The Qualities of a Good Translation

Four Main Qualities

There are four main qualities of a good translation. It must be:

• clear — see Create Clear Translations
• natural — see Create Natural Translations
• accurate — see Create Accurate Translations
• church-approved — see Create Church-Approved Translations

We can think of each of these qualities as a leg of a four-legged stool. Each one is necessary. If one is missing, the stool will not stand. Likewise, each of these qualities must be present in a translation in order for it to be faithful to God’s Word and useful to the church.

Clear

Use whatever language structures are necessary to achieve the highest level of understanding. This includes simplifying concepts, rearranging the form of a text, and using as many or as few terms as necessary to communicate the original meaning as accurately as possible. To learn how to make clear translations, see Create Clear Translations.

Natural

Use language forms that are effective and that reflect the way your language is used in corresponding contexts. To learn how to make natural translations, see Create Natural Translations.

Accurate

Translate accurately, without detracting from, changing, or adding to the meaning of the original text as it would have been understood by the original audience. Translate with the meaning of the text in mind and communicate accurately the implicit information, unknown concepts, and figures of speech. To learn how to make accurate translations, see Create Accurate Translations.

Church-Approved

If a translation is clear, natural and accurate, but the church does not approve of it or accept it, then it will not achieve the final goal of edifying the church. It is important that the church be involved in the translation, checking, and distribution of the translation. To learn how to make church-approved translations, see Create Church-Approved Translations.

Six Other Qualities

In addition to being clear, natural, accurate, and church-approved, great translations should also be:

• faithful — see Create Faithful Translations
• authoritative — see Create Authoritative Translations
• historical — see Create Historical Translations
• equal — see Create Equal Translations
• collaborative — see Create Collaborative Translations
• ongoing — see Create Ongoing Translations

Create Clear Translations

Clear Translations

A clear translation will use whatever language structures are needed to help readers easily read and understand it. This includes putting the text into a different form or arrangement and using as many or as few terms as necessary to communicate the original meaning as clearly as possible.

These guidelines are for Other Language translations, not for Gateway Language translations. When translating the ULT into a Gateway Language, you should not make these changes. It is not necessary to make these changes when translating the UST into a Gateway Language, because they have already been done. Here are some ideas to create a clear translation from the source text:

Check Pronouns

You will need to check the pronouns in the source text and make it clear to whom or what each pronoun refers. Pronouns are words that stand in the place of a noun or a noun phrase. They refer to something that has already been mentioned.

Always check carefully that it is clear to whom or what each pronoun refers. If it is not clear, it may be necessary to put in the name of a person or thing instead of using a pronoun.

Identify Participants

Next you need to understand who is doing the action. A clear translation will identify the participants. The participants in an event are the people or things that take part in that event. The subject that is doing the action and the object that has the action done to it are the main participants. When re-expressing an event idea as a verb, it is often necessary to state who or what are the participants in that event. Usually this will be clear from the context.

Clearly Express Event Ideas

An event idea is an action most clearly expressed by a verb. Many event ideas may occur as nouns in the Gateway Language. A clear translation may need to express these event ideas as verbs. For example, “the wrath of God appeared” is clearer as “God was angry.” Instead of “Jesus is my Savior,” translate the event idea as “Jesus is the one who saves me.”

When preparing to translate, it is helpful to look for any event ideas in the passage, especially those which are expressed by some form other than a verb. See if you can re-express the meaning using a verb to express the event idea. If, however, your language also uses nouns to express event ideas and the event or action sounds more natural as a noun, then use the noun form. See Abstract Nouns.

You may also need to change each event idea into an active clause to be sure it is understood.

Passive Verbs

A clear translation may need to change any passive verbs to the active form. See Active or Passive.

In the active form, the subject of the sentence is the person who does the action. In the passive form, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing to which the action is done. For example, “John hit Bill” is an active sentence. “Bill was hit by John” is a passive sentence.

Many languages do not have a passive form; only the active form exists. In this case, it would be necessary to turn a sentence from the passive form into the active form. Some languages, however, prefer to use passive forms. Translators should use the forms that are most natural in the target language.

Look at Each ‘Of’ Phrase

To make a clear translation, you will also need to look at each “of” phrase to identify the meaning of the relationship between the nouns connected by “of.” In many languages, “of” constructions are not as frequent as they are in the original languages of the Bible. Study the meaning of each one and re-express the “of” phrase in a way which makes the relationship between the parts clear.

These are genitive phrases such as “the grace of God,” “the hope of eternal life,” etc. If possible, make the relationship between the two things in these phrases clear. So, for “the grace of God,” you could say “the grace that comes from God” or “the grace that God gives.” For “the hope of eternal life,” you could translate it to say “the expectation that God will give us eternal life.”

After you have checked these things and made your translation as clear as possible, you will need to read it to other people who speak your language to see if it is clear to them. If there are parts that they do not understand, it may be because that part is not clear. Together, you can think of a clearer way to say that part. Keep checking the translation with many people until all of it is clear.

Remember: Translation is re-telling, as exactly as possible, the meaning of the original message in a way that is clear and natural in the target language.

