The Bible Translator: Volume 31, Issue 2

The Hebrew hesed has a wide range of meaning including love, covenant, steadfastness, loyalty and trust. Careful examination of the social relationships in each context will help isolate the correct specific meaning. Examples are from Genesis. View Less

Hebrew zarath and Greek lepra usually are translated as “leprosy.” Both words originally covered a general class of skin diseases that rendered a person ceremonially unclean. Leprosy itself was not known in Palestine in OT times. Therefore the specific term “leprosy” should be avoided in modern translations. View Less

Translators must carefully examine introductory remarks and textual decisions regarding their interlinear editions of the Bible. Interpretive aspects ought to be checked out with commentaries and lexicons. Meanings ought to be compared with other modern translations. View Less

Translation of the Lord’s Prayer must balance accuracy of meaning with a form which is in line with other prayers already existing in the particular language. A phrase by phrase commentary provides alternative renderings for the prayer. View Less

Ambiguities and obscure meanings must be translated as clearly as possible to avoid wrong interpretation by readers. Translators should resolve conflicts on the basis of careful study, and, where significant, provide alternative renderings. Examples include Phil 2:6; Isa 7:14; Gen 3:15 and others. First appeared in Eugene A. Nida, Good News for Everyone (Waco, TX: Word, 1977). View Less

Oral readings of a translation may pinpoint problem areas in the translation. Five additional tests check understandability, faithfulness to the original, emotive accuracy and theological bias. Instructions and examples are provided for each test. View Less

Translation of 1 Cor requires much knowledge of the original historical and cultural setting. Worship included both public and private elements, each with appropriate forms and manners. Modern readers need help recognizing rhetorical questions, irony, and indirect references in this epistle. View Less

Self is the normal point of reference when a speaker uses demonstratives and verbs of position and direction. In some languages the position of the hearer is also a point of reference. Examples from Exodus illustrate how translations can be handled. View Less

Two problems in Luke 12:46 are: how do the two clauses relate to each other, and the meaning of “cut...in pieces.” The second clause seems to describe the result of the first. The meaning of the Greek term is to “cut out of God’s people." View Less

Provides general translation helps on the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32). View Less

Evaluates how the Greek term epiousios (daily) has been translated, and what the options are. Suggests, along with Jeremias, that the prayer is asking for the hallowing of everyday life. View Less