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The paper studies the development of several properties of the reflexive enclitic sě/se dependent on a finite verb in the Czech language. We focus on the word order position of the reflexive and on the influence which the length of the initial phrase has on the position. We also investigate the shift of the reflexive from an enclitic into a prosodically indifferent clitic. Nine Czech translations of the Gospel of Matthew from the 14th to the 21st century are used as language material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gird your loins and answer God like the ‘hero of faith’ (גבר [geber]) you claim to be! According to some scholars in both divine speeches, God challenges Job to get ready and reply, according to Job’s claim of being a ‘hero of faith’ (גבר [geber]). If it is true that Job is a ‘hero of faith’ (גבר [geber]), then a whole new dimension can be brought to light in the translation of the Hebrew lexeme geber in Job 3:3. This would have profound implications for how to translate Job 3:3 where Job is referring to himself, cursing the night when it was announced that a ‘hero of faith’(גבר [geber]) is conceived! This study contests the claim that this reference would be the only instance in the Bible where גבר [geber] would carry the nuanced meaning of male child, or ‘baby boy’ (NIV). If geber indeed emphasises that Job is a child with a special future, then in most translations, the carefully construed Hebrew emphasis is lost. This relates to most mainline Bible translations, as well as vernacular translations, which just follow suit, i.e. translating Job 3:3 just like previous translations have done. Contribution: The fact that most occurrences of גבר [geber] are in poetic literature helps us to get a fuller understanding of גבר [geber], since that literature uses parallel structures.

In this paper, I trace political and sociocultural change between two translation projects, Bibel 2000 and the "Sami Bible" of the Nordic Bible Societies. I suggest that the arguments that were made on the intended readership of Bibel 2000 in the 1960s and early 1970s reflect a monocultural and monolingual framework which was still a political and cultural reality at this time. Especially the importance of the national language (Swedish) and its connection to national identity underlying the arguments testify to this. In contrast, the Sami translation project of the Nordic Bible Societies, initiated in the 1980s, bears witness to changes towards multiculturalism and officially acknowledged multilingualism. I argue that these changes were an important impetus for this translation project, which also connects to a growing awareness of the importance of language for identity formation among the Sami people. Finally, I discuss the function of language as a “source of biblical authority” for both translation projects (Bibel 2000 and the Sami Bible), however in widely different respects. This enables me to place both translation projects as conceptualizations of “the Bible” in specific temporal contexts in the Swedish (and Nordic) postwar political landscape.

My aim in this article is to shed light on Bible translations in various forms of Sami. What they are, how they are made, and what challenges one faces when translating the Biblical text into Sami. The outline of the history of the Sami Bibles shows the complexity of the translation process. This is because of several factors involved in matters of interpretation and the language especially when it comes to fluency and naturalness. Over history, these factors have influenced the translation processes in several ways. This is partly because of the development in understanding what translation is and what are the most useful ways of translating. Partly the case is about making choices concerning the goals and procedures.

The current paper aims to present linguistic, pragmatic, and sociocultural features of the paratexts of the Peresopnytsia Gospel and five complete Ukrainian translations of the Holy Scriptures. The ultimate goal of the study is to highlight the peritextual and epitextual dimensions of these translations and to classify translation paratexts, whose characteristics are determined by both the translator’s strategy and the mono-confessional or interconfessional requirements of translation commissioners. The article’s assumptions are grounded in the interdisciplinary approach at the interface of translation studies, biblical studies, religious studies, and historiography. The objective of developing a classification of paratexts in Bible translations within historical, theoretical, and critical contexts is accomplished via the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, and modelling. The interpretive textual and cultural analysis methods are applied to identify and explain cultural, national, and religiously determined connotations of the paratexts. The comparative translation analysis provides a historically based translation quality assessment. As a result, paratexts of Ukrainian Bible translations have been classified according to thematic and pragmatic criteria. The paratextual dimensions of Bible translation are marked with 1) blurred agency (in many cases, it is difficult to determine the contribution of the translator or theological and literary editors), 2) restrictive requirements of the commissioner, 3) the impact of the overall translation strategy on the nature, type, and content of paratexts. However, no restrictions can conceal the implicit reader of each of these translations, to whom the paratexts appeal as a “second voice” of the main text. Paratexts of the first partial Ukrainian translations of the Holy Scriptures of the Confessionalism period (second half of the 16th century) are characterised by didacticism and a mono-confessional political orientation. The most important translation of that time, the Peresopnytsia Gospel, is analysed to specify the following types of verbal paratexts: 1) identification, containing data on the commissioner/publisher and the translators, as well as the date and place of its creation; 2) informative, providing all additional information not found in the prototext, including brief paraphrases of the main text, dates of the church calendar, and information on the structure of the book; they are often mono-confessional and polemical; 3) meta-lingual, explaining Church Slavonic vocabulary in glosses with Ukrainian equivalents or providing Ukrainian synonyms for Ukrainian words. The findings of the study prove that all complete translations of the Holy Scriptures into Ukrainian, both at the textual and paratextual levels, adhered to the principles of interconfessionality, accessibility for all Christians, and “functional loyalty”. The footnotes were the most important paratexts of the Ukrainian Bible translations made under the auspices of Bible Societies. Only in translations of the Bible of the 21st century does a preface appear, either a short one with general information about the translation strategy (Modern Translation, 2020) or a lengthy one with a detailed justification for the choice of the prototext’s language, a comparative table of the canons of the Old and New Testaments in different translations, and general information about the content of the Bible (New Translation, 2011). The footnotes in all Ukrainian translations done under the auspices of Bible Societies are divided into: explanations of biblical metaphor; explanations of the etymology of proper names; explanations of biblical traditions; alternative readings; foreign language equivalents; and meta-lingual explanations. The prevalence and peculiarities of footnotes depend upon the translation strategy. Thus, only among the footnotes in Ohiyenko’s translation can we trace such types as literal translations of complicated biblical metaphors and explanations of etymological wordplay. In addition, explanations of biblical metaphors are quantitatively prevalent in this translation. Such paratextual features are explained by the principle of foreignization, on which this translation is based. The Modern Translation by R. Turkoniak, in tandem with the Revising Committee of the Ukrainian Bible Society, aims to bring the Scriptures closer to the modern believer, not least through its footnotes. While Ohiyenko’s footnotes offer an alternative reading of some verses in “sacred” languages (Latin, Greek, and Church Slavonic), Turkoniak provides equivalents from translations into modern European languages and previous Ukrainian translations. The elements of “modernization” in the footnotes include vernacular vocabulary and associations with the realities and values of today. The interconfessional nature of Ukrainian translations of the Bible becomes visible in the church affiliations of the agents, such as the tandem of Orthodox Kulish and Greek Catholic Puluj, the cooperation of Ohiyenko, the Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and Protestant pastors Kuziv and Zhabko-Potapovych, the New (2011) and Modern (2020) translations as part of the project of the Ukrainian Bible Society, which brought together representatives of all denominations of independent Ukraine.

