Abstracts

Translating the Paraclete Passages and the Mission of the Spirit

Author: Nathan J. Abdy

The Paraclete passages in the Gospel of John give us a wealth of information concerning the work and mission of the Holy Spirit. We see how the Spirit will interact with the disciples after Jesus leaves and how the Spirit will act toward the world. But within these passages there are some difficult translational issues, mainly surrounding the term Paraclete itself. Scholars have long discussed the term, how it relates to others and its background and use. This paper will seek to discuss many of the translation problems surrounding the Paraclete passages, while at the same time giving attention to the passages as a whole and its message of the Spirit and his mission. It will be demonstrated that we see the Spirit-Paraclete taking up many of the activities of Jesus who was the first Paraclete and the Spirit is the “other Paraclete” (John 14:16).

This paper will also seek to emphasize in the term Paraclete the role of speaking. While more recent discussion on the term Paraclete has been its legal or nonlegal background, it will be shown that a good commonality between both legal and nonlegal meanings is the Paraclete as a master of speech and rhetoric. Some time will also be given to John 16:7-11 which also contains the most translation issues in all the Paraclete passages (the meaning of “convict”, the hoti clauses).

Comprehension Contributes to an Accurate, Clear, Natural and Acceptable Translation

Author: Swapna Anna Alexander

Accuracy, Clarity, Naturalness and Acceptability are the four criteria used in the Bible Translation world to judge a translation as good. Everyone wants a good translation. No one does a bad translation on purpose. Though there are several reasons why a translation in ‘bad,’ the most common reason encountered by consultants is the lack of comprehension of the source text by the translators. With increased focus on Mother Tongue Translators, the issue of lack of comprehension needs to be addressed. If a translator, especially a mother tongue translator understands the text well, an accurate, clear and natural text can be expected. The lack of comprehension could be because of linguistic and/or cultural interference, or even just not having enough of the second language to comprehend the text well.

This paper aims at examining the various ways in which this lack of comprehension is addressed in written as well as oral translation, including the ways in which I overcame the issue in the project I helped with. Irrespective of the nomenclature followed by the proponents of various methodologies (e.g., exegesis, understanding the text, internalization etc.), this is a very important stage in the process of Bible Translation. This paper also will look at how a competent and well-trained Translation Advisor can help the Mother Tongue Translators produce an incarnational translation, transforming lives.

A Look at the OT Key Term chen, Its Meaning, Distribution and Translation

Author: Swapna Anna Alexander

What is grace? A charming sound, or a charming object? Translators often get stuck at this key term, trying to find a suitable word or phrase. The Hebrew word chen has a wide range of meanings from ‘finding favor’ to ‘a beautiful adornment.’ It is even translated as ‘loathsome’ in the book of Job.

This paper attempts to look at the various definitions of the word chen, in different contexts, its occurrences in the Old Testament, and the various collocations the word occurs in. This paper will also look at the ways in which this word is translated in English Bibles. This will be helpful for translators to choose the right word or phrase in the various contexts in which chen occurs.

Grassroots Community Mobilization as a Way of Promoting Community Ownership of Language Programs: Some Experiences from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Author: Bagamba B. Araali

For many years, Eastern Congo Group (ECG) sought to promote community ownership of translation programs by engaging high-level church leadership. Throughout that time, the projects received only minimal local financial support, and barely functioned or stopped altogether when SIL members were no longer locally resident.

ECG decided to change this top-down approach to promoting community ownership with a bottom-up effort. Eight pilot community mobilization projects have been initiated since October 2015. Each one aims to raise awareness in one language community regarding Bible translation, and to heighten interest in starting a translation project. Communities are required to show commitment to a program in visible ways. Eight clearly defined indicators help to evaluate the level of community commitment before a formal partnership agreement is signed.

Six community mobilization programs have already met with success. One has maintained its commitment for three years and is on track to contribute $4,500 in cash to the translation project this year. The total value approaches $10,000 when contributions are included. Three other communities are initiating cash production activities in order to meet their commitments to translation programs.

One of the projects has already printed the Gospel of Luke. Whether community ownership of translation programs will translate into acceptance and use of translated material will become evident within a few months.

Thank You Lord: After 600 Years of Service, Why Should the Lord Retire and How?

Author: John Bainbridge

Outside of Scripture citation, today’s younger generations seem to use ‘the Lord’ less, especially when engaging the unbelieving world. We simply prefer ‘Jesus’ or ‘God’, and with good reason. According to various metrics, ‘Lord’ usage has significantly decreased since its medieval root and is perceived with a historical and/or religious gloss (besides some sinister exceptions). A second problem compounds the first: the English ‘Lord’ is necessarily ‘arthrous’: ‘the Lord’. We now know κύριος was not.

The importance of the problem should be obvious: we don’t want to perpetuate a usage that is contextually and grammatically at odds with first century κύριος. However, the problem is also delicate. The Church’s love affair with the title ‘Lord’ is a natural outworking of its love and duty to the usual referent, Jesus Christ.

Tackling the problem is possible if we can climb out of the apparent impossibility for a Lord surrogate. The method comprises 3 important stages. Firstly, I want to highlight the factors that have caused ‘Lord’ to sidestep reassessment by biblical translators. Secondly, we can show that the LXX anarthrous κύριος data confirms Peterson’s suitability of ‘GOD’ to translate YHWH. Thirdly, we can now re-establish the landscape in which to communicate κύριος - such that no single English term remains suitable for translating it - and present a summary of options according to a variety of NT contexts.

Panel: Training for Scripture Translation and Engagement: Lesson Learned and Future Plans

Moderator: Scott Berthiaume

The Bible Translation task has changed immensely over the past fifty years from being primarily focused on production to asking the questions of process and Scripture impact. Whereas traditionally Bible Translation has been tedious work, often requiring extended periods of time isolated from one's community in order to focus on the text, Scripture Engagement is a community affair both in the research involved and the realization of outputs needed to contextualize the use and understanding of God's word. Therefore, Scripture Translation and Scripture Engagement must work hand in hand for a language community to be able to fully understand this new "embodiment" in a culturally relevant way that, hopefully, will facilitate true spiritual transformation.

How do we train the current generation to be cognizant of both Bible Translation as well as Scripture Engagement methods and practices? Some academic programs teach Bible Translation and Scripture Engagement as separate training tracks, while others take a more holistic approach. On the field, some divide the work among team members, others train the community early in Bible Translation and Scripture Engagement, and yet others use the "all in one person" approach. Each approach has their strengths and weaknesses, and none works in every context.

This discussion focuses on the topic of Training for Bible Translation and Scripture Engagement. The panelists include those involved in strategic planning, formal training programs and Bible Translation field programs. They will share from their experience and perspective the contribution that Scripture Engagement has made to the Bible Translation movement.

Emic Consulting: Its Significance for the Future of Bible Translation

Author: Freddy Boswell

“Emic consulting” is a term coined by the author to indicate translation consulting led by a language and cultural insider. This is defined further as someone who has been certified as a translation consultant and who has both a demonstrated proficiency in the receptor language (up to native speaker level, in some cases) and a deep cultural awareness, usually resulting from extended residency among the language community. Major language translations have utilized with great success emic consulting services, but this approach is of lesser frequency in minority languages.

The author writes from the perspective of having served as a BT consultant for three decades, as both an emic, insider consultant, and as an etic, external consultant. He is currently working as an emic consultant, assisting a language group in its full Bible completion, while also serving as an external consultant to three languages. He makes comparisons between the two roles, weighing matters of proficiency, efficiency, and methodology employed for determining accuracy, clarity and naturalness.

The author is of the opinion that emic consulting holds great promise for the future, both in terms of improving time of delivery of the translation and in quality control. Included among hurdles are “the dangers of familiarity”, and an over-reliance on one primary consultant. Nonetheless, a challenge is given to consider the place of emic consulting in future BT work, with hopes for further implementation.

Oral Recording as a Means of Checking Written Scripture

Author: Michael Boutin, Linnea Cremean

This paper describes differences between the written and oral versions of the gospel of Mark in Bonggi, a minority language of Sabah, Malaysia.

Much has been written over the last forty years about differences between oral and written texts, including oral and written scripture translation. However, the differences described in this paper cannot be attributed to differences between written and oral translation styles because the Bonggi speakers were asked to read the text and not change it. “Merely reading aloud a text designed for a literate audience is insufficient for a truly oral translation” (Fletcher 2019). Although the oral version of Mark is a classic example of a scripted text, it contains interesting deviations from the written script. These include the use of different tense and aspect forms; different forms of the same lexeme; different lexical choices; changes in imperative constructions; differences in referring expressions (e.g., proper names being replaced by pronouns, and pronouns being replaced by zero anaphora); and differences in personal name determiners.

Besides categorizing and quantifying the differences between the oral and written text, this paper describes how the written text has been improved during the process.

Genesis 1: Past Narrative, i.e. Story Discourse, Expository Discourse; or Something in Between?

Author: Andy Bowling

Through the whole history of Conservative Evangelical thought one could conclude that Genesis 1 has been taken as Story Discourse, i.e. past narrative. But there are structural, literary features that could point towards a different notional intent for this chapter. Most of these features fall into two categories:

First, the usage of the wyyqtl (i.e. the imperfect form with the wan prefix) form can be taken as a strong proof of narrative intent since this is the dominant mainline form for most Old Testament narrative. This paper will question that view with three, clear non-narrative usages of that morphology in the Old Testament.

Second, there is the presence in Genesis 1 of structural features which are not typical for narrative in the rest of the Old Testament. These features will be examined.

On the basis of the data provided, there are strong literary and structural reasons for taking Genesis 1 as basically expository discourse rather than narrative discourse. I am not ready to state this as a final, definite conclusion. But, at this moment, I take the data as pointing very strongly in that direction.

Bible Translation on Your Phone: Adapt It Mobile

Author: Erik Brommers

Abstract

Since the mid 2000s, smartphones and tablets have been gaining momentum as computing devices beyond their initial use cases (phone communication and electronic book reading). Mobile device operating systems have matured to the point of being able to support content creation, including Bible translation. However, the physical characteristics of these devices also present interesting usability challenges for those creating apps. This paper will outline the benefits and challenges of mobile devices in the task of Bible translation, as well as the approach taken—and lessons learned—in developing Adapt It Mobile specifically for mobile devices. This paper will also discuss possible future improvements to the Adapt It Mobile app.

Keywords: Bible translation, adaptation, mobile technology

A Major Translation Problem: Failure to Distinguish between the Jerusalem Temple and the Temple Compound

Author: Richard Brown

The western tradition of Bible translation has failed, in the New Testament, to distinguish between the temple and the temple complex, and it often fails, in the Old Testament, to distinguish between the temple complex and the Holy Place within the temple. Furthermore, its temple terminology is inconsistent between the two testaments. Some modern translations have sought to rectify this, but not consistently, and their disambiguation of some passages hinders readers from realizing that other passages are still mistranslated. Unfortunately, most Bible translations into the languages of the world have relied on these faulty western translations. Reliable translations of these terms are available in the New Jewish Publication Society’s English translation of the Old Testament and in the Hebrew translations of the NT, but these are little used by translators. It falls to the translation consultants to ensure the translation of temple terms are clear and accurate with regard to their referential meaning. Clarity can be enhanced by providing readers with accurate images of the tabernacle and the temple (in its four stages).

Light the Lamp with Accordance

Author: Roy B. Brown

The first step in translation is to understand the meaning of the text, but few translators are thoroughly familiar with the original languages as well as the culture and background of the Bible texts. This paper will demonstrate how Accordance sheds light on the text with fully analyzed texts, translations that link each word to the original, dictionaries at every level to explain the words, and powerful easy searches to compare usage in the same or other texts. Additional resources shed more light, whether maps, timelines, pictures, or commentaries. The live presentation will show how to study a word in context, compare its use and range of meaning, and discover how and why different versions have varied in their translation. The presentation will be appropriate for those with no background in Greek or Hebrew as well as those who are very familiar with these languages.

Orality in Context: A Tool for Maximizing Scripture Engagement in Oral Communities

Author: Larry Burke

According to the International Orality Network, there are 5.7 billion oral learners in today’s world—over 80% of the world’s population. When people think about orality, they tend to limit it to the communications process (how people receive, process, remember and pass on information). Oral communities, however, share much more in common. Not only are they unique in the way the communicate, but also in how they relate to one another and how they learn. In order to maximize the impact of our scripture engagement programs today, it is important to understand the key characteristics of oral communities and adapt our scripture engagement strategies accordingly.

The current research has evolved out of a doctoral study program, focusing on fruitful practices in a Muslim setting, sponsored by the Vision 5:9 network. The focus of the research was over 100 interviews from across the Muslim world, where practitioners told their story of how God had brought fruit to their ministry in a Muslim context. The goal was to look for themes of fruitful practice across the interview set. In the course of the research, three themes of fruitful practice emerged as the most important. What wasn’t immediately obvious, was that all three themes were core characteristics of oral communities in general. This paper presents a framework for understanding the core characteristics of oral communities and for developing scripture engagement tools geared toward maximizing potential impact.

בנים גדלתי ורוממתי How we have changed our minds on veqatal

Author: Randall Buth, Sharon Alley

The veqatal is widely acknowledged as forming a contrasting pair with vayyiqtol. Their functions within time, mood, and aspect are generally recognized, although a question about veqatal as a volitional perfective aspect has been raised. That perfective proposal for veqatal conflicts with the data. In past contexts both veqatal and yiqtol default to habitual and imperfectivity. Ironically, in future contexts, both yiqtol and veqatal default to perfective along a future-modal continuum. ¶

We would like to look problematic usages of ve-qatal. How were stories heard by ancient speakers with an internalized veqatal? How was the veqatal received by speakers of mishnaic Hebrew during the Second Temple? ¶

Formerly, we would read בנים גדלתי ורוממתי (Is. 1:2) as two simple qatal forms in something like a hen-dia-dys. However, as we have internalized the biblical use of veqatal through classroom teaching, the thematic veqatal seems the more natural and immediate reading in Isaiah’s poetry. Even Qohelet may contain more veqatal than is normally understood (or vocalized by the MT). The natural reading of שיאכל ושתה is a yiqtol and a thematic veqatal, which shows the writer's familiarity with the thematic veqatal.

Setting the Bar for Biblical Language Training: Doing for Biblical Languages as We Would Do for Non-Biblical Languages

Author: Randall Buth

A Bible translator makes hundreds of thousands of translation and register decisions. FOBAI (Forum-of-Bible-Agencies-International), 2006, required a one-year Biblical Studies program for consultants, including the biblical languages. FOBAI 2017, point 7: “To use the original language Scripture texts as the basis for translation, recognizing that these are always the primary authority.” What source-language skills should we expect? What can Christian academia produce in a short time frame? What stages can we put in place for moving the status quo towards reasoned minimal-levels? This paper presents and discusses several theoretical and practical proposals for setting new levels and achieving them. The levels can provide increased accuracy and efficiency. Counterintuitively, these levels can shorten the time frame of a project. First, we must define the training goals for a biblical language at common-sense expectations and professional skill-levels, for both translation teams and consultants. There are some new ways to meet good language training around the world if this is a priority.

Not Just Any Tone Marking: Grammatical Tone Marking Makes Scripture Accessible

Author: Michael Cahill

People generally think of tone in a tone language as distinguishing individual words, e.g. Mono áwá ‘diarrhea’ vs. àwà ‘fear.’ This is termed “lexical tone.” But in many languages, tone also distinguishes different grammatical categories. The absence of marking this grammatical tone in the orthography creates ambiguities, such as:

• Jukun verb aspect: "i ya" could mean "we went" or "let’s go!"

• Maasai negation: "Meisisi olabaani te mbaare enye" could mean “Praise the healer for his work” or “Don't praise the healer for his work”

• Maasai subject vs. object: "Neirorie Daudi Olaitoriani" could mean “David spoke to the Lord” or “The Lord spoke to David”

Words differing by lexical tone can often be distinguished by context; thus in many cases, lexical tone need not be marked in an orthography. However, different grammatical constructions are often impossible to distinguished by context if they are not differentiated by some sort of marking. This means that Bible translations which do not mark grammatical tone have inherent ambiguity, and makes the translation less accessible. Indeed, examples exist where a Bible is not used because the people could not read it, because grammatical tone in particular was not marked.

This presentation reviews the concept of grammatical tone, presents cases where the lack of marking it has prevented people reading the Bible, and presents several methods by which it can be represented.

Translating Temporal and Spatial Terms

Author: Thangi Chhangte

During the course of a translation consultant session, one of the most common questions I am asked is about locations of places. The translators want to know whether people are going up or down, whether or not they are going very far and sometimes whether or not they are returning. This is a pertinent question for translators who come from rugged mountainous regions and who generally go on foot for days. However, very few available resources provide details in this regard.

In August 2015, during the 48th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics, Santa Barbara there was a one-day pre-meeting workshop entitled “How Grammar Encodes Space in Tibeto-Burman. As a result of the conference and subsequent articles published later, I looked at some translated texts to see how well participant tracking in space was translated. Many languages have grammatical devices for indicating direction (of the movement), the location of the participants which cover both spatial and temporal locations. These grammatical devices (verbal auxiliaries or other morphology) give a more succinct picture of the event and it helps the translator better visualize the event.

This paper examines how spatial and temporal events are translated and discusses whether or not translations make sufficient use of the grammatical devices available in the target language. Examples of translations are presented in detail.

Unlocking Metaphorical Chains: New Horizons for Ancient Texts in the Modern World

Author: Hans Combrink

This paper will explore the significance of recent theoretical developments in cognitive linguistics and translation theory, as well as a general move in translation circles towards more direct or stimulus-based translations. Reference will be made to an Afrikaans translation Die Bybel: ‘n Direkte Vertaling (BDV) [The Bible: A Direct Translation] as an example of this approach, since Ernst-August Gutt’s notion of a direct or stimulus-based translation embodies the skopos of this translation. This paper will also explore the concept of a translation brief which plays an important role in the functionalist model of Christiane Nord that can be seen as a helpful theoretical framework for identifying, negotiating and documenting all the variables to be taken into account when embarking on a translation project. I will further argue that an understanding of the cognitive mechanisms of metaphorical language and its cultural situatedness is crucial for determining an appropriate strategy when faced with the problem of translating ancient texts. I will try to show that the key to unlocking metaphorical language and retaining ambiguity lies in finding the relevant communicative clues of the ancient source language text and retaining those in the translation of ancient texts for the modern world.

