The Bible Translator: Volume 15, Issue 3

The missionary character of Christianity is one of the leading factors which led to a two-way relationship between Christianity and linguistics with contributions in different directions at different periods. This treatment is concerned with the influences of Christian missions on the history of linguistics, together with the contributions made in turn by linguistics to Christian missions. The first article sketches the historical period from the early church through the Post-Reformation period. The second article continues the historical sketch by focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first two articles assess the use of language materials and theoretical work that is done in the period. The third article presents the major areas of interchange between linguistics and missions, with emphasis upon contemporary developments and implications. View Less

Discusses translational problems with which workers have to deal in translating the sublimity of theological insights into a language whose background religious vocabulary is fundamentally animist. Three categories of problems are discussed: (1) God, the Names of God, and the attributes of God; (2) circumcision, sacrifice and worship; and (3) resurrection and the after-life. These are illustrated in the language context of Swahili and Kikuyu. View Less

Discusses the desirability and problematic nature of conforming all chapter and verse divisions to a single standard. View Less

Discusses the task and problem of Bible translation in a situation where the Church already exists and where evangelism is in its initial phase. The case example is the translation of the Bible into Sediq, a tribe of Taiwan who were evangelized through the spoken word and with difficulty through reading a Chinese Bible. The relationship between the national and tribal languages is thoroughly discussed. View Less

Details the history and development of the newly published Hebrew text by the British and Foreign Bible Society of London. The manuscript history of the Ben Asher text is discussed, and the Snaith edition is based on this text. View Less

Outlines the procedure for grammar spot-checks on translations prepared by the Wycliffe Bible Translators. View Less