The Bible Translator: Volume 18, Issue 1

A symposium dealing with the critical apparatus and punctuation apparatus, plus a general review, of the UBS new edition of the Greek NT. Only a select amount of evidence could be included in the critical apparatus, but that evidence is cited consistently. Variant readings included in the critical apparatus were selected on the basis of importance to translators and exegetes. A number of variant readings are discussed. The punctuation apparatus is almost entirely new. Punctuation is of real exegetical importance, as the examples of Matt. 3:17, Mk. 1:27, John 7:37f indicate. This new edition of the Greek text is valuable, interesting, and impressive but is least valuable for translators, since most translators are not expert in textual criticism and will have difficulty in choosing possibilities. View Less

A symposium dealing with the critical apparatus and punctuation apparatus, plus a general review, of the UBS new edition of the Greek NT. Only a select amount of evidence could be included in the critical apparatus, but that evidence is cited consistently. Variant readings included in the critical apparatus were selected on the basis of importance to translators and exegetes. A number of variant readings are discussed. The punctuation apparatus is almost entirely new. Punctuation is of real exegetical importance, as the examples of Matt. 3:17, Mk. 1:27, John 7:37f indicate. This new edition of the Greek text is valuable, interesting, and impressive but is least valuable for translators, since most translators are not expert in textual criticism and will have difficulty in choosing possibilities. View Less

A symposium dealing with the critical apparatus and punctuation apparatus, plus a general review, of the UBS new edition of the Greek NT. Only a select amount of evidence could be included in the critical apparatus, but that evidence is cited consistently. Variant readings included in the critical apparatus were selected on the basis of importance to translators and exegetes. A number of variant readings are discussed. The punctuation apparatus is almost entirely new. Punctuation is of real exegetical importance, as the examples of Matt. 3:17, Mk. 1:27, John 7:37f indicate. This new edition of the Greek text is valuable, interesting, and impressive but is least valuable for translators, since most translators are not expert in textual criticism and will have difficulty in choosing possibilities. View Less

The task of the translator is to assess similarities and differences between the OT and their own forms of family structure, and then to select the appropriate kinship terms. In Genesis 12–50 the fact of polygamy is obvious. The whole extended family is represented as living together within tents. The bride leaves her home to join her husband’s family. It is more patriarchal with a hierarchy of position. Settlement in Palestine involved changes which include (1) the change from a pastoral to an agricultural and town economy; (2) the formation of the tribal confederation and its dissolution with the introduction of the monarchy; and (3) the collection of the laws into a series of codes. View Less

Creole is the language spoken by over four million people and is the language of the home and of business and government. Yet there are difficulties involved since we are dealing with a Creolized form of language. It is a language in its own right with many subtle differences of meaning and a highly developed semantic structure. Haitians, both RC and Protestants, are coming to use Haitian Creole in quite a different light. Some of the younger men have taken linguistic studies in the US and Europe and are having a profound influence upon the thinking of many people. They are determined to produce translations of the NT into a form of Creole which will be fully intelligible to the people because such translations adequately represent the way in which people actually speak their language. View Less

The Warao translation of the Triumphal Entry account in Mark and Luke contains a quadruple quote, two of which are indirect and two direct. In Warao an indirect quotation or information alluded to as second hand is marked by -yama “indirect quote” suffixed to the principal word of the quote, usually the verb. A direct quotation may be marked in several ways but the most frequent is the one in which the quote is followed by a form of ta-"verbalizer”. The accounts in Mark 11:3, Luke 19:31 and Matt. 21:3 are compared with a parallel Warao textual example. View Less

Guarani has become the colloquial vernacular of Paraguay’s one and a half million inhabitants. Older translations of the NT served a purpose but implied a language that is quite foreign to modern speakers of Guarani. Principles and procedures which have guided the project of preparing a NT into vernacular Guarani or Guarani popular are considered. This project, to be completed in May, 1967, included a training program for translators, consultants and editorial committee. The first copies of the Gospel of Mark met with over-whelming success in sales. Comments by those who have used this common language translation are favorable. View Less

The Bible needs a hermeneutic because it is the Word of God in the words of man. This need it shares with every other literary work of man. Literary language is a special case and tends to concentrate its matter and refine its forms, so it needs hermeneutics even to a higher degree. Scripture is God’s revelation in language and is consequently faced with the hermeneutical problem involved in all language--in this case an ancient and alien language. The task of hermeneutics is (1) to formulate a coherent theory and efficacious methodology which will permit us to interpret and understand in its integrity the literary reality in which God’s word is incarnated and (2) to formulate in general and point out in particular the Christian meaning of the OT. View Less