Bible Translation and Spirituality

Author: Hans Combrink

There has been a renewed interest in spirituality as a result of the influence of postmodernism. Spirituality is not limited to Christianity, but constitutes a fundamental dimension of the human being, the lived experience of that dimension, and the academic discipline which studies that experience. With regard to Biblical spirituality, it is widely recognized today that there are different spiritualities in the Bible and that these find expression in different spiritualities in the faith community. What is not immediately clear is how exactly spirituality relates to Bible translation, if at all? This paper postulates that different spiritualities in the course of history have given rise to different perspectives on the theory and practice of Bible translation. It will therefore explore the interrelationship between spirituality as embodiment of faith and Bible translation as embodiment of the Word by looking at some defining moments in the course of history.

The Relevance of Obadiah in the 21st Century

Author: Deborah Conwell

I recall checking Obadiah for a language group from a small Pacific Island wondering how this ancient Middle Eastern text could ever be useful for the community. Were we wasting our time?

Despite the Bible’s claim that ‘all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful…’ some parts are not well-read or well-understood. This paper seeks to investigate the book, looking at the text, the historical context, its place in the canon and reader context, in order to evaluate how this small part of Scripture might be relevant to the church around the world in the 21st century.

A study of Obadiah reveals an intended function for its original audience and situation. It contains many themes of importance throughout the Bible, forming part of the continuing narrative of salvation history. Additionally, there are many situations around the world today where people can closely relate to the themes that are raised, for example those who are displaced, oppressed, powerless and looking for hope.

An investigation of these ideas leads one to question that if Obadiah is accepted as God’s word, if it can be shown to be of value in the current age, why is its relevance not perceived and what can be done to encourage the church of the 21st century to better appreciate its value. The answer leads from good translation to Scripture Engagement and training. The conclusion for the book of Obadiah has a wider application as we work towards the church world-wide having access to the ‘full counsel of God’.

Triangulating Chaos: The Benefits of Diversified Language Modeling

Author: Beth Cook

Human language consists of complex networks of language varieties. To communicate clearly about language diversity, advocate for minority languages, and ensure scripture access for all peoples, the practice of language modeling represents parts of these networks as discrete languages. Each language model -- including the Ethnologue, Glottolog, and the Registry of Dialects -- has slightly different goals in quantifying this diversity, and each is necessarily reductionistic. Because all models are approximations, "All models are wrong, but some are useful" (Box & Draper 1987).

Because each model is wrong and useful in different ways, having a plurality of language models is healthy. Kenneth Pike himself advocated using three ways of looking at language diversity to get a clearer picture of linguistic realities (1959). Just as using a variety of tools for sociolinguistic survey allows for triangulation and deeper sociolinguistic understanding, using multiple language models provides a more robust understanding of global language diversity.

I will discuss this principle using Aveditz, an inventory of sign languages developed by Deaf Bible Society. Unique factors in the remaining task to reach all Deaf people with scripture influenced this model’s development. Aveditz allows for the inclusion of likely varieties, video data, and colonial relationships between languages. This provides another way for practitioners to triangulate for a richer picture of extant language diversity.

La Parola È Vita: A New Italian Bible Translation

Author: Stefano Cotrozzi

A new translation of the Bible into Italian has been commissioned by Biblica (Colorado Springs, USA). The goal of this project is to produce an idiomatic, easily comprehensible translation of the Bible primarily geared towards the younger generations and the unchurched. The first text to be published in this new functional-equivalent translation, called La Parola è Vita, will be the Gospel of Luke (2019). This article discusses some of its features and compares it with other Italian Bible versions available on the market.

Discourse Analysis and Exegesis: The Sinai Pericope as a Test Case

Author: Jim Courter

Translators can be influenced by assumptions when making exegetical decisions. As a result, important biblical themes may not be adequately communicated. In order to offer methodologies for dealing with specific assumptions, a discourse analysis of the Sinai pericope (Exodus 18-24) will be presented. Useful exegetical tools for determining meaning at the lexical and discourse level will be demonstrated, such as intertextuality, genealogies, poetic sections, ring (chiastic) structures, and repeated words and motifs. A strong case will be made concerning the importance of good knowledge of the Hebrew language and text for doing such analysis. The events narrated in this portion of the Sinai pericope, although often portrayed as confusing and/or contradictory, are, in fact, very carefully composed, and lead to some surprising conclusions. Some often-overlooked messages which can be missed by a cursory, linear reading will be demonstrated, as well as alternate renderings based on the conclusions of this study. The messages of Exodus 18-24, particularly chapters 19-20, are most likely not as positive as most interpreters believe. The theophany was not primarily meant to evoke awe in the Israelites who stood at the foot of the mountain (19:17) and far away (20:18, 21). These chapters lay out a theological pattern for the subsequent OT writings, and substantiate important aspects of New Testament theology.

How the Trainee Shaped the Training in PNG: An End User Driven Approach

Author: Matt Crosland

How do we know that the training we are providing for mother tongue translators is relevant, appropriate and actually meeting felt needs? This paper will provide a case study for a new approach the Academic Training Department of SIL-PNG is developing to provide more culturally appropriate training by including end users in curriculum design and development.

The number of Papua New Guinean translators has steadily grown over the last decade while the number of expatriate translators has been on the decline. This shift has made mother tongue translator training more critical than ever in Papua New Guinea. The Academic Training department of SIL-PNG has recognized that no single training model can work in all situations and that we must meet people where they are in a culturally appropriate way if we are to provide useful training.

This case study will outline the process used for creating Academic Training’s new Melanesian Language Program Planning and Management course. It will also examine some of the reasons Academic Training decided to try this new approach, some criticisms of the approach and course feedback from the end users.

The TBET (TEE-bet) Test: A Procedure for Discovering and Defining the Text-critical Constitution of Old Testament Translations

Author: Steve Daley

Using the TEV as an example, this paper will demonstrate that analyzing a translation’s response to 430 Old Testament textual issues may be adequate for discovering and defining its text-critical constitution.

The list of textual issues is drawn from sample biblical chapters, para-textual elements of the Masoretic text, a random selection of scholarly (conjectural) emendations, and certain columns of textually significant Dead Sea scrolls. The list comes from a recent book entitled The Textual Basis of English Translations of the Hebrew Bible (TBET), which examines well-known English translations across the same range of textual issues and thus establishes the procedure known as the TBET (TEE-bet) test.

In the book, the test leads to the identification of distinct periods in the textual history of the English Bible, to the possibility of classifying the English translations by eclectic type, and to the observation that each of the English translations examined is ultimately unique from a text-critical perspective. Applying the test to other Old Testament translations would allow us to check whether the identified periods are universal, to discover the eclectic type of the translation(s) under study, and to check for unique textual features, as well.

Understanding the textual basis of existing translations promises to aid further efforts to design translation references, help field translators, and expedite worldwide Bible translation.

The Embodiment of God in the Life of the Church: Training Pastor-Translators for Ecclesial Missions

Author: Kyle Davis

How do we train more translators and consultants? Does our "manufacturing" metaphor of the translation process, and especially the "quality assurance" role of the consultant need to change, as Larry Jones asked us 2 years ago? How do we maintain quality while delivering a greater quantity of Scripture products to every language? How does the BT community partner with others in the Great Commission? Is the church called to "embody" the love of Christ, and how does BT contribute? Following Andreas Köstenberger (1998), David Hesselgrave argued that the missiological task of the church is "representational," not "incarnational" (2005). Is he right? Does it matter? I will present a model of "ecclesial missions" that integrates challenges from sub-themes two (BT and Theology) and four (Training and Mentoring). A robust, ecclesially-calibrated missiology integrates the training and mentoring of Bible translators with the training and mentoring of church leaders (hence "pastor-translators"). While arguing for this "ecclesial missiology" from Ephesians, I will illustrate this model with historic examples of pastor-translators so that we can learn from church history to see how previous generations of Christians have labored in the Great Commission and Bible translation.

Uncovering Biblical Treasure in Paratext 9: Accessing Meaning via Enhanced Resources in Major Languages

Author: Reinier de Blois, Doug Higby

Let’s face it: Today, the average Bible translator has little expertise in Biblical languages that were once considered essential knowledge for the task. Fewer and fewer translators are coming from the West with Bible college or seminary educations, and more and more local partners are getting involved. We could wring our hands in despair, stubbornly hoping for a resurgence of Biblical language studies for translators, or we can do the best we can at making Biblical languages accessible to the new generation of translators. Paratext’s Enhanced Resources accomplish this by providing a layer of abstraction through which the meaning and semantic range of Biblical words may be discovered in a language of wider communication. Definitions of underlying Biblical terms are displayed when their surface word is selected in an Enhanced Resource text because the resource has had its Biblical terms aligned with the original text. Where possible, pictures, maps, and other media are included to uncover Biblical treasure and enable faithful rendering into the target language. This session will demonstrate how translators who are not gifted in Biblical languages can use and benefit from Enhanced Resources in Paratext 9 to improve their understanding of the source text.

Where Are All the Communities that Use This Language? - Implications for Bible Translation with Displaced People

Author: Trevor Deck

SIL’s Multilingualism, Urbanization and Scripture Engagement (MUSE) task force has offered two guiding questions to be asked for all Bible translation programs. The first is “What are all the languages this community uses?” The second, “Where are all the communities that use this language?” is the topic for this paper. This second question becomes increasingly important as more and more language communities become dispersed and displaced.

Whenever there are people who identify as part of the language community who are living apart from the homeland, these segments of the language community need to be considered, as well. The different contexts and dynamics of diaspora communities make it important to reevaluate our perspective on various aspects of Bible translation programs and the communities they serve. These aspects include: social networks, potential contributors to Bible translation teams, organizational structures, partnership between organizations, security and safety of those involved, language vitality and language variation in different locations and generations, and the role of technology.

This paper addresses some of the challenges associated with “remote projects” by showcasing some of the methods and approaches already happening in Bible translation work with diaspora. Learning from past and current projects is vital for knowing how to move forward.

How Perceptions of Language as a Disembodied Object Hinder Incarnational Ministry and What to Do about It

Author: Danny DeLoach

Recent research indicates many Bible translations in Papua New Guinea are un-used or little used. Theories from Cognitive Science illuminate why this happens and suggest possible solutions. I interviewed Bible school students from a cross-section of denominational backgrounds in Papua New Guinea to discover the students’ perceptions of vernacular Scripture. I use Relevance Theory and Schema Theory to describe why the students perceive of vernacular Scripture as irrelevant in their ministry environment. My experience in the Wantoat language community provides a case study to explain how the language ideologies I absorbed from the Bible translation community contrast with the language ideologies prevalent in Melanesia. (I viewed language as a disembodied object. Wantoat people perceive language as an embodied social experience.) This mismatch in language schema is typical within Bible translation projects in Papua New Guinea and contributes to the perceived irrelevance of vernacular Scriptures in that context. Bible translators are often incarnational in the way they embed themselves within language communities. This is a laudable missiological model. I will suggest ways to expand the impact of Bible translation by adopting an equally incarnational view of language itself.

Performance of the Book of Ruth with Audience Participation,Viewed Through the Lens of Reception Theory and Complexity Theory

Author: June Dickie

The book of Ruth is largely dialogue and thus lends itself to dramatic performance. However, the biblical text has many “gaps”, particularly being silent on the motivations of the characters. The audience is thus obliged to bring its own context and experience into its understanding of the story. This study seeks to understand how different members of a given audience interpret such gaps. Reception Theory (e.g. Darr 1998) and Complexity Theory (e.g. Cilliers 1998) both offer a lens to help explain the process.

For the empirical study, two groups from poor townships in Cape Town, South Africa, presented a dramatic reading of the book of Ruth, one group consisting of adults and the other of Grade 7 students. Both were performed before respective peer groups. Each presentation included five actors, one of whom interrupted the story at periodic intervals to ask members of the audience questions concerning motivations of the characters. The results show that the opportunity to participate in the performance was greatly appreciated by the audience, and their responses provided useful clues as to how their own context impacted their interpretation of the text. Both Reception and Complexity theories shed light on the unexpected direction that an oral performance can take as a result of audience participation. The methodology can be usefully applied to text translation, enabling translators to become more aware of how readers’ contexts impact their interpretations.

The Use of Scripture Media for Agile Publishing, Revisions, and Community Engagement

Author: Margaret Doll

Digital media, including audio/visual media, has been effectively used in iterative scripture publishing, and in not a few cases has aided in the clarification of key terms. It has enabled agile publishing of scripture revisions, and discourse reframing. The processes involved in providing audio/visual and digital media resources for language communities are an effective opportunity for enhancing local ownership and building relationships with the local community, the essence of embodiment.

This paper explores the various applications of digital media in translation projects and the many ways media can be applied at all stages of a language program and scripture translation project to engage the local community and clarify the translation during the iterative publishing process. It uses case accounts and live interviews to cover the many aspects of the effective use of media in Bible translation and scripture engagement.

Good News Encounters: Turning Interruptions into Opportunities for Scripture Engagement

Author: Wayne Dye, Ed Beach, Elenore Beach

The goal of Bible translation is that people would engage with God through Scripture so as to know him and experience authentic life transformation. A common expectation is that this will happen through various kinds of intentional Scripture use programs, especially after final publication, and that would be managed by specialists as a separate program track. This would seem to protect the translators from interruptions by people with concerns other than the translation. But what if throughout the translation process, interruptions could actually be opportunities for Scripture engagement that would have a synergistic relationship with the translation as well as jump start engagement for a well used translation? In this seminar, we will describe how this process works. Our special focus will be on facilitating conversations in which people discover that the Scriptures are immediately relevant good news for them. We will also discuss the challenge in this to the faith and attitudes of Christian workers.

A Preliminary Analysis of Utugwang Narrative Discourse: Implications for Utugwang Translators and Consultants

Author: Kierien Ekpang Ayugha

Many a grammatical description of African languages stops at the sentence level. This deprives translators and translation consultants the benefit of knowing how narratives work, which makes the translation very unnatural, and consequently, less incarnational; for the transmission of God’s Word through Bible translation could be seen as a process of incarnation in that each stage of translation work results in a better understanding of the Word. This paper is built on the premise that a good knowledge of Utukwang narrative discourse, and the application of such knowledge, would help Bible translators and consultants in Utukwang to produce translations that would communicate better the incarnate Word in the native idiom of the Utugwang people. The paper benefits from a functionalist approach to translation, as expounded by Levinsohn, Runge, and Nicoles. It identifies the features that play important roles in the narrative and their functions. This paper reveals that the Utukwang narrative is a beauty to behold. It employs the use of sound devices like ideophones, formulaic expressions, and assonance at strategic points in the narrative. The narrative also uses different verb forms to signal online and offline information, as well as employs inferential and continuative markers to signal new developments in the narrative. The Utukwang narrative also uses discourse markers to signal sequentiality and cataphora.

Translating Biblical Key Terms in Obolo

Author: Enene Naaman Enene

The Obolo translators are not exceptions in the difficulties translators often face in the translation of Biblical key terms. These terms are words that refer to Jewish and Christian beliefs and religious systems and may have been unknown in the receptor language area before the introduction of Christianity. Though cultural similarities may exist, these terms constitute most serious problems for translators and have produced misunderstanding among readers when the translation does not communicate accurately the meaning of the term in the source language. This paper tries to review some of them and how the Obolo translators have handled them.

A good knowledge of the Obolo culture has helped to reduce some of the difficulties that the translators would have encountered in the course of translating the Bible. The traditional religion has also been a good source for some of the biblical key terms. In this paper, we shall discuss some ways of translating Biblical key terms in order not to communicate wrong meaning or to create different impact or to sound foreign. The intended outcome of this paper is that translators would be able to explore some more ways of translating Biblical key terms with ease.

This paper closes with some ways that encourage translators that though the choice of Biblical key terms is something that many translators struggle with and some people feel very strongly about, decisions can be made by careful consultation with church leaders and others.

Disentangling Competing Purposes in Missionary Bible Translation and African Receptions through Re-translating the Book of Ruth for Interactive Dialogue

Author: Nathan Esala

Skopos theory asserts translation is purposeful interaction based on a source text which attempts to change the state of affairs in the world. Nord recognizes the potential for competing purposes in translational action. This paper reviews a debate in African theology about competing purposes between missionary intentions in Bible translation and African communities’ differing purposes in receiving Bible translation arguing that these competing purposes are entangled—both in the historical form of Bible translation and in the translated Bible’s community receptions. How do African communities negotiate these competing purposes, which may be experienced as cultural domination, on one hand, or cultural synthesis, on the other? Drawing on Deborah Shadd’s BT 2017 plenary paper which discusses the logics of re-translation, this paper argues for the necessity of marginalized groups engaging in re-translation with an emancipatory logic in order to have interactive dialogue in their communities. A case study is offered from northern Ghana which uses the method of Contextual Bible Study to facilitate young women re-translating the narrative of Ruth as they develop dialogical and life-giving theological responses to life-negating conditions.

Taste&See—An Exciting Online Scripture Engagement Tool for Local Communities

Author: Jaap Feenstra

The Scripture engagement (SE) movement has seen, and is seeing, a proliferation of actors in its arena. Numerous organizations bring great creativity in training, products developed and delivery platforms to take God’s Word into the communities and languages of the people. But the proliferation also brings confusion and risk of duplication. Taste&See seeks to be an answer to that problem.

Local communities are not isolated anymore or devoid of leadership and capacity in Scripture engagement. Local churches often have capacity to look at their situation and be the true owners in the area for Scripture use. Taste&See seeks to serve them in their quest.

Scripture engagement is complicated, because language communities are complex and are more often than not in a state of flux. There is culture-change, in-migration and out-migration. That is a challenge. Taste&See seeks to accommodate the variety of Scripture needs of multilingual communities.

Currently a team is working on Taste&See—a digital tool that (for now) is an online version in English. Various organizations participate in actual development and in resourcing. Through a digital presentation we will show how Taste&See can serve the local communities and missional workers as an elegant assessment aid—using Wayne Dye’s Eight Conditions—a catalogue (of SE tools and activities), a simple planning guide and a social media platform where people can securely share experiences and help each other out across a global network.

