Explorer’s Revisions

Progress Update

On 31 May 2026, Vernacular Bible Explorer will celebrate its first anniversary! Thankfully, it is necessary to correct the Scripture translation statistics on my Substack’s original “About” page.[i] Instead of “more than 7,300 documented languages,” specialists have found close to 7,400. Rather than recognizing speakers of circa 800 mother tongues waiting for translated Scriptures, Wycliffe Bible Translators reported the remaining known need for a first translation at 514 languages. Unfortunately, thousands of vernaculars still lack a complete Bible.

Teams are working to make Scripture available throughout the world. Wycliffe alone is involved in the process of creating over 2,800 distinct translations and counting.[ii] They have joined with multiple agencies to form the IllumiNations alliance, working toward ending Bible poverty.[iii] Other organizations have made major contributions by sharing vernacular recordings of Scripture and distributing Biblical films for cultures that predominantly communicate using oral language.[iv] The Deaf Bible Society is actively rendering Scripture into the over 350 global varieties of manual communication, because only American Sign Language has an entire Bible.[v]

My Substack exists to raise awareness about the past, present, and future of vernacular Scripture worldwide. During the last twelve months, I have cited verses via articles, notes, and comments from every book in the Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament. Through regular newsletters and hundreds of notes to facilitate the site’s discoverability, VBE has shared material associated with countries on all six inhabited continents (see map below).[vi] Over five billion people could find one or more short Scripture passages in their heart languages on this site.[vii]

While developing the variety of topical series currently in progress, I plan to maintain a pattern of posting at least one article each week. I would like to explore forms of collaboration. This might involve featuring interviews with specialists in Scripture translation as well as people who collect and study historic Bibles in the vernacular. If you would like to participate in these types of discussions, please subscribe for free and send me an email with your subjects of expertise. Book reviews will also be included. Although Substack changed the site’s nomenclature from “text post” to “article” on the app’s interface during this past year, I have decided to keep the “newsletter” name used for my site’s first one hundred and one short essays. Future pieces sent by email will be called articles.

The process of preparing VBE articles, notes, and comments has led me in some unanticipated directions. When AI-powered search engines repeatedly told me that there was no significant Bible history worth mentioning in many U.S. states, I decided that a series correcting the record could be a good way to celebrate my country’s 250^th birthday. I hope to expand this survey of regional Bibles by studying examples in other countries. Which place’s Biblical history would you like to explore next?

Many thanks for the forms of dialogue, encouragement, and support that subscribers, followers, and visitors to the site have provided throughout VBE’s nearly 365 days. Looking forward to discovering with you and sharing more about vernacular Bibles worldwide during the coming year!

---

[i] https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/about, accessed May 2026.

[ii] https://wycliffe.org/bt-numbers, accessed May 2026.

[iii] https://illuminations.bible/, accessed May 2026.

[iv] https://fivefish.org/us and https://www.jesusfilm.org/, accessed May 2026.

[v] https://deafbiblesociety.com/, accessed May 2026.

[vi] https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/explorers-brief-survey-of-south-america, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/gothic-brilliance, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/explorers-brief-survey-of-oceania, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/early-egyptian-witnesses, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/shaping-and-preserving-armenian-expression, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/explorers-brief-survey-of-north-america, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/early-ethiopian-witnesses, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/translators-biographical-sketch-series-1f5, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/illustrated-biblical-manuscript-spotlight, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/explorers-brief-survey-of-asia, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/translators-biographical-sketch-series-7a5, https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/early-georgian-witnesses, and https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/p/early-persian-witnesses, accessed May 2026.

[vii] From 30 November through 24 December 2025, I posted notes on the topic of God’s attributes with Scripture translated into 25 widely-used languages. See https://vernacularbibleexplorer.substack.com/notes, accessed May 2026.