This paper reveals the original teaching from Sinai that Rosenzweig claims to have discovered while translating Exodus 3 with Martin Buber, and why he viewed this discovery as vindicating their decision to translate the Tetragrammaton in the way they did. A report of this discovery is to be found, I show, in the exchange between Buber and Rosenzweig during their translation of Exodus, as recorded in the Working Papers (Arbeitspapiere). The significance of Rosenzweig's account of the divine name only becomes fully clear, however, when viewed against the background of the revelation of the divine name in The Star of Redemption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author's journey begins with a deep immersion in his traditional Protestant faith, where he was taught to thoroughly know both the Old and the New Testament. As he reflects on his faith, the concept of being a "stranger and sojourner" comes to the forefront, highlighting the feeling of alienation within the secular world. The narrative takes an interesting turn when the author discusses the impact of changing political language on his perspective. The introduction of new political ideas and discourse challenges the previously straightforward worldview, leading to a sense of uncertainty in decision-making. Believers find themselves in a world with a multiplicity of perspectives that require a re-evaluation of what it means to "deny" or to make choices. In a changing social and political context, the narrative continually explores the intricate connection between faith and language. The author's experiences and reflections provide a compelling insight into the complexities of navigating a shifting spiritual landscape while grappling with the ever-evolving meaning of words and beliefs. The second half of the article presents the results of a computer analysis of the vocabulary of two Bible translations that defined the language usage of the Reformed Church in the second half of the 20th century: the 1908 Károli and the 1975 New Translation. The analysis focuses on words that present difficulties in understanding due to their archaic or religious nature. As a point of comparison, it also showcases the vocabulary of the Gospel of John, where a mere 199 word roots constitute 80% of word occurrences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Africanisation of Christianity in Africa is closely linked to the availability of the Bible in African mother tongues. However, mission-led Bible translation in Africa in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was not solely the work of European missionary linguists. Africans, such as Ludwig Adzaklo of the Bremen Mission, played essential roles in this process. Nevertheless, African translators like him were considered as mere Sprachgehilfe (language assistants) to the missionaries and not as co-translators. After a postcolonial analysis of archival data on the translation of the Old Testament into Ewe by Ludwig Adzaklo and Jakob Spieth, this study argues that Adzaklo was not just Spieth's Sprachgehilfe but a co-translator on the project. Being referred to as Spieth's Sprachgehilfe was a colonial-missionary label that denied Adzaklo's agency in mission-led Bible translation in Africa. Therefore, the study suggests that Adzaklo should be viewed as an early Ewe mother-tongue Bible translator in the history of West African Christianity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From its inception, Chinese Christianity has involved speaking in "tongues", across cultures, about the person and work of Jesus Christ. This article presents a contextual original-language exegesis of the Apostle Paul's use of the word γλῶσσα (glōssa) or 方言 (fangyan) in 1 Corinthians 12–14 and seeks to understand this contested lexeme in light of the multilingual reality of both the "diasporic" Christian church in first-century Corinth and the diasporic Chinese Christian church today. It is argued that understanding Paul's instructions regarding γλῶσσα/方言 within the context of a multilingual Christian worship culture strengthens the definition of γλῶσσα as languages used and understood among inhabitants of first-century Corinth. This reading, while not rejecting the possibility of an "angelic language" (tianshide huayu 天使的话语), may offer a more fruitful application for those who shape and participate in the multilingual worship culture of the diasporic Chinese Christian church today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tshivenḓa Bible Translations 1936 and 1998 are language tools, which have since the advent of Christianity in Venḓa somewhat contributed to the shaping and reshaping of the language and culture of the Vhavenḓa people. These language tools have also contributed largely to distortion of the Vhavenḓa language and culture and unfortunately the distortions have become normalised to a great extent. The argument in this article is that in as much as the distortions have become normalised through these language tools, they can be reversed through disobedience at various levels and epistemic relinking with the values, customs, traditions and practices of the Vhavenḓa people. Contribution: This article highlights language and cultural distortions inherent in Tshivenda Bible translations (1936 and 1998), and it proposes decolonial measures to rectify these distortions given the widespread use of these texts in the culture.