Honor-Shame Perspectives in Deuteronomy

Author: Jeffrey Feinberg, Chi Xin Leow

The paper applies an honor-shame lens from social anthropology to the blessings and curses in Deuteronomy, to better understand how they function to elicit emotions and shape moral behaviors. The perspective illuminates a fundamental dimension of the divine-human relationship in Israel’s covenant, including New Covenant relationships as well.

Applying this honor-shame exegetical perspective helps answer important questions such as: Did Torah require complete cancellation of debts during the sabbatical year? How did Israel’s failure to observe this ruling relate to Jesus’ comment that Israel society would “always” have the poor? In what ways does Torah address societal norms and predispositions toward the poor? How is a “curse” or “evil eye” understood in an honor-shame culture?

Using the Pitts-Rivers model, honor is defined as a nexus between societal ideals and an individual’s personification of those same ideals. The model categorizes honor by the parameters of societal interaction, physical body and property, and divine-human relationship. The findings have implications for Bible translation in honor-shame cultures.

Telling the Story of Torah

Author: Jeffrey Feinberg, Pat Feinberg

Come for the rare chance to see a Torah scroll up close. Handwritten Hebrew letters flow in a continuous, unending storyline that unrolls and rerolls with each passing year. The story ends at the end of time.

Consider the lack of headers, chapters, verse numbers, punctuation, and vowels. We will explore the extra line spaces between books, the open and closed paragraph breaks, and some distinctive scribal features in poetic sections. These notations impact a reader’s interpretation not unlike the effects of cropping a photograph. The logic of the storyline as seen through the seams traces out a metanarrative that stitches together the whole of the scriptures.

Jewish lectionary calendars will be provided so you can participate with DIU students in the epic telling of Torah’s narrative, using 54 key portion names. This weekly reading cycle, used from Jesus’ time to this day, keeps the Jewish community on the same page worldwide. October 22 is Simchat Torah, when we finish Deuteronomy, reroll the scroll, and begin Genesis anew!

Who's Speaking Now? Determining the Various Speakers in the Book of Hosea

Author: Tom Finley

In the book of Hosea, it is often difficult to determine who is speaking. For example, at Hosea 2:2 (Hebrew 2:4), is it the Lord or Hosea who is speaking to the children? Or at 4:4a, is it Hosea, the Lord, or a priest who raises the objection? Then there is 5:1-7, where “[t]he changes in the use of the pronouns … seem bewildering” (Andersen and Freedman, Hosea, AB 24). This issue is not limited to Hosea but can be found throughout the Old Testament, especially the Psalms and the prophets.

Some languages require that whenever someone speaks, the speaker must be identified. For example, Gumawana “requires a quote introduction (or quote margin) to keep track of who is speaking” (email from Clif Olson). After making a copy of the Hebrew text and color-codeing it for each different speaker, I will look for possible linguistic or cultural patterns that could be applicable to other Old Testament texts. The color-coding will depend on linguistic, contextual, cultural, and even theological factors. One obvious factor is that the prophet was expected to speak on behalf of God. So whatever he or she says is also what God says. Still, there are some things that can be stated to differentiate the speaker as either God or the prophet.

Fronting in the Hebrew Psalms: Translatable or Untranslatable?

Author: Sebastian Floor

The fronting of elements before the verb in Biblical Hebrew is a complex marked word-order feature which received attention in some recent works on the information structure (Heimerdinger, 1999; Van der Merwe and Talstra, 2002/3; Shimakazi, 2002; Floor, 2003, 2004, 2006; Mochavie, 2009). The most comprehensive study of marked word-order in Hebrew poetry is that of Nicolas Lunn (2006). Lunn reported that marked word-order in Hebrew OT is somewhat productive in narrative (13%), but a lot more productive in poetry (34%) - a third of all poetic lines in his sample. However, in spite of the frequent occurrence of this feature in Hebrew poetry, it is often not reflected in translation. This paper will give an overview of fronting in a sample of 40 Psalms in Hebrew, doing two things:

1) Observe how these marked structures were generally (but not always!) left untranslated in some more recent translations in European and African languages.

2) Analyze the pragmatic functions of marked word-order in these 40 Psalms from an information structure approach that goes beyond the clause and sentence level to poetic discourse and theme analysis.

It will be argued that in the light of these higher-level factors, something of the meaning in some cases will be lost if fronting is left untranslated. The paper concludes with a suggestion of a range of devices that may help translators to actually translate, or at least “compensate” for fronting in the Hebrew Psalms.

Voice Synchrony in Oral (Bible) Translation

Author: Ervais Fotso

The importance of orality in the world of Bible translation today is such that one could argue in favor of an “oral” or “orality turn” in Bible translation. It is useless saying that the human voice is central and key to orality. Unfortunately, we have noticed that some "oral" Bible translation programs are still failing to give the human voice a central place. Our paper seeks then to fill this gap by building on recent studies and research on human voice prosodic features. It explores mainly some key related theoretical issues, so as to help all practitioners of the field understand what voice synchrony is all about. It therefore centers on a key aspect of voice, which is “voice synchrony” in oral Bible translation. To achieve this, the paper lays its foundation by exploring and explaining terms such as “voice”, “synchrony” and different types of “voice synchronies”. It continues by touching on the subjects of voice prosody, the features of voice and its impact on meaning, emotions, punctuations, and figure of speech. The paper goes on, after this, to explain how voice synchrony should influence the process of an oral Bible translation at all its stages. It ends by a case study where some practical proposals made are unfolded with a biblical text from the viewpoint of exegesis. One of the key findings of the article is that it explores and proposes the possibility and need of an exegesis and exegetical help notes geared towards an oral Bible translation.

Bible Translation Values and Norms

Author: David Frank

We say a translation of the Bible should be clear, accurate and natural. This is not part of the definition of translation, but something we add to it which governs how we work and what particular kind of product we want to produce. We might add that the translation needs to be acceptable to the target community in order for it to be embraced as their Bible, and this, too helps govern how we translate. We say that a translation should be neither too woodenly literal nor excessively free. A translation can aim to bring the text to the reader or bring the reader to the text. There are literal, foreignizing products that can be fairly labeled as translations and there are free, domesticating products that can fairly be labeled as translations, but in identifying the kind of product we want to aim for, somewhere between extremes, we are also identifying ourselves as a Bible translation community. That is not to say there is complete agreement in the Bible translation community about all its values, norms, definitions and practices. There should at least be room for dialogue and negotiation within this community. Values and norms are standard part of the conceptual framework in the field of sociology, and the concept of translation norms was introduced and developed by translation studies scholars such as Gideon Toury and Christina Schäffner. Here the concept is extended to Bible translation in particular, and the Bible translation community.

Factors in Encouraging a Multilingual Scripture Engagement – Theory and Practice

Author: Maik Gibson

SIL’s MUSE (Multilingualism, Urbanisation and Scripture Engagement) initiative aims to help those involved in Bible Translation and Scripture Engagement to think about all the languages that might serve a linguistic community. Minority communities have a wide variety of attitudes towards using Scripture in their own language, some embracing a Bible translation in it, and others continuing to use a language that is less well understood. With reference to sociolinguistic concepts relevant to societal multilingualism (especially language attitude and sociolinguistic domain), we attempt to give a coherent account of these varied responses. We will then consider, using case studies from North and East Africa, how Scripture Engagement is often impeded in multilingual situations, and then how to leverage speakers’ feelings that some languages serve particular purposes in order to encourage more effective Scripture Engagement. Our recommended response is to look for the advantages of each language for the community as they interact with Scripture, accepting that they may use more than one. We will examine the factors involved in a coherent response, especially attitudes, and what roles each of the languages in a community’s repertoire plays. We will then examine what this might look like in practice, seeking to engage communities with Scripture in the languages that serve them best.

The Concept of Sacrifice in Leviticus 1-7: A Translation and Hermeneutical Understanding of the Various Offerings in Hebrew and A̱Shingini Religions

Author: Benjamin Gimba

Human beings mechanically sacrifice and there is always something deep within their nature that compels them to do so. Sacrifice has come to mean surrendering something of value for the benefit of another person or perhaps a community. History has it that to sacrifice was to make an offering, usually a costly one, to a deity or a king. It still carries this meaning today in many culture and religion including the three Kambari people -A̱shingini.

The paper therefore, is aimed at provoking Bible translators and Translation consultants by making a comparison of the Old Testament sacrificial terms in Leviticus 1–7 to that of A̱shingini. The paper first explores the etymology of the sacrificial terms and atonement in Hebrew and the three Kambari Languages, the then usage and their present usage and showcases how the terms were incorporated in the translation. The paper closes with suggestions on how to handgrip the translation of sacrificial terms.

The Bible Project in its Research and Development Stage – Laying a Strong Foundation for a Successful Project

Author: Ioan Giosanu

Does the number of unfinished or abandoned Bible translation projects (BTP) has increased significantly in the past 15 years? Are the BPT becoming harder to complete? If this is the case, which are the main factors that led to this situation? We often see BTP started superficially, without a prior proper plan. The way a project is planned, initiated and consolidated would give us a clue about the quality of the final translation and would help us to develop our partnership with the Church, Christian organizations and publishers in the right direction. A superficial research, plan or approach will lead us, sooner or later, to either failing to start a BTP or doubling our efforts to continue and finalize a project that eventually will end up being rejected by the majority. For these reasons, it is of a paramount importance to understand (1) why we initiate a Bible translation project in a certain country, in a certain dialect? Is the need confirmed? (2) Which is the right way to create new partnerships and approach potential translators? (3) When it is the proper time to start the project? (4) What a Translation brief should include? Why is the project unique? (5) What does the process of training translators involves? I am going to emphasize the importance of doing a comprehensive assessment before initiating a Bible translation project, showing that the translated written Word is far better received by the recipients when the Research & Development phase in done carefully.

Knowing the End from the Beginning: A Study of Supply Chain Management Applied to the Global Bible Translation Quality Assurance Workforce

Author: Teryl Gonzalez

Leaders in the global Bible translation movement have lacked a comprehensive view of consultant recruitment, training, management, and compensation, both within their own entities, and across organizational and geographical boundaries. This study focuses on global Bible translation quality assurance personnel practices, seen through the lens of Supply Chain Management theory. The question was posed, “What does it take to successfully move a person from potential recruit to fully employed translation consultant?”

The framework of the study was developed by reviewing literature on both the theory and the practice of Supply Chain Management, especially as applied to Human Resource challenges. The literature review was followed by interviewing leaders of Bible translation organizations. The final steps were an analysis and synthesis of the interview material.

The study found broad consensus among Bible translation leaders that management and compensation of consultants are the most urgent factors they face as they consider the long-term sustainability of their workforce.

Key Terms: Meaning Making and Embodiment through Visual Interpretation

Author: Gilles Gravelle

In Bible translation there is a shift from a purely linguistic understanding of meaning making to more of an intersemiotic understanding of how people make meaning and how that meaning becomes embodied knowledge. Much has been written on orality and oral performance as well as the interface between orality and literacy (Maxey 2007, Wendland 2008, De Vries 2015). However, in Bible translation circles, less has been said about visual cultures and image interpretation. Key terms are often abstract concepts that are difficult to visualize through a written description or even through an oral discussion. Images can effectively illustrate or challenge teaching concepts (Wetzel, 1993). However, even when trainers select images to assist in communicating concepts, it may not help if it isn’t the right kind of image. The meaning of the image needs to connect with the culture they are associated with (Whitley, 2013). Visual sociology helps us understand the ways in which imagery aids meaning making in terms of non-verbal representations (Burri, 2012). This paper will provide some insights from visual sociology and suggest how the use of images, signs, and gestures can help produce meanings that are more coherent to local cultures, thus more likely to produce embodied understanding rather than alterity.

How Many, How Deep, How Long? A Tool to Help Organizations Decide Language Acquisition Goals for Exegetical Advisers.

Author: David Gray, Aaron Hemphill

Emerging paradigms have shifted attention to the roles of consultants and independent translators and away from the role and preparation of exegetical advisors (EAs), even though the pressing need for EAs in programs worldwide remains. In a translation project there are typically insiders who function as mother tongue translators, and outsiders with linguistic expertise who function as EAs. Currently, expectations about the level of proficiency in the host language (HL) that EAs must attain are set by their assigned entity, and these policies are typically applied independent of the relevant factors affecting a specific project. In some organisations, anything less than fluency in the HL is considered incompatible with incarnational ministry. In others, EAs interact primarily through language of wider communication (LWC) back translations and may never be expected to learn the HL(s), though there may be a national language to learn in addition to the LWC. We would like to suggest a third way; that EAs learn as much of the HL(s) as their particular program requires. This paper asks what factors should be considered to determine the level of HL(s) fluency needed by an EA in a specific program. We have developed a tool comprised of a flow-chart and a questionnaire designed to help organisations evaluate the level of HL proficiency a person needs in a specific context in order to function best in their EA role.

Do You See What I See?: A First Look at the Implications of Language Deprivation Syndrome for the Comprehension of Texts in Sign Languages

Author: Harry Harm, Teri Miles

The comprehension of text is key to its efficacy. For this reason, comprehension tests with selected members of the target audience is a key quality control step before the publication of texts, including the translation of texts from the Bible. While lack of comprehension can be due to a number of factors, when translating sign language texts many difficulties can arise because of language deprivation syndrome.

Language deprivation syndrome occurs when a child is not exposed to language in early childhood. This is rare in children with normal hearing but, unfortunately, is quite common in children who are deaf. Not being exposed to language in early childhood has some effects which can be lifelong. These effects can include a less developed theory of mind, inability to use and understand more complex linguistic structures, decreased ability to learn other languages, difficulty with types of scalar implicatures and neurological changes.

Experienced Bible translation teams have responded to lack of comprehension of texts among deaf who are exposed to language later in life primarily by adjusting texts through trial and error. However, a study of the effects of the syndrome may point to changes in texts which would make them more comprehensible. This paper proposes further studies which should indicate what changes would mitigate these effects and lead to increased comprehension.

A Theology of Embodied Presence: God with Us through Translation

Author: Bryan Harmelink

“They will call him Immanuel, which means God with us” (Matthew 1:23) and, in John 1:14, “the Word became human and made his home among us.” Christians through the ages have recognized the Incarnation as a core belief. The introduction to this paper will explore theological understandings of the Incarnation and connections authors like Sanneh and Walls have made between the Incarnation and translation. These connections will then be evaluated through historical, theological, and missiological reflections.

Part 1 of the paper considers several questions: What does embodiment have to do with the Incarnation and what is Embodied Presence? The first step toward answering these questions is to define embodiment from the perspective of Cognitive Studies and other disciplines. This definition, then, provides an entry point for developing a theology of Embodied Presence, highlighting the significance of the Incarnation for understanding embodiment.

Having established the concept of Embodied Presence, Part 2 of the paper contemplates several implications of this concept for Translation. Is embodiment merely a fleeting trend in academia or does it provide a way of enriching our notions of translation? How does Bible translation benefit from expanding our understanding of embodiment? How does the concept of Embodied Presence guide us into a deeper theology and practice of translation?

The paper concludes with several summary statements and recommendations for further research.

Tools for Addiction Recovery in the Global Context: The Role of Community and Scripture Engagement

Author: Lynley Hatcher

The production and distribution of addictive substances has increased dramatically in recent decades. The WHO states: “Alcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries and a component cause in 200 others…Alcohol is also associated with many serious social issues, including violence, child neglect and abuse.”

Local churches worldwide struggle with the painful issue of alcoholism and drug addiction. Pastors see the devastation that alcoholism and addiction causes but often do not know how to help addicts and families. Minority language communities in particular have limited resources to adequately address these challenges.

Addiction recovery is a long-term process that involves changes in thinking and emotional healing. Key components for an effective addiction recovery program include developing a supportive community of healing as well as healthy thinking and living patterns. Scripture is an important tool in recovery because it teaches constructive principles and points to a relationship with God. Scripture transforms.

Freedom Ascent is an oral Bible story based, Christian addiction recovery program for minority language communities. This program incorporates the basic components of supportive groups, proven recovery principles, and a biblical foundation. Local leaders are equipped to lead groups within their own churches. Cultural adaptations of the program are encouraged so that each recovery group is a local expression.

“They Understand Only from their Stories”: Oral Bible Performance as Embodied Communication in a Southeast Asian Hindu Context

Author: Timothy Hatcher

Primary research conducted in a Southeast Asian Hindu context found an atypically high percentage of Christian workers, both local and expatriate, prefered using oral Bible storying in evangelism and discipleship. This finding was made more surprising by the diversity of denominations and ministries employing multimodal oral approaches. Explanations for this phenomenon differed. Expatriate missionaries appealed to pragmatism, observing that oral methods seemed to function well when other strategies had not. Hindu background believers, however, concluded that oral delivery of Scripture was effective due to the religious context and specifically Southeast Asian Hindu views of sacred texts.

Hinduism generally believes that the spoken versions of their sacred texts are more authoritative and spiritually beneficial than written texts. These particular Southeast Asian Hindus are similar in their emphasis on the ritual recitation of texts; however, they also reverence some of their sacred texts to the point of fear.

The use of oral strategies in this context is not merely a pedagogically suitable strategy for reaching oral preference learners. Orality works well in this and other contexts because oral approaches are more continuous with their existing cognitive categories for religious expression. This is a case of religious localization that relies heavily on comparative theologies of sacred texts, and it holds implications for oral strategies in other contexts.

Dressing for Spiritual Battle and Other Challenges: Translating Passages with Underlying Conceptual Metaphors

Author: Christy Hemphill

Traditionally, the approach to translating metaphor in Scripture assumed metaphors are descriptive literary devices with an underlying “literal meaning.” Research in cognitive linguistics has challenged this idea, and a new field of study, conceptual metaphor theory (CMT), has emerged. CMT draws a distinction between image metaphors, where a target is described in comparison to a source, and conceptual metaphors, where an abstract or complex conceptual domain is actually understood in terms of a more concrete or familiar conceptual domain drawn from embodied human experience. This paper examines the importance of identifying conceptual metaphors and analyzing their accessibility when translating Scripture. Translators who encounter figurative language derived from underlying conceptual metaphors that are not culturally accessible may try to convert the mapped elements of the source domain into a series of descriptive image metaphors. This skewing of meaning could be mitigated if translators were trained to identify conceptual metaphors in figurative language and consider making them explicit. As a case study, a translation of Eph. 6:13-17 in Tlacoapa Me’phaa produced by a translator guided by Paratext notes and trained in the traditional approach to the translation of metaphors (Larson 1984) is compared with a second translation produced after encouragement to make the underlying conceptual metaphor “PREPARATION IS GETTING DRESSED” explicit at the beginning of the passage.

