Jehovah’s Witnesses announced earlier this year that the group had published the first-ever American Sign Language translation of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelations.
The ASL New World Translation Bible production started in 2004, with the individual books published upon completion. The final book came out just before the COVID pandemic shut down everything in March 2020. According to a press release, this is the “first complete sign language translation of the entire Bible in the world. When it was released, more than 2,500 attended the program, but livestream tie-ins at Kingdom Halls throughout Belize, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States brought the total attendance to over 18,000.”
One of those attendees was Elizabeth Griffin of Talladega. “When I first met Jehovah’s Witnesses, they did not have an ASL Bible,” according to the 1970 Alabama School for the Deaf graduate. “I didn’t really understand the Bible’s message at first. Later, when the Witnesses had parts of the Bible translated into ASL, they showed me the scripture at Psalm 83:18, and I saw God’s name is Jehovah. That scripture touched my heart and inspired me to want to learn more.”
Griffin lost her hearing when she was 3 years old and came to Talladega to study at ASD. She joined a local sign language congregation.
“I enjoy Bible research and comparing scriptures,” she explained. “When I’m watching the ASL Bible, I think about what this teaches me about Jehovah God, and I meditate on the Bible’s promises for the near future. This gives me hope and makes me happy.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses suspended in-person gatherings like many congregations during the pandemic, starting in March 2020. This proved especially isolating for Witnesses in the deaf community. Griffin said she used the prolonged time at home to increase her personal study of the ASL Bible and captured videos on her phone to share Bible verses and words of encouragement with other deaf persons in the Talladega Community.
“I am overwhelmed with gratitude and thankfulness for these clear ASL translations of the scriptures,” she said. “Because of Jehovah’s Witnesses and their hard work (on the) translation the Bible into ASL, I can understand my purpose in life, and I can have a good personal relationship with God. I know bad things happen in the world, and I have faith and hope for the future.”