Nauruan Bible 1918

Nauruan Bible 1918

Author: Philip Adam Delaporte et el

Year: 1918

The 1918 Bible was a culmination of 19 years of translation work by the American Protestant missionary Philip Adam Delaporte, whose mother-tongue was German, having been born in Worms (Palatine), Germany. Delaporte arrived on Nauru in 1899 and set about learning Nauruan and was helped in his translation endeavours by a number of Nauruans, notably Timothy Detudamo (later Head Chief of Nauru), Jacob Aroi (later Pastor and educator), and Deireragea (later Chief of Anibare District). 1 Apart from short periods of furlough, Delaporte was resident on Nauru from 1899 until he was excluded from returning to Nauru in 1915 while on furlough in the U.S.A. as he was viewed as a German sympathizer. He was in the U.S.A., along with Timothy Detudamo, to complete the translation work and to arrange for the printing of the Bible in the U.S.A.