Do Readers Actually Like Poetry? Results of Research Measuring the Acceptability of Poetic Translations of Old Testament Poetry

Author: Thomas Hemphill

About one third of the Old Testament is poetry, yet most Bibles translate these parts of Scripture as prose rather than as poetry. As a result, readers are missing much of the impact and poetic beauty of the original. Isn't it our desire to translate in a way that has the impact of the original? To address this, there has been a renewed push in recent times to engage in the difficult task of translating biblical poetry as poetry. While such efforts attempt to transfer the vitality and beauty of the original, little research has been done as to whether readers actually like poetic translations. In this paper I will discuss research that sought answers to questions about likeability, impact, understandability and poetic beauty by comparing selected passages in three standard non-poetic Bible translations (ESV, NIV and NLT) with poetic translations of these passages. The survey results show that overall, while respondents recognise the poetic beauty of the poetic translations, that surprisingly, this usually does not translate into increased likeability, and that most readers prefer prose translations. The survey results also show that the more domesticating a poetic translation is, the more acceptable it becomes to readers. A key recommendation of this research is that if a translation team is considering doing poetic translation, that they first test for reader acceptability before doing so.

Paratext Lite: Leveraging Low-powered Tablets for Reading, Reviewing, and Revising Scripture

Author: Doug Higby

Paratext Bible translation software runs on personal computers and continues to be enhanced to meet the needs of translators globally. Yet, while PCs remain the instrument of choice for Bible translators due their power and screen size, their cost and power consumption keep them out of reach for low-income communities with limited power sources. Technology is also changing rapidly and mobile devices are quickly overtaking personal computers today, account for 60% of all Internet use. To leverage the advantages of the mobile platform, Paratext Lite was developed as a companion to Paratext to handle some of the translation tasks. In this way, more of the local community can be involved, and team members can work on revision of the text out in the community where the language expertise is found. This presentation explains how Paratext Lite on Android phones and tablets can be used for Reading, Review, and Revision of the drafted Scripture text to enhance any translation project.

Language Development and Scripture Translation in Refugee Camps

Author: Sunny Hong

A recent study (Hong, 2018) indicated that at least half of the remaining 2,000 languages that need the Bible translated exist in the places where foreign cross-cultural workers cannot live due to political or religious reasons. This situation presents challenges for Scripture translation. Diaspora persons who are coming out of their homelands may be the resource people to do Scripture translations. There are several types of diaspora: immigrants, foreign workers, international students, and refugees. Most of the minority language groups around the world are not affluent enough to emigrate, to get a job in a foreign country or to send their children as international students. This leaves refugees as prime candidates. Therefore, it is very important to understand how to work with refugees to translate the remaining languages.

A refugee camp is the first place they are settled with the necessary safety place where refugees’ languages are least shifted in comparison to the future resettled places. Often, significant numbers of speakers of the language live together in the refugee camps. The purpose of this research is to understand and describe the unique challenges and advantages one would encounter working in a refugee camp, how those challenges should be dealt with, and advantages that could be maximized to bring shalom to the hearts of refugees through Bible translation projects.

Developing Multi-Layered Resources for the Psalms (and Beyond)

Author: Katharine Hoogerheide, Joshua Harper

Teams and organizations continue to explore the implications of rendering the Word according to local communication conventions. In order to craft passages in a meaningful way, translators, artist-creators, and performers need resources to unlock the high points, connections, and other types of meaning embedded in the structures and aesthetic features of the original text. Given that the extant scholarship on Old Testament poetry has not yet been solidified or synthesized for these purposes, we are conducting additional research in the biblical Hebrew text of the Psalms and beginning to develop representative exegetical resources.

In this session we will survey some of the nearly 30 linguistic, aesthetic, and structural features that appear to shape the messages of the Psalms. A synthesis of these features leads towards a clearer understanding of the communicative function and significant connections among sections, lines, and concepts in the text, even potentially clearing up some exegetical issues. After presenting some initial ideas of resources for making these findings accessible to others, we will welcome participants’ input on how this information can best be crafted in order to serve the needs of both written and oral translation and Scripture Engagement projects around the world.

Discourse Analysis of Prophetic Oracles: Woe, Indictment, and Hope

Author: JoAnna Hoyt

Discourse analysis of the emic structures of Biblical Hebrew is a greatly underdeveloped area of Hebrew linguistics. This lack of a linguistic examination has resulted in translators and Hebrew scholars relying upon form criticism, which, though helpful, is lacking in objectivity and precision. This paper offers a discourse analysis of the emic structures of three prophetic oracle types: woe, indictment, and hope. Through a modified approach to Longacre’s etic discourse structures, this paper examines the oracles’ emic structures within Amos and Micah. Not only does this analysis provide an objective process and precise criteria for identifying these genres, but it also reveals otherwise overlooked discourse features such as skewing and peak marking elements.

Robust Mentoring in Africa and Beyond

Author: Michael Jemphrey

Robust mentoring is vital for our consultants and trainee consultants to grow and flourish.Our record of mentoring, though, has been patchy: some consultants in training receive excellent mentoring, while others receive virtually none. Some consultants have never been mentored and consequently do not know how to mentor others. This paper will present the steps that are been taken in Africa to address the situation.

A week-long consultation will take place in September 2019. Invitees will include those experienced mentors and those engaged to be mentors soon. Participants together will devise robust mentoring programs in Africa which:

1 clarify expectations on the mentor-mentee relationship

2 meet such challenges as realistic expectations of the relationship, mentoring at a distance, mentoring those of different generation or culture.

3 set out how a mentee is accountable to a mentor and a supervisor in their respective responsibilities.

After the event participants supported by their own mentor will:

1 mentor their mentees (including helping them,in their turn, to mentor others), and

2 support the setting up of structures that result in robust mentoring.

The presentation will describe the process involved in setting up this learning event, and include insights gleaned from the event, and reflect on how these insights can contribute to the establishment of robust mentoring in Africa and beyond.

Understanding the System of Hebrew Phrase Marking

Author: Allan Johnson

The text of the Hebrew Scriptures includes a mark on each word which often hasn't been fully understood. These markings have more than one function. The one I want to focus on here is the matter of defining the phrasing, and how each phrase relates to the others around it, providing us with all the information needed to build a complete phrase structure tree for each verse.

I want to share with you –

1) That even without expertise in Hebrew, the phrase structures for each verse can now be readily viewed alongside the original text and a phrase-by-phrase English glossing, making it possible to address any semantic subtleties of the phrasing in order to make better-informed choices as we translate.

The tree displays are available for all 39 books – but the more complete display including the English glossing is a work in progress, currently available just for Genesis and a few of the smaller books.

2) The process by which these trees have been built. The process which ends up producing the right answer every time, is actually quite straightforward and can be readily reproduced with just pencil and paper.

3) Some examples from the portions of Scripture that I've worked through so far, which illustrate the kinds of ambiguities that can crop up as we attempt to understand the Scriptures – with the ambiguities being resolved when we take note of what the accent marks are telling us.

Church-Driven Bible Translation, An Indonesia Case Study

Author: Larry Jones, Adriana Tunliu

Over the past 20 years, an innovative collaboration has developed between The Evangelical Protestant Church of Timor (Indonesian acronym GMIT), Wycliffe Bible Translators, and the Seed Company. The GMIT Church has become the primary steward of Bible translation efforts in the province of East Nusa Tenggara while actively leveraging the capacity and unique contributions which their Bible translation partners bring to the table. This collaboration under official church leadership has led to a remarkable expansion of the Bible translation effort in this region, out of proportion to the relatively small number of Bible agency staff assigned to support the work.

GMIT’s contributions to the partnership include:

• Hosting a Language and Culture Unit in their synod offices. This Unit supports all Bible translation and ancillary activities in the collaboration

• Advocating for the use of local language translations in their congregations

• Requesting that all translations done under their auspices reflect a common exegesis

• Assigning GMIT church pastors and seminary professors to learn to check translations for faithfulness

The collaboration is supporting nearly 30 translation projects in the region, and 7 NTs have been published. Sustainability and enhanced Scripture engagement are among the leading benefits we have seen. The paper also looks at the risks of a church-driven approach and how these are being mitigated.

Rezolving Speling Ishues fore Baibel Namez

Author: Glenn J. Kerr

Scripture embodiment in a culture can be hampered by Bible proper names which are either difficult to pronounce or are too much influenced by a language of wider circulation (LWC), making the translation too foreign sounding. Completely transforming names to adapt to the host culture is not historically advisable or even possible in most cases, but working out the best possible spellings for Bible names in the host language has many difficulties.

Some difficulties are: 1) the influence and practices of LWCs; 2) past and current church traditions for names; 3) differing name-rendering approaches of source translations; 4) constraints or influences of original language pronunciations; 5) primary and secondary morphology effects of the original and host languages; 6) chance coincidence of biblical names with host language words with adverse meanings; and 7) phonological constraints of the host language—all these work together and against each other at times to complicate the process of transliteration or even translation of biblical names. This particularly applies to Hebrew Bible names, which are very numerous and often difficult.

This paper will explore specific examples from a number of language projects to illustrate problems and their possible solutions. The paper will present details of personal experiences and experiments by the author of various approaches to many aspects of this issue as well as published materials from others.

Social Media Driven Translation Project

Author: Eugene Kim

When producing biblical or bridged media for a Muslim audience, one of the major problems is a lack of extensive testing in all phases of a translation project, such as translation, audio recording, video production, distribution, and engagement. This problem is important because a lack of extensive testing results in producing ineffective media, which people are reluctant to use or to share with friends. We can overcome this problem by using social media, such as Facebook or YouTube. Such platforms provide marketing and content analytics tools, which are useful for testing content and maximizing content efficacy as they provide a vast array of audience-related data. Hence, we can produce biblical or bridged media in non-printed forms, such as video, and test them on social media using the platform's marketing and analytics tools. By implementing Facebook and YouTube in my translation projects for the past four years, I was able to effectively test and distribute bridged products (the title of the project is Social Media Driven Translation Project). To give an example, Facebook delivered the Egoro Psalm 10 video 63 million times to 20 million people, garnered 9 million views, and 1.3 million engagements (shares, likes and comments) all at the cost of $279. Facebook and YouTube have proven to be a very helpful, socially acceptable, and cost-effective tool for maximally impacting language communities.

Translating Names: The Literary Use of Names in Hebrew Narrative and Opportunities for Sign Language Translation

Author: Phil King

Names of characters in literature are frequently used as ‘dense signifiers’, conveying messages from the author to the reader beyond the identification of a particular individual, and offering clues about the character’s destiny or how a storyline may develop. This paper explores how the potential semantic connections evoked by names in Old Testament literature are exploited by Hebrew narrators as they craft their stories, contributing to characterisation, plot structure, leitworter, wordplays and dramatic irony. For example, Laban (‘white’) is caught up in trickery with white goats and white sticks; Micah (‘who is like Yahweh’) has an idol in his house; and Mahlon and Chilion (whose names could evoke links to being ‘sick’ and ‘finished’) are dead within three verses of being introduced.

Bible translators working with spoken languages tend to transliterate (rather than translate) these names, and leave any semantic connections in a footnote. Sign languages, however, are more iconic and often naturally use name signs that evoke something about the referent, rather than just an arbitrary collection of sounds. This opens up the possibility of maintaining some of the semantic connections and literary features of Hebrew narratives when creating Scripture-based products in sign languages. This paper investigates the opportunities and limitations of such a strategy compared to other approaches for translating biblical names into sign languages.

HOW We Do Things Is Crucial for the Translated Word to Become “Theirs” (subtitle: Translation Procedures Are a Vital Factor for the Incarnation of the Translated Word)

Author: Peter Knapp

Healthy review procedures are vital for a translation to be viewed by the community as their own, or as a truly embodied scripture. My own training has prepared me to identify WHAT may need to be changed in the review process, but finding the way HOW to change has been a bumpy road. Certainly, there may be more than one good way of doing it and but we need to tune the procedure to best serve the specific situation.

Review aims to improve the quality of the draft with regard to accuracy, clarity and naturalness. In addition, the review process also serves to improve the status of the translated scriptures. It is that latter purpose that is of special interest in this paper. What can we do for the newly translated Scriptures to be valued by the community?

Factors that affect review process

• Status of the church within the wider community

• Involvement of the community, both quantity and status of the people involved

• Who makes the decisions?

For sound decision making procedures we need to know the social structure of the community:

• Is it appropriate for individuals to edit the text?

• Do diverting opinions get heard?

• How do we arrive at a decision?

• How solid is a decision, once it is made?

• Are “our” requirements in conflict with local culture of decision making?

It is my hope that this paper will become a guiding voice as we work with translation teams, to call us to work in appropriate ways that make the project theirs.

Translating Feelings Using Body Part Metaphors: Example of the Heart Metaphor.

Author: Joseph Koabike

The problem of the translation of body part metaphors has been one of the most difficult aspects in Bible translation during my career. There has always been a tension between Church leaders who would prefer to see metaphors translated as literally as possible in the native languages, translation consultants who insist on the Biblical origin of the metaphors, and translators who prefer to use dynamic translations and thus avoid body part metaphors. I am convinced that the key to understand metaphors and translate them adequately is to go through the study of the bodily conceptualization of metaphors especially in the domain of feelings. The reason for choosing to focus on semantics is that semantic analysis seems to give more information about the way of thinking and understanding the world behind the language. On the conceptual level, it gives more information about the metaphor. In terms of understanding, it is more accessible to many mother tongue Bible translators.

In the first instance, I will deal with the heart metaphor in Biblical language and its translation in English, then I will present a study of the heart metaphor in Moba to have an objective view about its usage and see more clearly the translational problems and suggest some solutions. I hope that this study would serve as a tool in the process of translation of other body part metaphors not only for the Moba but also for other languages which share the same patterns.

A Voice Is Heard – The Intermediate Language as a Filter of Grammatical Voice

Author: Erwin R. Komen

The draft of Romans 10:13 in one language in the Caucasus said that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord ‘will go-from-under’ (that is: will escape). This is an intransitive rendering of a passive voice verb in the Greek (‘will be saved’). The reason for the mistake is that the draft was made on the basis of a Russian translation (the ‘Synodal’), that uses a verb in the middle voice. Russian as intermediate language in this translation project apparently filters the original voice system in a way that is not necessarily understood correctly by translators who use Russian as a second language.

This paper reports a case study that reviews the effect of voice filtering on parts of the published translation into one Caucasian language: all ‘hofal’ forms in the Hebrew Old Testament, and all Greek indicative passive forms used in Matthew and Romans. While the Synodal only uses the middle voice in a minority of occurrences, a significant number of these were translated as intransitives initially (6 to 33 percent), and some of these mistakes have gone unnoticed altogether. This paper zooms in on one of the reasons for the filtering and the subsequent mistakes: the nature of Caucasian languages, which are morphologically ergative and have no passive voice, but they do have a causative one.

The results exemplify the voice filtering problem for projects that use an intermediate language that might skew the voice system of the original Greek or Hebrew.

Translating Presuppositions

Author: Paul Kroeger

Informative presuppositions (information linguistically encoded as part of the common ground, but not actually known to the addressee) can cause confusion in translated material. A common solution in meaning-based translations is to restate the presupposed information as a separate assertion, but this approach distorts the information structure of the text, foregrounding material that was backgrounded in the source. I propose an alternative solution using conventional implicatures.

Exodus 18 “Now Jethro… had taken Zippo’rah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away” triggers a presupposition that Moses had sent her away; but this information was not previously known to the reader. Several meaning-based translations re-state this information as a main clause: “Earlier, Moses had sent his wife... and his two sons back to Jethro”. This preserves the information content of the original, but changes the information packaging.

The Indonesian TB (1974) adopts a different solution using a non-restrictive relative clause: “Jethro... brought Zipporah... who had earlier been sent back by Moses.” Such clauses, like other appositional phrases, are analyzed by Potts as conveying conventional implicatures. The information expressed in these constructions is backgrounded, but not assumed to be shared by the addressee. This rendering allows us to express the presupposed material in a way that will be less confusing to the reader, without making it more prominent than intended by the author.

Kindness and Loyalty Beyond Expectation: Interpreting and Translating the Word HESED in the Old Testament

Author: Dick Kroneman

The Hebrew word hesed poses one of the most challenging problems for exegetes and translators of the Old Testament. A wide range of renderings has been suggested for this elusive term, including ‘loving kindness’, ‘grace’, ‘loyal love’, and ‘obligation’. Most Bible translations use multiple words to render this term in different contexts, but they seem to be inconsistent in the way they render it.

This paper discusses various interpretations of the term hesed (Glueck 1967; Sakenfeld 1978; Clark 2015), while addressing the following questions: 1. What is the core meaning of the term hesed across various contexts? 2. What is the difference in meaning between hesed and other related words like hen (‘grace’), rahum (‘compassionate’), and ’ahabah (‘love’)? 3. In what types of relationship and/or what kinds of situation is the term hesed used? 4. What is the best way to translate hesed (more) consistently in various contexts?

One of the conclusions of the research presented is that in many contexts the term hesed involves the meaning of ABUNDANT LOVE or KINDNESS BEYOND EXPECTATION. The term fits in very well with patron - client relationships, in which the patron (king, master) freely extends hesed beyond expectation and where this act of kindness implicitly obliges the client to be loyal to his patron.

The methodology of this research is based on insights from semantic theory (Barr 1961; Sawyer 1972; Nida 1975) and cognitive linguistics (Van Wolde 2009 in particular).

