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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]

Artikkelen viser hvordan skandinaviske bibeloversettelser har oversatt Efeserne 4,28. Jeg argumenterer for at «den som stjeler» er den beste oversettelsen i lys av gresk tekst og grammatikk. Det innebærer at det fortsatt fantes noen som stjal, i menigheten(e) som brevet er skrevet til. Det er derfor formaningen om ikke å stjele lenger gis.

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.

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 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]

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. “The Roman Bible” of 1963, the only mono-confessional complete Ukrainian translation of the Holy Scriptures, contains some doctrinal and numerous national paratexts, which were highly topical during the Soviet occupation of Ukraine. Besides, the literary editors of this translation, prominent Ukrainian writers Kostetskyi, Barka, and Orest-Zerov, professed Orthodoxy. As a result of their controversial tandem with the translator, Greek-Catholic priest Khomenko, the translation text alludes to the works of the classics of Ukrainian literature, especially Taras Shevchenko. Ukrainian translations of the Bible, published under the auspices of Bible societies or churches, resulted from the ascetic work of charismatic individuals who devoted their entire lives to this project. This enhances the importance of studying epitextual materials, especially the translators’ correspondence and research profiles. [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.

The purpose of this article is to compare the different variants of the translation of the verse from Luke, 1:28 (the angelic salutation) into Romanian and Polish, and the modern versions of the prayer based on this passage. The analysis reveals the innovative character of the newer biblical translations, especially in the case of the Protestant versions, while the text of the Hail Mary prayer and its Eastern counterpart used by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches respectively preserves the traditional formula. At the same time, this leads to semantic differences between the Romanian and Polish variants of this formula, due to the Greek and Church Slavonic model in the case of Romanian and the Latin model in the case of Polish. The linking element between the two languages is the formula used in the Polish Orthodox text, which follows the tradition of the Church Slavonic language and thus coincides with the Romanian version, having a literal meaning of ‘rejoice’, even though functionally it should be interpreted as a greeting.