Writing Clearly

Asking yourself these questions can also help you to create a translation that communicates clearly:

• Have I used punctuation to help a reader know when to pause or breathe?
• Have I indicated which parts are direct speech?
• Have I separated paragraphs?
• Have I considered adding section headings?

Create Natural Translations

Natural Translations

To translate the Bible so that it is natural means that the translation sounds like it was written by a member of the target group—not by a foreigner. Here are some ideas for making a natural translation.

Use Short Sentences

In order for a translation to sound natural, sometimes it is necessary to create shorter, simpler sentences from longer, complex ones. The Greek language often has long, grammatically complicated sentences. Some Bible translations follow the Greek structure closely and keep these long sentences in their translation, even when this does not sound natural or is confusing in the target language.

When preparing to translate, it is often helpful to rewrite the passage, breaking long sentences up into shorter sentences. This can help you to see the meaning more clearly and translate it better. In many languages, it is good style to have shorter sentences, or, when sentences are longer, to avoid having complicated sentences. So in re-expressing the meaning in the Target Language, it is sometimes necessary to break up some of the original long sentences into several shorter sentences. Because many languages use sentences with only one or two clause groupings, the shorter sentences will give a sense of naturalness. The shorter sentences will also give readers a better understanding, because the meaning will be clearer. Be sure to include clear connection words between the new, shorter clauses and sentences.

To make shorter sentences from longer, more complex sentences, identify the words in the sentence that relate directly to each other, that is, that belong together to form a clause. Generally, each verb or action word has words on either side of it that point backward or forward to the action of the verb. A grouping of words like this that can stand on its own may be written as an independent clause or a simple sentence. Keep each of those groups of words together and, in that way, divide the sentence into its separate ideas or parts. Read the new sentences to make sure they still make sense. If there is a problem, you may need to divide the long sentence in a different way. When you understand the message of the new sentences, translate them into the target language, making sentences that are a natural length and connect them in a natural way. Then test your translation by reading it to a member of the language community to see if it sounds natural.

Write the Way Your People Talk

Read the passage or chapter of the Bible and ask yourself, “What kind of message is this?” Then translate that passage or chapter in the way that your language would communicate that kind of message.

For example, if the passage is a poem, such as in the Psalms, then translate it in the form that your people will recognize as a poem. Or if the passage is an exhortation about the right way to live, such as in the New Testament letters, then translate it in a form that people in your language exhort each other. Or if the passage is a story about what someone did, translate it in the form of a story (that really happened). The Bible has a lot of these kinds of stories, and as part of these stories people say things to each other that also have their own form. For example, people make threats, give warnings, and praise or rebuke each other. To make your translation natural, you should translate each of these things in the way that people in your language make threats, give warnings, praise or rebuke each other, etc.

In order to know how to write these different things, you may have to listen to what people say around you, and practice writing down different things that people say and do, so that you become familiar with the form and words that people use for these different purposes.

A good translation will use the same vocabulary and expressions as the people of the target group normally use. It should be easy for them to read it or listen to it. There should not be any awkward or strange phrases. The translation should read as easily as a letter from a close friend.

Not for Gateway Language Translations

This section is not for Gateway Language translations of the ULT and UST. These are Bibles that are designed to have characteristics that keep them from being natural in a target language. They are Bible translation tools, not end-user Bibles. For more information about this, see “Translating the ULT” and “Translating the UST” in the Gateway Languages Manual.

Create Accurate Translations

Accurate Translations

To create an accurate translation of the Bible means that the translation communicates the same message as the source. Here are some steps to follow:

• Discover the meaning of a passage.
• Identify the main idea.
• Translate with the author’s message in mind.

Discover the Meaning

First, read each passage a few times to discover the meaning. Use the two versions of the Bible available in translationStudio: the unfoldingWord® Simplified Text and the unfoldingWord® Literal Text. Also read the definitions of the unfoldingWord® Translation Words and the unfoldingWord® Translation Notes.

First read the unfoldingWord® Literal Text:

And whatever city you enter into, and they receive you, eat what is set before you, and heal the sick in it, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come close to you.’ (Luke 10:8-9 ULT)

Look at the unfoldingWord® Simplified Text in the translation helps:

Whenever you enter a town and the people there welcome you, eat whatever food they provide for you. Heal the people there who are sick. Tell them, ‘God will soon rule everywhere as king.’ (Luke 10:8-9 UST)

Do you notice the differences? There are some differences in the words each Bible version uses.

Did you discover the meaning is the same? In both versions Jesus is giving specific instructions, and they are the same instructions. Both versions are accurate translations.

Identify the Main Idea

Then, after discovering the meaning of the passage, you should identify the main idea.

Ask yourself, “Why is the author writing this, and how does he feel about these things?”

Look at the Luke 10 passage again. Why do you think the author is writing this? What do you think the author feels about what he wrote? What do you think? After you have read the passage several times, answer these questions:

• What is happening? Jesus is giving instructions.
• When and where did these things take place? To answer this question, you would need to remember what happened earlier. Earlier, Luke writes that Jesus and the disciples are on the way to Jerusalem, and chapter 10 starts with Jesus sending out 72 people to preach.
• Who is involved in this passage? Jesus and the 72 people he sent out.
• Why were the 72 sent out? To heal the sick and to tell everyone that the kingdom of God is near.