First Among Equals: The Principle of ‘Equivalence’ in Relation to Other Translation Principles

Author: Dick Kroneman

Recent insights in meaning and cognition highlight the fact that meaning is often multifaceted, ambiguous, and to a certain degree constructed by hearers and readers. These insights have undermined the myth of objectivity in translation, which is inherent to both literal and functional approaches to translation. Accordingly, some translation theorists have moved away from the principle of ‘equivalence’, while articulating alternative concepts like ‘skopos’ and ‘hospitality’.

The newer insights in the nature and function of translation are significant, since they underscore that every translation, no matter how ‘literal’ or ‘dynamic’ it claims to be, is an interpretation of the original text rather than an exact reproduction of the source text in a different language.

The newer insights call for a reexamination of our principles of translation. What is the role of the principle of ‘Equivalence’? How does it relate to other translation principles (Clarity, Naturalness, and Acceptability)? And how does it relate to Contextualization?

This paper argues that ‘Equivalence’ remains a very important translation principle. It is interdependent with other translation principles. It is always approximative and not restricted to information-content; it also encompasses connotations, implicatures, discourse structure, and pragmatic functions.

The theoretical discussion is illustrated by examples related to the translation of metaphor, kinship terms, and rhetorical questions.

Reading with the Masoretes: The Exegetical Value of the Masoretic Accents

Author: Marcus A. Leman

The masoretic tradition forms the foundation of the vast majority of Hebrew manuscripts that survive to the present era. This reading tradition extends back to the time of Ezra, the great scribe of Israel, and was encoded by the Tiberian Masoretes. Many modern interpreters hold the rigor and faithfulness of these men in high regard, yet, far too often, they overlook the accents when reading the Hebrew text. They miss out on the historic commentary of the Masoretes which confirms the syntactic “sense” of the reading. Further, they fail to take advantage of the semantic highlights provided by the Masoretes. The Masoretic reading tradition found in the accent system provides modern biblical exegetes with a reliable interpretive foundation, confirming and highlighting the sense of the text.

In this paper I present three dimensions of the accent tradition: the history, the hermeneutic, and the “how-to”s of the accent system. I demonstrate the reliable nature of this tradition by relating how it comes to us through history, and by detailing the underlying hermeneutical principles that make it work. I then examine various examples from the books of Judges and Genesis in order to show how this reading tradition is useful for exegesis and translation. These examples also illuminate the consistency and reliability of this historic reading tradition.

A Time to Reflect –Iinitial Responses on OBT from Translation Consultants

Author: Fred Madden, David Ross

Since the inception of Oral Bible Translation strategies, there has been a need for independent authentication of the results of these projects by recognized translation consultants. This paper is based on a series of recorded interviews with consultants with first-hand experience in these projects, and highlights different impressions they have of their experiences in these projects.

The following are examples of comments made by consultants, given here as an introduction. The paper will expand on these and other responses:

Consultant A: “I’ve found myself being pushed to be more accepting of far more dynamic translation choices than I may have in the past. The implied information that could be placed in footnotes or that does not seem so important in written translations where something can be reread, suddenly becomes vital when it is going to provide important connections and more processing time for a listener.”

Consultant B: “Consistency checks, particularly of key terms, seems to require a written transcription of OBT products”

Consultant C: “Our experience is challenging our assumptions about OBT. For example, we tended to assume oral-preference people have these amazing memories, and they therefore can do translate almost verbatim … but experience shows that this is not necessarily the case… Sometimes it’s the more educated people in the community that can capture all the detail of a chunk of Scripture.”

The Shift of Addressee in Performative Bible Translation: The Case of Psalm 23 into Sesotho

Author: Tshokolo J. Makutoane

The written version of Psalm 23 in Sesotho (an official Bantu language of South Africa) poses a problem in oral performance. The third person singular Sesotho pronoun o ‘he’ and the second person Sesotho pronoun o ‘you’ are differentiated only by tone – high tone on the third person and low tone on the second person. In an oral performance, however, readers tend to read verse 4c -5b with exactly the same tone as in the previous verses, verses 1-4b where the addressee is third person. Most of the readers of the Bible in Sesotho are unaware of this main shift, that is, moving from third person singular in 1-4[b] to second person singular in 4c – 5b, because tone is not marked in the Sesotho orthography. The changing of addressee (person) in Sesotho means changing of tone, so the failure of the readers to discern the shift creates a different meaning. This shift creates confusion for most of the Bible readers (both the lay persons and the clergy) in Sesotho. Therefore this paper seeks to address how can this issue be resolved through an adapted performative translation of Psalm 23 into Sesotho using a Complexity Theory approach.

The paper has the following sections (1) Psalm 23 in the Hebrew (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia) and its translation in the 1909 and 1989 Sesotho Translations; (2) Defining Complexity Theory with Performance as underpinning concept; (3) A Performative Translation of Psalm 23 into Sesotho; and (4) Conclusions.

The Incarnated Word in the Language: A Case Study of the Dungra Bhil Tribe in Western India

Author: Sunil Kuren Mathew

This research attempts to understand the impact of the Word of God in transforming the lives of the Dungra Bhil tribe in Western India.This transformation is understood through John chapter 1,where Jesus Christ is referred to as the “Word becoming the flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). The term “Logos” is used for “Word” in John chapter 1.It usually implies a total message in reference to God’s message to mankind. In a broader sense, this indicates that the total message of God is available to the peoples in the form of Word translated in their mother tongues.The Logos interacts intimately with them; talks to them, guides them and corrects them in their heart language.Thus, this paper attempts a broader theological reflection on John 1:14, and explains the close relationship between the Word incarnated and the Bible translation into mother tongues of the peoples.It also discusses the multiple challenges in transferring the Word into the languages of the nations . It focuses on the specific strategies that the Bible translators have employed to build inroads to transfer the Word into the mother tongue of Dungra Bhil tribe.It describes the various ways in which the Bible translators have built bridges from the beliefs and practices of Dungra Bhils to introduce six key Biblical concepts. Thus, this paper contextualizes the Biblical representation of the incarnation of Jesus Christ in the Dungra Bhil community that has laid the foundation for their transformation.

Participatory Methods for Community Involvement in a Language Project

Author: Carol McKinney

Use of participatory methods for working with a community are necessary for community buy-in for a language project. These include 1) participation by working with and living in a specific language community, 2) action and experience in interaction with the community, 3) research about the beliefs and practices of that community, 4) public relations within the community, and 5) decisions about the language project made by the local community. These methods enable one to understand the community and have knowledge of what is significant for that community. As translators we do have specific goals for our work. A main goal is for the translated scriptures to be used by the community. Otherwise we may feel like we have wasted our time working on the Biblical translation. Participatory methods involve our coming to the task with the goal of learning and understanding the beliefs and practices of that community. These principles are illustrated by work with the Bajju community in Nigeria, West Africa.

Purity: Embodiment in the Social Order

Author: Janet McLarren, Paul McLarren

In the Old Testament purity is embodied in social and ritual behavior. Mary Douglas defines ‎defilement as ‘matter out of place’ where people, places, and things which don’t fit into accepted ‎cultural cognitive categories are considered defiled and hence defiling. Defilement is dangerous due to ‎the potential disruption of social life. Both Sherry Ortner and Robert Priest challenge this rubric as too ‎simplistic. Ortner situates purity in worldview where social and spiritual order are embodied. Priest ‎links defilement to an inherent disgust of death and decay. All of them show how the power of ritual ‎overcomes danger and defilement. We will use all three paradigms to examine the semantic domains ‎of two key terms in the Old Testament, ‎טהר ‏‎ (tahar to be pure) and ‎טמא ‏‎ (tame’ to be defiled). ‎Beginning with the temple as a holy place, we will look at how holiness and purity are embodied in the ‎ritual associated with cultic Old Testament religion. Western Christians tend to consider purity as a ‎moral issue, ignoring the ritual and emotional components of purity and defilement. This interferes ‎with an understanding of the Hebrew semantic complex. We will demonstrate how two new tools ‎currently in development for use in the Paratext environment, Biblical Culture Notes (BCN) and Key ‎Terms Old Testament (KTOT), can help translators explore these concepts more fully. ‎

How to Make Christ Present in Our Lives: Seeing, Knowing and Presencing as Embodied Practices of Watching Jesus Films

Author: Johannes Merz

Jesus films have become an integral part of Bible translation strategies, yet little is known about how they really communicate. Drawing on my anthropological research in Benin, West Africa, I affirm the importance of Lakoff and Johnson’s (1999) idea of “knowing is seeing” as an embodied practice. I then demonstrate that the way people see and know depends on their sociocultural backgrounds. Accordingly, viewers in Benin watch films as an embodied practice that goes beyond the explanatory power of meaning-based communication models. For them the filmic portrayal of Jesus is not an image or representation; they rather make Christ present in a veracious and immediate way. Consequently, they experience the actor as if he were really Jesus, to the extent that he interacts with them in dreams. I argue that conventional models of communication based on semiotics are not sufficient to account for this. I therefore propose a more embodied approach called presencing, which builds on semiotics but also goes beyond it by accounting for the way people make sense of and interact with the world. I conclude that we need to pay close attention to our audiences’ communicative preferences and ways of presencing during Bible translation and when designing, translating and producing Scripture-based films. This will help to promote better communication that results in making Christ—as presented in Scripture rather than represented by an actor—present in the lives of those we seek to serve.

Misaligned Expectations of "Embodiment": A Case Study of Exodus 30:11-16

Author: Paul Morgan

In this paper, "embodiment" of Scripture describes the way that people use the translated text. It has long been recognized that the translators' expectations for this "embodiment" must be informed by the audiences' expectations. This paper provides a practical example of misaligned expectations, manifested in a commonly taught interpretation of Exodus 30:11-16 from a regional language translation in north-eastern DR Congo. First, I present this particular interpretation, followed by an analysis of the way that meaning-based translation practices contribute to this interpretation due to misaligned expectations. I conclude that translations in our region should not use the word "tax" in the section heading, and that, if teams choose to use a section heading, then they should seek a way to tie this section to "atonement". Additionally, the term תְּרוּמָה 'offering, contribution' should be rendered by one of the terms used in the rest of the book rather than as "tax". And in vv.15-16, concerning the key terms related to the root כפר, the verbal phrase "to atone for your lives" could be distinguished from "ransom". For our geographic region, I propose that we need to pay particular attention to helping the audience grasp the theological context of the OT, and I encourage translation projects to consider formatting options, media, and other art forms that could enable the audience to situate passages in their theological context.

Concurrent Consultant Checking in Multiple Languages

Author: Charles A. Mortensen

The development of new consultants in the Bible translation community has not kept up with demand. Our current consultants need a method that yields a greater payoff for their efforts.

In an Old Testament project in Guatemala, consultants have responsibility for multiple translation teams that are not closely related yet who work on the same books at the same time. The teams prepare back-translations for those books that will be checked at quarterly sessions. To prepare for the sessions, the consultant checks each back translation concurrently and the simpler issues are dealt with. The workshop is used to discuss more difficult issues and for training.

A seemingly novel idea, the consultants present topics daily to benefit all translation teams. This reduces the need to organize separate training workshops.

The obvious advantage to concurrent checking is that consultants can check a text in multiple languages while studying the exegesis once. Paratext enables one to put flag notes in the respective back-translations. Checking the same book in a second translation adds only 30% more time over checking them separately.

During the workshops, however, the teams who are best prepared have to wait for others to make revisions. Also, waiting for each team to answer comprehension questions consecutively causes delay. Nevertheless, concurrent checking gives translators greater camaraderie, stretches funders' dollars further, and yields greater accomplishment for consultants.

The Translation of ὄφις ophis “Snake” in Matthew 7:10 into the Basaa Language of Cameroon

Author: Rita Ngo Bikai

The purpose of translation is to convey the message of the Bible to the speakers of a given language, in their own language of heart, and without twisting its meaning. Some passages in the Bible are more complicated to translate for the reason that they may not have the same impact the original author intended, when literally translated, like the case of Matthew 7:10 in the Basaa language of Cameroon. Our article is a reflection that grew from this difficulty. The article has three main parts: a study of the concept of “snake” in the two Testaments; a study of the concept of snake in the Basaa culture; and suggestions on how to translate/revise “snake” in Matthew from the revision done by Dr Emmanuel Njock. This approach would be inspiring for all involved in Bible translation, showing practically how a translator can behave when facing similar difficulties. In our case, we found that snake is very good to eat in the Basaa culture, unlike the biblical context. Thus, we advise the translator who wants the intended message to be understood, to either use footnotes; or the name of a snake unfit for consumption; or add the phrase “that God forbids us to eat” to the word “snake”; or finally add to the word “snake” the adjective “alive”. It is hoped this study will help one to carefully translate or revise Matthew 7:10 in the Basaa language to avoid misunderstanding from the Basaa reader.

The Phenomenon of Linguistics Decalcomania in Bible Translation: Case Study in Some Selected Target Languages of Benin and Togo

Author: Prosper Nongnide

In most translation teams in French-speaking countries in Africa, the source text from which the translation is done is the French versions of the Bible. As a result, the translation done in the target languages are very much influenced by the French language structure. In order words, the translators are victims of a tracing tendency and therefore decal the grammatical structures and collocations of the French language into their translations. This “loan-translation” phenomenon is what we try to describe in this paper as “linguistics decalcomania”.

Jan de Waard-Eugene A. Nida (2003) have also raised this "linguistics decalcomania" problem in Bible translation in their book entitled "D'une langue à une autre". For these authors, when translating, if the translator only reproduces the “literal meaning” by decaling or tracing the original form into the target language, the receptors will be surprised to get other meaning than the one intended by the author of the original language.

Village Universities and Modern Universities “The challenge of Training the Bible Translation Consultants in the Majority World”

Author: Kitoko Nsiku

The trend in the Bible Translation Movement based on history was and still is to have predominately the consultants from Europe and Northern America lead the consulting activities for the communities of the people living in the Majority World. This one-way traffic support benefits the churches and local communities which need scriptures in their mothers’ vernaculars. But as time goes by and the quality of the local produced texts being written or being spoken is required, there seems to be a need of encouraging and empowering effectively the native or local bible scholars and linguists to not only take more responsibilities for being used as translators but also for playing the important and key role such as Bible Translation Consultants.

Because willing or not willing that, universalization of both technics and knowledge is important, but contextualization based on local worldview is still a key for producing a good standard of written and spoken texts. Bible as a text, is a product of such combination since the beginning of translation activities. Bible is a text produced by the scholars or scribes recruited from the villages and those scholars (scribes or rabbis) who have had a privilege to be trained in the places like Babylonia, Alexandria or Palestine.

The aim of this paper is to highlight some challenges that both global churches and global Bible Translation movements face in order to train Bible Translation Consultants in the Majority World.

Publishing Shared Readable Back Translations in Diglots: Theory and Practice in Addressing Multilingualism in a Multi-language Translation Project

Author: John Nystrom, Benjamin Pehrson

The Aitape West Translation Programme (AWTP), which includes 10 languages in 3 language families in Papua New Guinea, now publishes all printed copies of their translations as diglots, with the vernacular translation in parallel with a readable back translation (BT) in the LWC, Tok Pisin.

Local church leaders believe this strategy is the most effective way to engage their multilingual communities and congregations with Scripture. Tok Pisin alone is not enough because many local people do not understand it well. Vernacular alone is not enough because many people do not understand the local language well: some have married into their village from other language communities, some are local people who have returned after living in a far-away town, and some church members live in a nearby village where a different language is spoken. Most children are multilingual. Because their translations differ exegetically and stylistically from the standard Tok Pisin translation, the translators decided they could not use it in their diglots.

Much additional work is required to prepare a BT that is of the same high quality as the translation. AWTP has partially mitigated this by deriving the readable BTs from a thoroughly consultant-checked front translation, and producing one BT that is shared by up to four translations in the same language family. For checking, consultants are given an interlinear in Paratext for each translation in addition to the shared BT for each language family.

Translation Resources of the Future

Author: Paul O'Rear

Translation Resources of the Future is concerned with developing new ways of creating translation resources with more immediate accessibility, broader non-Western contribution, and more open access.

Translators working on New Testament (NT) translations have leveraged SIL’s Translator’s Notes series predominantly. We consistently hear that they are our most valued translation resources. We have very few volumes for Old Testament (OT) books available, while OT translation has grown steadily.

TNs are very labor, experience and expertise intensive to produce. We need new avenues to:

• provide translation guidance for OT translators ASAP

• enable the development of OT TN volumes that live up to the same quality as the NT volumes

• accelerate the development of translation resources more broadly

• develop a process that has the additional benefit of generating other new resources and tools as a by-product

These concerns should also be combined with the following objectives:

• accelerating the release of existing TN preliminary versions (e.g. not yet published, but close to publishable quality)

• developing an open authoring/developing/reviewing environment for TNs and other translation resources

• fostering a predominantly open community for translation resource and tool development

This paper will discuss current initiatives addressing these concerns, possible new tools and resources, and an opportunity for engagement with the broader Bible translation community.

Spiritual Capital: A Muse to Inspire Scripture Engagement

Author: Daniel Paul

Fruitful Bible translation requires two activities which are often siloed: determining appropriate speech varieties in which to work – “language assessment”, and creating the best climate for translated material to be transformative – part of “Scripture engagement” (SE). We propose an integrated approach which overcomes the dichotomy between sociolinguistic and missional programs. Using the same set of research tools provides a unified conceptual framework and promotes synergy between translation and church growth.

Speakers can scope what their “heart language(s)” are by identifying those speech communities in whose social capital they are investing. This includes ongoing study, best led by communities themselves, of their

a) social network structures;

b) norms and reciprocal obligations; and

c) shared narratives.

They can assess their spiritual capital in a similar way, if we reorient that concept to make God both the agent and goal of its growth. This requires study of

a) the various spiritual identities of the individuals and groups with which people network; and the extent to which

b) core norms and obligations are Church-based, and

c) shared narratives are biblically concordant.

The integrated study of social and spiritual capital helps communities to hold linguistic identity issues and SE needs in tandem, so that their churches can be established, equipped and expanding. To identify practical ways forward, we consider some live Bible translation projects in West Asia.

