James Thomson:
Forerunner of present-day Bible Translation
Bill Mitchell
James Thomson [2] was born in 1788 in the small port of Creetown in south-west Scotland. Growing up in a community where seafaring activities provided one of the main sources of income, young James took a lively interest in other countries. Troops on their way to Ireland passed through the town. The Customs officials were locked in a constant struggle with French smugglers. From the nearby port of Kirkcudbright emigrants left for America, Canada and New Zealand. Thomson grew up in a home where education and the Bible went hand-in-hand; his father was the local "dominie" or schoolmaster, and for many years the clerk of the "kirk session" in the local Presbyterian church. In later years Thomson saw these two elements—Bible and education—as the key to helping newly-independent nations.
From his home town Thomson went on to study in Glasgow and Edinburgh, studying theology after an initial interest in medicine. It is in Edinburgh that we first find evidence of his interest in languages. During the Napoleonic Wars seventy French officials were imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. Thomson's pastoral work led him to visit them regularly and to help as an interpreter.
In 1817, by then co-pastor with James Haldane in the city’s Leith Walk Tabernacle, James’ brother Robert Haldane invited him to join him in missionary activities in Montauben in France. Thomson began his preparation for France: "I did my daily Bible reading out loud from the French Bible". The plan to go to France did not work out, and instead he turned his attention to South America. In 1818 he sailed for Buenos Aires, with the plan of serving Jesus Christ through the distribution of the Scriptures and the development of public education in the young republics of the New World. In Edinburgh his colleagues and friends had been involved in the introduction of Gaelic Schools in the Highlands, in which the Gaelic Scriptures were the principal text. News of the success of these schools strengthened him in his resolve.
The success of his efforts in Argentina and Chile resulted in a request in 1822 from General José de San Martin, leader of the forces fighting for independence in Peru, to set up schools there too. Once in Lima Thomson quickly became aware of the large Quechua-speaking element in the population. Since the Bible was central to his whole educational philosophy and mission, he lost little time in looking for ways to translate the Bible into that language. He also explored the possibility of translation into Aymara and Mochica.
Despite the difficulties caused by the war of independence, Thomson formed a team of five people to translate the New Testament to Quechua. Four were members of the new Peruvian Congress, and the translator was a "lineal descendant of the last Inca king". The work was completed in 1824, but before it could be printed the Spanish forces unexpectedly regained control of Lima. The translators had to flee. Conditions in the capital grew steadily worse, until Thomson had no alternative but to abandon the city. After a fruitless attempt to link up with the translators in the northern coastal town of Trujillo, he entrusted the New Testament to a friend, on the understanding that it would be printed in Lima once independence had been won. Unfortunately the manuscript was lost.[3]
On his return to England Thomson continued his Andean interests. In 1825 he had a providential meeting in London with the exiled Bolivian and former priest, Vicente Pazos Kanki, part of a group of Latin American émigrés then in London. Pazos had spoken Quechua and Aymara from early childhood, and for a time had taught Quechua in the University of Cuzco in Peru. He responded enthusiastically to Thomson's proposal that he translate the New Testament to Aymara. Using the Latin Vulgate text as his base, he completed the task by the end of 1826. Luke's Gospel was published in London in 1828, the first Gospel to appear in a South American language. In 1830 Pazos translated the book of Psalms to Quechua.
Meanwhile Thomson and his wife had traveled to Mexico in 1827. While attempting to distribute Spanish Scriptures there, Thomson was also deeply concerned for the needs of the indigenous peoples of that country. Indeed, prior to leaving for Mexico he wrote:
"I go fraught with a sacred treasure, with some thousands of copies of the Holy Scriptures. Besides circulating these, which are nearly all in the Spanish language, I am commissioned to procure translations of the Scriptures into the native languages of that country, and which are still spoken there by some millions of the inhabitants".[4]
He investigated their situation, and in his letters there are references to the Mexican (i.e Nahuatl), Mixteco, Maya, Otomi, Tarasco (i.e. Purépecha) and Zapoteco languages. Thomson tried to begin New Testament translation into Nahuatl, and in this he sought help from such significant figures as the Bishop of Puebla, Msr. José Antonio Pérez, and Dr. José María Luis Mora (thought by many to be "the father of modern Mexico"). Thomson hoped to introduce this into schools as the main textbook and so help in the development of the indigenous people. Unfortunately the religious and political situation of the time did not favour such an initiative, and he left Mexico in 1830 with his dream unfulfilled. However his hope was not completely frustrated, thanks to the persistence of Dr. Mora, Luke's Gospel in Nahuatl was published in 1833.[5] Although frustrated that his work in Mexico at that time had not produced greater results, he later understood that he had been part of a process which led to the translation from French and publication of a Latin-Spanish edition of the Biblia de Vence in 1831.
