Category Archives: Bible Translation

borrowing or redeeming words in Bible translations

May 6, 2012 – 12:03 am

My friend and mentor, Hart Wiens, describes the two options Bible translators have when trying to find a word for the God of the Bible: Translating Key Words: God and Allah If the discussion is broadened to include other key Bible words, what relevance do you think this discussion might have for the vocabulary used [...]

By Wayne Leman | Comments (2)

Translator in the translation

April 30, 2012 – 8:47 pm

This is an interesting meditation on Bible translation: www.lhm.org/dailydevotions.asp?date=20120430. First, it is a notice about yet another English Bible translation becoming available, and then a commentary on that. I’m not really aware of this new translation from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but Rev. Ken Klaus of Lutheran Hour Ministries reveals a few things he knows about [...]

By David Frank | Also posted in Bible versions, common language, idiomatic, invisibility of the translator, natural English, sacred language | Tagged | Comments (15)

Eugene Peterson learns how to translate the Bible

April 19, 2012 – 6:07 pm

Right now I am listening to a video interview with Eugene Peterson, translator of The Message version of the Bible. Peterson explains how he became a Bible translator. First he became a biblical language scholar. Then he discovered books recently published about how to translate the Bible. He read translations of the Iliad and the [...]

By Wayne Leman | Comments (4)

new multitask Bible app

April 1, 2012 – 3:03 pm

Have you ever found your attention wandering as your read your Bible or listen to it in audio form? Your brain is probably trying to multitask because you have so much on your mind in our busy world. The answer for reading the Bible with divided attention will soon be here, the RDWT Bible app [...]

By Wayne Leman | Comments (4)

A simple idiomatic translation exercise (part 2)

March 28, 2012 – 8:40 pm

Idioms are difficult to translate. In A simple idiomatic translation exercise (part 1), I raised the question of how to translate two idioms from two different languages, and I asked people to take guesses. Several people were right. The best translation is “To make a mountain out of a mole hill.” However, that wasn’t what I [...]

By Mike Sangrey | Comments (13)

A simple idiomatic translation exercise (part 1)

March 26, 2012 – 10:11 pm

You’re a translator, and you have been given the following statement in Estonian (with an English literal translation), how do you think it should be translated into English? Sääsest elevanti tegema To make an elephant out of a gnat Similarly, you’ve also been given a statement in Finnish. What is your guess for an English [...]

By Mike Sangrey | Comments (11)

NIV11 review by Rodney Decker

March 14, 2012 – 3:00 pm

The NIV translators sought to communicate clearly to their generation. But English stops for no one. Our language has continued to change, and it has changed much more rapidly during the past hundred years than it did in the seventeenth century. The swirling vortex of technological and social transformation that has surrounded us with increasingly [...]

By Dannii | Tagged , | Comments (19)

When summarizing is too hard

March 7, 2012 – 12:17 am

Many times on this blog I’ve expressed the distinction between two types of translations:  one which is intended to be analyzed by its user and one that is to be synthesized.  They are roughly equivalent to translations for study and translations for reading, but the similarity is only rough.  The analytic vis-a-vis synthetic distinction is [...]

By Mike Sangrey | Comments (34)

watch a Bible translation committee work

February 23, 2012 – 3:11 am

Have you ever wondered what goes on when a Bible translation committee works? If so, here’s an interesting, informative video of the ESV translation committee meeting discussing how to translate biblical languages words having to do with slaves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx06mtApu8k

By Wayne Leman | Comments (6)

Eddie Arthur blogging about Father and Son

February 19, 2012 – 4:47 pm

Bible translator Eddie Arthur has blogged several helpful, explanatory posts recently about how language, meaning, and Bible translation. He has focused on the discussion about how to translate the meaning of Father and Son in languages where these words have meanings different from the biblical languages and English.

By Wayne Leman | Leave a Comment
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