammar, and spelling <\/span>so that modern readers can read it easily and understand it <\/span>fully<\/span>.<\/span> It retains the full original wording <\/span>and <\/span>adds simple<\/span> notes to briefly and clearly explain unfamiliar vocabulary.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Ross Bible \u201cReader\u2019s Edition\u201d Gospel of Luke is <\/span>printed <\/span>in <\/span>the same size <\/span>and shape <\/span>as the original<\/span> version<\/span>, in a convenient <\/span>and <\/span>durable paperback format<\/span>. \u201cThis reader\u2019s edition is designed<\/span> for easy<\/span>, frequent<\/span> reading<\/span> and for tossing in your backpack to read on the subway<\/span>,<\/span> not for being displayed in a museum,\u201d says Representative Foley. <\/span>The Ross Bible \u201cReader\u2019s Edition\u201d Gospel of Luke is available for <\/span>10,000 KRW <\/span>at vomkorea.com <\/span><\/a>or by phone <\/span>at<\/span> 0<\/span>2<\/span>–<\/span>2065-0703<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Ross Bible Reader\u2019s Edition Gospel of Luke is the first of three Ross Bible versions Voice of the Martyrs Korea will be releasing over the next <\/span>two <\/span>year<\/span>s<\/span>. <\/span>The organization is currently working on a<\/span> Luke\/John\/Acts trilogy edition <\/span>for publication <\/span>in <\/span>mid-<\/span>2023 and a full Ross New Testament \u201cContemporary Reader\u2019s Edition\u201d <\/span>for publication <\/span>in 2024.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”44487″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Voice of the Martyrs CEO Pastor Eric Foley says the goal of the publication of the Ross Bible is for <\/span>Koreans both north and south to be able to <\/span>experience the spiritual power <\/span>of the original Korean Bible translation<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Korean Christians <\/span>are able to<\/span> read the Bible in a large number and variety of translations. Sadly, the one Bible that <\/span>has <\/span>not <\/span>been <\/span>available for them to read is the Bible that has been called the foundation of the Korean Church,\u201d <\/span>says<\/span> Pastor Foley. \u201cThe Ross Bible was for <\/span>the first <\/span>two decades <\/span>of Korean Christianity <\/span>the only Hangul New Testament available to Koreans<\/span>. It<\/span> was the Bible of the Korean church during its <\/span>formative period<\/span>, and it left a permanent imprint on the Korean church in the form of a church that is Bible-centered and lay-driven. God used the Ross Bible powerfully to impart the saving <\/span>knowledge of Jesus Christ to the first generation of Korean Christians even before missionaries arrived in Korea.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]According to Pastor Foley, previous <\/span>republications of the Ross Bible have focused on use <\/span>in commemorative displays or <\/span>study <\/span>by <\/span>trained <\/span>scholars, not ordinary <\/span>Bible <\/span>readers. \u201c<\/span>Our project is designed to more closely mirror the original one<\/span>,\u201d says Pastor Foley. \u201c<\/span>Then and now, the Ross Bible has always been the work of <\/span>o<\/span>rdinary North Koreans, assisted by missionaries, <\/span>to <\/span>put the New Testament in an inexpensive paperback book format that ordinary Koreans can read. <\/span>Though the work is meticulously done and documented, in the Reader\u2019s Edition itself there <\/span>are n<\/span>o <\/span>complicated <\/span>footnotes, no scholarly comments, no fancy printing or binding. Just the words of life, expressed in ordinary Korean words through the work of ordinary North Korean people who are learning to follow Christ.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”44488″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Respect for the Ross translation has continued to grow over the years. Richard Rutt of the British and Foreign Bible Society wrote, \u201cThe best piece of [Bible] translation work so far done in Korean was Ross\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor Foley said that his organization\u2019s work in creating a \u201ccontemporary reader\u2019s version\u201d of the Ross Bible has given the participants in the project a deep appreciation for how sophisticated Ross\u2019 translation process was. \u201cMissionary Ross and his team may not have been professional Bible translators,\u201d says Pastor Foley, \u201cBut when you read the detailed documentation of the <\/span>steps<\/span> they went through to ensure both the accuracy and the