Missio Dei , particularly from the 1952 International Missionary Council perspective, highlights God's unmerited grace, which invites broad human participation in the realisation of salvation (Σωτηρία) and the kingdom of God (Βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ). The achievement of these goals depends on divine providence and the involvement of churches, including but not limited to the vital ministry of Bible translation. The crucial role that Bible translation plays in mission is to overcome barriers that distinguish the nations of the world and to reconcile them towards the fulfilment of the purposes of missio Dei. Although Bible translation remains an indispensable component of mission, its critical importance has received little to no scholarly attention. Once Bible translation is no longer viewed through the lens of mission, it is likely to dissolve into mere translation activities that are incompatible with the missio Dei. There is, therefore, a need for research that uncovers this indispensable function in the overall work of the missio Dei and in the realisation of its goals. Based on available literature, this article highlights the importance of Bible translation in the context of the missio Dei. Complexity theory is used to accentuate the interactive nature of Bible translations in mission context. Further research is needed to develop a holistic framework that fully integrates Bible translation into the context of the missio Dei. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article expands the interdisciplinary discourse between translation studies and theology by addressing the central importance of Bible translation work within missiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines a new etymology that has recently been proposed for Arm. gerezman and Caucasian "Albanian" garazman , both meaning 'grave, tomb', and the relationship of the latter to modern Udi gärämzä 'id.'. It shows that the peculiar shape of the Udi word can only be explained on the basis of a morphological restructuring that involved the genitive suffix - in -. Concerning the proposed etymology of gerezman and garazman , which builds upon an Iranian ("Median") phrase * gṛ δ a- zmani - 'house of clay', it refutes the hypothesis of a "mirroring effect" influencing vowels in the neighbourhood of r in Albanian and points out further problems in the assumed developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gird your loins and answer God like the 'hero of faith' (גבר [ geber ]) you claim to be! According to some scholars in both divine speeches, God challenges Job to get ready and reply, according to Job's claim of being a 'hero of faith' (גבר [ geber ]). If it is true that Job is a 'hero of faith' (גבר [ geber ]), then a whole new dimension can be brought to light in the translation of the Hebrew lexeme geber in Job 3:3. This would have profound implications for how to translate Job 3:3 where Job is referring to himself, cursing the night when it was announced that a 'hero of faith'(גבר [ geber ]) is conceived! This study contests the claim that this reference would be the only instance in the Bible where גבר [ geber ] would carry the nuanced meaning of male child, or 'baby boy' (NIV). If geber indeed emphasises that Job is a child with a special future, then in most translations, the carefully construed Hebrew emphasis is lost. This relates to most mainline Bible translations, as well as vernacular translations, which just follow suit, i.e. translating Job 3:3 just like previous translations have done. Contribution: The fact that most occurrences of גבר [ geber ] are in poetic literature helps us to get a fuller understanding of גבר [ geber ], since that literature uses parallel structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical study of the history of the use of language reveals that ideology, religion, and language have usually been intimately linked; this also applies to the topic of "mutual encounters and linguistic exchanges" between China and the West. At the same time, we can affirm that each Chinese encounter with the West represented an encounter with Christians and Christianity. Within this context, this article examines how Jesuit Louis Antoine de Poirot (He Qingtai 賀清泰, 1735–1814), who worked for Emperor Qianlong, composed Guxin shengjing 古新聖經 (Old and New Testament), a translation of the Bible in both vernacular Chinese and Manchu, in the second half of the eighteenth century. Specifically, it focuses on how de Poirot used rhetoric in shaping the language the Jesuits adopted for translating the Bible, as well as for addressing readers in Qing China. This article is part of the special issue of the Journal of Jesuit Studies , "Jesuits in Modern Far East," guest edited by Steven Pieragastini. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article examines the peculiar shape that the Middle Iranian word for 'praise', āfrīn , has achieved as a loanword in the language of the Caucasian "Albanians" where it appears as afre - in the complex verb afre-pesown 'praise, bless'. Based on a thorough investigation of the morphology of formations with the light verb - pesown in Caucasian Albanian, it is proven that a recent proposal, which assumes the influence of an agreement marker, is untenable; instead, it is shown how afre - can have emerged from a metanalysis of afrin as a case form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the rendition of the key words of the Christian ethical vocabulary σώφρων and σωφροσύνη in Ukrainian translations of the New Testament in comparison with other East Slavic translations in synchronic and diachronic dimensions. The σώφρων word group covers a range of "intellectual" and "moral" meanings in Ancient Greek, which continue to evolve in Hellenistic Greek to denote 'soundness of mind', 'prudence', 'discretion', 'good sense', on the one hand, and 'moderation', 'self-control', 'temperance', 'restraint', 'decency', 'modesty', on the other. Retaining such polysemy in the New Testament, the σώφρων word group also displays various connotations depending on gender, age and social status. The Old Slavonic and Church Slavonic calques of the σώφρων word group mostly accentuate its "moral" meanings, especially the meanings of 'chastity' and 'purity', which evolve in Christian ascetic literature after the New Testament, although in some cases they retain their primary "intellectual" meanings. The article also explores the use of semantic equivalents of the σώφρων word group in Old Ukrainian, Old Russian and Old Belarusian based on corpora data and historical written monuments. We came to the conclusion that Ukrainian biblical translations of the 19th to early 21st century, as well as some Russian and Belarusian translations, generally take into consideration the polysemy of the σώφρων word group in the New Testament, though a great extent of variability of equivalents and a lack of consistent reproduction of gender and age connotations are observed. We argue that the use of certain moral equivalents of the σώφρων word group in modern East Slavic translations (in particular, Ukrainian цнотливий, цнотливість, цнота, Russian целомудренный and Belarusian цнатлівий) is inappropriate due to the resulting narrowing of their meanings to 'innocence', 'virginity' and 'sexual purity'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To “theologize,” that is, to engage in theological reasoning and exposition when composing oral, written, or multimodal discourse, has been applied continually in Africa ever since the Bible was first introduced to this continent. Whenever God’s Word is conveyed in another language and cultural setting, the existential theological barrier must be broken as important scriptural notions and entire propositions must inevitably be reconceptualized semantically and frequently also reconfigured grammatically to be communicated. The focus of the present paper is the crucial activity of Bible translation and the various ways in which those involved in such a multifaceted endeavor always engage in theologizing, to one degree or another, while carrying out their work. This article focuses specifically on the New Testament Study Bible in Chichewa (2017 Bible Society of Malawi). The importance of preparing such locally contextualized, scripturally accurate, and linguistically idiomatic study Bibles is demonstrated through manifold exemplification to be an indispensable means of ensuring the theological vitality and dynamic growth of the Church in Africa.

