The Bible Translator: Volume 18, Issue 4

News and progress reports of translation projects in such widely scattered language areas as Arabic, Persian, Japan, Indonesia, India and Pakistan, Spanish, various African dialects, Oceania, Polish, and Italian. Encouraging factors include the use of the New UBS Greek Text progress on the translator’s translation of the N.T. trend in ecumenical cooperation (e.g., Italy), “common language” translations, and a graded series of literary translations. View Less

The translation of Greek passive verb forms where no subject (agent) is expressed poses problems in languages which have no passive forms for at least some of its verb forms. Proposes that such verbs be turned into actives with the subject supplied from the verb idea or context. Passages used for illustrations include Matt. 7:1 “God will not judge,” and 5:32, “produces a situation in which someone commits adultery with her.” There are more than two hundred such cases in Matthew alone. View Less

The original text for the recent (1966) Today’s English Version is that of the 1966 United Bible Society. The translator, though agreeing that it is the translator’s duty to translate what he has before him, believes that the translator must run the risk of mistakes in judgment as he tries faithfully to communicate the meaning he believes is intended. Examples of departures from the U.B.S. text in the TEV in such areas as proper names, punctuation, and textual variants are given, with attempted justification. View Less

Examines the Greek parrhesia and its related words. The meaning of the verb is basically to have freedom in speaking and then to possess an attitude of assurance or daring. Examines the translation of these words in RSV and NEB along with various Arabic versions and the Koran. The latter translation exhibits a distinctive strand in interpretation. View Less

Makes a plea to take seriously the challenge of Communist ideology and recognize that we may, by allowing cultural presuppositions to influence our choice of Christian terminology, unwittingly appear to defend the indefensible. The translator must be careful not to import into our Biblical renderings class connotations which are not necessarily embodied in the original social terms. View Less

Answers the question: “How can translation consultants who do not know the language help a missionary translator find vocabulary which has so far eluded him?” The answer falls into several categories: (1) a propitious atmosphere; (2) eliciting techniques; (3) narrative or experimental matrix; (4) morphological derivational matrix; (5) syntactic-logotactic matrix; and (6) emotive-logotactic matrix. View Less

Dr Robert G. Bratcher of the American Bible Society has sent us the following letter on consideration of Bishop Stephen Neill’s review article on the Greek New Testament which appeared in The Bible Translator Vol. 18, No. I, January 1967, pp. 12-15. Ed. View Less