understandability of the translation, it\u2019s clear that they had a professional process. And when you look at how the Ross translation fundamentally shaped the character of the Korean church, it\u2019s clear that the process was guided by the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor Foley<\/span> says that his own motivation for participating in the project comes from a desire to see that spirit return to the Korean church. \u201cMissionary Ross had absolute trust in the sufficiency of scripture to reveal Christ fully. There\u2019s a great story about Yi Song Ha, one of the earliest colporteurs, when he was trying to smuggle Bibles into Korea. He was staying at an inn on the border, and the innkeeper reported to the authorities that he had these books. <\/span>So<\/span> Yi had to quickly burn some of the books and then throw the rest in the Yalu River. He was sad and embarrassed to tell this to Missionary Ross. But Missionary Ross responded, \u2018Whoever then drinks the waters of the Yalu or lives in the houses on which fall the ashes of burning Bibles will believe in Christ!\u2019 And Ross was right: Christianity spread up and down the banks of the Yalu. Now, with Korean Christianity in decline, we need to recover Missionary Ross\u2019 trust in the word of God. We hope the publication of the \u2018Contemporary Reader\u2019s Edition\u2019 can accomplish that goal.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor Foley says that he has had the goal of publishing a reader\u2019s edition since starting Voice of the Martyrs Korea twenty years ago, but that he and his wife and ministry co-founder Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley found that it was a project that professional translators and publishers were reluctant to undertake. \u201c<\/span>Some<\/span> told us there would be little popular interest in the book. Others told us that it might be too controversial to publish it. But to me, when I see Korean Christians reading the Message Bible or the Living Bible or some of the other popular new translations, how can it be that the only place to see a Ross Bible is in a museum and the only people who can read it are scholars of early Korean writings? The Ross Bible is how the voice of Christ first came to ordinary Korean people. Ordinary Korean people <\/span>deserve to hear that voice again today, exactly as it first sounded\u2014or as close to how it first sounded as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”44489″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Pastor Foley, undertaking the project has required assembling a team and process <\/span>similar to<\/span> Ross\u2019. \u201cWe have foreign missionaries and bilingual staff who <\/span>are able to<\/span> read Ross and McIntyre\u2019s English language notes in order to help track down why certain words or phrases were used. We have people who can look at the Chinese versions that Ross\u2019 team used, which is necessary for solving certain translation puzzles.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]But Pastor Foley says that the core members of the team are Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s North Korean students and constituents. \u201cSince the Ross translation was originally done by Koreans from the north and west parts of the country, ordinary North Koreans of today actually can better understand some of the dialect and vocabulary than professional South Korean translators can.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor Foley says that the Ross Bible project has become the entire curriculum of both of Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s schools for North Korean defectors this year, just as it was for the North Koreans who came to Ross and McIntyre. \u201cNow that we\u2019ve been doing the project for a while, it\u2019s easy to see why Missionary Ross discipled North Koreans by having them translate. Many of our North Korean students get completely absorbed in the work of updating the translation,\u201d says Pastor Foley. \u201cThey will work intensely all day and into the evening without taking a break. It\u2019s been the most effective form of ministry we\u2019ve ever done with North Koreans. Missionary McIntyre wrote that during the translation process, his role was mainly to sit back and listen. That\u2019s been our experience, too.