The Bible Translator: Volume 20, Issue 1

What relation is there between a man’s language and his world view? There are four universal properties of human language which are important in the relation of language to a world-view: (1) the arbitrary relation between word form and word meaning; (2) the polysemy of the word, i.e. every word carries many different aspects of meaning; (3) the determinative function of context and situation; (4) the arbitrary nature of syntactic rules. Wrong conclusions can be arrived at by neglecting one or more of these four features: (1) conclusions from the size of the vocabulary or the absence or presence of words; (2) conclusions concerning single words, compound, and expressions; and (3) the circular reasoning in all such conclusions. View Less

For 600 years Luke 1:20 has been wrongly translated “you shall be silent (or dumb) and not able to speak”. The author suggests that the true sense of the passage should be “you shall be deaf, and unable to speak.” Tracing the verb siopao through the Hebrew, the LXX, and the Greek he feels the word fits more the area of deaf, and Zachariah would be stricken deaf and dumb because he had not believed what he had heard. A true sense of the verse reads, “Because ye did not believe what I said, you will hear no sound, and you will be unable to speak until the day when everything I have told you comes true.” View Less

In April, 1968, a “new word” from the Ingyapam arrived, for the translation of the entire NT in Northern Lengua was completed. It is one of the one hundred tribal languages in South America in which translation is currently in progress. After many difficulties, both physical and linguistic the Lengua is received enthusiastically and used widely. View Less

In ancient Israel a man’s name supplied important information regarding genealogy, lineage, place of birth, as well as events, sociological relationships and obligations. Each part of a man’s name had its own signification. Translation of names as well as the sociological importance of mispaheh (family) and bet-’ab (ancestor house) is often confused terminology and relationships are illustrated and discussed. View Less