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This article introduces the Septuagint as a complex Bible version which deserves more attention from evangelical biblical scholars. The author asks if differences between the Septuagint and the Hebrew text of the canonical books can occasionally be considered as the result of inspiration, and if so, whether the wording of the Septuagint should in certain specific places form the basis for modern translations of the Old Testament. The article pays particular attention to some scholars who have pleaded for the place of the Septuagint in the Church, such as Edward Grinfield, Georg Bertram, Mogens Müller and Benjamin Giffone, as well as to the handling of the Septuagint by the authors of the New Testament and by the Early Church. With Ross Wagner, the article concludes that some elements of the Septuagint represent God's continuing revelation to his Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translation history can find a point of departure in the complex relations of trust (or distrust) that are established between translator and client, receiver, author, text, and indeed other translators. This way of approaching history can be formalized in terms of a short set of guideline questions that the historian might like to ask. The questions go from the translator’s interpersonal relations right through to the trust that the historian has data and the not dissimilar trust sought with respect to other historians. Thus, the one framework informs both the historical object of knowledge and our historiographic activity. The way these questions work can be illustrated through the example of Francisco Enzinas’s 1543 translation of the New Testament, which he personally presented to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, in search of trust.

Fornication and Other “Awful Sins” in the Bible Translations. Euphemisms and Alterations on Matt 5:32, 9:19 and Lev 20:10-21 The paper shows confusion of theologians – both catholic and protestant – in all Polish and many other translations of fragments related to sexual relations, especially these contacts which were recognised uniquely as a cause of divorce. The considered translations tend to use archaic, euphemistic or imprecise vocabulary in the main text, adding often confusing and linguistically unacceptable footnotes. On the contrary, the analysed Italian and French translations are clear and intelligible. The Author shows, nevertheless, that the existing translations – not only in Polish, but also in Italian and French – of the Greek word porneia used in the Gospels are incoherent with those in the Old Testament, which is unacceptable. The Author also claims, on the basis of analysed texts, that even the best footnotes cannot replace a clear and intelligible translation in the main text.

„Psy i okaleczeńcy”. Translating Paul’s Invectives against Judaizers (Gal. 3:3; Phil. 3:2) Insults (contumelia) and invectives (invectiva oratio) were known to inspired authors, but their overtones in modern translations usually lose their strength. Should a translator avoid harsh words contained in the original invectives, or should he remain faithful to them? It is shown by analyzing Paul’s invectives in Phil. 3:2 and in Gal. 3:1.3. The author claims that: 1) avoiding the invectives in the translation weakens a message of the original text (Gal. 3:1.3); 2) the translational consistency (“źli pracownicy”; Phil. 3:2) favors understanding of the invectives; 3) the invectives that exist in Polish, when their scope deviates from the Greek original, require clarification in footnotes (“psy”; Phil. 3:2); 4) the multitude of hapax legomena in the Bible justifies the use of neologisms, as long as they accurately reflect the content of the original (“przerzezanie”; Phil. 3:2).

The background of this study was to explore the Old Testament vision of shalom and determine how it was relevant to its holistic mission, Bible translation, transformational development and the world’s challenges and trends. The aim of this research was to create a framework to serve practitioners and theorists associated with the Bible translation movement and its intersection with transformational development. The setting for the study was the consideration of factors affecting Bible translation and transformational development in the context of global challenges and trends. The methodology of the study included literature surveys integrated with analysis of data from global sources. Results from the study included an understanding of the relevance of shalom, and integration with holistic mission, including integral mission, and intersection with transformational development. Analysis of global challenges and trends was combined with an existing framework for transformational development that included Bible translation as a mission. The conclusion was that the church was called to be faithful stewards of knowledge and resources. This included an understanding of the relevance of the vision for shalom, integrated with holistic mission, transformational development and Bible translation that addressed in full or in part global challenges and trends that resulted in the framework produced by this study.

Statistical analysis has been a common method for determining progress in missional activity. In the case of Bible translation, measurable statistics have been readily available showing progress. However, there have been gaps such as biblical, sociological, theological and missiological factors. The aim of this study is to consider broader factors than just quantifiable measurements that could be used to develop a missiological foundation for missional progress, especially for Bible translation. The setting was to analyse inputs from leaders within the Bible translation movement in terms of their understanding of the factors to be considered for a missiology of progress. Using a qualitative study based upon a questionnaire, the researcher grouped the responses by common categories and then analysed the key findings. The qualitative nature of how Bible translation was conducted reveals important factors such as signs of increased collaboration between Bible translation agencies, improved quality of relationships between Bible translation agencies and the local church, and also theologically significant milestones. The study concludes that progress in the Bible translation movement has to be considered within the broader context of God’s mission. Church history has revealed how progress in one era could be regress in another era. Consequently, reflecting and learning together within the Bible translation movement has been a key to progress, and therefore, all participants in the Bible translation movement have been called to work and learn together.

This is paper is a hermeneutical approach to Peter Middelkoop’s Bible translation in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara. By way of Gadamer’s hermeneutical thought, the author deduced that evangelism is always impacting either the mission activities or the site of mission. Since any achievement of evangelism, which implicated the local languages is not a sole accomplishment of mission institutions, such as Netherland Zending Genotschaf (NZG), but an outcome of the engagement between the missionaries and the existing culture.

