Exploring the Pinoy Version of the Bible: A Multiple-Method Approach

The Pinoy version of the Bible was released by the Philippine Bible Society (PBS) in September 2018. After its publication, concerns have been raised about the translation. Filipinos and church members are questioning its reliability and effectiveness in church settings. The goal of this paper is to explore the Pinoy version of the Bible through multiple approaches: a register analysis to identify the key features of the language used in the translation, a survey to find out who among the people group accepts it and at what level, online forms and face-to-face interview to acquire the different perceptions of the research participants. The study was conducted with different people groups in the church namely: youth, men, women, leaders, and elders. There are 100 participants in total. This is in connection to assuring accessible and equitable quality education and encouraging opportunities for lifelong learning for all, which are the main objectives of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) that are essential for resolving inequalities in the quality and accessibility of education, especially for vulnerable groups such children from low-income households, those residing in rural regions, people with disabilities, and refugees. The findings of the study revealed that youth and leaders accept the Pinoy version, acceptance level for the youth, and slight acceptance for the leaders. On the other hand, men, women, and elders did not accept the translation. In another finding, all of them agreed that the linguistic features (English Nouns, English Adjectives, Prefixes, Transition Words, Contraction, Shallow Words, and Code-Switching) in the translation are factors in their acceptance. Furthermore, the following major themes evolved from data analysis: Translation Concerns, Lack and Loss, Specific Audience, and Strong Points. Subthemes that emerged from the data are as follows: Pure Language, Confusion, Shallow and Informal Translation, Holiness and Seriousness, Meaning For the Younger Generation, Age Factor, Easier to Understand, and Trending.