There is an unusual phrase that occurs only fourteen times in the Hebrew Bible. Those fourteen occurrences mark the accounts of ten highly consequential days. The essential messages of those ten accounts, when taken together, create and convey a unified and coherent communication. The presence of the phrase, its uniqueness to those days, and the message it creates, are hidden in translations. Readers of the biblical text in English, Greek, Latin, and German versions have no reason to associate the ten marked days. The phrase and its message are effectively hidden even from those who use the Hebrew text; having been obscured by the tradition of interpretation extending through rabbinic literature and commentary. The message created by reference to those ten marked days is representative of early Jewish apocalypse literature. This paper identifies and analyses the marker phrase, identifies the days that it marks, interprets the message created, demonstrates the hiddenness of that message, and argues its character as an apocalypse.

This article seeks to examine the translation of the Greek word διελέγετο (dielegato) in Acts 17:2 as gyee akyinnyeε in Asante Twi Bible. Using the Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics approach and exegesis, the study finds out that the translation of gyee akyinnyeε sounds more derogatory. It is therefore suggested that the Twi word gyee akyinnyeε should be retranslated as mpεnsεmpεnsεmu in order to vindicate a man full of the Holy Spirit. The study will add to the interpretation of Acts 17:2 in the Asante Twi Bible. It is recommended that subsequent revisions of the Asante Twi Bible could consider mpεnsεmpεnsεmu.

The purpose of the article is a comparative analysis of two interpretations of one seventh of the Koran in the Old Turkic literary language (Ural-Volga Turks) and the translation of the Fourth Gospel into Bashkir, carried out in Bashkiria in the 19th century. A comparative analysis of the three named works is carried out by analyzing the historical circumstances of their writing and publication, their functional purpose, genre nature and stylistic characteristics. Interpretations to the one seventh part of the Koran, made by Bahadirshah al-Kaynawi and Tajj al-Din al-Ishtaki, develop the tradition of word-by-word commentaries on the Koran. However, they implement different strategies for interpreting the sacred text – utilitarian and didactic. The translation into Bashkir of the Four Gospels is based on the idea of the expressiveness of sacred content in any language and does not contain a commenting component proper. The theological positions of translators have found expression in the choice of linguistic means of translation. A comparative analysis of the two Muslim exegetical works and one translation of the sacred text of Christianity shows that their authors adhered to different approaches to the interpretation of the sacred text, and these approaches do not coincide with confessional ones. The Muslim tradition of interpreting sacred texts in the region was multi-variant and dynamic. The Christian approach to translation put into practice the ideas of N.I. Ilminsky and provided for the participation in the perception of the sacred text not only of the reader, but also of the preacher.