This empirical study explores whether indigenous Zulu praise-poetry can inform the translation of biblical praise-psalms. Zulu youth (“poetry fans”) were invited to learn about Hebrew and Zulu poetics as well as the process of Bible translation. Then they made their own translations and performances of biblical praise-psalms, following the Literary-rhetorical approach of Ernst Wendland. The results show a strong Zulu imprint from the source to the receptor text, although the original message is retained along with some of the poetic features. The literary and rhetorical power of the Hebrew is transformed into images and thought patterns that come alive to the Zulu mind while still being acceptable (to them) in terms of biblical accuracy. The performances of the translated texts (using rap, song, or spoken poetry) utilise prosody to deliver the message, thus requiring some adjustment to the texts. The audience enters into the experience, impacting the performers. Thus, there are four “voices” apparent: those of the original author, the Zulu translator, the Zulu performer, and the audience. A rich texture of cultural beauty emerges as the Hebrew and Zulu horizons merge in a panorama of literary beauty and rhetorical power.

The past decades have seen several editions of the Bible with distinct emphases. Examples of such specialaudience editions of the Bible are particularly aimed at women, men or young people. There are also particular "Bibles", or parts thereof, for bikers, for instance, or a Bible edition that highlights verses concerning issues of justice. The vast majority of these Bible editions, which try to address a particular audience or promote/advocate a certain cause, offer their particular emphases in the text and notes in the margins, but do not actually interfere with the text itself. However, there are also editions of the Bible, where the editors/translators introduce particular emphases in their actual rendering of the biblical text itself. The Complete Jewish Bible is one of the examples to be discussed in some detail in this instance. This article describes these approaches and assesses their validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Theoretical context The Afrikaans Bible translation of 2020 took cognisance of Christiane Nord's (1997, 2001) functionalistic model of translation, in conjunction with Reiss and Vermeer's (1984) skopos theory. A function of this translation, in addition to the aim of providing an authoritative basis for the faith of its readership, was to ensure that the source text is presented as an authentic representation of the culture(s) in which it originated, as well as being understood clearly by the target readers of today, in due regard of the text genre of the relevant source text (such as narrative, poetry, prophetic enunciations, wisdom literature, genealogical register). This is articulated in the skopos, or translation mandate by the initiator, it is the Bible Society of South Africa. This mandate was further informed by Gutt's (1991) notion of a "direct" translation, in that the source text is not interpreted and indirectly reported by the translator as narrator, but addresses the reader directly, as though the author had written the text in the receiving language. The intended function would then be to empower the translated text with the same status and authority as the source text. Address forms One aspect of the translation process does, however, require a degree of interpretation on the linguistic level, namely the use of second person pronouns as a form of address in Afrikaans. The choice of an appropriate pronoun is often determined or influenced by the relation between the speaker and the addressee (which may vary through time), such as the relative social position of the interlocutors, and the style of the dialogue, and can be generalised to a binary distinction between a formal (u) and an informal address form (jy). This choice does not, however, reflect only factors such as formality or social asymmetry between speaker and addressee, as mentioned above, but also attitudes and emotions, such as respect, solidarity or disdain, or even strategies to achieve a particular speech act objective (illocution). In the literature (Brown & Gilman 2003), the abbreviations V (from the Latin vos) and T (from tu) have been introduced to refer to such forms in various languages, and are indicative of a dynamic of power (or authority) and a dynamic of solidarity, respectively. The article traces the origin of this distinction from the era of the Holy Roman Empire to the emergence of this phenomenon in the European languages, inluding English and Dutch. Initial capitals A further complication is that the Afrikaans translation, following the tradition of the seventeenth-century Dutch Statenvertaling, also utilises an orthographical marker, namely an (intrasentential) initial capital to indicate respect toward the Divinity in appellations of God, as well as in pronouns referring to God as subject or object of a sentence. The source texts do not contain any overt (orthographical) features indicating such reverence, since capitals are not distinguished in Hebrew, and in Greek, only proper nouns are capitalised as a rule. This then amounts to another level of distinction, in particular in relation to addressing Jesus as human being, but at the same time recognising his divine nature. Application In this article, the application of these criteria is illustrated with reference to a number of selected verses in both the Old and New Testaments in Afrikaans. Secondly, since Afrikaans and Dutch share a history of applying pragmatic criteria in order to indicate such distinctions, a comparison is made between recent translations of relevant verses to determine the similarities and/or differences in address forms. Finally, with reference to the Gospel of Matthew, consecutive translations in Afrikaans from 1895 to 2020 are compared to determine how address forms in this language evolved over time, something which also reflects in a limited way a change in societal traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the role and function of the literary advisors in the 2020 Afrikaans translation of the Bible. The introductory part of the article puts forward some of the basic requirements and restrictions of the translation. The literary advisors worked as part of a translation team which also included theologians, exegetes, translators and linguistic advisors, and the translation is described as a "direct translation". The team approach, as well as the theoretical methodology, was determined by the commission received from the Bible Society of South Africa. The instructions were to render a translation as close as possible to the source text, but which would also represent a smooth and idiomatically satisfying text in Afrikaans. This proved to be very difficult to achieve, as fidelity to the source text and an idiomatic rendering in the target text are almost irreconcilable objectives. The article takes as a point of departure the fact that the Bible is written in a particular language, that translation involves a series of linguistic actions, and therefore the input of literary and linguistic advisors is indispensable. In this translation, the basic exegesis and first (rough) translation of the biblical texts were done by Hebrew language scholars and theologians. The aim was to reach a satisfactory transposition to the target language of the content of the source texts, which includes the meanings