The Ideal Translation Effort

[John of Japan]

My question is, what does the ideal translation effort look like? How many members, what structure, what positions must be filled, etc.?

The start should be, what is the skopos, or the goal of the translation? It might be a missionary translation, a study Bible, a scholarly resource, etc. Skopos theory in translation studies is the teaching that the goal of a translation should determine how it happens. (Skopos is the Greek word for "goal," appearing only in Phil. 3:14 in the NT, translated "mark" in the KJV.)

 

[JesusFan]

My question is, what does the ideal translation effort look like? How many members, what structure, what positions must be filled, etc.?

The start should be, what is the skopos, or the goal of the translation? It might be a missionary translation, a study Bible, a scholarly resource, etc. Skopos theory in translation studies is the teaching that the goal of a translation should determine how it happens. (Skopos is the Greek word for "goal," appearing only in Phil. 3:14 in the NT, translated "mark" in the KJV.)

I am not that concerned over which textual basis being used, as think good translation can be made off of MT/CT/Tr etc, but more concerned over if a formal translation basis instead of DE basis, and prefer a translation team instead of just one translator

 

[John of Japan]

I am not that concerned over which textual basis being used, as think good translation can be made off of MT/CT/Tr etc, but more concerned over if a formal translation basis instead of DE basis, and prefer a translation team instead of just one translator

I didn't mention the textual basis in the OP, so that's not really what I'm asking in this thread.

Why just one translator? Would that make you a fan of Young's, Darby's and similar translations?

 

[JesusFan]

I didn't mention the textual basis in the OP, so that's not really what I'm asking in this thread.

Why just one translator? Would that make you a fan of Young's, Darby's and similar translations?

No, as wrote preferred a translation team of scholars over a single persons

 

[Deacon]

The way the Authorized Version was created worked well.
A few teams of experts overseen by a few collators.

I dislike the idea of large team of people ...
While many hands make light work, too many hands produce a bland result.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Establishing your target audience is vital.
Develop a methodology - how you plan to translate (form a preface of your translation)
Choose your text (mentioned above)

1) You'll need a team leader; someone strong in organizational skills, collaborative writing and editing, publishing, analytics, etc.

2) A key component of a translation team should be scholars who have a strong background in a biblical language and an even stronger handle on the target language/audience.
Those with previous history of translation would be preferred.

2a) Many authors of academic commentaries of biblical texts have produced their own translations; such authors might be used as a consolation team.

3) The "ideal team" might include a poet or a language expert in the target language.

4) A team of venerable translators may be prone to translate towards an elderly audience, a few younger representatives should be included.

Rob