Translating God’s Word – Theories of Translation

The task of translating from one language to another is very complex. As anyone who knows multiple languages can tell you, there are many differences between languages. Obviously, each language has different words for the same object. However, this is the smallest problem facing the translator. Let’s consider a few problems facing the translator.

Each word also has shades of meaning in each language, and therefore the same word in one language does not always correspond to a specific word in another language. For example, in English, the word “blue” refers to both the color and an emotional state. However, in other languages, this will often not be the case. Therefore translators will have to decide the best word in a specific instance.

this is even more complex when one considers that literary devices such as figures of speech and word plays often do not work in other languages. This can make it very difficult to determine how to translate a given word or phrase, and each translator may do this differently.

Also, each language has different grammatical practices and structures. For example, in English, we usually place the subject before the verb, which is followed by direct objects: “John hit the ball.” However, in Hebrew the typical order is verb-subject-object. Thus, the literal word order in Hebrew for Genesis 1:1 is “In the beginning, He created God the heavens and the earth.” How closely does one want to mimic the underlying grammar and word order in a translation?

Finally, when dealing with ancient documents, there are often metaphors, figures of speech, and measurements that are not understood by modern audiences. How does one approach translating the text in such instances?

Questions like these have led to a variety of translation theories – general approaches regarding how to translate the ancient document into a modern language. Such theories exist on a continuum, but in general, we can think of three main approaches: essentially literal, dynamic equivalence, and paraphrase. In coming posts, we will look at each of these.

In Christ,

Bret