Bible Fact · Revelation 7:9 — 'After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne.'
The Bible: Most Translated Book in History
The Fact
As of 2024, the full Bible has been translated into approximately 730 languages, the New Testament into another 1,600+ languages, and at least some portion of the Bible into over 3,500 languages. The organization Wycliffe Bible Translators estimates that over 1 billion people still do not have the full Bible in their heart language. The translation work has itself created languages: missionary linguists like William Carey (who translated the Bible into Bengali, Sanskrit, and dozens of other Indian languages), Adoniram Judson (Burmese), and countless others created written alphabets and grammars for previously unwritten languages. Today, over 4,000 linguists worldwide are working on Bible translation in approximately 2,500 language projects. The Ethnologue identifies roughly 7,100 living languages — and translation efforts continue. The languages of the original Bible span Hebrew (most of the Old Testament), Aramaic (portions of Daniel and Ezra), and Greek (the entire New Testament) — from those three, the message has traveled into thousands.
Context
Revelation 7:9 envisions 'a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages' worshipping before the throne. Bible translation is the practical means of fulfilling that vision.
Significance
The Bible's translation into thousands of languages is one of history's most remarkable cultural phenomena — driven not by commercial interest or political power but by missionaries and indigenous communities who wanted the word of God in their own tongue.
Reflection
Over 1 billion people still cannot read the Bible in their own language. Organizations like Wycliffe are working to change that. How are you connected — through prayer, support, or awareness — to the global Bible translation effort?