The Message of the Writer

Finally, part of translating the source text accurately is to think of the original audience and the message of the writer.

Do you think the author had specific things for the reader to know? Remember what we thought the author’s main ideas were? The main ideas were:

• the instructions that Jesus gave
• that the 72 people whom Jesus sent out would have power to heal sick people
• that they would tell others that the kingdom of God was near

This is the message to the original audience. Allow the same message to come clearly into your mind in the target language.

Look at the passage and think how you would retell it in your own language. Keep this initial translation by writing it down. Use an alphabet that suits your language.

Remember: Translation is re-telling, as exactly as possible, the meaning of the original message in a way that is clear and natural in the target language.

Create Church-Approved Translations

Church-Approved Translations

A good translation must be clear (see Create Clear Translations), natural (see Create Natural Translations), and accurate (see Create Accurate Translations). All three of these qualities directly affect the words and phrases that are used in the translation. If a translation lacks one of these three qualities, simply changing or reordering the words that were used can often fix the problem. The fourth quality, church-approved, has less to do with the words used and more to do with the process that is used.

The Goal of Translation

The goal of the translation of biblical content is not only to produce a high-quality translation, but to produce a high-quality translation that is used and loved by the church. High-quality translations must be clear, natural, and accurate. But for a translation to be used and loved by the church, it must be church-approved.

How to Create a Church-Approved Translation

Creating a church-approved translation is all about the process of translation, checking, and distribution. The more church networks that are involved in these processes, the more likely they will approve of the translation.

Before starting a translation project, as many church networks as possible should be contacted and encouraged to get involved in the translation process and even to send some of their people to be a part of the translation team. Church networks should be consulted and asked for their input into the translation project, its goals, and its process.

It is not necessary that the church actively lead the translation and coordinate all the efforts, but it is necessary that church networks approve whoever is leading the translation, preferably before they even start.

Church Approval and the Checking Levels

The need for church-approval of a translation is clearly reflected in the Checking Levels. In fact, the Checking Levels are largely a measurement of how broadly the church approves of the translation.

• Level 1 states that the church-approved translation team has approved the translation.
• Level 2 states that the pastors and leaders of local churches approve the translation.
• Level 3 states that leaders of multiple church networks approve of the translation.

At each level, the people leading the translation should encourage participation and input from the church networks. By using this process, we hope to encourage church ownership of the translation among as many church networks as possible. With this approval, there should be nothing hindering the translation from being used to strengthen and encourage the church.

Create Authoritative Translations

An authoritative Bible translation is one that is based on the biblical texts in the original languages as the highest authority for the meaning of biblical content. Whenever two or more translations of the Bible disagree about the meaning of a Bible passage, it is the original languages that have the final authority for deciding the meaning. Sometimes people are very loyal to certain Bible translations that they are accustomed to reading, and they might argue with other people who are loyal to a different Bible translation. But neither of those Bible translations are the highest authority, because they are only translations of the original. All translations are secondary in authority to the original languages. That is why we must always refer to the original biblical languages when deciding how to translate the Bible.

Since not all translation teams have a member who can read the original languages of the Bible, it is not always possible to refer to the biblical languages when translating the Bible. Instead, the translation team has to rely on translations that they are able to read that have, in turn, been based on the biblical languages. Many of the translations in the Gateway Languages were translated from the biblical languages, including the ULT, but some are translations of translations. It is easy for errors to be introduced when a translation is two or three steps removed from the original.

To help with this problem, the translation team can do three things:

1. The translation team must use unfoldingWord® Translation Notes, unfoldingWord® Translation Words, and any other translation helps they have to help them translate in the best way. These translation helps were written by Bible scholars who know the original biblical languages.
2. They should compare their translation with as many other reliable translations as they can, to make sure that it is communicating the same message as the others.
3. Someone who has studied the biblical languages should review the translation to make sure that it is accurate. This person could be a church leader, pastor, seminary professor, or Bible translation professional.

Sometimes Bible translations differ because some passages in the Bible are unclear or ambiguous in the original biblical languages. In that case, the translation team must choose between them based on what Bible scholars say in unfoldingWord® Translation Notes, unfoldingWord® Translation Words, the UST, and other translation helps.

Create Historical Translations

(See the video “Translating the Scriptures — Culture” at https://ufw.io/trans_culture.)

A historical translation communicates historical events and facts accurately. It provides additional information as needed to accurately communicate the intended message to people who do not share the context and culture of the original recipients of the original content.

To communicate well with historical accuracy, you need to remember two things:

1. The Bible is a historical document. The events of the Bible happened at different times in history in the way that the Bible describes. Therefore, when you translate the Bible, you need to communicate that these events happened, and do not change any of the details of what happened.
2. The books of the Bible were written down at specific times in history for people of a certain culture. This means that some things in the Bible that were very clear to the original hearers and readers will not be clear to those who read the Bible in different times and in different cultures. This is because both the writer and the readers were familiar with many of the practices that the writer wrote about, so the writer did not need to explain them. We, from other times and cultures, are not familiar with these things, so we need someone to explain them to us. This kind of information is called “implicit (or implied) information.” (See Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information.)