Bible translation activities have been documented since the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonian captivity in the period of the 5th century BCE (Before the Common Era). In Ghana, the earliest translation of portions of Scripture was in Ga in 1805. Bible translation into mother tongues overtly or covertly employs one or more of the philosophies known in translating the Bible. This article examined the philosophy that underpinned the translation of the Asante-Twi Bible, a mother-tongue Scripture that is widely used by the Akan-speaking people of Ghana. Two texts (Acts 1:12 and Hebrews 12:1) were examined exegetically through the lens of mother tongue biblical hermeneutics. The researcher discovered that the two main theories of formal and dynamic equivalences have been employed where appropriate in the translation. However, there are a lot of passages (such as Jewish systems of measurements and dates) that call for using appropriate equivalences in the mother-tongue to make the message of the New Testament understandable and unambiguous. The article also argues for the need for commentaries in the mother-tongue Bibles.

«Paul Claudel interroge le Cantique des Cantiques» («Paul Claudel questions the Song of Songs») is a landmark work in the oeuvre of Paul Claudel (1868-1955), it is one of the largest artistic and exegetic commentaries in the collection of prose «Le Poëte et la Bible» («The Poet and the Bible») (1998, 2004). The writer creates a new «Claudelian novel» in Bakhtin’s understanding of the novelistic word, based on the centuries-old tradition of multiple interpretations, on the one hand, but built into a work of art, on the other. Claudel draws on his experience of reading the Vulgate, working with concordances and the works of the Fathers of the Church, updating the text of the Holy Scripture through the prism of his work. The artistic world of prose allows us to trace themes, motives, images, as well as the style of working with the text in Latin. Upon fi nishing his work on the commentary, Claudel makes his own translation of the Bible. It reveals the principles that Lemaistre de Sacy and Fillon adhered to, as well as the typical Claudelian methods of translation, which the writer stated in his discussions about language, French verse and orthography. The translation becomes part of the work: the interpreter places it at the beginning of each chapter. Claudel makes a new translation, pursuing other goals: he does not translate the Bible from the sacred language into the profane language, he translates it into the «Claudelian», adding the meanings that he puts into the text himself, which develops in the second part of each chapter – a poetic commentary.

From around the Reformation period to modern times, many English Bibles have been produced. In their production, many approaches have been employed. These approaches have been categorized in different ways by different scholars. Two of these approaches have been identified and explained in this article. They are formal equivalence and functional equivalence. According to Bill Mounce, formal equivalence shows a strong preference for replicating the form of the original languages. It makes translations reflect the formal structure of the original text. E. Ray Clendenen and David K. Stabnow assert that functional equivalent translation aims primarily at a high degree of naturalness in the translation. It renders the original language in such a way that it sounds natural in the target language. These approaches have also given way to different types of translation and qualities of translation. There are two major types of translation. They are literal translation and meaning-based translation. There are some qualities that a good translation should attain. Some of these qualities are accuracy, clarity, naturalness and faithfulness to the source text. The questions of great importance that are begging for the answer are: What is the best approach to Bible translation? How can this approach be attained? This article examines the best approaches to Bible translation and explains how the Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation (MAST) method can assist to maintain check and balance in the interaction of Biblical translation approaches. The English translations of the Bibles are used as illustrations. The article summarizes the best approach to Bible translation and posits that the English Bible produced is in-between the literal translation and meaning-based translation, natural, clear, accurate, and faithful to the source text. The study recommends that such an approach can be found when the MAST method is adopted, and the English Bible produced will be readable and familiar to both native English speakers and non-native English speakers.

The article deals with Jan Kochanowski’s Psałterz Dawidów [David’s Psalter], published in 1579. This paraphrase of the biblical Psalter, intensely lyrical in its spirit, was inspired by George Buchanan’s Latin poetic paraphrase of the Psalms, which is strongly Horatianising. Kochanowski’s work can be seen as a presentation of humanist piety. That is to say that the borders between secular and sacred spaces, or even between Judeo-Christian and Pagan traditions, may seem blurred. The Psalter is also interconfessional (or “doctrinally neutral”) and acts as a universal mirror reflecting the human mind. The author analyses three of Kochanowski’s Psalms to demonstrate the intellectual and emotional space of his Psalter and its polyphonic structure: 1 (Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum), 19 (Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei) and 91 (Qui habitat in adiutorio Altissimi), displaying some interplays of ideas and different approaches to paraphrasing applied by the poet.

