REV. EDGAR BATTAD EBOJO, PhD (University of Birmingham, UK), is one of the Global Translation Advisers of the United Bible Societies (UBS). Aside from translation projects in Asia-Pacific, he is currently the UBS member to the Editorial Committee of the UBS Greek New Testament 6th edition (UBS6) and the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 29th edition (NA29). He also serves as a committee member of the International Greek New Testament Project (IGNTP), the scholarly body tasked to prepare and produce the Editio Critica Maior (ECM) of the New Testament Greek. He is an ordained minister of the Bethel Pentecostal Church and served as a pastor for Filipino churches in the Philippines, Singapore, and England. He is married to former Ms. Irene Murillo and has a gorgeous son, Dayao Nathan-El M. Ebojo.
A Blast from the Past: Revisiting the Manuscript Tradition as a Paradigm for Quality in Learning Biblical Languages for Bible Translation
Abstract
The widely recognised quality assurance pillars of modern Bible translation include the components of fidelity (accuracy/faithfulness), naturalness, and acceptability. Accordingly, it is commonly assumed that to satisfy the rigid requirements of fidelity in translation, appeal to and use of the original biblical languages have to be made as part of our translation process — which in practice actually refers to the critical text editions of Hebrew (and Greek) OT and Greek NT. This means that our working concept of fidelity to the original biblical languages is essentially based on the scientifically reconstructed critical editions of OT and NT texts, brought about by carefully comparing and analysing surviving manuscripts of the Bible. Hence, it is the text of these critical editions that we are patiently and deliberately learning to help us in our Bible translation task. But how do we guarantee quality learning of biblical languages in this context?
This presentation focuses on the biblical manuscript tradition that was handed down to us through the centuries of Scripture transmission history, which in turn had conscientiously served as the basis for the translations that our spiritual forebears subsequently produced. Correspondingly, this paper is an integrative search for paradigms from the past derived carefully from the history-filled pages of these extant manuscripts that will hopefully help us in appreciating better the value of learning biblical languages (inclusive of both teaching and applying biblical languages), specifically for our task of Bible translation and engagement. In more details, we will look at the text and paratextual features of an ancient papyrus manuscript popularly known as P46 — one of the earliest and most extensive surviving manuscripts of the NT — and derive from them some paradigmatic implications for modern translation teams, as we learn the biblical languages, to ensure quality in translation.
About the Author
United Bible Societies