As translators, we need to translate the historical details accurately, but also provide some explanation when we think that our readers will need it so that they can understand what the translation is about.

• For example, Genesis 12:16 refers to camels. For readers in parts of the world where this animal is unknown, it might be good to provide a description. The best way to do this is in a footnote or in a glossary entry such as the one in unfoldingWord® Translation Words.

Some explanation can be included in the text, as long as it is brief and does not distract the reader from the main point of the text.

• For example, the New Testament writers often referred to events in the Old Testament, but without explaining what they were referring to. They knew that their readers were very familiar with the Old Testament and did not need any explanation. But it is possible that readers from other times and places will need some explanation.

Let us compare 1 Corinthians 10:1 from the ULT and UST.

“For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea.” (ULT)

“I want you to remember, brothers and sisters, that our Jewish ancestors were following God, who led them out of Egypt by means of a cloud during the day, and that they passed through the Sea of Reeds on dry land.” (UST)

Notice that the UST makes several points explicit: the ‘fathers were all under the cloud’ tells of the time that God led the Jewish ancestors as a cloud. The statement that ‘our fathers passed through the sea’ is also about the ‘passing through the Sea of Reeds on dry land.’ The UST translator decided to explicitly describe the historical events. This is a way to translate historical events that is more meaningful for those who have little knowledge of Old Testament history.

Include or refer to the needed implicit information intended by the original writer that will be necessary for your community to understand what is written.

Maintain the historical accuracy of the message. Avoid referring to items and events that were not present in the Bible times. Do not make your translation sound like it is a modern-day event.

Remember:

• Keep true to the historical text. The original message, historical events, and cultural background information should all be the same as it was written in the source text. For example, the translation must not have the message rewritten so that events happened at a different place or time.
• Communicate clearly by expressing the message in such a way that people in the target language culture will be able to understand the meaning that the original author intended to communicate.
• Only provide additional information as needed to accurately communicate the intended message to people who do not share the same context and culture as the recipients of the original content.

Create Equal Translations

An equal translation communicates any expressive meaning from the source language in an equal way in the target language. Especially notice the forms in the source text that communicate certain kinds of emotions and choose forms in the target language that communicate the same emotions. Examples of some of these forms follow.

Idioms

Description — An idiom is a group of words that has a meaning that is different from what one would understand from the meanings of the individual words. Determine the meaning of idioms, proverbs, and figures of speech and translate them with expressions in your language that have the same meaning. Usually idioms cannot be translated literally into another language. The meaning of the idiom has to be expressed in a way that is natural in the Other Language.

For example, these three translations all have the same meaning. See Acts 18:6:

• “Your blood be upon your heads! I am innocent.” (RSV)
• “If you are lost, you yourselves must take the blame for it! I am not responsible.” (GNB)
• “If God punishes you, it is because of you, not me!” (TFT)

These are all accusations of guilt. Some are using idioms with the word “blood” or “lost,” while the third is more direct using the word “punishes.” In order for your translation to be equal, it must also express an accusation in an emotional way, and may use an idiom, as long as both the form of the accusation and the idiom are appropriate for the target language and culture.

Figures of Speech

Description — A figure of speech is a special way of saying something in order to catch attention or express an emotion about what is said. The meaning of a figure of speech as a whole is different from the normal meaning of the individual words.

Here are some examples:

• I was shattered! The speaker was not literally broken, but he felt very bad.
• He closed his ears to what I was saying. Meaning, “he chose to not listen to what I was saying.”
• The wind moaned in the trees. This means that the wind blowing through the trees sounded like a person moaning.
• The whole world came to the meeting. Everyone in the world did not attend the meeting. Most likely there were many people at the meeting.

Each language uses different figures of speech. Make sure you can:

• recognize that a figure of speech is being used
• recognize the purpose of the figure of speech
• recognize the real meaning of the figure of speech

It is the real meaning of the whole figure of speech that should be translated into your language, not the meaning of the individual words. Once you understand the real meaning, you can choose an expression in the target language that communicates that same meaning and emotion.

(For more information, see the Figures of Speech information.)

Rhetorical Questions

Description — Rhetorical questions are another way that the speaker captures the attention of the reader. Rhetorical questions are a type of question that does not expect an answer or ask for information. They usually express some kind of emotion and can be intended as a rebuke, a warning, and expression of surprise, or something else.

For example, see Matthew 3:7: “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is coming?” (ULT)

Here, no answer is expected. The speaker is not asking for information; he is rebuking his hearers. It does no good to warn these people of God’s wrath because they refuse the only way to escape it: to repent of their sins.

You may need to restate this rhetorical question as a statement when you translate if your language does not use rhetorical questions in this way. But remember, be sure to keep the same purpose and meaning, and communicate the same emotion as the original rhetorical question had. If your language communicates the purpose, meaning, and emotion of a rhetorical question with a different kind of figure of speech, then use that figure of speech.

