“I Speak In Parables”: The Limits of Comprehension Testing as a Measure of Accuracy

A common question in Bible translation is, “Can a translation be accurate if it is unnatural and unclear, leading to misunderstanding?” Nida and Taber answered this by saying that accuracy should be measured by the degree to which a translation gives the “average reader” not just the possibility, but the “overwhelming likelihood” of understanding the text correctly, and that translators should “aim to make certain” that the reader understands (TAPOT 173). Comprehension testing became the primary tool for measuring readers’ understanding of the text, and thereby, of accuracy according to Nida and Taber’s definition.

This approach can produce valuable gifts to the church, and comprehension testing is an important tool for uncovering translation errors. However, as this presentation argues, the God-breathed Scriptures in the original languages were often written in ways that even the original audience would not have quickly understood. Moreover, God makes clear that at times this difficulty of comprehension is deliberate. Put simply, God’s Word in its original, flawless form would fail comprehension testing.

Using comprehension testing as a measure of accuracy also introduces inherent bias, by skewing translator’s attempts to maximize comprehension toward certain questions that they think to test, at the expense of others that they do not test. We will explore some examples of this bias, and consider ways that translators can lessen this bias and produce more accurate translations that more closely match the original authors’ level of clarity.