of the words, and phrases and linguistic constructions, as well as any meaningful literary and poetical techniques and structures. The basic responsibility of the literary advisors was to oversee the reformulation of the biblical content in Afrikaans. From a literary perspective, the fact that the Bible is also regarded as a literary text, a text in which religious content comes to readers in literary form, is stressed in the article. It is imperative to understand and be able to interpret the use of different genres and of literary techniques, including narrative structures and poetic devices in the Bible. The article then describes how the Hebrew scholars and exegetes provided the background information, the cultural, political, ritual and social background to the Hebrew texts. It indicates the difficulty of the process in which the initial translation - elaborated by background information which was continually revisited and discussed and checked in a variety of sources - had to be refined by the literary advisors. The aim to render a translation which would be of high quality from both a linguistic and a literary perspective, and which would be fluent and idiomatically convincing in Afrikaans, was not easily achieved. The article also stresses the importance and effectivity of team work in this process. In the last part of the article, examples of interesting aspects, as well as solutions to some problems of the translation, are discussed. After an overview of detailed research on the Psalms, attention is given to specific examples. The examples are taken from the Book of Psalms, because this book not only forms an integral part of the Old Testament, but most of the complex poetic constructions in Hebrew can also be found in the Psalms. Parallelism is discussed in more detail because of the frequency and variety of this poetic device in Hebrew poetry, but attention is also given to other poetic devices concerning sound and rhythm, in addition to syntactical issues, such as word order and the semantic structuring of larger sections of text. The conclusion reached in the article is that this translation came into being through close teamwork; and though the work of the literary advisors was dependent on the information provided by the Hebrew scholars and was executed in and by means of ongoing discussion, it did indeed contribute significantly to the success of the translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the Bible translation project that produced the third Afrikaans authorised version or church Bible, Die Bybel (2020). The introduction provides a general orientation, by relating the origin of the translation to a request made in 2004 by churches using Afrikaans in their sermons. This request was directed via KABA, the Kerklike Advieskomitee vir die Bybel in Afrikaans (the Church Advisory Committee for the Bible in Afrikaans) to the Bible Society of South Africa (BSA), for a Bible in Afrikaans that could be used as a church Bible, and also for edification and personal use. When the BSA agreed (in 2005) to have a third Afrikaans church Bible translated, the decision was informed by a range of reasons/factors. These included (1) advances and developments in translation studies, specifically Bible translation, and (2) research related to the source languages of the Bible, the fields of archaeology and anthropology, and subjects such as the identification and nomenclature of fauna and flora and precious stones in the Bible. The planning phase of the project was managed by a pilot committee, referred to as the loodskomitee, tasked with matters such as formulating the translation brief, planning the phases of the project, identifying and appointing team members for the translation teams of interdisciplinary experts (source-language experts, exegetes, Bible scientists, translation scholars, and Afrikaans language and literature specialists), organising conferences and work sessions for team members (providing training in line with the nature of the proposed translation, as well as in the use of the software selected, Paratext), and compiling a workbook that would be used to record approaches and decisions relating to the translation. At the end of the planning phase, the pilot committee handed matters over to the BSA-appointed executive committee (the begeleidingskomitee, or oversight committee), who would oversee the project. The article firstly discusses the consultations between the executive committee and a representative of the recently published (2004) Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling (NBV), an authorised Dutch translation. Specific similarities and also some differences between the Afrikaans and the Dutch projects are covered. This also serves to emphasize the focus on a direct translation, that is, as close as possible to the source texts, but at the same time in a style and language appropriate in the target language. The next part of the article describes the actual process of translation. This was executed by one interdisciplinary translation team per Bible book. In the first round, the team consisted of four people (made up of exegetes, source-language experts, translation scholars), and in the second, the further input of both an Afrikaans language and a literature specialist was obtained, before the project progressed through the other phases. Special mention is made of the phases in which the editorial committees, one each for the Old Testament, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical Books, were involved, and the nature of their contributions to the translation is pointed out. Whereas the first part of the article describes and discusses the rationale, aims, nature and process of the translation project leading to the publication of the third Afrikaans church Bible, the last part of the article is dedicated to those aspects of Die Bybel (2020) that can be regarded as unique - especially with respect to Afrikaans church Bibles. These include interdisciplinary and interdenominational collaboration, the inclusion of women as contributors and translation scholars, the focus on making the translation suitable for oral reading, in keeping with the orality of the source text and being adaptable for liturgical use, as well as the creation of a so-called "complex translation" (Naudé 2019), or "thick translation" (Apphiah in Van der Merwe 2016), by creating a paratatext. Headings and footnotes, and their contribution towards creating a lucid and informative translation, are discussed as a case in point. The article concludes that Die Bybel (2020) is unique as an Afrikaans church Bible and that it has the necessary characteristics to take its place in the emerging new generation of Bible translations, as defined by Naudé (2005). