How missionary and colonial translation produced the English words now used for Yorùbá religion, what Crowther's Bible did to Yorùbá religious vocabulary, how Èṣù came to mean Satan, and how to read older sources critically.
The Yorùbá wey dem quote, the proverbs, oríkì, ẹsẹ Ifá, word list headwords, Odù names and citations dey exactly as the corpus record dem, for every language.
Boku of di English words wey pipo dey use tok about Yorùbá religion na wetin dem form for di nineteenth century, by pipo wey believe say di religion na lie and wey dey work to replace am. Words like idol, fetish, juju, witchcraft, superstition, and devil no just describe wetin dem see without bias; dem arrange am put for category, and dat category carry judgment. Reader wey dem teach say Yorùbá heritage dey dark and demonic, na translation dem teach am for large part.
Dis file dey document how dat thing take happen, with attention to wetin person fit verify for di primary sources. Na dis be di methodological file for di whole corpus, because every oda thing depend on to fit read older materials without absorbing di assumptions inside dem.
Two commitments dey guide wetin follow. First, di aim na accuracy, no be to counter-argue: plenty popular claims about missionary translation dey exaggerated or wrong, and we correct dem here alongside di ones wey get solid ground. Second, di pipo wey do dis work na mostly Yorùbá, wey make di story more complicated pass just colonial imposition, and we no try hide or smooth dat complication comot.
Di standard account say missionary translation na wetin Europeans do to Africans no fit di Yorùbá case, and to get dis one clear really matter.
Dem produce di Yorùbá Bible between 1850 and 1884 . Di first printed book for Yorùbá na the Epistle to the Romans for 1850, wey Luke, Acts, James, Peter, Genesis, and Ecclesiastes follow; di complete Bible appear for 1884 for four volumes, and e become single volume only for 1900 .
John Hargreaves, as e dey write di standard short history of di translation, record say almost all di translation and some of di editing and revision na Africans do am instead of expatriate missionaries, and e ask weda anoda case dey for modern church history where local pipo carry di main burden of Bible translation into one major language . Four Germans of di Church Missionary Society, Schön, Gollmer, Hinderer, and Mann, give sustained skilled help, but na editing, revision, and proofreading majorly occupy dem . Di heaviest burden fall on Crowther, and e inspire and direct oda Yorùbá church leaders, wey Hargreaves mention Thomas King, James White, William Morgan, Samuel Pearce, D. O. Williams, T. B. Macaulay, and Nathaniel Johnson among dem .
Samuel Àjàyí Crowther himself na Yorùbá, wey slave raid catch for Òṣogùn for 1821, put for inside slave ship, naval vessel rescue am, and dem drop am for Freetown . E start to dey translate inside ship for early 1840s as e dey return from ordination for England, and later find im own mama again after twenty-five years .
Three oda facts from Hargreaves directly touch how to read di result :
So di vocabulary no be single colonial decree. Na long process wey face contest and wey dem revise many times, carried out mostly by Yorùbá Christians wey dey make choices under theological constraint. Dat one no make di choices neutral. Wetin e mean na say to describe dem as something wey Europeans do to Yorùbá pipo no correct, and say di more interesting question na wetin dey happen when colonised pipo na dem dey perform di translation of dia own tradition into di categories of di coloniser religion.
Instead of to rely on secondary characterisation, di entries below na direct quote from Crowther A Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language (1852), wey we check in full text . Dis na di foundational lexicographic document and e dey publicly available.
Èṣù. Di entry read in full:
Esu, s. devil; Satan.
Na di entire definition be dat. One illustrative proverb follow am wey dem render for English as "As the devil has no (kindliness of) disposition, his house is made for him in the street (by itself)" No indication dey say Èṣù na Yorùbá divinity, no description of im role, and no note say na di translator own identification. Entries wey dey immediately beside am treat two homophones, esu wey be wild grass and esu wey be white ant, and di white ant entry reach six lines of careful natural-historical description . Di insect get more descriptive attention pass di divinity.
Òrìṣà. Di entry read:
Orisa, s. deity, object of worship; gods, idols.
"Deity" and "object of worship" na glosses wey person fit defend. "Idols" na theological judgment, no be translation, and e sit down for di same entry without any marking.
Worship vocabulary. Di classification cut across di whole semantic field :
Di Yorùbá verb bọ, wey mean to give offering to, to worship well, dem translate am throughout as "idol" and "false gods." Di word keferi sef na Arabic loanword, from kāfir, wey show say one Islamic way of classifying people wey no believe don already enter Yorùbá before di Christian own reach.
