Tswana, spoken in Botswana, is the mother tongue of some 3 677 016 people living in South Africa. Most of these people live in the North West Province.
The pioneer translator of the Bible into Tswana was Robert Moffat. He started translating the Bible soon after his arrival in Kuruman in 1817. Tswana was the first South African language to receive a complete Bible.
Important dates in the history of the Tswana Bible:
| 1830 | First Book of the Bible to be translated – Gospel of Luke Cape Town: Government Printing Office Translated by Robert Moffat |
| 1840 | First New Testament London: British and Foreign Bible Society Translated by Robert Moffat, and printed under his supervision during a visit to England. |
| 1857 | First Bible Kuruman: British and Foreign Bible Society As each section was translated by Robert Moffat, it was printed on a missionary press at Kuruman. The complete Bible was available by 1857. |
| 1872 | First Bible published in one volume. London: British and Foreign Bible Society |
| 1970 | Latest translation of the Bible Cape Town: Bible Society of South Africa Translated by a committee under the chairmanship of Otto Brümmerhoff. |