The Bible Translator: Volume 18, Issue 2

A 1966 institute in Japan and the appearance of the book Early Bengali Prose prompted the author to recall the outstanding service of William Carey, and to draw lessons from his work for the present day. This book traces the work of Carey, who was instrumental in translating the Bible and in the first phase of experimental beginnings’ of Bengali prose. Carey made mistakes, and his work has an English flavor, but he inaugurated a new era in Bengali literature. It is therefore important to analyze carefully the current linguistic situation, but the task of Bible translation cannot wait for the completion of theoretical analysis. View Less

Surveys the history of Bible translation in Japan. A translation of Matthew by Yajiro is recorded in 1548, and the first version of the NT was used in public worship in 1552 under the influence of Catholic missionaries. The greatest attention to Bible translation was given in the nineteenth century under the influence of Protestant evangelistic efforts. Since that time many translations of the Bible have appeared, and others are being planned, since Japan is undergoing great development and change in the language of translation. View Less

Since the deciphering of Ugaritic in 1930, the understanding of Biblical Hebrew has been revolutionized. The enclitic is fell into disuse in later Hebrew, and was often misinterpreted as a third person plural suffix. Some Ugaritic words shed new light on the meaning of difficult Hebrew words. An example is an emphatic use of I in Ugaritic, which confirms the fact that the Hebrew negative particles lo should in certain instances be emphatic rather than negative. View Less

Translation of the Bible into Samoan involves a consideration of the legends which have long been in existence. These legends display a belief in the spirits of the dead, many gods and many lords, and the deified spirits of the chiefs. This affects especially the translation of God, heaven, eternal life, and Jesus Christ. The Samoan rituals of meditation, sacred offering, and submission affect the translation of the relation between the believer and the Redeemer. Earlier versions of the Samoan Scriptures were too literal. Newer translations must maintain a faithful translation yet speak directly to the present generation. Adjustments in translation include more familiar expressions, the dropping of obsolete words, and the use of new words which have come into use in the last hundred years. View Less

In a comparison of the NT translation of Goodspeed and Williams, the author found a high degree of correspondence. Williams was published with the intention of serving those conservatives who would not accept Goodspeed. The question is raised of how different a translation needs to be from one previously published for the later one to be considered a new translation, rather than a revision of the earlier. View Less

Part I of a review of traditional and contemporary titles of biblical books. The chief traditional categories are (1) titles based on initial words; (2) titles based on topics or events; (3) titles based on literary type; (4) titles based on prominent persons; (5) titles based on recipient of writing; (6) titles of uncertain meaning; (7) titles describing contents; and (8) titles indicating authorship. View Less