The Bible Translator: Volume 10, Issue 3

This article is reprinted from the July, 1958, number of Studies in the Christian Religion published by Doshisha University. Besides the historical survey, it describes the manner in which certain textual problems were handled by the translators of the 1955 revision. View Less

It is a basic principle of semantics that the greater the area of meaning and the more frequent a term occurs, the less it actually signifies in any given context. The extraordinary abundance of conjunctions in the first two chapters of Mark is characteristic of Greek literary style. Official English versions copy the Greek style, while modern speech translations eliminate proportionately more conjunctions, in keeping with English style. In reproducing all the conjunctions, the “literal” translator becomes guilty on two charges: (1) of using words which are not equivalent in semantic value, and (2) introducing a stylistic form which is contrary to the value of the original. View Less

The first Hebrew Bible, the Letteris Bible, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, was based on the Van der Hoogt text and published in 1852. The Ginsburg Bible, based on Ben Chayim’s text appeared in the first decade of this century. In 1933 the Society engaged Dr. Norman Snaith to prepare a new text. It is based upon the first hand use of the Spanish Hebrew MSS found in the British Museum, and is close to Kahle’s text. In this edition the readings from the Law and Prophets are indicated. A specimen page is shown. View Less

It is not a matter of leaving it to what one thinks the context requires, or what it sounds like in English, when one is confronted with a given prepositional expression in the Greek text. In translating Greek en, one has first to ask whether the predominant meaning of “within” (spacial, temporal, or metaphorical) is the one which was in the author’s mind. The fact that there is flexibility does not mean that there is no general rule at all, or that “in” is not the commonest meaning of the preposition. Detailed consideration is given to the preposition under the headings local, temporal, circumstance and instrument of advantage or disadvantage, and special Christian meanings. View Less

Fowler distinguishes between the narrower and the wider sense in which the term “synonym” may be employed. Under the latter sense, there may not be proper correspondence in certain contexts. As one deals with the problem in translation of Greek, there are three ways in which the matter should be approached: (1) a distinction in Greek which can be reproduced in English; (2) a distinction in Greek which is not possible in English; (3) a distinction not made in Greek but which can be made in English. These three categories are illustrated by the author. View Less

Reviews the work of translation of the Bible into Lugbara which is spoken by a tribe of 300,000 in the West Nile district of Uganda and in the adjacent area of Northeast Belgian Congo. View Less