Should the Bible Sound Like the Language in the Streets?
Feature Article by ANGELA LU FULTON|FEBRUARY 19, 2024 CHRISTIANITY TODAY (pp. 53-61 in the March 2024 print edition) (https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2024/march/bible-translation-philippines-jamaica-germany-controversy.html)
A few paragraphs from this interesting article, which features selected quotes by Bible translation specialists, some of whom you may know!
"What is the “correct” language to use for a Bible, and who gets to draw that line? Even in languages deemed acceptable, are there words too vulgar to be used in the Bible? Are there times when a new version strays too far from the original text? Various forms of these questions have been fiercely debated by Christians throughout church history, and they carry great spiritual importance. Translations can change how people view God, whom they think God’s Word is for, and whether they even pick up a Bible in the first place. Oftentimes, culture, history, class, and other biases color how we view the acceptability of a certain language. Yet perhaps what is most important is whether God’s Word speaks to listeners in a way that changes their lives."
"Speakers of most languages don’t have the luxury to choose from hundreds of Bible translations. Translation groups are working to make the Bible accessible to everyone in the world, but with limited finances and resources, they need to figure out which languages to focus on.
"Many Bible translators see the roles that different types of retellings, paraphrases, and translations can play to make God’s Word as clear and approachable to as many people as possible. Like with the Patois or Taglish translations, having a Bible in the language that one lives and thinks in can make a profound spiritual difference."
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Yes, this article raises some excellent questions. As the founder of the https://OpenEnglishTranslation.Bible project, one essential background point remains clear to me: In my culture (New Zealand), the established Christian church is losing touch with the mainstream culture (or you could say, ‘losing the battle for young people's minds’).
Having just finished a first draft of the OET NT (tentatively named ‘The Messianic Update’), I hadn't previously recognised how much of the language of our English Bibles is outdated (and this is often what makes it feel more ‘formal’). As an example, how often does a native English speaker start a sentence with the conjunction ‘For’? I've been listening carefully for it for over a year now, and not heard one, yet our mainstream Bibles are full of it (including Jn 3:16, but try getting a non-linguist to explain what that first word means).
As another example, having just finished drafting Revelation, I just discovered that the term ‘wild beast’ was an older term for a ‘wild animal’ (and still used in some modern but narrow contexts like a farmer ‘killing a beast’ [cow]). So I've drafted a beast-free translation (still containing some inconsistencies as we're experimenting with some of the options). Oh no, some might say, you can't get rid of ‘the mark of the beast’! But it's quite amazing how a simple word change results in a different picture in the mind.
All to say that we should all be concerned about reaching the current generation of young people. Do Bible translators need to get out of the office more and try some street evangelism?
P.S. We're looking for help -- see https://OpenEnglishTranslation.Bible/About/Partners.