Introduction

There is much confusion as to what constitutes Scripture engagement, and where translation fits in, or vice versa. This paper attempts to disambiguate the two, but also show how closely related they are. So, I have two main points: 1. where they overlap; 2. how they differ.

1. Where They Overlap

SE and translation both have the same goal: transformed communities/lives as people interact with God through their engagement with Scripture. This, at least, is how most translation projects are configured. Some have other goals, such as language development (LD), in which case, from a LD perspective the translation goals are actually broader than the SE ones.

SIL is an organisation that spends a lot of time thinking about languages, so that makes sense. If, however, one were to approach the work from an SE perspective things would be slightly different…

1. How They Differ

Looking from an SE perspective, however, the goals of a traditional translation project need to be broadened or deepened to take into account audience felt needs.

2.1 SE is Big Picture

Scripture engagement is about God transforming lives as people and communities engage with the Scriptures. This means that SE is big picture, as it starts with the people, their lives, and what they are looking for i.e., their felt needs.

“When people saw how the Scriptures spoke to their daily lives, their interest in the Bible increased significantly. Identifying the legitimate needs of the community and demonstrating how the Word of God addresses their important life issues is one of the most important tasks that local pastors, missionaries, and Bible translators can undertake.” (Dye 2009, 95)

SE

Translation

Audience issues

Who is the product for? What are their felt needs?

How will the distributed portions impact lives?

How will the audience understand the translation?

Products

What is appropriate for the audience? A collection of proverbs? Lives of the Prophets? Some psalms?

There is often a default idea of translation some gospels first, or the New Testament first.

Bible Books

What does the audience need first? Is this a selection of verses from a range of Scriptures?

Which (whole) books are easier to translate?

Media

Whatever media is most appropriate e.g., oral, audio, Apps, print…

Often by default teams start with print then develop other media later.

Arts

Integrate well with SE.

Sometimes ‘used’ in print products, without much thought as to the cultural appropriateness of the pictures/music/etc.

2.2 Translation Takes Time

Translating the Bible can take twenty to thirty years. Producing some products appropriate for SE use is much quicker. There is a myth that SE will slow you down. The opposite is true – it will speed up the impact of what you are doing, therefore releasing new labourers into the harvest field (and, possibly into the translation team). Also, any impact stories are both encouraging to the team[1] and helpful for finding ongoing financial sponsorship.

2.3 SE Comes Before BT

It makes sense to look at SE issues such as choosing the audience, their felt needs, etc. before embarking on BT. Admittedly some Scriptures are needed first, before any major SE work can be embarked on. This point is a bit chicken and egg, but my point is that you need to invite the SE consultant to any planning meetings where you are discussing what to translate over the next however many years.

2.4 Traditional BT Requires a Literate Audience

If you want to publish books you are basically assuming a) you audience can read b) they can read the local language (L1), not just the language of wider communication or LWC (L2) c) the audience are functionally literate, not just literate in theory. i.e., they want to read and do read. SE does not make this assumption. It starts where people are – oral, needing audio recordings, etc.

2.5 Language Shift (Assimilation) is an Issue

If the language is shifting it makes sense to work on both languages: the local language (L1) and the LWC (L2). SE doesn’t have a problem with this, but BT folk often do, as they have spent their lives working on a product in L1 rather than L2. Perhaps we need to produce more diglots? In Bible apps it is common to include both L1 and L2, which is good.

2.6 Contextualisation is Key

It’s much easier to contextualise SE products such as Lives of the Prophets than a traditional Bible product. Key terms can be adapted as necessary, and the style can be made more appropriate for the audience. Honorifics such as ‘respected’ (for those considered to be prophets in Islam) can be added.

2.7 SE is About People not Products

When you join the organisation, if you are clearly a people person you often get channelled into literacy or SE. Those who are less people-orientated feel happier in translation. The problem with this is that, ultimately, our work is about people, not products. The reason to set up a project is as much about who will be involved and how they will be trained (and what legacy will be left behind, in terms of resources) as it is about developing products.

Conclusion

So, we have seen that Translation and SE share the same goal. They differ, in that traditional BT projects are often carried out without much SE input. This is changing…

Much of the above is rather tongue in cheek i.e., please do not take me too seriously. I am not here to criticise Bible translators, after all I was involved in a BT project for twenty years. I just want to show how much of what we do is really about Scripture engagement, rather than Bible translation. Therefore, we always need an SE department working alongside any translation department we have.

Also, the fact that more and more translation projects are now using oral translation means that the projects are increasingly being set up with SE goals in minds, which is good! Therefore, some of the differences explained above are only true about traditional BT projects. As time goes on, BT is increasingly SE-driven, and the differences are decreasing. Another way of saying this is that translation is, “ … embedded in SE programmes and activities” (Bible Translation 2023, Call for Papers).

Bibliography

Dye, Wayne. 2009. ‘The Eight Conditions of Scripture Engagement’ 26 (2). http://www.ijfm.org/PDFs\_IJFM/26\_2\_PDFs/89-98\_Eight%20Conditions.pdf.

Hill, Margaret V., and Harriet S. Hill. Translating the Bible into Action: How the Bible Can Be Relevant in All Languages and Cultures. Second edition. Carlisle: Langham Global Library, 2022.

[1] When did your translation team last dance with joy?