Within translation studies, functionalist translations and even more specifically, translations guided by Skopos theory are very much purposeful activities. Skopos theory applied to Bible translation, however, is sometimes met with resistance by practitioners who believe that Skopos theory betrays too much of the source text. This article began by outlining Skopos theory and the additional notion of loyalty as introduced by Christiane Nord. Even with loyalty applied to the theory, many Bible translation practitioners continue to fear it. After the initial presentation of Skopos theory plus loyalty, the Hebrew lexeme חֶסֶד (ḥesed) was introduced in this article and discussed in relation to its biblical use. The discussion of ḥesed was then widened to functionalist Bible translation to redeem the loyalty notion as applied to Bible translation. This article claimed that ḥesed as loyalty further helps to protect both the source text and target audiences from radical or unacceptable translations. Contribution: Bible translation is a purposeful activity. This article attempted to allay the fears that some Bible translation practitioners have about the possibility of radical translations undertaken using Skopos theory. Loyalty as understood through the lens of the Hebrew חֶסֶד (ḥesed) was utilised afresh to allay these fears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li Wenyu and Ma Xiangbo were two influential Catholic intellectuals in modern China who each undertook a translation of the Bible into Chinese. This article surveys their participation in contemporary ideological debates and investigates their thoughts on the inculturation of Catholicism, including 'evangelisation by writing' and 'scholastic mission', as well as their beliefs and practices regarding Bible translation. An in-depth comparison of their translations is also provided, illuminating the different approaches taken by Li and Ma in dealing with terminology, sentence structure, linguistic style, and theological implications. Li conformed to Chinese biblical terminology established by the Catholic missionaries who preceded him and adhered to the syntax of Classical Chinese; in contrast, Ma's linguistic style is approximate to Easy Wenli , and he adopted words and phrases from traditional Chinese culture to transmit the Catholic faith. The two translators demonstrated two choices of indigenising Catholicism and the Bible in China: 'mirror-type' and 'bridge-type'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous discussions on religion were held within the communicative network among Jewish enlighteners in Berlin and Breslau. These discussions were characterized by a hitherto unknown form of skeptical and critical questioning of religious customs and practices of Ashkenazi Jewry. Moreover, they were characterized by an unprecedented skeptical questioning of religious customs and traditions of Ashkenazi Judaism. The places of these discussions were located where many different people gathered and contributed in their verbal exchanges to their mutual understanding. The experience of different opinions became the starting point for a self-reflective comparative review process of their own religious positioning and to their own stand on questions of an individual's education and development. These oral discourses in many ways found expression in written statements, as in introductions to German translations of Biblical books and liturgical texts, in school programs, journals and modern sermons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to examine the translation of the Greek word διελέγετο (dielegato) in Acts 17:2 as gyee akyinnyeε in Asante Twi Bible. Using the Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics approach and exegesis, the study finds out that the translation of gyee akyinnyeε sounds more derogatory. It is therefore suggested that the Twi word gyee akyinnyeε should be retranslated as mpεnsεmpεnsεmu in order to vindicate a man full of the Holy Spirit. The study will add to the interpretation of Acts 17:2 in the Asante Twi Bible. It is recommended that subsequent revisions of the Asante Twi Bible could consider mpεnsεmpεnsεmu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an unusual phrase that occurs only fourteen times in the Hebrew Bible. Those fourteen occurrences mark the accounts of ten highly consequential days. The essential messages of those ten accounts, when taken together, create and convey a unified and coherent communication. The presence of the phrase, its uniqueness to those days, and the message it creates, are hidden in translations. Readers of the biblical text in English, Greek, Latin, and German versions have no reason to associate the ten marked days. The phrase and its message are effectively hidden even from those who use the Hebrew text; having been obscured by the tradition of interpretation extending through rabbinic literature and commentary. The message created by reference to those ten marked days is representative of early Jewish apocalypse literature. This paper identifies and analyses the marker phrase, identifies the days that it marks, interprets the message created, demonstrates the hiddenness of that message, and argues its character as an apocalypse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary study of the history of Croatian Bible translation largely focuses on several excellent Bible translators to whom we are greatly indebted in our Bible translation heritage. However, this sometimes happens at the expense of some of our neglected Croatian Bible translators, whose work and valuable contributions are barely, or just incidentally, written or known about. One such figure is Fr. Silvije Grubišić, who is not only a valuable but also an important factor in Croatian Bible translation work. Little is known, or otherwise sporadically mentioned, about Grubišić’s translation of the Old Testament, while critical, linguistic, and textual analyses of his translation are simply unheard of. This article attempts to point to the outstanding value of Fr. Silvije Grubišić’s Bible translation work. His translation of the Old Testament is very peculiar, atypical, and undoubtedly original. It is, therefore, good to emphasize those peculiarities and perform a partial textual analysis, thus contributing to the keeping and preservation of the rich Croatian Bible translation heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how the translation of the word 'virgin' in the Igbo Bible has expanded the Igbo lexicon and how this lexical enrichment has spread among Igbo speakers. Although prior to their encounter with Christian missionaries in the 19th century and the subsequent translation of the Bible into Igbo, Igbo people had words that referred to virgin, these words were polysemous as they were also used for young and unmarried persons. In the course of translating the Bible into Igbo, Christian missionaries transferred the biblical euphemism for sex, 'to know', into the Igbo Bible and used same to innovate terms for 'virgin', thereby distinguishing a virgin from an unmarried or young person who might have had sex. Adapting the concept of language elaboration, this study analyses the lexical processes involved in creating these new terms. Then it presents findings from a questionnaire survey on the spread of the innovated terms among Igbo speakers. The survey findings demonstrate that the biblical innovations have not only spread among Igbo speakers but also became a springboard for further lexical innovations. This article accentuates the impact of Bible translation in reshaping the Igbo language. It also reveals the involvement of the language users in the process of language change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has often been assumed that the late eighteenth century in Sweden never produced much of interest on the exegetical or theological plane. This was the period in which the Bible, a hotly debated text in Enlightenment Europe, was famously never translated in any accepted version and the philological, academic and theological work that was done during the Gustavian era has been underappreciated in later historiography. Picking up on the notion of a ‘religious Enlightenment,’ this article analyzes three biblical translation projects, the official Bible commission of 1773, the private translations of Bishop Johan Adam Tingstadius and the private Jewish translation of Genesis 49 by David Josephsson and Marcus Maure. Through a comparison of the translation work of Genesis 49 in these three projects this article argues for the usefulness of Bible reception in understanding the late eighteenth-century world. Philology, new historical knowledge and altered epistemic perspectives meant that the Bible, as the most central of classical and religious texts, could no longer be translated in the old 1541 tradition and that any translation of it would show the perspectives and ideologies of the translators and their intended audience, Jewish or Christian.

