What's in a Version?. Henry E Neufeld
version. The next several chapters will go into greater detail about this short explanation. Some will want to just read this chapter and then go on to the list of Bible versions at the end.
2. The Biblical Text
This chapter starts with how the Bible was written including some notes on inspiration, then goes on to discuss how it was copied and preserved. One important aspect of a modern version is the text used. How can we be as certain as possible that we are looking at a translation of what the apostles and prophets wrote?
3. Translators
Who does the work of translation? I’ll discuss translators, their qualifications, their faith and motivations and even their character. How does all this impact the translation you hold in your hands?
4. Translation Methods
How do translators approach the text? Why can't they just translate it word for word into English without changing things? What constitutes a “change” rather than an accurate translation?
5. Receptor Language and Audience
What choices must be made concerning the language into which the Bible will be translated? Should the language be elevated and spiritual? Should it be easily understood? Should it be colloquial? We’ll discuss children’s Bibles, Bibles intended for evangelism, for those who speak English as a second language, for seasoned churchgoers, and other groups.
6. Special Characteristics
What other issues are involved in translation methods? This chapter discusses issues such as capitalization of pronouns referring to God and to Jesus, translation of cultural concepts, Biblical names, use of and designation of the divine name in the Old Testament and other issues.
7. Choosing a Bible
What factors go into the choice of a Bible to use? Should I use one Bible or several? Should a different Bible be used for reading and for more serious study?
8. Notes on Modern Translations
Brief reviews of the most popular translations. What are they each designed for and how well do they fulfill that role. Each review is on a formatted chart so you can quickly compare the types of differences that interest you.
Greek and Hebrew Texts
I have transliterated these texts very loosely with hopefully enough aids for English speakers to pronounce them in a reasonable way. This book is not intended for students of Biblical languages, so I will not provide a transliteration table, nor do the transliterations take account of all the details of the language. For the most part, transliterated Greek and Hebrew texts are used simply to help demonstrate the most literal translation.
1: What Goes into a Bible Version?
Let’s imagine that we are part of a group of people who feel the need for a new Bible version. What will we need to do? What resources, human and otherwise, will we need? How long will the project take? What decisions will we need to make along the way?
First, as we discuss these issues, we need to look back and ask just why it is we feel the need for a new Bible version. It may be because we find that the current Bible versions are not communicating with us, or with some group of people we would like to reach with the scriptures. It may be that we are dissatisfied in some way with the accuracy of available Bible versions. It might be as simple a problem as the difficulty in getting permission to use existing Bible versions in various study materials. It’s even possible that we are dissatisfied with the theological credentials of those who translated current versions—whether we find them too liberal or too conservative, or perhaps we think they are of the wrong denomination.
So as a starting point we’re going to need to need to determine who we’re translating for. Some possible groups are:
Church Members
New Christians
Unchurched people
People for whom English is a second language
Children
Exceptionally deep Bible students
Once we know who we are translating for, we’ll need to make decisions about various specific points. Some of these will be largely determined by the audience, others are more general. Let’s look at the major items in order.
The Text
Before you can translate you need to have something to translate. The Bible was written before there were typewriters or printing presses and so it was written by hand, and then copied by hand. When documents are copied by hand, there are always some errors that creep in (See chapter 2). So we will have to select a text to copy. Modern versions generally choose between a text built according to principles of modern textual criticism or the text used by the King James Version (KJV).
| Receptor Language - the language into which a document is being translated. For example, when translating the New Testament from Greek into English, English is the receptor language. Source Language - the language from which a document is being translated. For example, when translating the New Testament from Greek into English the source language is Greek. |
The Translation Method
There are two basic methods of translation. The first involves trying to translate each word or form of the source language into its closest equivalent in the target language. In this method we don’t mind if the text in the receptor language sounds kind of foreign; in fact, we expect it to. We want it to reflect as much as possible the source language, as long as the text in the receptor language follows its own rules. The second method involves translating by ideas. This is a two step process by which we do our best to understand the meaning of a passage, idea by idea (or thought by thought) and then try to express those thoughts clearly and naturally in the receptor language.
Church members, and those involved in very deep Bible study are often used to the way the Bible reads and will likely even prefer translations done by the first method. Things that sound like they came from the Bible may not sound natural to them, but they certainly sound appropriate. New Christians or the unchurched, on the other hand, will often find that such a translation sounds so unnatural that it is hard to understand, and certainly difficult to read with any fluency.
The more specialized the audience, the more difficult it will be to translate formally or literally. Children’s Bibles, for example, will generally be done by the second method. (I’ll discuss these methods and provide names for them in chapter 3.)
The Translators
Who will make our translation for us? We’re going to need a variety of people to do the work, from those who translate to those who print and package the resulting work. These include:
Experts in the Biblical languages
Experts on Biblical exegesis, history and archeology
Experts in the receptor or target language
Experts on the target group
Literary experts
Editors and proofreaders
Managers and Coordinators
We’re going to ask a few questions of each of these people. For example, what theological viewpoints do we want