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1984, prof JP Oberholzer, one of the translators of the 1983 Afrikaans translation of the Bible, wrote an article dealing, inter alia, with three important issues on which the translators had to make decisions in comparison with the 1933/53 Afrikaans translation of the Bible. The decisions dealt with the translation of personal names, weights and measures and the translation of the divine name YHWH (Yahweh). The ultimate decisions of the translators deviated from decisions on the previous translation. The decisions made by the two groups of translators have to be evaluated in the light of the different aims set out for the two translations, as well as the different translation strategies followed. With regard to names, the 1983 translation sought to be consistent, for example by using the same name for a certain person, even when variant forms of the name occurred in the Hebrew. For weights and measures, they decided on a metrical system. The name Yahweh was rendered by "Here" ("Lord"), and not by "Here" ("Lord"), as in the older translation. The editorial committee on the Old Testament of the 2020 Afrikaans Bible also had to deal with these issues, as well as many others. This article discusses the decisions of the editorial committee with regard to these issues, as well as the treatment of messianic passages from the Old Testament. Oberholzer did not discuss this last issue, but it became a contentious matter to critics of the 1983 Afrikaans translation. However, it is clear from the translation what principle the translators had followed in not using capital letters in the case of personal pronouns interpreted to be messianic in nature. As regards personal names, the original decision was to follow the 1983 Afrikaans translation. However, that translation changed some of the customary forms of these names in Afrikaans and was not consistent in its practice. The 2020 translation reverts to many of the customary forms in Afrikaans and attempts to be more consistent, especially in following the common Hebrew pronunciation of these names and in retaining different forms of personal nouns, with footnotes linking the different forms to one another. Geographical names were frequently translated in the 1983 translation. Such translations occur less frequently in the 2020 translation, with footnotes explaining the meaning where the original names are used. For weights and measures, the original terms were used, with footnotes indicating the metrical equivalent. In this way, the symbolic values of the original numbers could be retained and some of the paraphrases in the 1983 translation avoided. The name YHWH is rendered by "Here" ("Lord"), while Adonai is rendered by "my Heer"/"die Heer" ("my Lord"/"the Lord"). With regard to the messianic texts in the Old Testament, the original decision was to follow the example of the 1983 translation. However, some of the churches involved in the whole project were in favour of following the example of the 1933/53 translation. Eventually, the Bible Society of South Africa decided on two versions of the 2020 translation, with the second one retaining capital letters as in the earlier translation. The first one follows the example of the 1983 translation, while adding footnotes to the texts in the New Testament that apply these Old Testament texts to Christ. The decisions made on the two translations with regard to the above-mentioned four issues have to be evaluated in the light of the different aims and strategies of the respective translations. Guided by the translation scope and strategies, the editorial committee on the translation of the Old Testament of the 2020 translation tried to be consistent in their decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are currently at least six readily available Afrikaans translations of the Bible. The Bible Society of South Africa has just published another translation at the request of churches that use the Afrikaans Bible. According to the so-called "retranslation hypothesis", retranslations tend to move closer to the source texts on which they are based. However, the history of Afrikaans translations of the Bible over the past forty years does not confirm this hypothesis, as most were, in fact, functionally equivalent translations or paraphrases, subscribing to the principle that understanding the meaning of the source text was more important than formal equivalence to it. It is almost ironic that the most recent retranslation of the Bible into Afrikaans indeed confirms the above-mentioned retranslation hypothesis. It is, namely, a translation that tries to address a need that has been expressed by the churches for a translation that would be as close as possible to the source text. The following problem presents itself: How do the translators of an ancient religious text come "closer to the source text"? The central question that this study addresses is: What makes this retranslation and its attempt to stay close to the source text so different from any other existing Afrikaans translation? Undoubtedly, it can be argued that there are a number of factors that determined the nature of the 2020 translation of the Bible into Afrikaans - notably, the research that preceded it, the extensive negotiations that were conducted with the churches, the number and diversity of the co-workers, and the research projects that guided the translation process. Granting the significance of these factors, the main hypothesis I wish to put forward in this article is that the linguistic and translation models on which this retranslation is based, and their implications for the translation choices made distinguish it from the other Afrikaans translations. Following the introduction, section 2 describes the dilemma created by the request of the churches that use the Afrikaans Bible. On the one hand, it was evident by the beginning of this century that it was no longer possible to assume that a word-for-word translation of the Bible would bring the translation closer to what is said in the source texts. On the other hand, many aspects of the dynamic (also called functional) equivalent model of Bible translation that had enjoyed well-nigh canonical status from the 1960s onwards have since been severely criticised. A new translation model that uses idiomatic Afrikaans but stays as close as possible to the source texts had to be developed. The features of this model, based on the insights of Christiane Nord and Ernst-August Gutt, are summarised in section 3. This alternative translation model sets an almost impossible task for translators, namely, to write the translation as if the original authors were being quoted directly in idiomatic Afrikaans. For this purpose the linguistic model underpinning the translation model needed careful consideration. Section 4 consequently describes the cognitive linguistic model on which the translation model is based. Many of the insights of cognitive linguistics are not completely new. Rather, they represent further developments and/or refinements of the wisdom of traditional historical philology. An example in this regard is the fact that language is deeply embedded in the culture and experiences of the speakers of the language concerned. This implies, of course, that the chances are good that some of the translations of an ancient text could be misunderstood by modern readers, unless they are complemented by explanatory notes. This was what the Reformed fathers of the Statenvertaling had already realised; hence the many annotations in the 1637 Dutch translation. A distinctive feature of the 2020 translation is its supplementary information (introductions to the different biblical books, its footnotes and extensive glossary). Section 5 describes some of the valuable insights gained from cognitive linguistics by showing how the 2020 translation options differ from those of the 1953, 1983 and the New Living translations. With reference to the insights gained from cognitive linguistics, examples ranging from a culturally specific expression and a highly polysemous body part term to a frequently occurring conjunction that is also polysemous are provided. These examples illustrate a) that a distinction must be made between the prototypical and less-prototypical