(see Rhetorical Questions)

Exclamations

Description — Languages use exclamations to communicate emotion. Sometimes the exclamation word or words do not have meaning other than the expression of emotion, such as the words “alas” or “wow” in English.

For example, see 1 Samuel 4:8a: Woe to us! Who will protect us from the strength of these mighty gods? (ULT)

The Hebrew word translated as “woe” here expresses strong emotion about something bad that happened. If possible, try to find an exclamation in your language that communicates this same emotion.

Poetry

Description — One of the purposes of poetry is to express emotion about something. Poetry expresses emotion through a variety of ways that can differ from one language to another. These ways can include everything discussed so far, such as figures of speech and exclamations. Poetry might also use grammar differently than ordinary speech, or use wordplays or words with similar sounds or certain rhythms to convey emotion.

For example, see Psalm 36:5: 5 Your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, reaches to the heavens; your loyalty reaches to the clouds. (ULT)

This verse of poetry repeats a similar idea in two lines, which is good Hebrew poetic style. Also, there are no verbs in the Hebrew original, which is a different use of grammar than ordinary speech would use. Poetry in your language may have different things that mark it as poetry. When you are translating poetry, try to use the forms of your language that communicate to the reader that this is poetry, and that communicate the same emotions that the source poem is trying to communicate.

Remember: Communicate the feelings and attitudes of the original text. Translate them into forms that communicate in a similar way in your language. Consider how that meaning can best be accurately, clearly, equally, and naturally expressed in the target language.

Create Collaborative Translations

Bible translations that are collaborative are those that have been translated by a group of speakers of the same language. To ensure that your translation is of the highest quality, work together with other believers who speak your language to translate, check, and distribute the translated content.

Here are some ways to include others that can help improve the quality of the translation.

• Read the translation out loud to someone. Have him notice if the sentences connect well. Ask that person to point out words or phrases that do not sound right or are unclear. Make changes so that it sounds as if someone from your community is speaking.
• Ask someone to read your translation to check your spelling. You may have spelled a word differently when a different spelling was not necessary. Some words change in different situations, but some words can stay the same in every situation. Take note of these changes, so others can know what decisions you have made on the spelling of your language.
• Ask yourself if the way you wrote can be recognized easily by speakers of different dialects in your language community. If there is something that is not clear in your translation, ask others how they would say it.

Make changes to the translation before you distribute it to a wider audience.

Remember: if possible, work together with other believers who speak your language to translate, check, and distribute the translated content, ensuring that it is of the highest quality and that as many people as possible can read and understand it.

(You may also want to watch the video at https://ufw.io/guidelines_collab.)

Create Ongoing Translations

Bible translations should be ongoing. Share the translation with others to see if they understand the meaning of the message. Improve your translation with their input. Revising a translation to increase understanding and accuracy is always a good idea. Whenever someone has a good idea for making the translation better, you should edit the translation to incorporate that change. When you use translationStudio or other electronic text editors, you can keep this process of revision and improvement ongoing.

• Find reviewers who can read the translation and point to text that needs revision.
• Ask others to read the translation or listen to a recording of the translation. This will help you know if the translation has the same impact in your community that it had among the original audience (for example: giving comfort, encouragement, or guidance).
• Continue to make corrections to the translation that will make it more accurate, more clear, and more natural. The goal is always to make it communicate the same meaning as the source text.

Remember: encourage people to review the translation and give you ideas for making it better. Talk to other people about these ideas. When several people agree that these are good ideas, then make these changes in the translation. In this way, the translation will get better and better.

(You may also want to watch the video at https://ufw.io/guidelines_ongoing.)

The Translation Process

How to Translate

There are two things to do in translation:

1. Discover the meaning in the source language text (See Discover the Meaning of the Text.)
2. Re-tell the meaning in the target language translation (See Re-telling the Meaning.)

Instructions for translation sometimes divide these two things into smaller steps. The graphic below shows how these two fit into the translation process.

Discover the Meaning of the Text

How to Discover the Meaning

There are many different things that we can do to help us to discover the meaning of the text, that is, to make sure that we understand what the text is trying to say. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Read the whole passage through before you translate it. Understand the main point of the whole passage before you begin to translate it. If it is a narrative passage, such as a story of one of Jesus’ miracles, picture the original situation. Imagine you were there. Imagine how people felt.

2. When translating the Bible, always use at least two versions of the Bible together as your source text. Comparing two versions will help you to think about the meaning, so that you do not just follow the words of one version literally. The two versions should be:

   • One version that follows the form of the original language fairly closely, such as the unfoldingWord® Literal Text (ULT).
   • One meaning-based version, such as the unfoldingWord® Simplified Text (UST).

3. Use the unfoldingWord® Translation Words resource to learn about terms that you are not familiar with. Words sometimes have more than one meaning. Make sure that you have understood the right meaning of the word in the passage.

