Since before the time of the war of independence, there has been a longing in the hearts of Christians in the archipelago for a unified translation, in Malay, that is understood by all the people of the archipelago. Not just a Malay translation that could only be understood by people in certain regions. At that time there were three complete Bible translations available for the Protestant church, namely Leijdecker (1733), Klinkert (1879) and Shellabear (1912). All three were born at different times, and even the latest Shellabear translation was aimed at different communities. In their day, all three translations were a blessing to the people who used them. However, as we entered the 20th century, the people wanted another translation, one that used the Indonesian language appropriate to the times. The Youth Pledge and the spirit of nationalism echoed the dream once expressed by Hendrik Kraemer, about the need for a unified Bible translation in Indonesian that could be understood and used by God's people from the western to the eastern tip of Indonesia.

At first Bode and his team seemed to be able to realise this hope. Bode completed the translation of the New Testament in 1935 and then the first printing appeared in 1938. Between 1938-1941, Tim Bode's New Testament was printed three times, indicating the high acceptance of the translation by the people.

 

Once the New Testament had been translated, the team set to work on the Old Testament. During the early months of World War II the team was still able to work optimally. However, on 10 May 1940, when German troops entered Dutch territory in Europe, a major change occurred. All German men living in the Dutch East Indies were arrested. Bode was detained with other prisoners from West Java on Onrust Island, in the Thousand Islands. The team's work stopped. In July the prisoners were moved to Lawe Sagala, South Aceh. In detention Bode continued his translation work diligently. He managed to draft translations of Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Proverbs. However, in December 1941, the Japanese moved quickly towards the Malay Peninsula. All prisoners were evacuated to be taken to India. On 18 January 1942, they departed on the ship "Van Imhoff". The next day when the ship was around the waters of Nias, the ship was attacked and bombed by Japanese aircraft. Of the approximately 500 passengers, only 70 were able to save themselves. The rest perished when the ship was swallowed up by the waves, including Werner August Bode.

After Indonesian independence, the Zending Conference in Jakarta asked the Dutch Bible Society (NBG), which at that time was responsible for Bible translation and distribution in Indonesia, to start a quick translation of the Old Testament to accompany Bode's New Testament. Initially the NBG assumed that all of Bode's draft translations except for the Book of Psalms had been lost with Bode's death. Then word got out that 40% of the manuscripts of Bode and his team had survived because Mrs Bode still had them. So the NBG initially wanted to form a Translation Commission to immediately resume the draft translation according to the Bode team's procedure. The commission was chaired by J.L. Swellengrebel.

However, political, social and cultural changes from the colonial realm to the realm of independence also gave shape and colour to the development of the Indonesian language. Indonesian grew rapidly as the national language. This left the old Bible translations behind. The situation demanded a more adequate and modern translation of the Bible. 

Tnew, developmentally appropriate translations of the Indonesian language are clearly needed, in fact they are non-negotiable. However, while the new translation is being worked on by the Swellengrebel-led commission, how is the LAI going to fulfil the Bible needs of Christians throughout Indonesia? Do people who thirst for the word have to wait for the new translation to be completed?

Finally in 1958 the LAI Board, which continued the work of the NBG in Indonesia, took the decision to publish an emergency edition of the Bible that combined Klinkert's Old Testament (1879) and Bode's New Testament (1938). This Bible became known as the “Old Translation Bible”. The Preface to the Old Translation Bible explains why the LAI Board published the combined translation.

…The first reason is that many people today long to have a complete Bible, containing both the Old Testament   the commonly used Klinkert translation and the Bode translation of the New Testament. The second reason is that the translation of the Bible into modern Indonesian has not yet been completed …This work will take about ten years. 

…The publication of this Bible is an emergency. Nevertheless, we hope that this publication will fulfil the longing of those who need a Bible publication that contains both parts together. 

…

From the introduction to the “Old Translation Bible” it is clear that the need for a complete Bible, both OT and NT is great. However, it is not directly proportional to its availability. The LAI Board's policy of publishing the Old Translation of the Bible may be said to be very telling, considering that the New Translation of the Bible was only published sixteen years later, in 1974.

The inaugural issue still bore the imprint “Wasiat Jang Lama” for the OT and “Perdjandjian Baharu” for the NT with the publisher of the Bible Institute, Jl. Teuku Umar 34, Jakarta. Admittedly, the language gap between the two covenants is quite far, more than fifty years, but it seems that not many people question it. This can be seen from the fact that until several years after the New Translation of the Bible was published, the Old Translation of the Bible was still being sought after.