Awo. Dem explain am as "device, secret bargain, superstitious mystery" Di first two meaning na normal everyday sense; "superstitious" na judgment wey dem put inside di dictionary meaning.
Olódùmarè. For here di evidence face di other side, and dis thing dey important:
Olodumare, Olodumaye, s. God, the Almighty, Self-existing Being.
Dis one show respect, e hold theological weight, and e no carry any bad mouth. Ọlọ́run also show without any insult or look-down, and words wey come out from am like Bi-olorun "godlike, godly," Ise-Olorun "God's work," and Oniwa-bi-olorun "godly person" all of dem dey positive .
So di pattern select wetin e want instead of to treat everything di same way. Dem match di Yorùbá supreme being with di Christian God and treat am with respect. Dem classify di Yorùbá divinities as idols and dem call their worshippers heathens. And dem specifically match one divinity with Satan.
Dat way wey dem take select na di main argument. Missionary translation work need one supreme God wey dem fit link their own faith to, and devil wey dem go use warn people wey convert, and e need di other intermediate divinities to be false make e be say people wey dey convert go get wetin dem dey comot from. Dem arrange di Yorùbá material put inside dis three box.
Na dis be di single translation decision wey bring di biggest consequence for Yorùbá religious history, and e make sense to handle am with care, because di story wey plenty people dey talk get errors wey dey spoil wetin for be strong point.
Di way dem match Èṣù with di devil and Satan already dey inside Crowther published dictionary work by 1852, and person fit check and confirm am inside di text sef . E enter inside di Yorùbá Bible, and through di Bible e enter inside preaching, church songs, and everyday talk. E don enter body so tey ọmọ Èṣù, wey mean "child of Èṣù," dey work for everyday Yorùbá as insult wey equal to "child of the devil," and make person challenge dis translation fit look like say person dey challenge Christianity itself to many Yorùbá Christians.
Èṣù for inside Yorùbá tradition no be principle of evil wey dey fight principle of good. Na primordial òrìṣà: di divine messenger wey dey carry offering and message between human world and spirit world, di guardian of junction, gate, entrance, exit, and market, di one wey dey enforce di agreement on how things suppose work, and important figure wey dem no fit comot for inside Ifá divination, where na him dey make sure say wetin dem prescribe reach hand. Na trickster, and e dey cause wahala, plenty times to teach lesson and plenty times to people wey ignore their duty. For inside Yorùbá system, good and evil no be cosmic enemies wey lock each other for war, and no enemy of God dey like inside Christian or Islamic way, so no Yorùbá equivalent of Satan dey wey person fit translate to. To translate Èṣù as Satan mean say dem carry mediator figure from non-dualist system go put inside dualist system, where e must turn to wetin e no be before.
Wọlé Ṣóyinká don argue openly say na Èṣù be di deity wey people don spoil him name pass, and say di missionaries, as dem need figure of di devil to convince converts say their soul dey danger, pick am .
Since around 2014, one campaign wey Ọlúwo Ṣolágbadé Pópóọlá lead don organize under di banner #EsuIsNotSatan, with public protest on 24 December across Lagos and Òṣogbo and inside Mexico, Spain, and United States . People wey join di movement describe Èṣù as di deity wey dey guard entrance, exit, junction, and market, and say e no pure good nor pure evil . Di campaign treat di issue as religious discrimination instead of just academic correction.
Academic literature also dey, including work wey dem publish under di title "Èṣù is (Not) Satan" wey look into wetin Crowther translation mean for Christian mission itself, and comparative studies wey put Èṣù side-by-side with Hermes instead of with Satan .
Three correction dey here, wey dey support di argument instead of to fight am.
Dem dey usually give di date wrong. Di claim wey plenty people dey spread na "Crowther 1860 Bible translation." Di matching already dey printed inside di 1852 Vocabulary , and some account sef trace am go back to 1842 or 1843 edition. As di complete Yorùbá Bible no come out until 1884 , "di 1860 Bible" no refer to anything specifically. Make dem use di 1852 dictionary, wey person fit check and confirm.
"E no see word for Satan so e pick one of di deities" dey too simple. E dey make am look like say na one decision wey one person make at one time. Di true matter na translation programme wey run pass thirty-four years, wey dem revise at least eight times before 1900 and again by one eleven-member committee between 1915 and 1932 . Di matching survive every single one of those revision, wey na mostly educated Yorùbá Christians do am. Dat one na heavier indictment pass single mistake, no be lighter one, and e also be better evidence.
