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‘The Chosen’ Spreads the Gospel Globally, Plans to Translate into 600 Languages Worldwide
- Milton Quintanilla Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated Oct 03, 2024
A Christian nonprofit plans to translate the hit series "The Chosen" into 600 languages around the world. In a recent interview with CBN News, Stan Jantz, President and CEO of Come and See, a nonprofit leader in the Bible translation industry, explained the importance of their work.
"The most translated efforts going on are around the Bible," Jantz said. "And you have no doubt heard of Every Tribe Every Nation, which is a collection of Bible translation agencies, and their goal is to translate the Bible into every language on earth, and there are about 6,000 of them, by the year 2033, and so that many people will have at least a New Testament and probably about 95 percent will have the whole Bible in their heart language."
At the present time, "The Chosen" has been translated into over 50 languages, but Come and See plans to turn the show's seven seasons into even more languages.
"We're taking a media project, a multi-season TV series about the life of Jesus and his chosen followers, and translating that into 600 languages, which has never been done for a TV show of any kind... It's an extraordinary feat, but we're excited about being in that process."
Jantz also shared how the translation project has impacted communities across the globe.
"We got a letter from a woman in India who watched The Chosen first in English, and of course, most Indians speak English, but it's not their first language. And then she watched it in Hindi, and it just changed the meaning of the show for her. It gave her such more connection to the characters," said Jantz. "She just said, 'Thank you for translating it into Hindi because it was so much more meaningful for me to see it and experience it in my heart language."
In another case, Jantz shared how "The Chosen" was translated into the native language of Madagascar following a request from the country's president.
"The President of Madagascar is a Christian, and he had seen The Chosen in English, I think, and he said, 'What I would like to do if you could translate it into Malagasy,' which is the language of Madagascar, it's one of the poorest nations on earth, 25 million people. He said, 'If you could do that, we will show it in public places and make it available everywhere,'" Jantz said.
"As a result, they showed it throughout the country. They showed it in a prison. They showed it in an orphanage. They took it onto trucks into villages. They showed it on their public television," he explained. "A year later, we are still hearing results of people who have been impacted by this. They did a whole country-wide celebration. There were billboards all over just celebrating this idea. It's The Chosen, but really, it's Jesus."
"The Chosen," which is currently in its fourth season, is the largest crowdfunded television project in history. It has been streamed more than 500 million times and has now been viewed by more than 108 million people since Season 1 premiered.
On Monday, Bible translation experts celebrated International Bible Translation Day.
According to the United Nations, "The day is meant as an opportunity to pay tribute to the work of language professionals, which plays an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security."
Photo Credit: ©TheChosen; used with permission.
