Eugene Nida personally supervised the production of over 200 translations

Spreading the Word in Hundreds of Tongues Mr. Nida used native speakers to produce what he called “functional equivalence”—translations that are true to the spirit rather than the literal words, as had been the rule in earlier times.In some cases, the Bible translation was the first written work ever produced in a language and formed the basis for written literature. In others, culturally sensitive translations helped give rise to new religious ideas, such as liberation theology in Latin America.