Bible Translation for the Glory of the Lamb

A question the readers of this essay might ask is "What does the issue of translation have to do with the topic of the conference at which this paper was presented?" The conference title, "Conflict and Convergence: Jewish and Christian Approaches to the Psalms," has, I believe, a sub-text, which is a study of the underlying hermeneutic and reception history of the book of Psalms--how the Psalter has been received, interpreted, and transmitted over the millennia. Current translations of the book provide insights into how the Psalter is received, interpreted, and transmitted today, and perhaps foreshadow how it will be received, interpreted, and transmitted in the future.

Priscilla Papers, 2019

Author: Aloo Osotsi Mojola Publisher: CBE International The Bible generates a range of complex and often ambiguous attitudes. For some the Bible is perceived as an oppressive tool that has historically been used to alienate and dehumanize. It has been viewed as an instrument of empire, of colonial and cultural domination, of conquest and subjugation. At various times and places, the Bible has been used as a basis for the discrimination and oppression of women and minorities. The Bible is not neutral. Its entry into a culture sends mixed messages. Where some see loss, others see gain. Where some see dispossession, others see empowerment. Where some see conquest, others see freedom. Where some see cultural dispossession and alienation, others see a call and challenge to reclaim the divine image—and thus equality and dignity—in all humans. For many in the church, the Bible is viewed as a transformative and indispensable tool. It is the church’s guiding document, central to the formulation of her creeds, to the formation of her faith and practice, to the fostering and nurturing of just and loving communities. Bible translators strive to provide access to this ancient text. Indeed, without translation the biblical writings and their rich treasures would be forever inaccessible. The vast majority of people read or hear a translated Bible, a domesticated Bible that by means of translators’ mediation has crossed boundaries of time and space, of language and culture.

Alternative Paradigms for Bible Translation , 2024

As the equivalence paradigm has been increasingly challenged, the metaphor (or paradigm) of hospitality is being proposed as an alternative to equivalence as the guiding (and ruling) goal of translation, as well as informing how to proceed with a translation project. Hospitality to whom? Certainly the host languaculture; but for the translation of the Bible, also if not first of all, the Holy Spirit

Zeramim, 2019

The topic of Bible translation has come to the fore recently with Robert Alter's The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary 1 , a work that completes Alter's decades-long project of translating the entire Tanakh. I want to put this newest translation into the larger context of Bible translations, especially English Bible translations, and examine many of the issues involved in translating the Bible and the choices that translators make.

Journal for Translation Studies in Africa, 2021

A live webinar on translation studies and its implications for Bible translation was held on 20 August 2020. The goal was to answer the question: What insights can Bible translation practitioners glean from the field of translation studies? It is argued that the contribution of translation studies to Bible translation cannot be ignored; instead, translation studies is indispensable for Bible translation, especially in the planning, the establishment and the execution of a Bible translation project. After the introduction, the webinar focused on the nature of translation studies followed by the dissemination of translation knowledge for Bible translation. The conclusion listed the shifts that need to take place in Bible translation on the basis of its engagement with translation studies.

2011

This paper was delivered at a conference of the Michigan District in Monroe, Michigan on January 16, 2011. Minor editing has been done.

Bible Translation Conference Paper, 2019

Toward a theology of Bible Translation Bible translation is a missiological enterprise, advancing the mission of God. This paper presents Bible translation as a theological undertaking, and outlines an initial theology of Bible translation. Theological studies discuss the nature of God, humanity, sin, incarnation, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the church, and the last things. The first question addressed is this: Is Bible translation a theological exercise? Can a theology of Bible translation be appropriately developed? Next, I examine the interaction of a theology of Bible translation with the areas of theology listed above as I develop my preliminary thoughts toward a theology of Bible translation. In order to move toward a current theology of Bible translation, I integrate examination of relevant literature, relevant Scripture, and the practice of Bible translation.

Acta Theologica, 2004

An overview of recent developments of the discipline which deals with the activity of translation, as well as the implications for Bible translation, is presented. Starting off with a discussion of the disciplinary nature of translation studies, an overview of some developments emphasising the source text, the process of translation, the reception of the translated text, and the cultural-social bound character of translation, is offered. Since the early eighties there has been a tendency within translation studies to move away from the normative and prescriptive approaches to translation and to adopt a descriptive approach towards the study of translated literature. Descriptive translation theorists attempt to account not only for textual strategies in the translated text, but also for the way in which the translation functions in the target cultural system. The implications that these recent theoretical developments have for Bible translation practice and criticism of Bible translations are arrived at in the last instance.

2002

We cannot do anything about the proliferation of English Bible translations. They will keep coming. This is something to lament, not to celebrate. People are not more biblically literate as more and more English translations are available. On the contrary, they know less and less about the content of the Bible (p. 196). This quotation serves to highlight the issue which Leland Ryken, Professor of English at Wheaton College, Illinois, is addressing in this book. A ware of the fact that the last two decades have seen a profusion of new translations of the Bible in English, Ryken' s concern is to examine the principles which underlie the task of Bible translation. Reading his book, one is aware both of a burden and of a passion: a burden for the Word of God, which, he contends, some modem versions have failed to communicate fully, and a passion to highlight those principles which will secure excellence in Bible translation. But this is no mere academic discussion of the merits of essential literalism over dynamic equivalence. It is a devastating critique of all translations which have applied the dynamic equivalence theory, on the basis that it is enough to communicate the thought of a passage. Translations like the NIV, the New Living Translation and The Message, are all flawed at this point, according to Ryken. By not paying attention to the individual words of the original text, they are guilty of obscuring much of the original world of the text as well as its literary qualities. In fact, Ryken's work is the exposition of a simple principle: that any translation has to respect the words of the original speaker. When these words are the words of God, the importance of the task is magnified. Many modem translations, according to Ryken, have adopted fallacious pre-judgements: such as that the Bible is uniformly simple, or that it is essentially modern, or that the uliimate goal of translation is readability, or that we should translate as if the Bible writers were living today, or