Featured Textbooks on Translating

That's what I've heard. Good for your son!

 

In 1998, the second edition of a massive, 547 page textbook on translating by Mildred L. Larson was printed, Meaning-Based Translation. This book takes the theories of Nida further, using the terminology of the title. So, the goal is supposedly to translate meaning instead of just words. What that thinking misses is that you don't abandon meaning just because you translate literally. "Words have meaning," as a well known political commentator often says. However, translators following Nida's method consider her book to be the gold standard.

Having said that, this is a very well done textbook, and I profited from reading it. Nida's books were mostly theory with a few illustrations thrown in. Larson's book has many practical chapters based on her own experience as a translator into the Aguaruna language of N. Peru. She wrote the story of that experience in a book with Lois Dodds, Treasure in Clay Pots. I truly enjoyed reading this book too. She's in Heaven now.

 

You are obviously very proud of him.

 

Katharine Barnwell's book, Bible Translation: An Introductory Course in Translation Principles, first came out in 1975. The 3rd edition is copyright 1986 by SIL, so it is firmly in the dynamic/functional equivalence camp. However, it is still being printed for good reason. Barnwell is a genuine, experienced translator.

It is a good basic textbook, with exercises for the student, and plenty of perspective for the fledgling translator. She does take a stand on the inspiration of Scripture, unlike neo-orthodox Nida, writing, "The Bible is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. The translator has a very serious responsibility not to change the meaning in any way. He must be careful not to add anything to the meaning, or to leave any part of the meaning untranslated" (p. 13). I probably will never use it as a textbook, but it is well done.

 

Translating Truth, by Wayne Grudem, Leland Ryken, C. John Collins, Vern Poythress, and Bruce Winter, is not technically a textbook on translating. However, it gives an excellent perspective on what it calls "essentially literal" translation. (The subtitle is "The Case for Essentially Literal Bible Translation.") I have used it as a textbook, though since it is quite short (150 pages) other materials are needed to supplement it. The authors are all recognized scholars, but Vern Poythress stands out to me. He has written an excellent theology of language that I highly recommend, In the Beginning Was the Word.

 

There are several textbooks by fundamentalists on Bible translation. I'll start with the worst first. Word-For-Word Translating of The Received Texts, by H. D. Williams, is not recommended. Don't waste your money. At the time he wrote the book, Williams did not know Greek or Hebrew, was not fluent in any foreign language, and had never helped in a Bible translation effort. (I do not know if he has gained this knowledge and experience since then.) In spite of this, he even wrote in the book, "The work of translating God's words should not be attempted by inexperienced individuals" (p. 7). But I guess it's okay to write a book about how to translate if you have no experience, right?

For my review of the book on Amazon, go here: Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Word-for-Word Translating of the Received Texts, Verbal Plenary Translating

 

Yep.

 

Thoughts About Translation (Issues in Missiology, Vol. III), by Robert D. Patton, is an interesting approach. Dr. Patton actually did a missionary translation, and apparently did a good job of it. He did not know Greek and Hebrew, so he did it from the KJV. Hey, if that's all you have, go for it! But he did reference the original languages the best he could.

It is a little odd that he puts two chapters in the book that are, technically, about textual criticism rather than translation. Ch. 5 is, "Dean Burgon's Postion (sic) Versus Others," and then lists "His Translation Criteria" which are strictly speaking textual criticism criteria, not translation. However, there are some very helpful chapters. He has a useful "Glossary" at the beginning of the book, and there is an appendix, "Thoughts on Translation Questions," which would be helpful in teaching.

 

Not that I know of.

 

Another textbook by an independent Baptist is A Practical Theology of Bible Translating, by Steve Combs. Dr. Combs does translation consulting for a new KJVO translation ministry called Bearing Precious Seed Global. So, he does have some experience. It seems that he does not know Greek, since he makes some basic errors. For example, he says on p. 35 that in 2 Tim. 3:16 the verb "given" is in the present tense. However, that is not accurate. It is actually the predicate usage of the adjective which is translated as "given by inspiration," θεοπνευστος, "God-breathed." So there is no verb there "given."

He also makes mistakes in other areas, such as his definition of "Fundamentalist" on p. 321 as "someone who believes in the 'fundamentals.'" If that were an accurate definition, Billy Graham and his ilk would have been fundamentalists, but they rejected the label and the separatist position.

At any rate, this book is worth a read if you have extra money floating around, and there are some interesting and helpful chapters. But I do not recommend using it as a textbook. However, kudos to his concept, that we need a theology of translation, and he gives it a good shot from his perspective.

 

Not strange at all. If I were to write a textbook on translation, I would not mention the text issue.

As for whether or not missionaries use it, my understanding is that Wycliffe translators and other evangelical translators very often do not work from the original languages. I've read of them translating from the GNB, the NIV, and others.

Fundamentalist translators most often translate from the traditional texts: Masoretic Hebrew OT (basically the only possibility) and the TR Greek NT. Sometimes someone without the original language training will translate from the KJV.