The Bible Translator: Volume 25, Issue 2

Literacy selections are intended to be short, relevant and self-contained. Several different aspects of selections are considered, (1) vocabulary, with emphasis on simple terms, (2) grammar, with stress on considering the context, (3) content, which needs to be specific and relevant, (4) format, which must be easily readable, and (5) arrangement. Literacy selections do not replace primers in a language, but capture interest in stories, reflect a peoples’ own way of life and help acquaint people with God’s word. View Less

Literary types are an attempt to classify literature, but labeling creates certain problems. There is a need to regard size, form, content, purpose, outlook of the narrator and the differences between literal and symbolic modes. Identifies two problems which relate to literary types as (1) cultural prejudices affecting certain decisions in translations, such as the use of poetic form; (2) certain expressions associated with particular literary types. View Less

The problem of interpreting the Hebrew term hesed is raised in the translation of the refrain of Ps. 136. The best known versions are cited as evidence, with a brief critical discussion of the choices of English and French translations. The opinions of various experts are cited with the caution that words must be studied in context. Hesed does not defy translation, but “love” and “love lasts eternally” captures the idea. View Less

A brief survey of the translators of the English Bible from the Venerable Bede to the King James translators with some comments about the translations. View Less

An attempt to measure relative degrees of readability used by the Lutheran Church of Finland to assess its Finnish Church Bible of 1938 leading to the motion in the church assembly that a new translation based upon the dynamic equivalence principle should be undertaken. View Less

A report on recent activities to supplement a standard Thai Bible with one in the Northern Thai dialect. The problems besetting a translation involve: (1) dialects within Northern Thai; (2) adapting the standard Thai script to make necessary phonemic distinctions; and (3) correctly translating a dialect filled with idioms and peculiar sayings. An experiment in translating various gospel portions into Northern Thai yielded inconclusive results. Younger people are being taught in standard Thai, while older people are functionally illiterate. The additional possibility of taping the Scriptures faces problems of cost and distribution. View Less

The selections are preceded by the principles which guided selections, equivalent to 40% of the OT: (1) emphasized OT salvation history; (2) large sections were used; (3) passages important for understanding the NT were used; (4) passages with human interest value were used; (5) passages stressing spiritual concerns and which are useful for corporate worship were included; (6) passages reflecting morals that are dubious were not eliminated. View Less

The normal German translations of this phrase do not say all it means. The translator must look to the OT pattern which suggests a number of possible translations. Guidelines developed from the OT are then applied to the translation of a number of NT passages where the phrase appears. View Less

Apparently accurate translations may exclude right meaning in two situations: (1) where implicit information needs to be made explicit. (2) Where literal translations, because of the culture, may be misunderstood, which happens frequently with pronoun usage. View Less

New Testament letters follow the letter form used during the 1st cent. Not all English translations have followed this pattern, notably Phillips and the Living Bible. There seems to be an attempt to achieve naturalness in English in those cases, a pattern which is used to establish a proposed translation of the openings and closings which follows in the article. View Less

A new common language translation into Croatian is just getting under way. Only a few chapters of the Gospel of John have been presented to the Editorial Committee. Already there are several places where the proposed translation departs significantly from most others, including modern dynamic equivalent translations. This note is a discussion of a well-known text in which the rendering proposed for the new Croatian translation departs from both TEV and Die Gute Nachricht. Since the translation is still in the beginning stages the draft text is still subject to change. Reader response to this note is therefore invited and welcome. View Less