Person no fit just look Crowther as simple bad person. Na Yorùbá man wey dem enslave as pikin, dem free am, e receive education under missionary system, and e return come him homeland as agent of di religion wey free am and train am. Na him also produce di first grammar and vocabulary of African language wey native speaker write, and e do pass any other person to make Yorùbá become written language. Di two things na true. Di interesting historical question na wetin di categories wey dey available to am make am fit see, and di honest answer na say nineteenth-century Anglican evangelical no get conceptual room for non-dualist cosmology wey get trickster mediator, so dem just force di material enter di nearest category wey dey on ground.
Fetish no bi African word. E comot from Portuguese feitiço, wey mean magic charm, and original-original e comot from Latin facticius, wey mean sometin wey dem make or artificial . E enta use through fifteenth-century Portuguese business and trade for West African coast, where feitiço instead of ídolo come bi di main Portuguese word wey dem dey use for di religious practice wey dem see, and e come stand well as part of Afro-European pidgin trade vocabulary .
William Pietz analysis, wey bi di standard scholarly work, show say di concept na product of di trade encounter between di different cultures itself, instead of say na description of anything African . People wey travel come later many times no know say di word comot from Portuguese, and dem take fetish as religion wey strictly belong to Africa . For nineteenth century, British colonial authorities for West Africa even do pass dat one, as dem link fetish practice to human sacrifice come turn am to crime category .
So di word no really describe anything about Yorùbá practice. Wetin e record na European trade and legal history. Di way dem use am for older sources dey tell you about di pesin wey write am.
Where jùjú comot from still dey bring argument, but e likely no bi Yorùbá original word too. Di two main explanation na Hausa jùjú, wey mean charm or object of spiritual power, and French joujou, toy or plaything, wey traders use to look down on ritual objects . None of di two explanation don dey settled .
Di clear evidence for di Yorùbá matter dey inside Crowther dictionary. Wetin e write for 1852 just be:
Juju, adj. confused, chaotic.
No religious meaning at all. Anything wey juju mean for Yorùbá for 1852, no bi word for religious practice. Di way people dey take use am today as general word for African ritual power na sometin wey develop later, wey come through colonial English instead of Yorùbá, and na why e no match any Yorùbá category and why people wey dey practice am generally dey reject am. Di genre name jùjú music pick up di connection for twentieth-century Lagos .
Idol no translate anything for Yorùbá. Na biblical category wey comot from Hebrew and Greek argument against images, wey dem carry come directly. Crowther apply am to òrìṣà, to ère (image, sculpture), and to people wey dey worship .
Di Yorùbá difference wey e wipe comot na di difference between divinity and di physical object wey dem dey take reach di divinity. Ère na carved figure; e no bi di òrìṣà, and no Yorùbá account talk say di wood na di divinity. Christian argument against idolatry depend on di accusation say worshippers dey mix di two together, and di translation come build dat accusation inside di dictionary.
Dem dey usually translate Ẹbọ as "sacrifice," but di English word carry heavy meaning wey Yorùbá no carry. For English, "sacrifice" come loaded with Christian theology of atonement, substitutionary death, and to appease deity wey dey vex. Ẹbọ dey closer to offering wey dem prescribe or transaction: divination go find out wetin dem need, dem go make di offering, and di matter go settle. Na system of specific obligation instead of to cool anger, and to frame am as propitiation na sometin wey dem import come.
Wetin Crowther write for Igbo, "an idol-sacrifice; assembly of priests; idol-worship," show di way dem take mix things together: dem translate di offering with word wey already imply di wrong theology, and den come add "idol" for front
Na di general language and tools of nineteenth-century missionary description be dis, and dem use am across di world, no bi for Yorùbá specifically. Àjẹ́, wey dem translate as "witch," na name for category of spiritual power wey dem especially attach to women, wey people dey fear but dem dey also beg and acknowledge am, no bi just say na bad pesin. Keferi, wey dem explain as "unbeliever, heathen, pagan," na loan word from Arabic wey already dey inside Yorùbá before Christians arrive .
"Superstition" na di one wey quiet pass but work pass among dem, because e dey appear inside normal descriptive dictionary entries like awo, "superstitious mystery" , dey mark di belief as lie or false by the way, while e dey appear like say e just dey define word.
For here, di influence fit run go di opposite direction, and dis matter really never settle.
E. Bọlaji Idowu argue say Olódùmarè na di older indigenous name for di supreme being, and say Ọlọ́run, wey bi di normal everyday word now, get di dominance through Christian and Muslim influence on Yorùbá life . If na so, di word wey most Yorùbá people dey use for God everyday na mission work elevate am.