sense of a linguistic expression; b) that sense extensions are gradual and part and parcel of human language, but often difficult to discern; and c) sense extensions can typically be associated with particular co-textual as well as contextual frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In planning to create a new translation of the Bible in any language, a number of important decisions have to be made. These include issues like choosing the text to be translated and the translation strategy that will be followed. These questions received attention when the Bible Society of South Africa decided to undertake a new Afrikaans translation of the Bible. This translation, the 2020 translation of the Bible in Afrikaans, is the third Afrikaans translation undertaken by the Bible Society, following the 1933/53 translation and the 1983 translation. As it was decided to make a source text-orientated translation, selecting a base text was decisive for the translation process. As regards the Old Testament, it was decided to use the Masoretic Text as base text, and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) as the source text. This article focusses on the decision regarding the treatment of text-critical issues in the Masoretic Text. The history and character of the Masoretic Text and its different editions are discussed and the text-critical apparatus of these editions receive special attention. The BHS is a diplomatic edition, which has to be distinguished from an eclectic edition. In an eclectic edition, the editors will make a choice between possible variants in every instance of a text-critical problem. The option chosen is then published. In a footnote, the choice and possible alternatives will be discussed. In a diplomatic edition, the editors decide which text or manuscript is best for the edition. This text is then published. A footnote will indicate other readings and, in some instances, the preferred reading of the editors. In the case of the BHS, the Codex Leningradensis was taken as the source text to be published. This is the source text of the 2020 translation. In scientific commentaries and modern translations of the Old Testament text-critical choices are often made, with the translations based on an eclectically reconstructed text of the Old Testament. The translators of the Old Testament, and especially the editorial committee for the Old Testament, did not formulate specific guidelines for dealing with text-critical issues, but the editorial committee followed certain basic points of departure. These points of departure of the editorial committee are briefly discussed, as well as three important editions of the Hebrew Bible, the BHS, the Biblia Hebraica of Kittel (BHK) and a new edition that has not yet been completed, the Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ). This is followed by a discussion of a number of examples from the Old Testament, namely Deuteronomy 5:10, 33:2 and Hosea 6:5. The approach to the Masoretic Text can be described as conservative. In instances where the Masoretic Text has a reading without any problems, that reading is followed, even when the ancient translations or manuscripts from the Dead Sea have plausible variants. When, however, the Masoretic Text was found to be problematic, variants were considered and followed in the translation, but only when absolutely necessary. In such instances, footnotes indicating which witnesses had been followed were added and, where possible, what the translation of the reading of the Masoretic Text could be. Such translations will clarify why the deviation was necessary. The 2020 Afrikaans translation of the Bible follows the Masoretic Text where possible, deviates from it where necessary and explains deviations from the Masoretic Text in footnotes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to analyse and describe the 2020 Afrikaans translation of the Bible as a retranslation in the historical context of previous Bible translations in Afrikaans. The earliest attempts to translate the Bible into Afrikaans started with the attempts of the Bible Translation Movement (1872-1911). This attempt failed, because the dominant Dutch language and the Statenvertaling were preferred to the dominated Afrikaans "dialect". The second attempt followed from the initiative of the churches (1916-1923) as part of the Afrikaans language movement after the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Because of the interference of the Dutch from the Statenvertaling during a time when the Afrikaans language became important to Afrikaner identity, the translation of the Gospels and the Psalms into Afrikaans (1922) failed. The first complete translation of the Bible into Afrikaans, a word-for-word or literal translation, was published in 1933 and a revised version in 1953. The 1933/1953 Afrikaans translation of the Bible forms part of the great age of Bible translations ushered in by the Protestant Reformation; this era lasted up to 1960, when the field of Translation Studies was established. The use of the same Hebrew and Greek source texts used for the Statenvertaling lent authority to this translation and it eventually replaced the Statenvertaling in the Afrikaansspeaking community. The next translation was a retranslation. The term "retranslation" in this article refers to multiple translations of a source text, which may vary, into one language, which is also not a stable variable. Revision (editing, correcting, modernisation) of an existing translation for re-publication is not seen as retranslation, but may lead to retranslation. Under the influence of Eugene Nida a retranslation of the complete Bible in Afrikaans followed, namely a dynamic equivalent translation in 1983. As a dynamic equivalent translation the 1983 translation of the Bible in Afrikaans was part of the first generation of translations that began a great new age in Bible translation. In 2007 Die Bybel vir Dowes (The Bible for the Deaf), which was also published as Die Bybel vir Almal (The Bible for All), and a number of commercial translations reflect the tendency to provide simplified versions for specific purposes, called functionalist translations according to Nord (1997). Simplified versions form part of the second-generation translations of the great new age of Bible translations of the second half of the twentieth century. The next complete Bible translation in Afrikaans will be published in 2020 and will form part of Bible translations such as The Schocken Bible (1995, 2014), The Common English Bible (CEB) (2011) and The Hebrew Bible (2019), which introduced the next generation of Bible translations. As early as 1997 some Afrikaans churches requested the Bible Society of South Africa to produce a new translation in a more formal register that would be suitable for liturgical use and reflect the source texts in a formal equivalent way that would be more suitable for serious readers and Bible study groups. After intensive academic/scholarly research and market surveys, it was decided on 25 October 2004 to proceed with such a translation. The translation approach was what Nord (1991, 1997) termed functionalist. The translation brief was to produce a source-textoriented translation of the Hebrew and Greek source texts that renders meaning and culture directly into contemporary Afrikaans using a simplified version of the model proposed by Gutt (2000). The translation process started during 2006 and went through five phases. More than 142 co-workers from 26 Afrikaans denominations