4. Also use the unfoldingWord® Translation Notes that are with the ULT. These are available in the translationStudio program and the Door43 website. These will explain things about the passage that may not be clear. If possible, also use other reference books, such as other versions of the Bible, a Bible dictionary, or Bible commentaries.

Re-telling the Meaning

How to Re-tell the Meaning

A list of ordered steps is shown below. The purpose of these steps is to help the translator produce a translation that is natural, understandable, and accurate. One of the most common mistakes that translators make is failing to use the natural forms in the target language for developing a coherent text. By following these steps, the translator will produce a more natural and more understandable translation.

1. Read the entire chosen passage in the source language. The passage could be a paragraph or one thing that happened in a story, or even a whole section (in some Bibles, everything from one heading to the next heading). In a difficult text, a passage might be only one or two verses.
2. Without looking at the text in the source language, verbally tell it in the target language. Although you might forget some parts, continue telling what you remember right to the end.
3. Again, look at the source language text. Now tell everything again in the target language.
4. Looking again at the source language text, focus only on the parts you forgot, and then re-tell it all in the target language by memory.
5. After remembering the entire passage, write it exactly as it you re-told it by memory.
6. Once written, look at the source language to see if you have overlooked some detail. Insert any such detail in the most natural place.
7. If you do not understand something in the source text, write into the translation ‘[not understood]’ and continue writing the rest of the passage.
8. Now, read what you wrote. Assess whether you understand it or not. Fix the parts that should be improved.
9. Go on to the next section. Read it in the source language. Strictly follow steps 2 through 8.

Credits: Used by permission, © 2013, Juan Tuggy P., Victor Raúl Paredes E., Sharing Our Native Culture, p. 59.

Form and Meaning

Defining Form and Meaning

Two of the major terms used in translating text are “form” and “meaning.” These terms are used in special ways in Bible translation. They have the following definitions:

• Form — The structure of the language as it appears on the page or as it is spoken. Form refers to the way that the language is arranged, including the words, the word order, the grammar, idioms, and any other features of the structure of the text.
• Meaning — The underlying idea or concept that the text is trying to communicate to the reader or hearer. A speaker or writer can communicate the same meaning by using different forms of the language, and different people can understand different meanings from hearing or reading the same language form. In this way you can see that form and meaning are not the same thing.

An Example

Let’s consider an example from normal life. Suppose a friend sent you the note below:

• “I am having a very difficult week. My mother was sick and I spent all of my money to take her to the doctor and to buy medicine for her. I do not have anything left. My employer will not pay me until next weekend. I do not know how I am going to make it through the week. I do not even have money to buy food.”

The Meaning

Why do you think the friend sent this note? Just to tell you about his week? Probably not. His true intention was more likely to tell you: “I would like you to give me money.”

That is the primary meaning of the note that the sender wanted to communicate to you. It is not a report but a request. However, it would be rude in some cultures to ask for money so directly, even from a friend. Therefore, he adjusted the form of the note to fill out the request and help you to understand his need. He wrote in a culturally acceptable way that presented his need for money but did not obligate you to respond. He explained why he had no money (his sick mother), that his need was only temporary (until he is paid), and that his situation was desperate (no food). In other cultures, a more direct form of request might be more appropriate to communicate this meaning.

The Form

In this example, the form is the entire text of the note. The meaning is “I would like you to give me money!”

We use these terms in a similar way. Form will refer to the entire text of the verses that we are translating. Meaning will refer to the idea or ideas that the text is trying to communicate. The best form for communicating a certain meaning will be different in different languages and cultures.

The Importance of Form

Why Form is Important

The meaning of a text is the most crucial element. This is the idea or message that the text conveys. However, the form of the text can also be important. In some cases, such as in poetry, it becomes more than just a container for the meaning, and will also affect the way that the meaning is understood and received. Sometimes the form of a text is part of its meaning. The naturalness of a text also depends largely on its form. So the form itself can also contribute to the meaning.

For example, look at the differences in form between two translations of Psalm 9:1-2.

From the New Life Version:

I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart. I will tell of all the great things You have done. I will be glad and full of joy because of You. I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

From the New Revised Standard Version

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

The first version puts the text into a form that is no different than the form it uses for telling stories. Each line of the Psalm is stated as a separate sentence.

In the second version, the text is arranged as lines of poetry are arranged in the target culture, with each line of the poem on a separate line of the page. Also, the first two lines are joined with a semi-colon, with the second line indented. These things indicate that the two lines are related. They say very similar things. The third and fourth lines also have the same arrangement.

A reader of the second version will know that this Psalm is a poem or a song because of its form, while the reader of the first version may not get that understanding, because it was not communicated through the form of the text. The reader of the first version might be confused, because the Psalm seems to be a song, but it is not presented as one. The words are expressing a joyful emotion. As a translator, you should use the form for expressing a joyful song in your language.

Look also at the form of 2 Samuel 18:33b in the New International Version.