People still criticize Idowu own work from di oda side too. Di strongest criticism of Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief na say Eurocentric and Christian theology color Idowu account, and say e practically Christianise di Yorùbá Olódùmarè, come create supreme being wey get di qualities wey Christian theology dey expect . Idowu na Christian theologian and wetin e set out to do na to prove say Yorùbá religion get genuine monotheism inside, so di criticism get weight.
Di result na double bind wey readers suppose hold instead of to conclude before time. Di scholarly account of di Yorùbá supreme being wey get influence pass na di one wey dem write make Christians fit recognize dat being, and di everyday Yorùbá word for God fit bi say na di missions promote am. Both di description and di vocabulary na wetin come out from di encounter. No clean pre-contact baseline dey available, because na with di missionaries di written record start.
J. D. Y. Peel book wey di title na Religious Encounter and the Making of the Yoruba, wey stand on top CMS archives and especially on top di journal dem of di African mission agent dem wey be di first generation of Yorùbá wey sabi read and write, na di main historical study of dis whole process, and e argue say na through di encounter with Christian missions na im make di Yorùbá come know demselves as one distinct people . Dat one na strong claim and people dey drag am, but di archival evidence wey dey ground na di best wey dey available.
Method wey dey work for anybody wey dey use material from nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Check wetin di writer dey work for. Missionary dey produce converts. Colonial officer dey produce people wey dem fit govern. Anthropologist dey build career and many times theory about stages of civilisation. None of dis things make source useless, and all of dem shape wetin dem record.
Separate wetin dem observe from how dem classify am. Missionary journal wey talk say "the people gathered at the shrine, offered a fowl, and the priest spoke words over it" na evidence wey person fit use. Di same journal wey talk say "this idolatrous superstition" no be evidence about Yorùbá religion, na evidence about di writer. Di two dey inside di same sentence and person must separate dem.
Look out for adjective wey dey judge inside di definition. "Superstitious mystery," "false gods," "idol-sacrifice." Di judgment dey travel inside di explanation where e go look like information .
Ask which category dey available dat time. Observers dey describe wetin dia concept allow dem see. Cosmology wey no get evil adversary hard for evangelical person of 1850s to imagine, so Èṣù gats turn to something.
Choose di Yorùbá text. Where original dey available, read am make you check wetin e actually talk. Di three-layer translation rule for dis corpus dey for dis purpose: di literal gloss dey make wetin idiomatic translation smooth commot show face.
Check who dey talk through di source. Missionary journals contain Yorùbá voice dem, wey dem often quote to argue against dem. Di refutation dey frame dem, but di quoted words still dey, and Peel method depend on reading dem .
No over-correct. Di reaction against missionary bias dey bring im own distortions: invented etymologies, pre-colonial Yorùbá society wey no get conflict, and claims say dem comefrom Egypt. Bad evidence no dey turn good because e dey support better cause. Na di reason make dis corpus flag dat kind claim dem for yoruba-etymology-and-word-formation.
If dem train you make you believe say Yorùbá tradition na demonic, part of wetin you inherit trace back to specific decisions wey specific people make for 1840s and 1850s, wey most of dem na Yorùbá, wey work inside framework wey get only three available slots and pack complex religious system enter inside dem.
To know dat one no settle anything about wetin person suppose believe. Person fit conclude say di missionaries dey substantively right and still want make di history accurate. Wetin e settle na say di vocabulary no be neutral description and dem no fit treat am as evidence about wetin Yorùbá religion be. Di word "idol" inside 1852 dictionary na claim, no be fact, and make dem read am as claim.
What Yorùbá is as a language, which languages it is related to, how its dialects vary across Yorùbáland, and how many people speak it today.
The machinery Yorùbá uses to make new words, and a worked, confidence-flagged examination of the etymologies of the key religious and philosophical terms.
The Yorùbá press, D. O. Fágúnwà and the Yorùbá novel, Tutuola's contested place, the travelling theatre, Yorùbá film, and where the language stands in education and online.
A documented history of the process by which Yorùbá religion was reframed as satanic, from the missionary encounter through colonial vocabulary, Nigerian Pentecostalism and Nollywood, followed by what the tradition actually holds.
A historical and scholarly examination of the translation of the Yorùbá deity Èṣù into the Christian Satan, the nineteenth-century colonial mechanisms of that conflation, and twentieth-century academic rehabilitations.
How Yorùbá came to be written in Arabic and then Roman script, who decided the spelling rules, and why the subdots and tone marks are not optional.