A Comparison of Translation Consultants and Translation Facilitators

Author: George Payton

The translation facilitator role is an important part of the translation process that merits more discussion. The aim of this paper is to discuss how translation facilitators contribute to Bible translation as compared with the work of national translators and translation consultants. The paper starts by discussing the activities that translators do on a regular basis, and the skills they need in order to do those activities. Most translators benefit from regular input from people skilled in Bible translation, who can mentor translators and help them improve their skills. Who is in the best position to mentor translators, the translation consultant or the translation facilitator? The paper then lays out the work that consultants specialize in. It presents their main responsibilities in the translation process. Additionally, the paper touches on secondary contributions consultants make. It also discusses the skills and training consultants should have. The paper then looks at the role of the translation facilitator, including their typical duties, what training one needs to have, and the skills needed to fill this position. This section of the paper includes the types of people who are well suited to fill the role of translation facilitator. The final section of this paper compares the roles of consultant and facilitator, in an effort to understand the areas where the two roles overlap, and where each one makes a unique contribution to the translation teams they work with.

Participatory Methods for Scripture Engagement

Author: Michelle Petersen

This paper outlines the application of participatory methods to the “Eight Conditions for Scripture Engagement.” Using the new “Appreciative Inquiry for Scripture Engagement” facilitation tool, translation teams and local leaders explore existing strengths and future hopes for each condition. Together, they prioritize their goals, and make an action plan to achieve them. The eight conditions provide an analytic framework for participants to evaluate strengths and overcome obstacles to their community’s interaction with Scripture. Following appreciative inquiry, the new “Use of Our Arts in Ministry” tool allows teams to expand Scripture use to further artistic domains in ways that strengthen each weak condition. Participatory methods facilitation leads a team to engage their community with their translation in life-changing ways. Participants will receive script outlines explaining how to use the two participatory methods discussed in this presentation.

Bible Translation as Transformation: Implications of a Kingdom Theology of Mission

Author: Alice Reed

It is important for those involved in Bible translation ministry to regularly reflect on God’s Word in order to better align our practice with the mission of God. This presentation attempts one such undertaking by examining the concept of the “kingdom of God” as demonstrated in the holistic ministry of Jesus Christ. While some evangelicals in the one-third world continue to prioritize evangelism over social action in missions, the Gospels bear witness to the fact that Jesus inaugurated the kingdom through acts of physical and spiritual healing that were so intertwined they inevitably led to transformation of all dimensions of life. Such a model, which Samuel & Sugden (1999) term “mission as transformation,” has profound implications for how we understand the scope and nature of Bible translation and related ministries of the Word in a post-modern, post-colonial, and glocal world. In the context of the First Nations of Canada, a theology of “mission as transformation” affirms (1) language development work that promotes reconciliation and healing from language loss; (2) Bible translation and Scripture engagement that sets the oppressed free from spiritual bondage and intergenerational trauma; and (3) training and equipping of indigenous co-workers that acknowledges their God-given value and empowers them to pursue God’s vision for their own communities.

Facilitating Local Theology and Contextualization Via Inference-Based Translation

Author: Alice Reed

Graham S. Ogden (2002) states that “Bible translation is a theological enterprise built on the incarnational model. It seeks to give flesh to the Word of God in a new cultural environment.” Indeed, the Bibles that translators produce are the foundations upon which local churches base their own theology and contextualization efforts. Yet, the “theological enterprise” of the translation facilitator or exegetical advisor (who is often trained in the western European tradition) inevitably mediates the final Scripture product. Thus, it is incumbent upon those of us who minister in Bible translation to consider how the theory and practice of translation can better facilitate – or at least hinder less – local theologizing among the communities we serve. I suggest that meaning-based translation, though still widely used, is ill-suited for the task due to the centrality of identifying the (singular) meaning of a text to the code model of communication. The result is “an essentially colonial approach to communicating God's truth” (Shaw 2010) that is heavily influenced by the translator’s theology. Inference-based translation, founded upon the relevance theory of communication, more robustly addresses the challenge by (1) attempting to recreate the historical reception of the text by its original audience, (2) permitting multiple implications from a given text, and (3) preserving weak communication that effects spiritual transformation.

Story Producer App: Oral Translation in Your Pocket

Author: Robin Rempel

Imagine a translation office, a recording studio, a print shop and a delivery vehicle all in your pocket! The Story Producer app (SP app) is lite and easy to use. Low cost and mobile. Locally sustainable. Tiny but powerful.

The Story Producer app is an Android workflow management tool that enables speakers of other languages to easily produce and share Bible story videos with their community. It utilizes shells or Bible Story Video Templates (BSVTs).

The output, slideshow-type videos can be played on feature phones (3gp) or smartphones (mp4). The app enables minimally trained locals to be their own audio and video technicians. Products are published under a creative commons license. Production turnaround time can be as fast as one story video per day.

The Story Producer guides the user through phases of responsible and accountable translation, voice dubbing, production and distribution. Local arts (songs, photos) can customize each short Bible video product.

The translation process is oral and/or text+audio. A Key Term Tracking feature is included.

Utilize the Story Producer to engage a wider circle of local people in a participatory strategy that can initiate, complement and enrich any translation, SE or literacy program.

“If I were beginning translation again, Story Producer app is the way I’d start.” - experienced translation consultant.

One week of local training is required. SPapp_infor@sil.org

Bible Translation and Literary Quality for Scripture-based Cultures

Author: Kurt Anders Richardson

Target audiences in Bible translation will always require solid linguistic and anthropological resources, but more than ever, literary quality in the target cultures is becoming a core value for those shaped by scripture-based religions and rich literary histories (even where a non-literate minority community embodies a folk-religious form of a religion). This paper will focus on key features of biblical text demanding attention to literary quality to properly transmit its message: poetry and narrative, both rich in literary devices and metaphor generation. With so much narrative art in the Bible, translations require quotability for rhetorically demanding situations as well as use in hymnody through indigenous art forms. This paper will present a number of contemporary translation project philosophies that include significant reference to literary quality.

The Parse Bot Language Analyser

Author: Jon D Riding, Neil J Boulton

Attempts to build machine translation (MT) systems often founder when faced with low-resource languages. Neural and Statistical MT solutions require vast resources of example/training data or extensive knowledge/rule bases. Only a small proportion of bible translation projects have access to a coherent linguistic dataset. The UBS Glossing Technologies team are developing a language analyser designed to overcome some of these fundamental limitations. The objective of the work is to provide linguistic analysis for current and future computer assisted translation systems to enable them to contribute to a project at a much earlier stage.

The Parse Bot (PB) system uses a collection of automatic parsers, each focussed on a particular aspect of language. This multi-dimensional approach to learning is proving to be a strong solution. Outputs from the parsers (bots) are aggregated and stored. PB is designed to learn from very small amounts of text. By examining short pericopes in turn the system learns about a target language. Typical outcomes include a bi-lingual dictionary and morphology tables. The system has no prerequisites other than a developing text. This paper will present the system in detail, each parser is discussed and the overall strengths and weaknesses of the approach are assessed. Results from example parses are explained and possible field implementations of the process suggested.

Pastoral Translation Consulting: Training Consultants to Serve Using a Group Checking Setting

Author: J. Andy Ring

This paper looks at the consultant – translator relationship. It outlines a method of training consultants as servants of the Church to provide resources to translators who take responsibility for handling the Word of God. The premise of this paper is that translation consulting is a side by side discovery process that builds the awareness and abilities of the translators through a nurturing setting as found in the discipling relationship of Christian fellowship. A pastoral-servant attitude enhances the role of the consultant. It creates a positive environment for the consultant to evaluate the translators’ efforts and strengthen their developing skills. A Group Checking setting allows consultant trainees to participate with a lead consultant in guiding multiple language teams through a wide range of translation issues, with all participants recognized as having skills, expertise and dignity.

Step 9: Forgiveness and Amends in Leviticus

Author: Daniel Rodriguez

The biblical Hebrew verb סלח /salach/ in Leviticus is a problem for translation and interpretation. Many translators and exegetes have glossed it as "forgive" without much further inquiry. In fact, lexicographer J. Stamm (of HALOT) has stated that it "is in the Old Testament the only real term for forgiving". Theologians have built systems of soteriology influenced by how "forgiveness" operates in priestly material like Leviticus. However, J. Milgrom writes in his Leviticus commentary that translating סלח as "forgive" is inaccurate. Milgrom also concedes that because he cannot think of an accurate one-word gloss, he surrenders to the English tradition of rendering the verb as "forgive". This paper will 1) briefly survey lexicographic and exegetical literature on the verb סלח in biblical Hebrew, 2) present a usage-based semantic model of what the verb really symbolizes, and 3) apply this semantic model in test cases for translation in a few languages. It will be demonstrated that while a one-word target-language gloss might not be attainable (at least not in English), the verb can be contextually understood by phrases like "accept an amends".

Another Way of Looking at Islamic Art: A Historical/Regional Perspective

Author: David Ross

This paper is the next in a series of papers dedicated to increasing the acceptability of scripture publications for Muslim audiences. Previous papers in this series have examined specific topics in Islamic art, including color symbolism, common motifs in art and architecture, calligraphy, and acceptable means of representing key spiritual themes. This paper acknowledges that acceptable Islamic art has significant regional variations , and introduces an investigation of these from a historical perspective. The paper notes that, while there are certain features common to almost all Islamic art, there are also significant regional variations, and recommends an understanding of local art traditions before attempting any publication of scriptural material for Islamic audiences. (This paper also serves as a series of case studies for similar recommendations prior to scripture publication in other context not dominated by Islam.)

Translation Challenges between Verb Frame and Satellite Frame Languages

Author: Helga Schröder

The cognitive typology research of motion events spearheaded by Talmy (2000) resulted in a semantic classification of satellite-frame versus verb-frame languages. Motion events describe how the figure moves towards the ground following a path. In verb-frame a detailed description of the path that the figure follows moving towards the ground is highlighted. Verb-frame languages usually provide little means for expressing the path in term of satellites, i.e. prepositions, particles or prepositional phrases.

Satellite-framed languages on the other hand put emphasis on the manner of motion itself, like the English verbs run, crawl, jump, circle etc. and express the path in satellites via prepositions like out, in, onto, above etc.

Slobin (2003:162) argues that speaking influence the thinking process in such a way that a cross-linguistic saliency hierarchy between the use of manner in motion versus the use of path of motion emerges. Satellite framed languages develop a specific semantic domain for the manner of motion whereby verb framed languages conceptualise motion events in relation to path specifications.

The paper will deal with the translation problems that develop when translating from the source language English, a manner of motion dominated language, to Toposa a verb frame language with hybrid frame elements (Schröder 2016).

Variation in Translation: What’s Acceptable and What Isn’t?

Author: Martin C. Schroeder

Variation in translation happens at different levels: from fluctuations in the spelling to a range of changes in wording, both for key terms and other recurring terminology. Some of this variation may be introduced inadvertently, some of it may be intentional but might be seen as unacceptable by the translation consultant or the target audience, or both. Other variation may be seen as acceptable or even desirable by all parties involved. Most standard textbooks on Bible translation remain completely quiet on this topic, yet there is a real need to establish what are acceptable or even advisable forms of variation, and what would constitute unacceptable practice.

I begin with presenting different types of variation which I encountered in one Bible translation project (Toposa in South Sudan). I then explore factors that seem to have motivated the translators. First there are stylistic aspects, then there is the need to refer to unknown concepts in a relevant way (i.e. balancing sufficient cognitive benefits with a reasonable amount of processing effort), and thirdly – and most importantly – there are contextual factors that guided the translators which variant fits best in a particular instance.

In closing we shall consider what can be recommended from a linguistic-pragmatic perspective, as a first attempt to establish some guidelines, and in order to stimulate further discussion among translation theoreticians, Bible translation consultants and translators.

The Fear Culture Background of 1 Peter

Author: Marc Schwab

The concepts of guilt and shame cultures are well established. The third cultural type is less known. In fear cultures, fear is the main means of controlling social behavior, and the fear of powerful authorities - whether supernatural beings or human rulers - guides the thinking and decision making of the people. Often, these cultures are mistakenly identified as shame cultures. Animistic cultures are most likely to be fear oriented.

Several authors in recent years have tried to understand 1 Peter in a shame culture context. However, upon closer examination, the epistle appears to be written for readers from a fear culture background. Main themes and typical issues of fear cultures are addressed throughout the entire book, and its interpretation within this cultural context is more convincing.

The presentation introduces a number of typical fear culture themes, and shows how 1 Peter addresses them from a Christian point of view. Understanding 1 Peter from this perspective results in a more coherent interpretation of several difficult passages, in a more appropriate translation of some key concepts, and in a better application of this biblical book.

Eternal and Non-eternal Ages and Other Time Words; An Analysis of Time Words in Major Chichewa Bible Translations

Author: Jeff Shrum

Translating durative-time terms such as "eternal", "forever", "with out end", and "age" are difficult in many Bantu languages. Various solutions have been used to translate these terms. Some using phrases such as "all days" or "days without end" which do not adequately capture some of the important characteristics of these terms. This paper will show a rigorous comparison of the New Testament in three major Chichewa/Nyanja translations to give concrete solutions to rendering this complex of durative-time words. The translations analyzed are:

Buku Lopatulika, Revised Edition 2018, Bible Society of Malawi.

Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero, Biblica date?

Buku Loyera, Bible Society of Malawi, 1999.

This paper will show in detail how to use the features of Paratext 9 and Logos to document how the time words were translated in all the verses where they occur, and how a translator can discover the differences in their meanings while translating.

Incarnation Is Not Translation: A Critique of Walls' Rationale for Translation

Author: Aaron Shryock

The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is a central doctrine of the Christian faith. In his study on the history of missions, Andrew Walls proposes that the Incarnation provides a theological rationale for Bible translation. He suggests that the Incarnation be viewed as a metaphor for translation and states, “There is a history of translation of the Bible because there was a translation of the Word into flesh.” Walls’ proposal has been generally well received in the literature. In a recent paper, however, Eddie Arthur questions whether the metaphor of Incarnation as translation does, in fact, provide a rationale for translation, although he agrees that the metaphor may offer other insights. This paper investigates in more depth the relationship between the Incarnation and translation. The concepts are defined and then compared in terms of the nature of change associated with each, e.g. to what extent they resemble each other in terms of what changes, how it changes, what the outcome of the process is, and how they relate to the concept of special revelation. This investigation questions whether Walls’ proposals provide an adequate theological basis for translation. Finally, this paper will suggest alternative theological rationales for the translation of the Scriptures.

Book Introductions for Old Testament Discussion Session

Author: Ronnie J Sim

An increasing number of first-time Old Testaments are being published [full Bibles]. Most of these include short book-by-book Introductions. The terse Introductions available in international versions are often translated into each language/project.

The session will centre around sharing with the audience some ‘model introductions’, with the hope of stimulating feedback and simultaneously generating further interest in the need for a serious update on what translators, consultants, and publishers want Introductions to provide. Draft Introductions on several books – such as Leviticus, Judges, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah – will demonstrate what might be provided by updating these Readers’ Helps. Each will be in two parts: informative bullet points and a prose model for each. No single ‘model’ will satisfy every situation, or all of its personnel, but to set out models in this way may give different translation projects a range of ideas which they can draw upon to suit their own circumstances.

The session will not critique existing Introductions, nor discuss the value and role of OT book introductions, although an Appendix will address the latter briefly. One possible outcome might be to form a virtual group to develop the idea further.

Bible Translators: Many of the Earliest Incarnational Missionaries to Islam

Author: Scott Smith

Ramón Lull, Morning Star of Bible Translation

34 years after Lull convinced the Council of Vienne to establish Hebrew/Greek training at five paramount universities, John Wycliffe began Hebrew/Greek studies at Oxford. Tyndale also studied Hebrew/Greek there. Lull published theology in his native Catalán. He tutored future kings of Aragón, and his protégé Alfonso III hired Bible translation into Catalán, giving Lull mother-tongue Scripture at age 55. Lull trained students in Arabic/Islamic theology, then began missionary service in North Africa. In 1902, Zwemer published Raymond Lull: First Missionary to the Muslims. If he had been the first, that would have been a dismal indictment of Christians over the previous 700 years.

Previous missionaries to Islam

When Lull was born, Ramón Nonnatus was already serving as a missionary in North Africa. His witness was so powerful, his Islamic captors pierced his lips and padlocked them shut. Before Nonnatus, Francis of Assisi presented himself to the Egyptian Sultan who had promised gold to anyone who brought him the head of a Christian. His witness was so powerful the Sultan requested prayer and released him. There were dozens of missionaries to Islam in those 700 years. The vast majority of them were Bible translators, who translated OT and NT portions into Arabic, Coptic, Geez, Syriac, Mozarabic... This paper tells their stories, moving back from Lull’s time to the very “people of the Book” who Muhammad describes so vibrantly in the Koran.

Considering a Paradigm Shift in Consultant Development

Author: Scott Smith

It has been said that the principal bottleneck in Bible translation today is our lack of available consultants. This presentation outlines 28 different ideas as to how you might be more involved in helping to alleviate this problem, including:

• Consider becoming a consultant.

• Help train future consultants in formal training programs.

• If you are a consultant, take time to mentor at least two consultants-in-training (CiT’s).

• CiT’s can learn more & progress faster with multiple mentors.

• Traditionally, people became consultants only in one domain. Consider becoming certified in an additional domain. Consultants in both translation & linguistics can be very effective. Another natural fit can be for consultants to be certified in both Scripture engagement & literacy. Consultants can be certified in both linguistics & sociolinguistics.

• Entity consultants can work toward senior consultant status. Take the initiative by asking a senior consultant if they would mentor you toward senior status.

• Veteran members who may have to return to the US for aging parents could consider consulting part-time, from their home country (Paratext and Skype make this feasible).

• SIL has a new Global Consultants Pool, for such consultants. Seed Company & several Wycliffe Global Alliance entities also need consultants.

• Having a part-time field assignment can be a big boost to your support while home-assigned.

• Administrators can have an active role in supporting team members through consultant development.

Creating a Jesus Film Course for Scripture Engagement

Author: Craig Soderberg

The Jesus Film is one of the most powerful scripture engagement tools available. But in many languages, the film is not being fully utilized. In our context, Jesus Film usage dropped to zero because of lack of funding to pay the Jesus Film teams, threats of violence from those opposed to the gospel, and eventually from the national sensor board disapproving the film.