contributed to the translation process. The last meeting was held on 2 May 2019 and the translation was handed to the BSA on 1 July 2019 for publication. This article, using mainly Mona Baker's narrative frame theory, analyses and describes the translation as a retranslation. Any new translation constructs a representation of the alterity (otherness) of a foreign text and culture, which representation at the same time relates to intelligibility and to ideology. One should not evaluate a translation normatively but rather describe or narrate its linguistically inscribed preferences in the choice and construction of discourses. The 2020 translation is analysed and explained with respect to the way particular sociohistorical, sociocultural, and translational frames may have influenced the translation. The organisational frame deals with issues such as the context of the translation, its source texts, the translation team, the translation process and product, and the possible sociocultural impact of the translation. By using metatexts/paratexts to explain and make accessible the otherness of the source text culture to readers, the translation prevents reductionism with emphasis either on form (as in the 1933 translation) or on meaning (as in the case of the 1983 translation). The 2020 translation is a response to the indigenising strategies of the 1983 translation, while incorporating many of its cultural concepts metatextually in footnotes and an extensive word list. For those individuals and Afrikaansspeaking denominations that rejected the 1983 translation, the 2020 translation is in intertextual dialogue with the translation of 1933, representing the alterity of the incipient Hebrew and Greek texts, while pointing to the incipient cultural context in metatextual footnotes. In complexity thinking, which introduces the next generation of Bible translations, the otherness or alterity of the source culture is respected and retained, on the one hand, but, on the other hand, the translations are also made intelligible. The results of this study confirm Albachten and Gürçağlar's description (2019) of retranslation as a complex process involving a network approach that identifies historical and synchronic relations between texts, institutions or contexts, and agents. New forms of Bible translations emerge from semiotic processes as we move forward in time, so keeping the Bible alive. This is what the 2020 Afrikaans translation of the Bible wants to achieve: to discover new treasures, but also to preserve and to renew old treasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chichewa is a major Bantu language widely spoken as a primary or secondary mode of communication in many areas of south-east Africa. Three major translations of the Bible were produced in this language during the twentieth century: the Protestant Buku Lopatulika (1922), the Catholic Malembo Oyera (1966), and the Interconfessional Buku Loyera (1998). The present study briefly investigates the different methods of translation that were employed for these Bibles in order to suggest how the last-mentioned ecumenical version has served to greatly "empower" the people, readers and hearers alike, with regard to their language, culture, theology, and a broader sense of Christian community. To illustrate this claim, selected aspects of the short Psalm 124 in these three versions are comparatively analyzed. This leads to a consideration of several additional strategies that might be implemented in order to further improve this version's essential comprehensibility on the one hand, and its oral-aural quality, or audience-engaging popularity, on the other. In conclusion, some possible implications of this research for preparing a future enhanced, multimodal re-translation of the Chichewa Bible is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Written as a response to a theme of 'Challenges and Opportunities in the Healing of Church Memories' for the Phase III of the Joint Commission for the International Dialogue between the Baptist World Alliance and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, this article investigates the Lithuanian speaking Baptist-Catholic relations. Providing an overview of the country's geopolitical, cultural and religious context, it highlights the role of nationalist sentiments, religious majority-minority dynamics, and the impact of the Lithuanian Catholic Church's recent loss of social, political and cultural hegemony, in Lithuanian ecumenical relations. It also draws attention to the role of ecumenical work around the translation of the Bible as a catalyst for the healing of painful memories and an opportunity for the formation of new bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Poznan Theological Studies / Poznanskie Studia Teologiczne is the property of Adam Mickiewicz University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Church in the World / Crkva u Svijetu is the property of University of Split, Catholic Faculty of Theology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Miedzy Oryginalem a Przekladem is the property of Ksiegarnia Akademicka Sp. zo.o and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Miedzy Oryginalem a Przekladem is the property of Ksiegarnia Akademicka Sp. zo.o and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Dora Belle McLaughlin Burgess was an American Presbyterian missionary, devoted to the mission to the Quiché tribe in Guatemala from 1913 to 1962. During her service, she translated the New Testament from Greek into the Quiché language. She also published a hymnal in Quiché and an ethnographic writing on Quiché culture. This paper attempts to shed light on the life of Dora Burgess, whose work was unknown, and to trace the formation of her identity as a missionary and her mission approach to the native inhabitants. In doing so, the paper argues that her interaction with the native tribes in the mission field shaped her identity as a missionary and her understanding of mission in ways in which the indigenous people's agency and subjectivity were recognised and respected. In the earlier period of her service in Guatemala, Dora Burgess conceived of mission work as a rescue project to transform the native tribes into Christians who would denounce their 'superstitious' traditions; however, her later focus in mission work, especially in her bible translation project, lay in acknowledging the native traditions and cultures and giving the indigenous tribe opportunities to be Christians in their own ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bible translation and indigenous hymnody have always been important parts of the localization of the Christian faith. In this study, we describe how local songwriters creating songs with lyrics based on translated scriptures play a vital role in the process of localization in Christian communities in Indonesia. We focus primarily on thirty-nine scripture songwriting workshops that we and our colleagues conducted over the past six years in Indonesia, as well as ongoing interactions we had with communities in Ambon and Central Sulawesi. We begin with a literature review to establish the influences which shaped our songwriting workshops and our motivation for conducting them, and then we describe the workshops themselves and the process of musical localization that took place. Throughout the study, we highlight the role of local agency, the importance of fusion genres, and the creation of unique Christian identities through the localization of music.

