Lenakel
Lenakel, also called Lenakel Tanna, Natuvar, Netvaar or Nətvar, is spoken on the western coast of Tanna Island in Vanuatu.
New Testament Books
The first part of the Bible in Lenakel was the Gospel of Matthew which was published in 1900 as “Nakaran ut Mathiu remrai”. An edition of 1,000 copies was published at the translator's expense by the Victoria Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society. It was printed in Melbourne by Peacock Brothers in 1900.
1902 Edition
Then Mark, Luke, John, Acts, 1-3 John and Revelation were published in 1902 as “Nakaran ut te Jesu Kristo: Nakaran ut kamrai le Mark mene Luk mene Jon: Mene nar Apostelo min kamarol mene nawowa mihlel te Jon mene nar kamhinhin to Jon”. In English it was called: “The Gospels according to Mark, Luke, and John, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of John, and the Revelation of John”. It was printed in Melbourne for the British and Foreign Bible Society.
1935 Edition
In 1935 these were reprinted. The 1900 edition of Matthew, was published with the 1902 books. It was published as “Nakaran ut te Jesu Kristo: Nakaran ut kamrai le Mathiu le Mark le Luk mene le Jon: Mene nar Apostelo min kamarol mene nawowa mihlel te Jon mene nar kamhinhin to Jon”. In English it was called: “The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, The Acts of the Apostles, The Epistles of John, and the Revelation of John, translated into the dialect of Lenakel, Tanna, New Hebrides”. It was printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) in Melbourne.
Frank Paton
Bible translation was done into Lenakel by Presbyterian missionary and theologian Francis Hume Lyall Paton (1870-1938), known as Frank Paton of the New Hebrides Mission. He worked with a man called Lomai, whom he describes as “the most intelligent native I ever met”.
Frank Paton was born in 1870 on the island of Aniwa in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu). He was the third son of the Scottish missionary Rev. John Gibson Paton (1824-1907), who had translated the New Testamet into Futuna-Aniwa, and published his Autobiography in 1889.
Frank Paton attended Scotch College, Melbourne in Australia, and received his theological education at Ormond College and the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He graduated from the University of Melbourne in Australia with an M.A. in 1892, and from St Andrews in Scotland with a B.D. in 1896. He was invited to go to the New Hebrides as the first missionary provided by the John G. Paton Mission Fund, raised from voluntary contributions from readers of his father's autobiography.
In 1896 Frank Paton married Clara Sophie Heyer at Germantown, Geelong. They served at Lenakel on the west coast of Tanna from 1896 until 1902. During that time he translated many books of the New Testament, and compiled an English/Lenakel dictionary. They left in 1902 for health reasons.
From 1902 Frank Paton took various positions with the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Paton wrote about his time in “Lomai of Lenakel” which was published in London in 1903. It was republished in 1908 as “The Triumph of the Gospel in the New Hebrides”. He wrote a popular history of missions called “The Kingdom in the Pacific” which was published in 1913. During the Great War, Paton served overseas as a chaplain with the Australian Imperial Force from 1918 to 1919. From 1925 to 1936 Frank Paton served as minister of Deepdene Presbyterian church. He died at Deepdene in 1938 at Deepdene and was buried in Burwood cemetery. He was survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.
Digital Edition
The Lenakel New Testament was digitised as “Nakaran ut te Jesu Kristo 1902” for the Bible Society of the South Pacific with the help of MissionAssist in 2023. It is based on an original copy of the 1935 reprinted text, from the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) archives at Cambridge University.
