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Here's what you will find on this page:
Practical Translation Issues
What Translation Is
Translation Theory
Missionary Bible Translation
On English Translations
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Practical Translation Issues
Black, "Poetry in the ISV"In this essay, I discuss the places in the ISV where we attempted to render the poetic passages in the Greek NT as poetry in our English translation.Black, "'Press On' or 'Be Carried Along'?"
Here I discuss the rendering of Hebrews 6:1 in the ISV.Black, "Sloppy Agape"
Here I discuss the two different words for "love" in John 21:15-17.Black, "'Teachable' or 'Able to Teach'?"
Here I discuss whether 1 Timothy 3:2 means that elders must be "able to teach" or "teachable."Blumczynski, Piotr. On Translating the Greek Aorist into English
Utilizing Roman Jakobson's paradigm of equivalence in translation, Blumczynski sets out to resolve the issue of how the Greek Aorist should be translated into English.Issues Surrounding the Translation of the Bible
This is an insightful short essay on some of the factors that come into play when making a translation of the Bible. It deals with issues such as idioms, structure, and plays on words.Milosz, Czeslaw. "Czeslaw Milosz: My Biblical Translations."
From SBL Forum, April 2005.____________________________________________________________________________
What Translation Is
Harrelson, Walter. "What Translation Is."From the SBL Forum, July 2005.Jobes, Karen H. "What Translation Is."
From SBL Forum, July 2005.Longmann III, Tremper. "What Translation Is."
From SBL Forum, July 2005.Miller, Patrick D. "What Translation Is."
From SBL Forum, July 2005.Milosz, Czeslaw. "What Translation Is."
From SBL Forum, July 2005.____________________________________________________________________________
Translation Theory
Barrick's Translation PageWhile Dr. Barrick's expertise is Hebrew, these resources provide insight into translation in general.Jobes, Karen. Bible Translation as Bilingual Quotation
Karen Jobes, in a presentation at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, explores the inter-relationship between the Christian practice of translating the biblical texts into modern tongues and the doctrine of inerrancy and inspiration as it applies to the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek autographs. She writes, "This raises interesting questions at the theoretical level about what I would call an evangelical philosophy or theology of language and at the level of praxis about what relationship must a translation of Scripture have to the original in order to have God's authority behind it."Leman, Wayne. “Translating the Text”
This PDF is a semi-technical discussion of the various kinds of translations and the kids of issues that translators struggle with when translating Scripture into another language.Marlowe, Michael. “Against the Theory of ‘Dynamic Equivalence’”
This provocative essay argues that many of the concepts utilized by advocates of dynamic equivalence are misguided and should be rejected.Poythress, Vern. “Truth and Fullness of Meaning: Fullness versus Reductionistic Semantics in Biblical Interpretation”
In this paper, read at the November 2004 ETS meeting, Dr. Poythress argues that “While acknowledging partial insights derived from many specialties, a Christian interpreter must use interpretive tools with circumspection, with awareness of the modernist tendency to flatten the word of God.” He highlights especially the pros and cons of Eugene Nida’s adoption of Chomskian Linguistics.Silva, Moisés. “Are Translators Traitors? Some Personal Reflections.”
In The Challenge of Bible Translation: Communicating God’s Word to the World; Understanding the Theory, History, and Practice: Essays in Honor of Ronald F. Youngblood (ed. Glen G. Scorgie, Mark L. Strauss, and Steven M. Voth; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003): 37-50.____________________________________________________________________________
Missionary Bible Translation
The Bible TranslatorThis peer-reviewed journal addresses language-related questions pertaining to Bible Translation. Many articles pertain to translating into specific languages, while others have to do with Greek and Hebrew language issues more broadly. The journal can also be accessed here.United Bible Societies: About Us
This page lists some facts about UBS, as well as some statistics on Bible translation world-wide.Wycliffe Bible Translators
This link will take you to Wycliffe's website, where you can get more about their history and current Bible Translation projects.____________________________________________________________________________
On English Translations
Bible HubThis website is a great place to compare English translations. You can view many of the major English versions simultaneously. The only limitation is that you can only view one verse at a time.Hurtado, Larry. "Translations, Translations"
Larry Hurtado gives a couple thoughts on "the best Bible translation."Keating, Corey. "Greek Meaning Versus English Translation."
From NTGreek.org.Moo, Douglas. We Still Don't Get It.
This paper was presented by Douglas Moo at the ETS conference of 2015 in honor of the 50 year anniversary of the NIV translation.Mounce, Bill. "Do Formal Equivalent Translations Reflect a Higher View of Plenary, Verbal Inspiration?"
This paper, delivered at the national ETS meeting in 2018, responds to the claim that formal equivalent translations "show a higher view of inspiration since they try to translate every Greek and Hebrew word."Robbins, Dale A. “Why So Many Bible Translations?”
A very good brief introduction to the issues related to the various English translations.Strauss, Mark. "Why the English Standard Version (ESV) Should Not Become the Standard English Version: How to Make a Good Translation Better"
Mark L. Strauss gives constructive criticism on how the ESV could be a better translation in terms of readability in standard English.Wallace, Daniel B. “The History of the English Bible.”
A helpful series of four articles by Dan Wallace on the history of the English Bible. The four essays are: (1) From Wycliffe to King James (The Period of Challenge); (2) The Reign of the King James (The Era of Elegance); (3) From the KJV to the RV (from Elegance to Accuracy); (4) Why So Many Versions?Wallace, Daniel B. “Why So Many Versions?”
In this article, Dan Wallace discusses reasons for the differences in translations, gives some advice for knowing which translations to use, and reviews six different translations regarding their readability and accuracy.