“O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Someone might say that the meaning contained in this part of the verse is, “I wish that I had died instead of my son Absalom.” This does summarize the meaning contained in the words. But the form communicates much more than just that content. The repetition of “my son” so many times, the repetition of the name “Absalom,” the expression “O,” the wish form “If only …” all communicate a strong emotion of deep anguish on the part of a father who has lost a son. As a translator, you need to translate not just the meaning of the words, but also the meaning of the form. For 2 Samuel 18:33b, it is important that you use a form that communicates the same emotion as contained in the original language.

So when you translate, you need to examine the form of the biblical text and ask yourself why it has that form and not some other one. What attitude or emotion is it communicating? Consider these questions that might help you to understand the meaning of the form.

• Who wrote it?
• Who received it?
• In what situation was it written?
• Which words and phrases were chosen and why?
• Are the words very emotional words, or is there anything special about the order of the words?

When you understand the meaning of the form, then you can choose a form that has that same meaning in the target language and culture.

Culture Affects Meaning

The meaning of forms is determined by culture. The same form might have different meanings in different cultures. In translation, the meaning must remain the same, including the meaning of the form. To achieve this, sometimes the form of the text must change to fit the culture of the target language. The form includes the language of the text, its arrangement, any repetitions, or any expressions that imitate sounds like “O.” You must examine all of these things, decide what they mean, and then decide which form will express that meaning in the best way for the target language and culture.

Levels of Meaning

Levels of Meaning

A good translation requires that the meaning be the same in the target language as in the source language.

There are many different levels of meaning in any text, including the Bible. These levels include:

• meaning of words
• meaning of phrases
• meaning of sentences
• meaning of paragraphs
• meaning of chapters
• meaning of books

Words Have Meaning

We are used to thinking that the meaning of a text is in the words. But this meaning is controlled by the context that each word is in. That is, the meaning of the individual words is controlled by the levels above it, including the phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. For example, a single word like “give” may have the following possible meanings, depending on the context (the higher levels):

• to grant a gift
• to collapse or break
• to surrender
• to quit
• to concede
• to supply
• and others…

Building the Larger Meaning

The translator must determine what each word means in each context, and then reproduce that same meaning in the translated text. This means that words cannot be translated individually, but only with the meaning that they have when they are combined together with the other words in the phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters of which they form a part. That is why the translator must read the whole paragraph, chapter, or book that he is translating before starting to translate it. By reading the larger levels, he will understand how each of the lower levels fits into the whole, and will translate each part so that it communicates the meaning in a way that makes the most sense with the higher levels.

Literal Translations

Description

Literal translations try to reproduce the form of the source text as much as possible.

Other Names

Literal translations are also called:

• form-based
• word-for-word
• modified literal

Form Over Meaning

A literal translation is one that focuses on reproducing the form of the source text in the target text, even if the meaning changes or is hard to understand as a result. An extreme version of a literal translation would not be a translation at all. Rather, it would be a copy. It would have the same characters and words as the source language. The next closest step would be to replace each word in the source language with an equivalent word from the target language. Because of differences in grammar between languages, the target language audience would probably not understand this kind of translation. Some translators of the Bible wrongly believe that they should keep the word order of the source text in the target text and only substitute target language words for source language words. They wrongly believe that this shows respect for the source text as God’s Word. But in fact this kind of translation keeps people from understanding God’s Word. God wants people to understand his Word. Therefore, translating the Bible so that people can understand it shows the greatest respect for the Bible and for God.

Weaknesses of Literal Translation

Literal translations usually contain the following problems:

• foreign words that are not understood by the target audience
• word order that is strange or awkward in the target language
• idioms that are not used or understood in the target language
• names of objects that do not exist in the target culture
• descriptions of customs that are not understood in the target culture
• paragraphs that have no logical connections in the target language
• stories and explanations that do not make sense in the target language
• implied information that is left out but that is necessary for understanding the intended meaning

When to Translate Literally

The only time to translate literally is when translating Gateway Language materials (such as the ULT) that will be used by Other Language translators. The purpose of the ULT is to show the translator what is in the original. Even so, the ULT is not strictly literal. It is a modified literal translation that uses the target language grammar so that readers can understand it. For the places where the ULT uses the original expressions in the Bible that may be difficult to understand, we have provided the translationNotes to explain them.

Word for Word Substitution

Description

A word-for-word substitution is the most literal form of translation. It is not the best choice for doing good translations. A word-for-word translation simply substitutes an equivalent word in the target language for each word in the source language.

In Word-For-Word Translations

• The focus is on one word at a time.
• The natural sentence structure, phrase structures and figures of speech of the target language are ignored.
• The process of word-for-word translation is very simple.
• The first word in the source text is translated by an equivalent word.
• Then the next word is done. This continues until the verse is translated.
• The word-for-word approach is attractive because it is so simple. However, it results in a poor quality translation.

Word-for-word substitution results in translations that are awkward to read. They are often confusing and give the wrong meaning or even no meaning at all. You should avoid doing this type of translation. Here are some examples:

Word Order

Here is an example from Luke 3:16 in the ULT:

John answered, saying to them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but more powerful than I is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

That translation is clear and easy to understand. But suppose the translators had used the word-for-word method. What would the translation be like?