But one way to overcome these obstacles and to increase the usage of the film is to use Google Forms to create a Jesus Film course pairing short segments of the Jesus Film followed by one or more questions for the user to answer before watching the next segment of the film.

In this presentation, I will demonstrate how to set up a Google account, how to access Google Forms, and a few ideas on how to set up the course.

Some Poetic Translation Techniques

Author: Jason Sommerlad

Although there is an abundance of English translations of the Bible, there is not an abundance of modern poetic English translations of the Psalms and other poetic biblical texts. Some of the versions achieve a modest poetic feel by mimicking the structure and artistry of the Hebrew original text but perhaps are not as clear as others. Others achieve increased clarity at the expense of such a feel. What should a poetic translation that is accurate, clear, natural, and beautiful according to English poetic conventions really look like? Are there special techniques beyond what are considered to be standard translation principles?

The presenter has started a journey of translating Psalms in a light poetic style, striving to use nothing beyond these meaning-based translation principles and relying on his intuition as a poet. It has been surprising how much beauty and force can be thus achieved, while accuracy and naturalness are still maintained. This presentation will give examples of how certain translation principles and techniques have been used in this translation.

A Paratext Project Base Plan for Incremental Translation Projects

Author: Kent Spielmann

We will present a five-stage Paratext Project Base Plan designed to guide an incremental translation program from initiation though initial publication. This plan improves project completion rates and translation quality, and it provides relevant project progress reporting data. The Biblica Base Plan was developed in cooperation with project team members, area translation consultants, and the typesetting and publishing team. Key features of this plan include:

• Incremental publishing: The translation is published in portions of increasing length, generally starting with Luke-Acts and ending with a Full Bible.

• Iterative translation: With every increment the team traverses the entire translation process. This increases their competency and improves the quality of the entire translation.

• Integrated translation and publishing: Typesetting is involved not just during the final stage, but at key points during the translation project.

• Progress reporting: The Project Base Plan provides data that will be properly interpreted by progress.Bible.

Other key technologies that support this approach will also be presented:

• Tagged text toolkit: This toolkit allows us to create fast, high-quality typesets for every increment at minimal cost.

• Project management dashboard: Our unified corporate Paratext repository and associated dashboard allow us to manage all translations and report progress to Management, Donors, and progress.Bible.

Translating a Written Text into a Well-Told Performance

Author: Janet Stahl

Translating a written text into a well-told performance

When we think of translation work, most often our minds jump to translating from one language and culture into another. Educators such as Donald Davis, describe reading and writing as a second language. So, with the rise in popularity of oral strategies for communicating Scriptures, the work of Bible translation is being expanded to include the process of changing a written text into an oral performance. This presentation will examine some of the differences between spoken and written language including the non-verbal communication that happens in a face-to-face performance. As people learn to recognize and use good oral communication features of their language, they then use this knowledge when translating portions of the Bible they wish to tell. Examples will be given from back translations of oral performances from African, Asian and Pacific Islander oral Bible storytellers. We will also look at possible categories for these features, such as density of information, logical flow of events, completed actions, natural speech, verbal echoes, that help a translation consultant or checker to consider what changes need to be made to the written text for it to be performed well and how to advise the MT Oral Bible Storytelling team.

Bible Storytelling for Multilingual Societies

Author: Jim Stahl, Janet Stahl

Bible storytelling is a live performance and communication event, an iterative relationship between the story, storyteller, and audience. The story itself is molded by the language repertoire of the storyteller and audience. The audience gives immediate feedback to the storyteller about the story.

Multiple language varieties / dialects can be accommodated by the storytelling team in a Bible storytelling project. While such projects benefit from sociolinguistic research, they do not necessarily need to start at the same place as would a traditional Bible translation project. In the course of a Bible storytelling project, the language community helps storytellers and staff deal with sociolinguistic questions, such as, language variety choice, hidden languages, diglossia, social networks, and language mixing.

The world is mostly multilingual. What will a multilingual model for development related to Bible translation look like?

Emerging Standards for Oral Bible Translation

Author: John E. Stark

Oral Bible Translation (OBT) is a process that blends the natural local language structures commonly found in Oral Bible Storying with the content control practices commonly used in text-based translation. As a method that has moved from concept to an expanding field practice in a period of just a few years, there are many variations in procedures and production goals. This paper presents the results of a survey of active OBT practitioners to establish, if not a single definition, at least a set of defining parameters that are present in this emerging discipline. Questions addressed are “What is Oral Bible Translation”, “Why do you do it?”, “What makes it distinct from Oral Bible Storying?” “What makes it distinct from traditional text translation?” “What are some of the common practices in drafting, testing, and consultant interaction?” and “What on-the-ground factors make OBT a good choice for a given ministry setting?”

Fit for the Task? Another Look at Qualifications for Checking Translations.

Author: Roman Stefaniw

We all know who is fit to check a Bible Translation, right? Bible translation consultants fit that role. At the BT2017, two presentations raised some points that prompt me to re-examine if that is the best or the only answer. Steve Payne discussed the need for standardizing Bible Translation Consultant training. Larry Jones explored the changing role of Bible translation consulting. This paper considers questions based in those papers. If not all translations consultants have appropriate training, are they fit to check translations? What training regimen would outfit a person to meet high standards of translation checking? Is FOBAI’s portrait of a translation consultant necessary for checking Bible translations? Can the FOBAI document be leveraged or reinterpreted or modified to allow people who are not translation consultants to be a fit for checking Bible translations?

Toward a theology of Bible Translation

Author: Roman Stefaniw

Bible translation is a missiological enterprise, advancing the mission of God. This paper presents Bible translation as a theological undertaking, and outlines an initial theology of Bible translation. Theological studies discuss the nature of God, humanity, sin, incarnation, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the church, and the last things.

The first question addressed is this: Is Bible translation a theological exercise? Can a theology of Bible translation be appropriately developed? Next, I examine the interaction of a theology of Bible translation with the areas of theology listed above as I develop my preliminary thoughts toward a theology of Bible translation.

In order to move toward a current theology of Bible translation, I integrate examination of relevant literature, relevant Scripture, and the practice of Bible translation.

The Missing Link in Modern Translation Projects--Linguistic Checks

Author: Tim Stirtz

Scripture translations published with inconsistent writing are unclear and inaccurate. More than one spelling of the same word form causes slower word recognition and slower reading, making understanding more difficult, such as when Scripture is read to a church congregation. Some writing inconsistencies in Scripture unavoidably give the wrong meaning, such as two words with similar spelling that are confused in contexts where both meanings are equally possible.

Just because a well-chosen writing system has been accepted doesn’t guarantee it will be consistently followed. Often, translators forget the agreed-upon rules of writing, or need to be taught how to use them.

Linguistic checks are a growing movement within translation organizations to rectify this situation. As the basic equivalent of translation checks, they give on-going feedback to translators of how to correctly apply grammar in consistent spelling, word breaks, and other aspects of the agreed-upon writing system.

This paper includes a case study of how the writing of eight beginning translation teams in South Sudan drastically improved in a relatively short time through on-going linguistic checks. It discusses the benefits of linguistic checks, and gives best practice statements, including time requirements, for how to do linguistic checks in any modern translation project.

A Hospitality of Consultation: Reflections on Bible Translation Consulting from a Storying Perspective

Author: Tricia Stringer

Some translation scholars have been reflecting on what it might mean to reframe the task of translation through the metaphor of hospitality. Storying practitioners are uniquely qualified to contribute to the discussion. Story crafting, story consulting methods, and healthy environment building in storying already include basic hospitality principles. This paper will address the question of how aspects of hospitality in storying might contribute positively towards naturalness, accuracy, community engagement and impact in a Bible translation project.

The paper outlines characteristics of hospitality and gives examples of how each is embodied in the storying world, and how that might influence current translation consulting. Examples will come from reflections on my journey to becoming a Bible translation consultant.

The paper offers reflections on how storying practitioners, especially during the consulting phase of a BT project, could contribute to the understanding of hospitality’s relationship to accuracy in translation, emphasizing the idea that a ‘hospitable’ community in a BT project could directly affect quality, accuracy, and ultimately future Scripture engagement by the target language community.

Finally, this paper will propose a hospitality of consultation which engages in every stage of a Bible translation project, as it does in certain Bible storying projects.

Consultant Checking as an Opportunity for Scripture Impact

Author: Kathy Taber

Bible translation consultants not only help ensure that the Scriptures they check are accurate, clear, and natural; they also have the unique opportunity of seeing the living and active Word of God speak to the hearts of those involved in the checking process. This paper demonstrates how a consultant check can be an opportunity for scripture impact where participants reflect on what they have learned and want to apply to their lives, even as it also accomplishes the technical process of checking to ensure that a translation is well done.

By having scripture impact as the end in mind, both consultants and translators can see how the hard work they have put into producing accurate, clear and natural translations leads to meaningful understanding, and that when given an opportunity for reflection, participants are personally impacted and share what God has spoken to them. This experience often creates a greater hunger for God’s Word, and a desire to share what they have learned with others in their community. This can help foster a conducive context for broader scripture engagement.

This paper shares the specific steps a consultant can take to achieve this type of scripture impact, and provides personal testimonies of how God’s Word has transformed lives as a result of participating in a consultant check that facilitates this kind of reflective process.

“Do Not Forget” as ṯkḥ: Assessing a Ugaritic Proposal in Proverbs 4:5

Author: Christopher S. Tachick

The prohibition אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (“do not forget”) in the Hebrew text of Proverbs 4:5c does not have a direct object, and so many scholars consider this a syntactic problem requiring a resolution. This presentation examines and critiques a proposed solution by Mitchell J. Dahood, who argues that this occurrence of the Hebrew verb draws from a verbal root found in a Ugaritic text and suggests a translation value of “do not become weary.”

We present three observations to argue for the traditional translation “do not forget,” demonstrating that it poses no exegetical problem that Proverbs 4:5 does not include a direct object in the prohibition. The translator-exegete need not resolve a supposed dilemma in the text by proposing an analogy with Ugaritic texts. Even were the translator compelled to search the Ugaritic corpus for parallels to this verb, the Ugaritic text proposed by Dahood does not manifest a reliable interpretative base from which to confidently posit any direct linguistic connection to the Proverbs passage. Additionally, Dahood’s proposed definition of the Ugaritic verb ṯkḥ as “to wilt” does not seem justified in the Ugaritic texts themselves nor in Proverbs 4:5c. Perhaps most convincingly, the verb תִּשְׁכַּח in Proverbs 4:5 makes adequate, contextual sense with the normal meaning “to forget.” Using Ockham’s razor, then, we consider it wise to retain this meaning rather than emend it based on a speculative Ugaritic connection.

Holiness and Purity: Survey on the Translation of the Word קָדוֹשׁ qādôš in Leviticus into Languages of Southern Chad

Author: Bayamy Tchande

The translation of words with the root קדשׁ qdš has proved problematic in the languages of southern Chad, and in particular how to distinguish it from טָהוֹר֙ ṭāhôr.

The result of research done on the terms קָדוֹשׁ qādôš and טָהוֹר֙ ṭāhôr in eight translated Bibles, which are not from the same linguistic family, reveals an inconsistency as shown by the following examples:

a) Some translations use the same word or almost the same word, “pure” or “clean”, to express the two concepts (Mossey and Massana)

b) Some translate the two ideas using a single expression, “apart” or “consecrated” (Ngambay, Mbay and Azumeina)

c) One translation alternates using either “pure” or “set apart” without being consistent (Moundang)

d) Some translate the two ideas into two distinct expressions (Nangjere and Kim).

Field research in these communities has shown that these two concepts are distinct and well known. So where does the problem come from?

There are two hypotheses:

• Influence of missionaries

• Denominational influence.

Applying the exegesis, here is my proposal for the translation:

• For קָד֖וֹשׁ qādôš (holy): look for a word or expression from the traditional religion that best expresses the word

• Otherwise, translate it “dedicated” or “set apart”

• If neither of the above solutions work, deepen research in the culture for an appropriate expression

Pre-incarnate Christ, Ideological Interpretation, or Neither

Author: Chuck Tessaro

Throughout the Common Era, there have been discussions as to whether the pre-incarnate Christ was “present” in the Hebrew Bible accounts. The relatively recent reading of UBS5/NA28 at Jude 5 helps one to remember those discussions. This study takes a selective look a some of the passages frequently mentioned as relevant.

Translation Consultant Ethics: What Guides Us?

Author: Stuart Thiessan, William Ross

Looking at other professions that are on their journey toward professionalization enables us to recognize traits or characteristics that we will need to adopt (Winters, 1988); one of these traits is the need for ethical standards. Adopting an ethical code would provide guidance to consultants when facing ethical dilemmas. Ethical codes enable the profession as a whole to have similar practices and demonstrate the commitment of the practitioners to uphold the ideals and behaviors of the profession (Witter-Merithew, 2004). Deaf Bible Society has developed a proposed ethical code for our consultants based on a practice profession philosophy (Dean, 2001). This philosophy considers such fields as medicine and education, which involve the learning and application of technical skills, yet these technical skills are utilized within a social context (i.e., translation team members). It is our belief that the Code of Ethics will help shape the decision making process and ultimately the behavior of consultants.

"Eyes to See": Translation Software for Visual Languages

Author: Stuart Thiessen

Technology has been invaluable for accelerating Bible translation. Software such as Paratext and Render allow hearing Bible translators and their consultants to develop, critique, and publish written and audio translations of the Bible. These tools, unfortunately, have not met the needs of sign language Bible translation (SLBT) teams because their needs are different. SLBT teams have improvised, resulting in a hodgepodge of makeshift solutions that vary from team to team and consultant to consultant. Deaf Bible Society and United Bible Societies, in collaboration with partner organizations, are developing a comparably robust tool. We have an initial version containing essential features. This provides a space where they can record or upload video drafts, organize them for easier review, annotate them with video or written comments, and view other translations and resources available in signed and spoken languages. Comments are associated with a timecode in a video draft, providing a way for translators and consultants to interact during a review. Access to sign language translations already published through Deaf Bible Society or the Digital Bible Library is also available. In future versions, we want to see more signed and visual resources, the ability to share drafts, and other collaborative features. We will demonstrate the interface, describe work in progress for the next release, and provide a roadmap for the future, including anticipated challenges and opportunities.

Internalization: A Key Ingredient in Achieving Naturalness in an Oral Translation

Author: Kris Toler

There are four widely accepted qualities of a good Bible translation - accuracy, clarity, naturalness and acceptability. This paper will explore how the internalization step of oral Bible translation is a key component in achieving a natural translation. This will be done by reviewing the process of internalization and discussing how it was implemented in the Central Pame project as they translated the book of Jonah using the RENDER software. The Central Pame translation project is the first OBT project in Mexico and is a partnership program between SIL, UNTI (a national indigenous translation organization in Mexico) and The Seed Company.

Analyzing Discourse of BT Leaders

Author: Doug Trick

A discourse genre that has become particularly popular in the past two decades (particularly in the West) is characterized by strong polarization (either-or positions, in contrast with a both-and approach), "straw man" arguments, caricature, and other features. This is the prominent genre in talk shows and social media, and increasingly so in journalism.

This study examines a range of statements and promotional material being circulated by influential leaders in the BT movement, demonstrating how this discourse genre is being frequently employed as we critique ourselves and one another, and as we promote our programs among our constituencies. (Sources for all citations are documented, but identifying features of citations are removed, and source details will be made available only to those who have appropriate reasons for requesting them.) A particular case study demonstrates some of the ways in which the use of this genre has had serious negative impacts on BT work. The study concludes with a proposal for healthier means by which we can engage in constructive criticism of our principles and processes.

When There Is Already a Bible in the Language, Is an Additional Translation Needed for a Specific Religious Community? Bible Translations for Jews

Author: Pete Unseth

There are many Bible translations available in English, yet some have felt a strong need for additional translations specifically prepared for Jewish audiences. This has led to translations being prepared in English (and other

languages) for Jews, a topic inadequately investigated by scholars.

English Scripture translations for Jewish audiences have been done by both Messianic and traditional Jews. Both groups have generally agreed in certain vocabulary and format choices, points in common among broad Jewish audiences. However, Messianic translations have shared certain other patterns with Christian translations, in contrast to translations by non-Messianic Jews that have also followed their own distinctive patterns. All of these Jewish-friendly translations have differed from previous Christian translations mostly in format & vocabulary, more than exegetical choices.

This paper will review arguments for specialized Jewish audience translations. Then it compares and summarizes the kinds of translation and format choices made in over a dozen translations that have been done for Jewish audiences. Comparison shows that many of the differences between translations done for Jews and translations done for Christians are matters that many Christians will readily accept, such as formatting and vocabulary choices, especially names.

Translations for specific religious communities, using familiar religious vocabulary: to the Jew first, and...?

Demonstration of Render

Author: Callie Vail

Come see a demonstration of Render, an oral Bible translation software. This demonstration will give an overview of Render as well as highlight the newest features. Since its launch in 2016, Render has supported oral translation by focusing its design on nonliterate translators. The software is iconographic and color-driven, guiding the user through each step. It also acts as a workflow management tool, keeping track of every audio file and updated draft. Render allows the loading of one or more (up to four) audio Bible versions to be used as references for translation. A team of translators will listen to the references, internalize that section of Scripture, translate orally into their language, and record the new translation in Render. The draft then goes through peer review, community testing, back translation, consultant checking, and revision. Those involved in getting Scripture to oral people groups may find Render to be a helpful tool.

Gaining Language Vitality and Spiritual Vitality Through a Children's Bible Curriculum

Author: Roger Van Otterloo

Primary level children (ages 6-12) are very impressionable, and it’s easy to teach them Christian values. That’s also a great time to promote reading and writing in the mother tongue, so they can become fluent in the Scriptures of their heart-language.

To achieve spiritual and language vitality, a Christian Life Skills Bible curriculum has been designed for both elementary schools and Sunday schools. Design parameters include: Systematic teaching, covering the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Results oriented, with a life-changing “to do” for each lesson. Memorable, with a crafted Bible song for each lesson that helps children remember the Bible teaching for life. Inviting, with captivating pictures, and a beautiful format. Child-centered, with lots of questions and role plays to help children “own” the teaching for themselves. Age-appropriate, helping children give their lives to Jesus, and be healed of traumas. There are many other topics that children are taught, at the appropriate grade levels. Family oriented, with a review at home each week, applying the lesson with parents in the family context. Parent friendly, including Tips For Parenting books that help with bedtime prayers, teaching reasons for rules, etc.

