{"title":"The “Ideal Version of the Text”: A Text-Critical Review of the Greek Text behind David Bentley Hart's New Testament","authors":"E. B. Ebojo","doi":"10.1177/20516770221108461","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770221108461","url":null,"abstract":"In his The New Testament: A Translation, David Bentley Hart uses the term “critical text” to describe the Greek text he used as the initial textual base for his translation. However, he also integrated into this critical text readings from the Majority Text, setting them in single square brackets. As a result, Hart describes the source text behind his translation as “an approximation to an ideal version of the [NT] text that in actuality we shall never be able to identify entirely.” This paper investigates Hart's claims about the Greek text underlying his translation, and explores what implications his translation presents to those who are involved in Bible translation, specifically in the area of identifying the textual base for their NT translation projects.","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123611181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Translation of יהוה: Part 2, The Case of Dholuo","authors":"M. M. Kobimbo","doi":"10.1177/20516770221105876","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770221105876","url":null,"abstract":"The first part of this study (TBT 72[1]: 50–60) reviewed the history of the rendering of the key term יהוה YHWH in Bible translations into Dholuo (spoken in southwestern Kenya and northwestern Tanzania). This second part considers the translation of this key term within the context of modern Dholuo language and culture. The different renderings in two existing translations are analyzed and put in the broader perspective of Bible translation in Africa. Finally, the paper proposes a rendering for יהוה that does justice to the Dholuo culture and tradition, while maintaining the specific characteristics that are present in the source text.","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121992079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Taking the Potholes out of the Road: Prepublication Recording as a Means of Editing in Oral Preference Cultures","authors":"Martha L. Wade","doi":"10.1177/20516770221084993","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770221084993","url":null,"abstract":"Many translation projects begin typesetting almost immediately after a “final read through” which may come six months to a year after the final book is checked by a consultant. For some groups, however, following this standard methodology leaves them with an uneven translation that has been produced over several decades and checked by a variety of consultants. In one group, the translation was described as being like a road with potholes. In this paper, the methodology and results of using prepublication recording in two languages of Papua New Guinea will be examined and the impact of distributing prepublication recordings will be described. There is no doubt that prepublication recording is not an “efficient” process. It is expensive and time-consuming, but the resulting improvement in the translation makes it worth the effort.","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"97 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121558002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Translating Psalms for Performance and Their Use in Various Ministries within the Church: Examples from South Africa","authors":"J. Dickie","doi":"10.1177/20516770211066935","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770211066935","url":null,"abstract":"The Psalms were composed for oral performance, and many today believe they should be restored to their performance vitality. “Translation for performance” requires many concepts to be considered, one of which is how the audience (or receptor community) will use the translated text. In the case of translating poetry, these considerations often point to the value of literary-rhetorical translation, which captures the poetical beauty and persuasive power of the original. Also, translating from an oral text and following the form of local poetic genres facilitates ready application of psalms. In this paper, empirical studies illustrate some ways in which psalms have been used recently with communities in South Africa: in corporate worship, in personal prayer, and with sectoral groups. Translators need constantly to keep their eye on the end game, to ensure the translated psalms facilitate a living conversation between people and God, as the ancient poems did.","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"229 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121243456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"God’s Promise to Hagar in Genesis 16: Rethinking a Problematic Text","authors":"Patricia Krayer","doi":"10.1177/20516770211066937","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770211066937","url":null,"abstract":"God made an incredible promise to Hagar in Gen 16.12; however, the beauty of the promise gets lost in translation. Our English Bibles typically render this promise in a pejorative manner, which has led to centuries of stigmatizing Arabs, primarily Muslim Arabs. The polyvalence of the Hebrew in the verse opens the door for significantly different renderings of God’s promise. Thus, the assumptions translators bring to the text can easily shape their understandings. This paper works through the Hebrew and proposes a suitable alternative to traditional renderings, one that is sensitive to the immediate narrative context and to the broader biblical record. Fresh reflection on this verse can lead to corrected translations and the intentional elimination of any sacred justification for this stigmatization.","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133870366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Translating the Bible in Plain Language: The Story of the Dutch Bijbel in Gewone Taal by de Jong Matthijs J.","authors":"Richard Pleijel","doi":"10.1177/20516770221085245","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770221085245","url":null,"abstract":"This book, originally published in Dutch, describes the making of the 2014 Dutch translation Bijbel in Gewone Taal (“The Bible in plain language”; Netherlands Bible Society). The translation was done in seven years by a group of twelve translators. The book sets out by claiming somewhat boldly that the Bijbel in Gewone Taal (BGT) is “the clearest translation of the Bible ever made in Dutch” (vii). As the title of the book already suggests, a defining feature of BGT is its use of plain language, that is, language that uses “well-known words” (27), and which may thus be understood by an average reader. Presumably, the effect of this is that BGT can be more easily understood by the average reader compared to older Dutch translations, since these either are less idiomatic or tend to have a higher rate of theological or typically “biblical” language. This book therefore claims that BGT presents something fundamentally new to the Dutch public. Chapter 1 is a presentation of the general ideas behind BGT. The chapter outlines the main principle of the translation, which is described as “the norm of clarity and comprehensibility” (16; emphasis removed). Chapter 2 consists of a number of arguments for the use of plain language. This includes a thorough discussion and definition of what plain language is, and of how to use it. Departing from contemporary linguistic research, the author states that plain language is not something subjective, but that it can be objectively and statistically defined. In its essence, plain language","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"69 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125381917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Translanguaging: Leveraging Multilingualism for Scripture Engagement","authors":"Timothy Hatcher, S. Son","doi":"10.1177/20516770211062143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770211062143","url":null,"abstract":"Members of multilingual communities conceptualize language differently from the way monolinguals do. Most Bible agencies model monolingual approaches to engaging with the Bible. Some agencies emphasize gateway languages while others highlight vernacular languages. Many multilinguals prefer an unbounded, performative approach to languages that reflects their dynamic, hybridized identities; one term for this is translanguaging. Translanguagers make meaning by using words from their full linguistic repertoire. Using translanguaging theory and methodologies, Bible agencies can model Scripture engagement approaches that more naturally correspond to the language practices of many multilinguals.","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130884079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Ever-Rolling Stream: How Time Subverts “Translation for” into “Journeying with”: Half a Century of Bible Translation in Urak Lawoi’","authors":"Stephen Pattemore","doi":"10.1177/20516770211004682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770211004682","url":null,"abstract":"Bible translation in Urak Lawoi’ began with linguistic work in the late 1960s. The Gospel of Mark was first published in 1976 and the New Testament in 1998. The Old Testament, though almost complete, was still in the checking phase in 2018. Those raw data reveal time to be one of the primary players in the drama. Time has impacted the agency of translation and its purpose, its cultural context, and even its medium. But contrary to current efficiency-based presuppositions and product-oriented drive, the result is not all bad. In the process the task has become rather a journey where the companionship is as important as the goal. This paper reflects on the exigencies of time and cultural shift over half a century of Bible translation in Urak Lawoi’.","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"77 10","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114023099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Island Identity in the Malagasy Bible Translation","authors":"Brigitte Rabarijaona","doi":"10.1177/20516770221089224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20516770221089224","url":null,"abstract":"This exploration of island identity considers the island of Madagascar, not as an ideology or mythology, but as a country with its distinctive geographical situation and environment, a reality which shapes the culture, language, and identity of its people. After highlighting different aspects of island identity in the context of Madagascar, the paper explores how this is reflected in the language and culture, and in Bible translation.","PeriodicalId":354951,"journal":{"name":"The Bible Translator","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115365506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}