While in the interior of Venezuela in 1832 he was moved by the needs of the Yaruro/Pumé people and cited them to BFBS as an example of the many groups who required the Scriptures. As he pursued Bible work in the Caribbean area (1832-8), he planned a trip to the Yucatan peninsula, "in part to obtain a translation of one of the Gospels into Maya". In his travels in the Antilles Thomson was deeply moved by the situation of the slave population, and shared their joy on Emancipation Day in the British colonies on August 1st. 1834. His work on their behalf can be summed up in two words: Bible and education. In Cuba he was closely interrogated and almost imprisoned on the charge of distributing Bibles to foment a slave uprising. While organising the distribution of French New Testaments in the schools and barracks of Haiti, he wrote to the Bible Society in London recommending the translation of the Scriptures to the French "patois" spoken by the majority of the population.
In 1838 Thomson moved to Canada to help organise Bible work there. He involved himself in the distribution of Scriptures in English, French and Gaelic, and once again returned to his concern for the indigenous population. In 1832 in the Caribbean he had organised the first Bible Society amongst the slave population, in 1839 he did the same thing for an indigenous group, the Chippewa (also known as the Ojibwa). He met with Peter Jones/Kakhewaquonaby, the Chippewa translator, and encouraged him to continue his translation work into Ojibwa. The Gospels of Matthew and John had already been published. Thomson also encouraged translation into the Cree and Abenaki languages.
By late 1842 Thomson was once again in Mexico. One of his aims was to "put into indigenous hands some part of God's holy word in their own tongue". There was already one Gospel in Nahuatl, and he turned his attention to Otomi. He wrote, "I am working hard to find a suitable translator, and I have one in view". At the same time he researched various sources on the Mayan language, which had interested him for some time. He believed that a movement to bring renewal to the whole nation could begin with the indigenous people.
Despite the political upheavals arising from the Yucatan independence struggle, Thomson arrived in the peninsula in October 1843. A short, four-page manuscript of Maya expressions for Biblical terms, held in the Bible Society Collection in Cambridge University, is testimony to Thomson's desire to see Word of God in this ancient language of Mesoamerica. He also presented his ideas on education to the authorities: "The only way which they could be successful in communicating education and all else to these people was by establishing schools among them on the plan of teaching them in their ‘own tongue’". In his discussions with the Secretary of State he urged on him "the duty of doing them [the indigenous people] justice, in seeing that they had their due rights, and were not oppressed by the large proprietors". He added that if those in power did not take care "to see them enjoy justice and fairness, God himself would interpose for them".[6]
While in Chichén in the interior of Yucatán in 1844, Thomson fell seriously ill and Mayans carried him on a litter to Valladolid, the nearest town where medical help was available. He made a slow recovery, nursed back to health by the local priest. The planned translation remained a dream.
Thomson returned to England in late 1844. In 1845 he toured Scotland on behalf of BFBS. To his surprise he found himself under attack from opponents of BFBS on matters related to the Apocrypha (which BFBS had not published in their editions for 20 years). He advised BFBS on the best strategy to adopt. In 1847 he travelled to Madrid with his wife, to a country divided and in turmoil following the death of Fernando VII. As they passed through an area where the wheat harvest was in full swing, he commented, "Oh that we might find in Spain fields ready for a Bible harvest!" Such a harvest implied 'sowing the Scriptures' in various languages.
