“Mirimiri”—Just Gentle “Patting And Dusting” For Maori Bible

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 100, 21 November 1947, Page 5

“Mirimiri”— Just Gentle “Patting And Dusting” For Maori Bible

With his usual knack of turning just the right phrase, Sir Apirana Ngata put into a few well-chosen words the work that the Maori Bible Revision Committee is engaged upon, when he was acknowledging a welcome to himself and his colleagues at Ohope on Monday

night. “We think the pakeha word “revision” is a little harsh,” he said. “And in the Maori we prefer to use the word “mirimiri.” This,” he went on to explain, “was the Maori word used when the old Maori ladies went out to plant kumara. They patted or lightly dusted the soil around the plants. What the Revision Committee is attempting is no violent wresting of the words from the previous translation, but simply a gentle patting or dusting where it is needed.” This session of the committee, which opened on Tuesday at the Hinota Maori meeting house of the Presbyterian Church, Ohope, will last until next Wednesday. The committee comprises The Very Rev. J. G. Laughton, Superintendent of Presbyterian Maori Missions (chairman and convenor), Sir Apirana Ngata, Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa, Rev. E. Te Tuhi, Superintendent of Methodist Maori Missions, Rev. W. N. Panapa, Taupo, Rev. T. H. Kaa, Poranaghau, and Mr W. W. Bird, late Chief Inspector of Schools.

Mr Laughton explained that, in the five sessions which had preceded the present one, the New Testament had been completed, and was on its way to London for printing, and good progress had been made with the Old Testament, in which Psalms, Genesis and half the book of Job had been completed. At the current session the committee hopes to complete the balance of Job, Exodus (on which they were working when the Beacon’s representative ooked in), Judges and Deuteronomy. This is the procedure: A revised script is prepared by the committee. Then it is read and various members watch the different texts in the Maori (1887 and 1924 editions), the Hebrew, and Dr. Moffatt’s 1934 version in modern English. They pool their opinions to get the finest shades of meaning and the greatest poetic beauty into the text now in preparation. It is estimated that, at the end of the ten days, they will have turned out about 240 sides of foolscap typescript. When al the script has been completed and forwarded to England, Mr Laughton will proceed there tq supervise the actual production, probably late next year.