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 purpose of this article is to compare the different variants of the translation of the verse from Luke, 1:28 (the angelic salutation) into Romanian and Polish, and the modern versions of the prayer based on this passage. The analysis reveals the innovative character of the newer biblical translations, especially in the case of the Protestant versions, while the text of the Hail Mary prayer and its Eastern counterpart used by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches respectively preserves the traditional formula. At the same time, this leads to semantic differences between the Romanian and Polish variants of this formula, due to the Greek and Church Slavonic model in the case of Romanian and the Latin model in the case of Polish. The linking element between the two languages is the formula used in the Polish Orthodox text, which follows the tradition of the Church Slavonic language and thus coincides with the Romanian version, having a literal meaning of 'rejoice', even though functionally it should be interpreted as a greeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2020 translation of the Bible in Afrikaans is a direct translation that focuses on the source text in order to retain in the translation as much as possible of the source text, including stylistic features. The translation is based on a specific source text, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS). This text contains words or phrases that posed problems that had to be solved by applying text-critical principles. The choices made are explained in footnotes to the translation. The footnotes in the Book of Ezekiel are evaluated in this article. First, the nature of the 2020 translation is discussed, after which the text-critical approach followed in this translation of the Old Testament is considered. The text history of Ezekiel is then described. Of special importance is the relationship between the Masoretic text and the Septuagint (that is, the Old-Greek translation of the Hebrew). The Old Greek is shorter than the Masoretic text in most instances, with relatively few additions. It also represents an older version of the book. The footnotes are based on the BHS, other Hebrew manuscripts, and the four important ancient translations (the Old Greek, the Peshitta, the Targum and the Vulgate). The 144 or so textcritical footnotes in the book are divided into seven groups. These groups are: (i) instances where the footnote only states that there is a problem in the text (without a detailed description); (ii) instances where the ancient translations provide solutions to a particular problem in the text; (iii) instances where solutions in the ancient versions are discussed, but not applied; (iv) instances where the ancient versions disagree with the Masoretic text and have been followed; (v) instances where the ancient versions have not been followed, but are mentioned in the footnotes; (vi) instances where conjectures were accepted; and (vii) one example of a tiqqun soferim. A representative sample of the footnotes is discussed, but all examples are listed in the different groups. The footnotes refer to the different kinds of problem the translators encountered in the Book of Ezekiel. Some problems concern words with an uncertain meaning. Others indicate problems arising from the transmission of the text, such as haplography or dittography. In some instances the various textual witnesses offer a solution to a particular problem, while in other instances more than one solution is possible. The approach of the 2020 translation was to translate the Masoretic text whenever possible. When it was not possible, solutions suggested by the textual witnesses were considered and evaluated. The footnotes provide, in most instances, a justification for the choices made, as well as other possible solutions. In some instances the footnotes could have provided more information, and sometimes the translation deviates from the principle of closely following the Masoretic text and avoiding conjectures. In spite of some points of criticism, the footnotes testify to a principled approach to the text-critical problems encountered in the Book. In many instances the footnotes followed the consensus of opinion in various commentaries and translations. Where there was no clear consensus, the majority opinion was usually followed, although in a few cases the translators constructed their own solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a great privilege to highlight the important contribution of this internationally renowned and versatile linguist to the 2020-translation of the Bible in Afrikaans. Initial phase Since the beginning of the translation project prof. Kotzé, chair of the Language Commission of the South African Academy for Science and Arts (2003-2012), was involved in the planning of the manual for all collaborators, as well as the identification of language specialists to serve in various book teams as well as the linguistic advisory committee. Linguistic advisory committee The Bible Society invited Kotzé to chair a panel of linguistic advisers that eventually became a broader linguistic advisory panel and a smaller linguistic advisory committee respectively. In his capacity as chair, he played an essential role in the identification and placement of language specialists in the respective book translation teams, as well as the linguistic evaluation of the trial translations by language practitioners endeavouring to be part of the project. The linguistic advisory committee attended to various problematic issues such as punctuation, linguistic and textual features, etcetera. Kotzé then provided extensive guidelines to collaborators and proof-readers concerning various tricky issues. Since the beginning of the project, he was also a member of various book teams, as well as at a later stage of the editorial committees of the Old and the New Testament. Whenever expedient, he consulted with members of the Language Commission of the South African Academy for Science and Arts. Executive committee At the executive committee (policy committee) his opinion carried great weight. He submitted proposals concerning Fauna and Flora emanating from deliberations in this committee to the Language Commission of the South African Academy for Science and Arts to be considered for inclusion in their planned CD Rom, and saw to it that the project remained in sync with the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls (Afrikaans Glossary and Spelling rules). With respect to the vexing issue of second person pronouns as form of address in Afrikaans, he also provided clear guidelines with regard to the dynamic of power and the dynamic of solidarity, respectively. Editorial committees In the editorial committees of the Old Testament and the New Testament, he was responsible for the final linguistic editing. He could, furthermore, substantiate the suitability of a specific word with reference to the statistical frequency of its usage in the Afrikaans linguistic corpus. Given his broad linguistic and semantic background, he could often pose probing questions to the exegetes and source language specialists concerning a specific translation proposal that often led to an adaptation of the translation. In this respect, his self-acquired knowledge of the source languages (as a non-theologian) often took the source language specialists by surprise. When the discussion sometimes became a bit heated, his sense of humour and witty remarks would invariably defuse the situation. Approachability The executive committee and the project leader had great appreciation for the fact that Ernst Kotzé was always willing to answer any enquiry by colleagues or proof-readers speedily and in detail. Even at a late stage in the project, he was still willing to edit the Introduction, Glossary and Accountability for consistency. Even after the publication of the translation, he still remains selflessly willing to answer enquiries to the Bible Society arising from feedback by readers. Public contributions Prof. Kotzé often delivered addresses about Bible translation, speaking specifically about the linguistic aspects of the 2020 translation on Radio Sonder Grense (Radio Without Borders) and Radio Cape Pulpit. On the project's website (www.bybeldirektevertaling.co.za) he answered specific questions received from readers. He explained different ways of spelling as well as the issue of loan-words resembling the source languages. [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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

The one hundredth birthday of Péter Nemeshegyi SJ was celebrated with a conference by members of the Hungarian Jesuit order on 25 March 2023. On this occasion, I was asked to appraise this excellent theologian as the interpreter of the Bible. One of Father Nemeshegyi's most important foreign mission assignments during the decades he spent in Japan was his work in the Japanese ecumenical Bible translation. His experience and impressions during this work provide encouragement and guidance to those involved in a similar enterprise in Hungary. Péter Nemeshegyi was a true Catholic interpreter of the Bible, who believed that the Biblical tradition of the church brings parts of the Holy Scriptures that seem contradictory or difficult to a higher level of synthesis. His favourite hermeneutical starting point was the assumption of God's goodness in every interpretation of the Scriptures, as well as the Christological principle, which he may have adopted from St Augustine. He taught about the Bible very effectively and creatively in various cultural environments (such as Japan or other East Asian countries) because he always found the fitting inculturation aspects of the Gospel and used them in both his teaching and application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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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.

Copyright of Studies in the Japanese Language / Nihongo no Kenkyu (Fmly: Kokugogaku) is the property of Society for Japanese Linguistics 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.)

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 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.

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 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]

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.

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.

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 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.