The Basotho of Lesotho and South Africa speak the same language, namely Sesotho. However, the two countries do not use the same orthography when writing Sesotho. This orthographic representation and its variations pose a significant challenge when Bible translators translate it into Sesotho. It also presents difficulties to readers of the Bible in South Africa when they have to read the Bible written in Lesotho orthography for the first time or to Lesotho readers who encounter Sesotho written in South African orthography. The two orthographies are independent but complementary. The Lesotho orthography is older than the South African. It differs in the choice of letters and the marking of initial syllabic nasals and (to a much lesser extent) in written word division and the use of diacritics on vowels to distinguish some ambiguous spellings. Contribution: This article provides a historical examination of the problem beginning with the first efforts by French missionaries to write the language in the 19th century, the separate but interrelated development of the two orthographies in Lesotho and South Africa and the current impasse concerning a unified orthography. The analysis will include an examination of the linguistic issues involved, the sociolinguistic topics (including politics, education and religion) and various possible scenarios for resolving the problem will be considered.

From around the Reformation period to modern times, many English Bibles have been produced. In their production, many approaches have been employed. These approaches have been categorized in different ways by different scholars. Two of these approaches have been identified and explained in this article. They are formal equivalence and functional equivalence. According to Bill Mounce, formal equivalence shows a strong preference for replicating the form of the original languages. It makes translations reflect the formal structure of the original text. E. Ray Clendenen and David K. Stabnow assert that functional equivalent translation aims primarily at a high degree of naturalness in the translation. It renders the original language in such a way that it sounds natural in the target language. These approaches have also given way to different types of translation and qualities of translation. There are two major types of translation. They are literal translation and meaning-based translation. There are some qualities that a good translation should attain. Some of these qualities are accuracy, clarity, naturalness and faithfulness to the source text. The questions of great importance that are begging for the answer are: What is the best approach to Bible translation? How can this approach be attained? This article examines the best approaches to Bible translation and explains how the Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation (MAST) method can assist to maintain check and balance in the interaction of Biblical translation approaches. The English translations of the Bibles are used as illustrations. The article summarizes the best approach to Bible translation and posits that the English Bible produced is in-between the literal translation and meaning-based translation, natural, clear, accurate, and faithful to the source text. The study recommends that such an approach can be found when the MAST method is adopted, and the English Bible produced will be readable and familiar to both native English speakers and non-native English speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the Hebrew word ָא ֵמן and its transliterated borrowing into Greek ἀμήν in the New Testament epistles generally signal agreement at the end of a prayer, doxology, or blessing, the “Amen (Amen), I say to you” formula in the gospels (with the repeated “amen” only in John) occurs clause-initially and serves to introduce certain direct quotes of our Savior. In the first part of this paper, we seek to confirm Clark’s 2004 and 2007 observations on the discourse and pragmatic functions of the “amen” formula signaling the beginning, end, and high points of a literary unit. We go on to complement these findings by noting that in the Gospel of John, the formula can also announce a coming theme, mark a climax, conclude a larger discourse unit, and occur in clusters, moving from neutral to more conflictual contexts. In the second part of the paper, we consider translations in a number of versions in English and a set of African languages, examining translation strategies which include more literal and more dynamic renderings. We ask if it is better to translate or transliterate the “amen” formula, render it consistently or not, and preserve the repetition of the formula in John’s Gospel. In at least some languages, insistence on the truth of a statement may indeed raise doubts as to its credibility. This study underlines the unending tension in translation between form and meaning, but also brings to light how John’s quotation of this Hebrew and/or Aramaic expression within a Greek text lends authenticity to this gospel. Finally, our observations lead us to ask: Is it time for translators to imitate the gospel writers’ attempts at preserving the flavor of Jesus’s speech in the gospels by opting for transliteration rather than translation?

The meaning of the neologism Ἑλληνιστὰι in the New Testament (Acts 6:1; 9:29; 11:20), although only three times, is not as simple as one might think. The Indonesian Bible (TB, BIMK) defines its first two usages as linguistic differences (“Greek-speaking Jews”). The third usage is not even clear whether it is the category of descent (“Greeks”) or religious (“non-Jewish peo­ple”). There is a tendency for Ἑλληνιστὰι to be translated non-uniformly, but there is also a uniformity. In the context of this word study, the first step is to determine Ἕλληνες as the root and origin of Ἑλληνιστὰι. Since the semantic meaning of Ἕλληνες includes Greeks by descent and Greeks culturally, the second step is to examine the consistency of the differentiation of Graeci and gentiles in the Vulgate for both Greekishness. The fact that Ἑλληνιστὰι trans­lations are so varied makes the final step nec­essary, namely to reinterpret the word in its context. As a result, neologism is needed for Indonesian vocabulary: “Helenis” (or Hellenist) for cultural Ἕλληνες and “Yahudi Helenis” (or Hellenized Jews) for Ἑλληνιστὰι.