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Pastor Foley added, \u201cI believe God has given North Koreans a particular anointing or gift or connection related to the Ross Bible. One of our North Korean students attends a North Korean defector congregation at a South Korean church. Some of the church members were skeptical about the project. <\/span>So<\/span> she stood up in front of the leaders and passionately shared with them <\/span>how she encountered God in translating the Bible<\/span>,<\/span> and <\/span>how important the project is to both North Koreans and South Koreans.<\/span> There were South Koreans <\/span>there <\/span>who <\/span>heard her, and they <\/span>clapped <\/span>enthusiastically. One said, \u2018<\/span>I have never heard any testimonies like this one before.<\/span>\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”44490″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Pastor Foley emphasized that creating a \u201cContemporary Reader\u2019s Version\u201d of the Ross Bible is hard work. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to explain how long it takes, and how challenging it is for the participants,\u201d says Pastor Foley. \u201cThe Ross Bible was done before the standardization of the Korean language, so the text represents every word phonetically. You <\/span>have to<\/span> sound out the word, figure out what it is, write it out, figure out how it is written today, figure out what the whole sentence is, figure out what words are obsolete, research those\u2014literally every sentence is a challenge. But it drives all of us further into the text, and like our North Korean student said, that\u2019s where you meet God.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Voice of the Marytrs Korea offered samples of the Ross Bible Gospel of Luke compared to the Korean Revised Version.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 5:5<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(KRV\/<\/span>\uac1c\uc5ed\uac1c\uc815<\/span>) <\/span>\u201d\uc2dc\ubaac\uc774<\/span> \ub300\ub2f5\ud558\uc5ec<\/span> \uc774\ub974\ub418<\/span> \uc120\uc0dd\ub2d8<\/span> \uc6b0\ub9ac\ub4e4\uc774<\/span> \ubc24\uc774<\/span> \uc0c8\ub3c4\ub85d<\/span> \uc218\uace0\ud558\uc600\uc73c\ub418<\/span> \uc7a1\uc740<\/span> \uac83\uc774<\/span> \uc5c6\uc9c0\ub9c8\ub294<\/span> \ub9d0\uc500\uc5d0<\/span> \uc758\uc9c0\ud558\uc5ec<\/span> \ub0b4\uac00<\/span> \uadf8\ubb3c\uc744<\/span> \ub0b4\ub9ac\ub9ac\uc774\ub2e4<\/span> \ud558\uace0\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(Ross Contemporary Readers Version) <\/span>\u201d\uc2dc\ubaac\uc774<\/span> \uac00\ub85c\ub418<\/span> \uc601\uac10<\/span> \uc6b0\ub9ac<\/span> \uc885\uc57c\ub97c<\/span> \uc785\ubd80<\/span>(<\/span>\uc218\uace0<\/span>)<\/span>\uace0<\/span> \uc5bb\uc740<\/span> \ubc14<\/span> \uc5c6\uc73c\ub098<\/span> \uc601\uac10\uc758<\/span> \ub9d0\ub85c\uc368<\/span> \uadf8\ubb3c\uc744<\/span> \uce58\ub9ac\ub77c<\/span> \ud558\uace0\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 22:7<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(KRV\/<\/span>\uac1c\uc5ed\uac1c\uc815<\/span>) <\/span>\u201c\uc720\uc6d4\uc808<\/span> \uc591\uc744<\/span> \uc7a1\uc744<\/span> \ubb34\uad50\uc808\ub0a0\uc774<\/span> \uc774\ub978\uc9c0\ub77c\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(Ross Contemporary Readers Version) <\/span>\u201c\ub204\ub975\uae08\ud558\ub294<\/span> \ub0a0\uc774<\/span> \uc624\ub2c8<\/span> \ub118\ub294\uc808<\/span> \uc591<\/span> \uc7a1\ub294<\/span> \ub54c\ub77c\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In addition to distribution in South Korea through the VOMK website and phone orders, Pastor Foley says Voice of the Martyrs Korea is already at work distributing the new Ross Bible Gospel of Luke in North Korea and wherever North Koreans are found.\u00a0 \u201cFor the security of our colporteurs and our intended recipients, we are not able to specify the routes, the means, or the quantities, but we have made sure that North Koreans, the original readers of the Ross Bible, were the first to receive this new Reader\u2019s Edition.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ross Bible \u201cReader\u2019s Edition\u201d Gospel of Luke is available for 10,000 KRW at www.vomkorea.com <\/span><\/a>or by phone at 02-2065-0703.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”44500″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Voice of the Martyrs Korea, an NGO which serves persecuted Christians worldwide, announced the official release of its new John Ross Bible \u201cReader\u2019s Edition\u201d Gospel of Luke …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":44501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44493"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44508,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44493\/revisions\/44508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}