This curriculum was pilot-tested in both Kenya and DR Congo, with positive results. To date, it has been produced in both English and French. Through Bloom computer transfer, it will be possible to enjoy the first three years in a vernacular language.

Redefine or Rechristen? A Fresh Look at the Role and Responsibilities of a Consultant

Author: Mathew Varghese

A consultant is a

• Teacher

• Trainer

• Mentor

• Preacher

• Pastor

I am reminded of those who have spent their time and poured out their energy to build me up as a consultant. During my twenty-some years as a consultant, I had to switch my role to all of the above list. I am sure this is the experience of all of us who have been in the ministry of consultation.

My thesis is that we should look for a more suitable term than 'consultant'. 'Consultant' brings to mind the picture of a medical practitioner for an ordinary person, like a cardiology consultant, neurology consultant and so on. But a Bible translation consultant does much more than that. I would like to include some real life examples from the field, with their names camouflaged.

Checking Translations for Communicative Adequacy

Author: Chris Vaz

At the 2015 conference, I did a presentation based on checking of Aheri Gondi (Dravidian, central India) to demonstrate how so many issues can be missed if the consultant reviews the BT alone. In this paper, I share my experience of checking some psalms in Halbi, an Indo-Aryan language of central India. A consultant who specializes in Old Testament and was trained in Hebrew poetry did the review remotely while my responsibility was merely to follow up her notes in a face-to-face check with a UNS. I discovered that my attention to the linguistic features of the draft and issues of naturalness and discourse led me to do a lot more work than I had expected. Though I do not know Halbi, I am reasonably proficient in Hindi which is closely related. Of the 231 suggestions in 16 psalms that actually resulted in changes to the draft, 51 (22% of total) were related to naturalness and discourse, of which 42 were generated by my review. 19 other issues (8%) were picked up only because I looked at the actual draft. These findings strengthen the case for requiring consultants to pay closer attention to receptor language features. We need to also reckon with the fact that project teams have varying competencies in writing back-translations. My experience with this check also demonstrates that the consultant does not need to know the receptor language to be able to review the draft translation.

Intrusive Voices: Translating Unexpected Changes of Speaker in the Bible

Author: Vitaly Voinov

In many languages, a change of speaker in a text is usually introduced by a speech orienter (Dooley&Levinsohn 2000:50). It is therefore challenging for translators and readers when they encounter “intrusive” speech (Culpepper 1983:17) by speakers that have not been explicitly introduced. I survey texts with an unexpected change of speaker, such as:

-Jer 31:26 “I woke and my sleep was sweet” (God→Jeremiah)

-Jn 21:24 “we know that his testimony is true” (narrator→narrator’s circle)

- Ac 16:10 “we endeavored to leave for Macedonia” (addition of author to Paul’s group)

- Rev 22:12 “Lo, I come quickly” (angel→Jesus)

- Gen 48:7 “Ephratah (that is, Bethlehem)” (Jacob→narrator’s comment)

I explore the textual signals indicating that a change of speaker has occurred even without a speech orienter. I also examine texts where it is unclear if a change of speaker has taken place, e.g.:

-various Minor Prophets passages (God→prophet?)

-Jn 3:14 (Jesus→narrator?)

-the name Josiah in 1Kg 13:3 (prophecy by man of God→narrator’s comment?)

-Heb 13:22-25 (author of 1:1—13:22→author of postscript?)

I then survey existing translations for the approaches translators have used to clarify that a change of speaker has transpired. Interpretive helps surveyed include:

-Quotation marks or speech dashes

-Section heads

-Stophe division (see Bratcher 1978)

-Speech orienters added

-Red letters

I conclude with warnings about making things too clear if there are differing, reasonable interpretations.

How Parallel Should Parallel Passages Be?

Author: Martha L. Wade

The parallel passages tool in Paratext is a powerful tool. As with all powerful tools, it can have both positive and negative impacts on a project. Consultants need to be aware of some of the known “issues” that will sometimes result in false positives or false negatives in the highlighting of which parts of the vernacular verse are parallel. Correct usage of the tool will help a team improve the quality of the translation, but incorrectly used, it can lead to a lack of naturalness and accuracy because the grammatical features of the vernacular will not allow perfect parallels in certain contexts. In this paper, the positive and negative features of the tool will be illustrated with examples from the Apal language in Papua New Guinea. The paper will conclude with a list of suggestions for consultants with respect to the parallel passages tool.

Metaphorical Models of Translation

Author: Milton Watt

PROBLEM: What metaphor can best conceptualize translation work?

IMPORTANCE: Translation is a complex, multi-faceted, multidisciplinary process. Metaphorical thinking helps us gain a better understanding of the task. Lakoff and Johnson have shown that the essence of our conceptual system (how we think and act) is metaphorical and that metaphors help to shape how we perceive and influence the world around us.

METHODOLOGY: Brief discussion of 5 basic metaphors for translation. Then, a deeper discussion of 10 more complex metaphorical models.

RESULTS: Translation has been described by at least 5 basic metaphors: science, art, craft, performance, and communication process. Each metaphor gives insight into the nature of translation.

The 10 more complex metaphorical models (MMs) will be examined with respect to 5 major translation models:

* Equivalence models: Analogy & Clothing MMs

* Skopostheorie/Functionalist models: Imitation and Action & Toolmaker (sociological angle) MMs

* Inferential models/Relevance Theory: Transfer & Toolmaker (inferential angle) MMs

* Cognitive (frame) models: Frame-blending & Hospitality and Counterinsurgence MMs

* Literary/Rhetorical models: Musical Performance, Squeezed Jellyfish, & Clay-shaping Artist MMs

These metaphorical models can help us to envision the translation task more clearly because metaphors provide fresh insights into complex tasks. They also inspire and challenge translators to find new metaphors to describe our challenging profession.

How do Asian Deaf Translators Deal with Hebrew Idioms and Dialogue within Dialogue?

Author: Ho Koon Wei, Naw Bway Say Wah

Sign languages are different from spoken/written languages in communicating form. For example, sign language uses hands, face, space and body role shift meanwhile spoken language uses words/sounds from vocal cords. And sign language uses hands (manual) and facial expression (non-manual) the same time. Translating Bible text into a sign language has been a challenge for many Deaf translators in Asia. There are many changes faced by SLBT translators, but for our purpose, we would like to focus on two areas: idiom and dialogue within a dialogue. Deaf from different countries do have their own idioms but Bible idioms are difficult to be understood by the Deaf not only because of cultural differences but also because of differences between the Hearing world and Deaf world. Deaf people are usually very direct in their communication. Similar to challenges faced by many spoken languages in Asia, Deaf translation teams have to deal with idioms of a culture which they are not familiar with. For many spoken languages, dialogue within a dialogue is usually marked with symbols understood by the readers. Sign languages usually do not have such written symbolic markers. Based on our research on the published translation works in five different sign languages in Asia, we found various ways of handling idioms and dialogue within dialogue, which we intent to discuss on this paper.

"The One and Only": A Syntactic and Semantic Analysis of Dt. 6:4

Author: Joseph Weinberg

The words of Dt 6:4, שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד, have indisputable and foundational importance for both Jewish and Christian theology. Yet with this great centrality comes a surprising ambiguity. What exactly do these words mean? How might they be translated into idiomatic English? The verse’s ambiguity has given rise to a bewildering number of translations, ranging from "The LORD our God, The LORD is one" to "The LORD is our God, The LORD alone".

One scholar goes as far as saying that ‘no statement in the Hebrew Bible has provoked more discussion with less agreement than this one’. This discussion integrates a wide range of disciplines including history, theology, literary studies, exegesis, and more. Yet at the heart of the discussion are the intertwined linguistic subfields of syntax and semantics. Syntactically, what is the subject and what is the predicate? Are there one or two predications? Is the primary emphasis on ‘The LORD’ being ‘our God’ or on ‘The LORD our God’ being ‘one’? Or something else? Semantic discussion centres primarily around the word אחד. What might be implied by describing The LORD as ‘one’?

The aim of this presentation is to offer a critical syntactic and semantic analysis of existing interpretations and translations, to present a methodological framework for assessing their relative merits, and to suggest a fresh translation that seeks to both build on the strengths and overcome the weaknesses of previous ones.

The Top Ten Things to Consider When Translating John 3:16

Author: John Williams

John 3:16 is the best known Bible verse. Some translation teams may choose to translate this verse early on in the project to get this precious and powerful message out to the people ASAP. However to translate it accurately and naturally is more complicated than appears at first glance. I will share the challenges the translation team I was a part of had to deal with when translating it into Mixtec, an indigenous (original) language of Mexico. We had to consider: How does the message tie into the immediate context? Who said/wrote this? Does God still love the world? What does it mean that He “gave” His son? Should we say, "me", His son? Can you believe in a person? What are the local cultural beliefs about “perishing” and eternal life? This is not an attempt to cover every aspect of John 3:16, but to raise awareness of some of the issues translation teams need to be aware of. Translation teams can improve their rendering of this verse by taking the time to investigate these and other related issues.

Digitization of Bibles in (the Greater) China (1661-1960)

Author: Simon Wong

Bibles published in China may be divided into three categories: Classical and Mandarin Chinese, dialects, and ethnic minority languages (including aboriginal languages in Taiwan). While the oldest Chinese Scriptures is traceable to the incomplete NT (1707) by French Jesuit Jean Basset and Johann Su, the oldest extant record in the Greater China may be dated back to Gravius’s translation of Matthew on the Sinkang aboriginal in Taiwan in 1661 (published in Netherland). The present paper reports on two major digitization efforts in the region of Greater China: Digitization of Old Chinese Bibles (prior to 1950s) and Digitization of Bibles in Chinese dialects and ethnic minorities (prior to 1950s). These two projects represent the most comprehensive and largest digitization effort on the Christian Bibles ever undertaken in the history of Bible translation in the region, with a coverage of more than 100 Bibles in 46 languages (Chinese, 22 dialects, 23 minority languages) from 1661 to end of the 1950s. The “Digitization of Old Chinese Bibles” is further complemented by a “Major Biblical Terms” mapping database between more than 6,800 terms in their source languages and their respective renderings in all 36 Chinese translations.

Tree-Based TM for Computer-Assisted Bible Translation

Author: Andi Wu

TM (translation memory) is a database that stores the translation units that have been previously translated. It can be used in computer-assisted Bible translation to provide suggestions when new texts are translated, thus improving efficiency and consistency in translation. This paper presents an automatic way of incrementally creating a TM in real time as a translation project goes on. What is required in this approach is (1) an automatic word aligner, and (2) syntactic treebanks of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. After each verse is translated, the auto-aligner is used to align the translation words to their corresponding Hebrew/Greek words which are the leaf nodes in a syntactic tree. Since each node in the tree (a subtree) represents a word, phrase, or clause, phrase/clause alignment can also be automatically created by mapping the sequence of leaf nodes in the subtree to the translation words aligned to these nodes, resulting in a TM that contains linguistically valid translation units of any textual size. As such a TM grows, Bible translators get increasing better suggestions.

This approach differs from traditional methods of TM creation where translation units beyond the word level are arbitrary word sequences which are hard to identify automatically, and which are not always legitimate linguistic units. We are able to avoid these problems due to existence of syntactic treebanks of Biblical texts. Such resources are seldom available in other domains.

Truly Fruitful: Training Pastors to Read their MT and the Transformations that are Happening

Author: Mariyam Yohannis, Simret Fekadu

“The happiest day of a translator is when the Bible is dedicated, while the saddest day of a translator is when the Bible is not used,” said Richard Margetts. How can we combine translation, literacy and Scripture Engagement to equip people in using the Scripture after dedication? We explored this question while conducting a SE survey of the North Gumuz in 2016. The idea of Truly Fruitful was born. It is our aim to improve the competence and confidence of local church pastors, evangelists, and leaders in reading, teaching, and preaching Scripture in their mother-tongue. The SE session includes Bible study method, discussion of topics on the various different issues that a community faces, and developing ways of overcoming the barriers to effective use of mother-tongue Scripture. This training will focus on the leaders because they are the model of their family, church, or society. If they use the Scriptures, others will follow their example. The Bible will transform their lives and the lives of others when they are able to read it clearly, loudly, and confidently. Last year, we worked with three language communities and, seeing its success, we are working with three different language communities this year. The training has done very well and is bearing fruit. Having the translated Scripture in MT by itself is fruitful, BUT, if the church leaders are adequately equipped to read it and use it in their ministries, we are confident that will be truly fruitful.

Multimodal Scripture Engagement: A response to an Oppositional Perspective on Literacy and Orality.

Author: Catherine Young

Oral strategies, including multiple approaches to Bible storying, have proven a tremendous contribution to Scripture engagement and provided an entry point for sharing the word of God with those without access to written Scripture. Increasingly, orality is foundational to innovative approaches in the Bible Translation movement. This presentation will examine the contribution of oral approaches to effective learning within a broad perspective on communication strategies and explore the challenges inherent in a limited, binary approach to communication strategies that positions literacy in opposition to orality. Concepts associated with power/control and modernity as well as personal and collective identity impact communicative approaches which, in turn, influence choices made by individuals and institutions. Employing both a historical and educational perspective on the influence of text-based learning, this paper will consider the significance multiple communicative approaches effectively support critical thinking and transformational Scripture engagement.

Translation Insights and Perspectives: A Tool for Growth Both Inside and Outside the Bible Translation Community

Author: Jost Zetzsche

While all languages are competent in expressing the message of the Bible, each language has particular and sometimes unique capacities to communicate certain biblical messages in exceptionally enriching ways. Translation Insights and Perspectives (TIPs) at tips.translation.bible is a tool that collects these outstanding translation insights and makes them available to Bible translators, to the church in general, and to researchers and other interested parties.

TIPs is the first resource of its kind available to Bible translators in such a comprehensive format. In addition, it plays two other important roles: it allows Bible translators to contribute data and to promote their work to their constituencies; and it will heighten the interest in Bible translation outside the Bible translation community. The tool is designed to easily and freely enable both clergy and lay-persons to find new perspectives on the biblical text from a wealth of non-traditional translation sources. By demonstrating the value of Bible translation in otherwise non-accessible languages for all Bible readers, one intended outcome of TIPs is to increase appreciation and support for Bible translation and help to grow the overall comprehension of translation processes and goals in general.

During this session, the presenter will demonstrate the tool, talk about how data is chosen and curated, and ask for feedback from the audience.

The “Cycle” Poem in Ecclesiastes 1: From Sound Effects in Hebrew to African Songs

Author: Lynell Marchese Zogbo

In Ecclesiastes 1.4-13, the author presents a beautiful poem describing recurring cycles in nature: generations come and go, as do the wind, the sea, and the rivers. The Hebrew poet uses binary rhythm, rhyme, word repetition as well as remarkable cases of alliteration and assonance (repetitive fricative consonants, full round vowels, etc.) to portray these unending cycles, showing “there is nothing new under the sun”.

It is clear this poem must have been and is meant to be performed! Performance criticism (Rhoads, 2009, 2012) provides a framework not only for understanding the meaning behind such a literary work (Maxey, 2012), but a methodology for studying the rhetorical devices which render the text unforgettably poetic.

In this paper, after presenting a line-by-line analysis of the Hebrew poem, we ask: how can mother tongue translators utilize these facts in translating such texts? In answer, we present and analyze translations and oral song renderings of this poem from five different African languages, showing that while Hebrew sound effects cannot be replicated exactly, aesthetically pleasing songs (to target audience ears) can be produced, conveying, at least partially, the same message and impact as the original. This study underlines the fact that knowing the source Hebrew text is key to enabling mother tongue translators to utilize the poetic tools at their disposal in their own mother tongue to arrive at renderings which are truly “performance-worthy”.

On the role of context and intertextuality in searching for the meaning of the key term "hevel" (הֶבֶל) in Ecclesiastes

Author: Lynell Marchese Zogbo

Ecclesiastes or Qoheleth, one of the most enigmatic books of the Old Testament, poses many challenges for exegetes and translators. One of the major difficulties is the meaning of the key term "hevel" (הֶבֶל), literally “vapor”, rendered in a multitude of ways in English and other languages: “vanity”, “absurd”, “meaningless”, “incomprehensible”, etc. As a leitmotiv, the word colors the entire book and is considered the key to understanding and translating book of wisdom literature (Fox, 1989; Ogden, 1987; Seow, 1997; Ogden and Zogbo, 1997).

Using the principle that one biblical text can “inform” another, this paper examines the use of "hevel" in books outside Qoheleth. It establishes intertextual links with the creation story, showing that the image of Adam and Eve’s fall and punishment provide an important backdrop for the book’s major themes. The paper also examines key terms and expressions inside the book occurring in close proximity to "hevel", showing how such contexts can shed light on the manifold meanings of this puzzling key term.

Other translation issues are raised, including the challenges of how the term might be rendered consistently in liturgical, literary, or more conservative translations, or how a more dynamic translation might be an effective way to render the key term in this powerful book. The paper also suggests how community interpretation might play into the identification, choice, and adoption of an acceptable translation solution.

Translating the OT Names for God

Author: Jim Zvara

In the past much attention has been given to NT translation issues, but increasingly translation organizations are recognizing the importance of OT translation, particularly for Muslim audiences. When I was serving as the coordinator of an OT translation project, one significant issue the team wrestled with was how to translate the various names for God and their combinations in OT texts. In the process we discovered that it is important to carefully consider not only how to translate the key terms YHWH, Elohim and Adonai, but also how to apply a consistent approach to translating them in their various combinations with one another and with other terms.

This paper seeks to share insights and practical guidelines gained from that experience, with a view to helping other teams facing a similar challenge. It provides a summary of the major names and combinations and considers how to deal with them as an interrelated whole, rather than as isolated terms. It does not attempt to give definitive answers for how to translate the names and their combinations, but will provide an example of what one project did and how they went about the process. Hopefully, the list of names generated and the process of balancing meaning with matters of style and naturalness will be helpful to others in their OT translation work.