(BI181) Introducing Bible Translations
In this course, Dr. Strauss describes how God used human language, it is God’s message to us, God’s revelation to us. The bible is written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Interestingly, there were thousands of languages within human history and God chose to use these three language as the base text through which to relay His message to us. The Old Testament were originally recorded in languages belonging to the Semitic family while the New Testament was written in the Indo-European family. Translators approach translating the bible with different philosophies. While the King James Version has been around for several hundred years, there are several dozen now. Choosing to read a bible is best accomplished by reading different translations. No translation can capture all the meaning, but a translation can capture certain aspects. There are two approaches one is called formal equivalence and the other is functional equivalence. Formal Equivalence focuses on word for word and lexical concordance, while functional equivalence is seeking an equivalent word in each context. Formal equivalence also wants to follow the grammar as well, while the functional seeks to phrase certain clauses that reproduce the same meaning. Formal translation wants to translate until comprehension is achieved, and functional is seeking meaning. “Words have, instead, a range of potential senses. That is true of almost all words. There [are] a few words that are highly technical terms that really only have one sense or one meaning, but almost all words in the English language have more than one meaning. They have not a literal sense, but a semantic range. Think of the word “apple.” It could be a kind of computer—a type of computer—or it could be a kind of fruit. Think of the word “cold.” “Cold” could be a viral infection, as a noun, or a low temperature, as an adjective. “That is cold weather.” Think of the word “table.” I could say, “Set my computer on a table.” Or I could say, “Let me show you this table of data.” Or I could use it as a verb: “We could table this discussion.””1
Translation is not about merely replacing a word, we need translation because languages are different in word meaning, in idioms, and in terms of collocations. Language is an amazing tool, however when it relates to the bible, it can very challenging to read it the way it was written for most people. While every translation is a interpretation is a fair statement, there is a difference between linguistic interpretation and thematic interpretation. One deals with what English words best express Hebrew or Greek words and a thematic interpretation deals with the actual meaning of the text.
Later Dr. Strauss deals more and more with semantic meaning, words do not have a single literal meaning they have a range of potential meanings. “It is unreliable—to translate words literally on a one-to-one basis. You have to translate them according to their meaning in context. Look at the semantic range, what the word can mean, and then look at the literary context to determine what it does mean.”1 Dr. Strauss also stresses that translating idioms literally doesn’t work, because idioms don’t mean what they say. In discussing these, he also brings up metaphors which really add a lot of value to the reader in being able to understand what the God and the biblical writers are hoping to convey. Collocation is defined as a word whose meaning comes from its relationship and the Instructor goes into its consequences in relation to it with regard to the bible, especially if we go into different languages, for example with the verb, “to make.” Remember each translation is interpretation. Formal equivalent versions strengths help to identify the formal structure of the original text, it also helps to trace repeated words and verbal allusions, it also helps in reproducing Greek metaphors and idioms, and also helps in identifying ambiguities in the text. Functional equivalence translation’s strengths are communicating accurately the meaning of the text, providing natural sounding language, making clear what the text actually means, or rather clarity, and finally general readability. Translation is not about replacing words, but reproducing meaning and we all should utilize all kinds of translation. Meaning of the text is of the highest priority, which should be the goal of any bible translation that wishes to be the best. I really liked this course and really helped me getting a better grasp of how I can speak to someone looking for people translations.
1 Mark L. Strauss, BI181 Introducing Bible Translations, Logos Mobile Education (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
- I still have doubts in the accuracy in translating appropriately inorder to reproduce proper meaning to a Biblical Word as it also depends on the spiritual maturity of the translator and also biasness could be possible due to his or her denominational background. In Cambodia I met a Korean translator who was translating the NT for a particular language group who may reject outrightly if certain words are used. It is not suggested to dilute the truth but the translator need to remember that God reveals Himself progressively as new believers need to be taught how to unlearn their wrong concepts of god and accept the biblical concepts of God. The translation of the Bible into English language also has been a challenge for the translators even if they are strong in those specific original languages mentioned as they may still struggle to find equivalent words to other particular language groups which might have used words with a different meaning to particular words. Let us remember that languages are in a transitional state. Either it is to find suitable words to elucidate its functional or formal meaning in a particular language, it is still a great challenge for which a translator still needs to have an indepth knowledge about the particular language into which he or she translates and specifically needs the help of the Holy Spirit.