While planning a visit to San Sebastian in northern Spain he wrote, "I will try to get the Gospel of Luke in the Basque language printed, the translator has just finished revising it". Later he wrote, "I have got a printer to print the Basque St. Luke. The translator is finishing Acts". As he was about to move on to Catalonia, he wrote, "I want to give particular attention to the Catalan New Testament". He met with the Catalan translator in Barcelona, and together they worked out ways of circulating the New Testament. While in Valencia he noted that "people of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, speak a dialect called lemosin" [7]. He distinguished this from Catalan, and thought that it would be good to have "at least a Gospel in this dialect".
During his time in Spain Thomson carried out research on the sources of the famous Complutensian Polyglot Bible of Cardinal Ximénez de Cisneros of the early sixteenth century, published in 1522.[8] In 1847 he discussed Spanish Bible translation prospects with Father Félix Torres Amat--while in Mexico years earlier Thomson had tried (unsucessfully) to persuade BFBS to adopt the Torres Amat translation. While in Valencia en 1848 he visited the tomb of the translator Fr. Felipe Scío de San Miguel.
In 1849 he discussed with his friend Dr Luis de Usoz the possibility of revising the Reina-Valera Spanish Bible. Although it was a protestant version, they thought it could achieve at least as good a circulation as the catholic version of Scío San Miguel [9], which was then in use. In the capital he met regularly with Dr. Garcia Blanco, Professor of Hebrew in the University of Madrid, who had made a new translation of the Psalms, complete with textual critical notes. Thomson thought its publication would mark a new epoch in Spanish scriptures. He recommended that BFBS sponsor a new Spanish translation from the Hebrew and Greek, made by Garcia Blanco and Usoz. He also proposed a revision of the Reina-Valera Bible to update the language--this he thought should be used until the new translation became available.
The harvest Thomson hoped for also included the Jewish and Moslem population, through the distribution of the Hebrew and Judeo-Spanish Scriptures. His visit to North Africa at the end of 1847 led him to recommend Bible translation into what he termed "African Arabic".
Unfortunately, as he sadly noted when he left Spain in 1849, the time was not ripe for him to achieve his goals--his activities had led him more than once into troubles with the authorities. Nevertheless, he did not forget Spain, and in Britain he worked tirelessly to bring it before the Christian public. Thomson's death in 1854 meant that he did not live to see the formal creation of the Spanish Evangelisation Society in 1855. The founders, however, attributed the Society's existence to his initiative and efforts.
Throughout his ministry Thomson reflected a passion for the Word of God, and inspired by the Biblical vision of the Kingdom of God, he worked for the good not only of those who spoke the major world languages, but also of minority groups-the indigenous, the marginalised, the oppressed and the forgotten. What motivated him? He himself commented:
"My object in emigrating to a foreign land was to promote in it, as best I might, and as circumstances should direct, the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose motto I may say is, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men'."
For Thomson this meant making the Bible available to all. As a result he became a forerunner of present-day Bible translation.
[1] First published as "Diego Thomson: Precursor de la traducción bíblica de la época moderna", La Biblia en las Américas, Vol. 48, No.207 (1993): 21-23.
[2] Better known in the Americas as Diego Thomson.
[3] The manuscript eventually found its way to the British Museum in the 1860’s. See Bill Mitchell. “James Thomson and Bible Translation in Andean Languages”, Bible Translator 41.3 (1990): 341-345.
[4] Letters on the Moral and Religious State of South America. London: James Nisbet, 1827: vi.
[5] On Mora's role see Pedro Gringoire (Gonzalo Báez-Camargo), El Doctor Mora: Impulsor Nacional de la Causa Bíblica en México. México D.F.: Sociedades Bíblicas en América Latina, 1978.
[6] Thomson, Tour in Yucatan, p.9. Unpublished journal, 1845, in Bible Society Collection, Cambridge University Library.
[7] Valenciano.
[8] Later published as The Critical Sources of the Complutensian Polyglott. London: Partridge and Oakey, 1847. He summarizes the history of Spanish Bible translation in Spain, Its Position and Evangelization, also Protestant Religious Liberty Abroad, the Conduct of British Envoys, Interesting Mission in Portugal and its Dangers, with Notices of the Empire of Morocco. London: Partridge and Oakey, 1853: 13-28.
[9] It was Thomson in 1820 who persuaded BFBS to adopt the Scio San Miguel translation!