The proposition underlying this research is that interested isiZulu- speakers could use a systematic methodology to translate selected praise psalms in a poetically-beautiful and rhetorically-powerful way. The methodology has three elements: first the poetic features in the Hebrew text (and their functions) are analysed, using the literary-rhetorical approach of Wendland. Second, for an empirical study isiZulu-speakers interested in poetry are invited to participate in a workshop to learn the basics of Bible-translation and typical features of Zulu poetry and music. They then compose their own translations of some praise psalms (using Zulu poetic features achieving a similar function to those in the source text) and perform their poems as songs or spoken-poetry items. Third, the success of the exercise is evaluated on the basis of functional translation, using the traditional criteria of accuracy, naturalness, and clarity, as well as the additional criteria of artistry, aurality, and acceptability.

The article gives a short account of the development of the spoken language from Old Norwegian to Modern Norwegian, the transition from Norwegian to Danish as the written language in Norway and the language of the church around the Reformation. It is argued that the changes in the spoken language were a long-term development completed, on the whole, at the time of the Reformation, that the transition from Norwegian to Danish as the written language was also well on the way before the Reformation, and that the vernacular was not abruptly introduced in the Lutheran service. So, the linguistic situation in the centuries following the Reformation is only to a lesser degree a result of the Reformation itself. The Reformation should first and foremost be credited with the translation of the Bible into Danish and with it the consolidation of a modern form of Danish which was spread through the extensive religious literature of the time. Later this consolidated written language formed the basis for the development of a higher variety of spoken Norwegian.

The Aksumite Bible, as a cultural product of Late Antiquity, is still relatively obscure. Thus, in spite of the most recent advances in the field of Ethiopian studies—notably, the new radiocarbon dating of Gärima I and Gärima III Gospels—old scholarly opinions, such as the active role played by the famous fifthcentury Syrian Miaphysite refugees in Aksumite Ethiopia, are not only still uncritically repeated, but also used to build up even more extravagant theories. The time has come to reassess some basic issues about the Egyptian and Palestinian origins of the first missionaries and the nature of the Greek texts they brought with them, as well as the Ethiopian identities of the first translators and the chronological framework for their work.

Poetry and Anti-Poetry: A Commentary to Psalm 120 and Translation Strategy The main purpose of this paper dedicated to those Polish Bible scholars who seem to ignore new achievements of the theory of translation is to show that a conscious definition of the translation strategy (most notably, its scopos and its projected reader) is a capital issue in the Bible translation studies. The author aims to convince persons who may not be devoted admirers of poetry – a frequent case among Bible scholars – that poetry should not anymore be considered merely a “beautiful form” supplementing the omnipotent sense anymore. In his analysis of the first and successive editions of the Millenium Bible the author criticizes the commentaries to the Psalms which he calls “antipoetic” and therefore dissonant with the translated texts.