This paper reports on the South African Sign Language Bible Translation Project, an ongoing project aiming to translate 110 Bible stories into South African Sign Language (SASL). The project started in 2014 and, at the time of writing, 32 stories have been finalised. A team of three Deaf2 signers are translating the stories from written English to SASL. As signed languages have no written form, the signed translations are video-recorded. The Deaf translators are working with exegetical assistants, a Bible translation consultant with expertise in signed language (Bible) translations, a signed language interpreter who facilitates the communication between the Deaf translators and hearing collaborators, and an editor. Back translations are done by both Deaf and hearing collaborators who are proficient in SASL and English. The Deaf community of South Africa assists the Deaf translators with signs for Biblical names and terms when required. This paper documents the modus operandi of the team as a sequence of different steps. We focus on the many challenges involved in this process, specifically those related to working between the written form of a spoken language (English) and a visual-gestural language with no written form (SASL) and only a short history of institutionalisation.

The relationship between the Anglo-Scottish Ultra-Ganges Mission and the Dutch missionaries in South East Asia, both missions based at Batavia and at Melaka (Malacca), could be described as "distant but cordial" – even during times of colonial conflict – but the same cannot always be said about the internal conditions of the British mission. This article will attempt to place the relationship between the Anglo-Dutch missionary enterprises into a historical context which includes the complex networks built up by the missionaries with the colonial administrations, as well as with the local Malay and Chinese communities. Ultimately, the success of their mission depended as much on such external factors as on the internal cohesion between the individual missionaries. Much of the historical sources for this article has been derived from the Special Collections archives kept at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are several Hungarian translations of the Bible serving at the same time: Translations are re-translations of the same text using revisions of ancient Bible texts. The language of the Bible should be "natural", helping readers to comprehend it with the least effort. This effort is driven by direct and indirect translations showing more or less functional approaches to translation presenting texts by using methods of formal and functional equivalence. The paper provides a glimpse into contemporary canonical Hungarian translations, revealing the linguistic ideologies of the translator and the needs of the reader (in what manner linguistic ideologies have influence on the translation). Translation approaches are going to be "scaled" in the microstructure, showing possibilities of research to be done in the macrostructure of the translations. Examples are shown to reveal the intentions of the translator(s) helping readers to grasp the meaning of the source text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When comparing old and new Bible translations, differences are striking at all discourse levels. This paper concentrates on variations in the representation of subjective cognition and reasoning of subjects in the discourse. A corpus-based analysis was conducted that compared the domains of use of causal fragments in Dutch Bible translations that were either old, contemporary and loyal, or "easy". In a close comparison of Bible translations, differences between domains of use are analysed in more detail. In old translations, the character's subjective reasoning is clearly separated from the narrator's utterances. By contrast, in modern translations, causal reasoning is more intertwined between character and narrator, resulting in shared reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are living during the era of the greatest acceleration of Bible translation (BT) in history. It seems legitimate to raise the question within the BT community of practice: is there an obligation to recognize all translations as legitimate translations? While we are usually confident that if a translation is sponsored by a local community or denomination and published by a recognized BT agency, then we know that the BT program went through appropriate drafting and quality control protocols. But what about other situations, such as that of a single translator or a small group of individuals who work alone and without sponsorship? They intend to publish on their own and at the time when they say it is suitable. Or perhaps a mission agency declares unilaterally that a translation they sponsored is acceptable for a language community. In light of unprecedented acceleration, “Who says it’s a translation?” is a relevant question for BT practice and process. We must find a shared understanding about how to discern a proper balance between community ownership of the task and global responsibility in reporting overall progress and the size of the remaining task.

The decision to initiate a Bible translation project in any community has profound implications. In logistical terms, Bible translation projects can be expensive and taxing on their donors, initiators and other stakeholders. However, they can also have positive transformative effects on the communities that benefit from the translation. Therefore, the decision to translate should be carefully considered. In many cases, a rapid appraisal survey is conducted to determine the remaining Bible translation needs in a given situation. This article assessed the validity of rapid appraisal surveys using the Yaawo context of Mozambique as a case study and cautions against their use when performed in isolation. A new model is proposed based on the object metaphor of a beaded necklace that, although it involves more time and resources, will result in a more appropriate response to the needs (or lack thereof) for Bible translation in each context. Supplementing the beaded necklace model for determining Bible translation needs, insights from narrative frame theory are highlighted as they were applied recently to the complex Yaawo context in Mozambique. These insights are presented to demonstrate that initiating a Bible translation project is not just a sociolinguistic decision but a contextual one as well. Contribution: The translation of the Bible is a complex process. This article demonstrates that narrative framing is a useful tool for managing the complexity around a new Bible translation project by offering a new model for stakeholders and initiators to assess and manage the context of a new Bible translation situation.