This article addresses some issues related to translating biblical texts into popular language: the experience of reading the Bible in Bible Circles and Base Ecclesial Communities (CEBS) in Brazil in the 1980s. In general, the text refers to the experience of producing biblical subsidies performed by a team known at the time as the Biblical Center of Belo Horizonte. The purpose of this article is to highlight, in particular, some concerns and assumptions taken into account by that team in the task of translating the biblical texts, as well as briefly presenting some results of the translation work. This text was elaborated methodologically as a critical memorial of the pastoral experience of that time. In addition to gen- eral considerations on popular Bible translation work, the article also provides translations of excerpts from some Bible passages, including the formats of the alphabetical psalm, quadra, and cordel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dangme Bible translation of Matthew 6:12 renders the Greek ("forgive") as ke pa ("lend"). The word "lend" does not match with the word "sin" in the Dangme text. Using the mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics methodology, this article seeks to determine how "forgive" should be translated in Dangme to make sense to Dangme Bible readers. The finding is that Matthew 6:12 should be translated as NgϽϽ wa tϽmi Ͻmε kε ke wϽ kaa bϽ nε waa kε kee nihi nε tϽϽ wa nϽ ("Let go of our sins just as we let go of the sins of those who wrong us"). The ke ("let go of") in this translation agrees with the rendering in some other Ghanaian translations, such as the Dangme New Testament (1977), the New Ga Bible (2006), the Ewe Bible ([1931] 2010) and the Asante-Twi Bible ([1964] 2012). This finding confirms the interpretation of 88.8 percent of Dangme Bible readers, who interpret God's forgiveness as God cancelling the sins of the offender. The finding of the study has thus added to the varied translations and interpretations of Matthew 6:12. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hermeneus is the property of Revista Hermeneus and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Chinese Union Version (CUV) has been the most widely used Chinese translation of the Bible since its publication in 1919 and remains a de facto "Authorized Version" for millions of Chinese Protestants. The 100th anniversary of the Union Version is a fitting occasion to reflect upon its history, reception, and future. These reflections will naturally involve consideration of Bible translation into Chinese and Bible translation more generally, including its limitations. The Union Version will be discussed in relation both to previous Chinese translations and to others published over the past 100 years. The ultimate purpose of this article is to enable clear thinking about the future of the Union Version and future Chinese Bible translations that will inevitably arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses two major ways in which the introduction of Christianity exerted an important influence on the Bunun language. In the second half of the twentieth century, Christian churches were instrumental in the protection of indigenous languages, including Bunun, against the cultural and linguistic unification policies of the Taiwanese government. In a different way, work on Bible translation in Bunun has resulted in the creation of a pan-dialectal religious vocabulary and led to the creation of a de facto standard variant of the language based on the Isbukun dialect. Today, a complex relationship exists between this written standard and other Bunun dialects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lisu are a largely Christian minority group in south-west China who, as an oral culture, express their faith more through a set of Christian practices done as a group and less through bible reading as individuals. Even so, the Lisu practice of Christianity specifically, and Lisu culture more generally, was profoundly impacted by the written scriptures. During the initial evangelisation of the Lisu by the China Inland Mission, missionaries created a written script for the Lisu language. Churches were constructed and organised, which led to the creation of bible schools and the work of bible translation. In the waves of government persecution after 1949, Lisu New Testaments were hidden away up in the mountains by Lisu Christians. After 1980, the Lisu reclaimed their faith by listening to the village elders tell the Old Story around the fires and reopening the churches that had been closed for twenty-two years. And they reclaimed their bible by retrieving the scriptures from the hills and copying them in the evening by the light of a torch. The Lisu bible has its own narrative history, consisting of script creating, translating, migrating, and copying by hand. At times it was largely influenced by the mission narrative, but at other times, the Lisu bible itself was the lead character in the story. Ultimately, the story of the Lisu bible reflects the Lisu Christian story of moving from missionary beginnings to local leadership and, ultimately, to local theological inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoniram Judson's life and work have long been the subject of popular and scholarly interest, but the intellectual and exegetical background for his Burmese Bible translation has not been closely studied. This background was the biblical studies movement in New England, which began in the early nineteenth century and flourished before declining and eventually disappearing by about 1870. The opposing New England orthodox Calvinist and liberal Unitarian schools were equally involved in the movement. Judson was an early product of Andover Theological Seminary, the center for orthodox Calvinism in New England. From 1816 to 1840 Judson translated the Bible into Burmese and his references to the scholarly works he used, along with the text-critical and interpretive decisions in his Bible translation, identify him as an ongoing participant in the New England biblical studies movement. This scholarly background helps us understand interpretive decisions in the Judson Bible, which is still the main Burmese version used by Protestants in Myanmar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article gives a short account of the development of the spoken language from Old Norwegian to Modern Norwegian, the transition from Norwegian to Danish as the written language in Norway and the language of the church around the Reformation. It is argued that the changes in the spoken language were a long-term development completed, on the whole, at the time of the Reformation, that the transition from Norwegian to Danish as the written language was also well on the way before the Reformation, and that the vernacular was not abruptly introduced in the Lutheran service. So, the linguistic situation in the centuries following the Reformation is only to a lesser degree a result of the Reformation itself. The Reformation should first and foremost be credited with the translation of the Bible into Danish and with it the consolidation of a modern form of Danish which was spread through the extensive religious literature of the time. Later this consolidated written language formed the basis for the development of a higher variety of spoken Norwegian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For 400 years, Baptist commitment to the centrality of scripture has led them to a deep concern to learn the biblical languages so that they could read the Bible in the original languages. This has been especially reflected in the vitally important place that learning Hebrew and Greek has occupied in the preparation of men and, in time, women for the pastoral and missionary ministry. Their preaching of the gospel and the pioneering language work their missionaries have excelled in has been greatly facilitated by the painstaking work they have undertaken whether in college or on their own. While there are still Baptists who continue this tradition, among rank and file ministers it is far less common, and no longer occupies the place it once did in the training offered by the present Baptist colleges. This paper calls for a restoration of this key component of the Baptist DNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws attention to the phenomenon of translation-based interference in the analysis of Biblical Hebrew. It is argued that the so-called gnomic qatal only exists when we translate certain passages in a certain way. Based on Joüon's approach to the verbs in Prov 31.10-31, it is demonstrated that it is possible to interpret the woman in the poem as deceased. Consequently, the predominant verbal forms in the passage (qatal and wayyiqtol) are not gnomic, contrary to the almost universal rendering of the forms as present tense in modern translations. Rather, they have their usual anterior meaning. Other examples of translation-based interference in the analysis of Biblical Hebrew (including the question of the verbs in biblical poetry) are discussed, and a case is made for relative tense as the appropriate category for describing the semantic content of the basic opposition between the (non-volitive) finite verbal forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]