Here, translated in English, are the words in the same order as the original Greek.

answered saying to all the John I indeed with water baptize you he comes but who mightier than I of whom not I am worthy untie the strap of the sandals of him he you will baptize with spirit holy and fire

This translation is awkward and does not make sense in English.

Look again at the ULT version above. The English ULT translators did not keep the original Greek word order. They moved words around in the sentence to fit the rules of English grammar. They also changed some of the phrasing. For example, the English ULT says, “John answered by saying to them all,” rather than “John answered to all saying.” They used different words in a different order to make the text sound natural so that it could successfully communicate the original meaning.

The translation must communicate the same meaning as the Greek text. In this example, the ULT is a much better English translation than the awkward word-for-word version.

Range of Word Meanings

In addition, word-for-word substitution usually does not take into account that most words in all languages have a range of meanings. In any one passage, usually the writer had only one of those meanings in mind. In a different passage, he may have had a different meaning in mind. But in word-for-word translations, usually only one meaning is chosen and used throughout the translation.

For example, the Greek word “aggelos” can refer to a human messenger or to an angel.

This is he concerning whom it is written, ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ (Luke 7:27)

Here the word “aggelos” refers to a human messenger. Jesus was talking about John the Baptist.

… the angels had gone away from them into heaven … (Luke 2:15)

Here the word “aggelos” refers to angels from heaven.

A word-for-word translation process might use the same word in both verses, even though it is used to refer to two different kinds of beings. This would be confusing to the reader.

Figures of Speech

Finally, figures of speech are not conveyed correctly in a word-for-word translation. As a whole expression, a figure of speech has a meaning that is different from the individual words. When they are translated word-for-word, the meaning of the figure of speech is lost. Even if they are translated so that they follow the normal word order of the target language, readers will not understand their meaning. See the Figures of Speech page to learn how to correctly translate them.

Problems with Literal Translations

Changing form to protect meaning

Literal translations keep the form of the source text in the target text. As you saw in the teaching module “The Importance of Form,” some translators might want to do this because the form of a text affects the meaning of the text. However, you must remember that people from different cultures understand the meaning of forms differently. In different cultures, the same form may be understood in very different ways. Therefore, it is not possible to protect the meaning from change by keeping the original forms. The only way to protect the meaning is to change the original form to a new form that communicates the same meaning in the new culture as the old form did in the old culture.

Different languages use different orders of words and phrases

If you keep the word order of the source text in your translation, it will be very difficult for the people who speak your language to understand it. Sometimes it will be impossible to understand. You must use the natural word order of the Target Language so that people can understand the meaning of the text.

Different languages use different idioms and expressions

Each language has its own idioms and other expressions, such as words that represent sounds or emotions. In order to express the meaning of these things, you must choose an idiom or expression that has that same meaning in the target language, rather than simply translating each word. If you just translate each word, the idiom or expression will have the wrong meaning.

Some terms do not have equivalents in other cultures

The Bible contains many terms for things that no longer exist, such as ancient weights (stadia, cubit), money (denarius, stater) and measures (hin, ephah). Animals in Scripture may not exist in some parts of the world (fox, camel). Other words may be unknown in some cultures (snow, circumcision). It is not possible to simply substitute equivalent words for these terms in those situations. The translator must find another way to communicate the original meaning.

The Bible was intended to be understood

The Scriptures themselves show that they were meant to be understood. The Bible is written in three languages because the language that God’s people used was different in different times. When the Jews returned from exile and no longer remembered Hebrew, the priests translated the Old Testament readings into Aramaic so they could understand (Neh 8:8). Later, when the New Testament was written, it was written in the common Koiné Greek, which was the language that most people spoke at that time. The New Testament was not written in Hebrew, Aramaic or even classical Greek, which would have been harder for common people to understand.

These and other reasons demonstrate that God wants people to understand his word. So we know that he wants us to translate the meaning of the Bible, not reproduce the form. The meaning of the Scriptures is more important than the form.

Meaning-Based Translations

Introduction

We have looked closely at literal translations. Now, we will look at meaning-based translations. These translations are also called:

• meaning-equivalent
• idiomatic
• dynamic

Key Characteristic

The key characteristic of meaning-based translations is that they give priority to translating the meaning over reproducing the form of the source text. That is, they change the form of the text as needed in order to make the meaning clear. The most common types of changes that meaning-based translations make are:

• change word order to match the grammar of the target language
• replace foreign grammatical structures with natural ones
• change order of reasons or results to match the normal order of the flow of logic in the target language
• substitute or explain idioms
• explain or translate terms from other languages (“Golgotha” = “place of the skull”)
• use phrases with simpler words instead of trying to find single word equivalents for difficult or uncommon words in the source text
• replace terms that are unknown in the target culture with equivalent terms or descriptions
• replace connecting words that the target language does not use with connecting words that the target language needs
• substitute target language figures of speech that have the same meaning as the original figures of speech
• include implied information that is necessary to understand the meaning of the text
• explain unclear phrases or constructions

Examples of Meaning-Based Translations

What does a meaning-based translation look like? We will look at how different versions translate the same verse.

In Luke 3:8, John the Baptist rebukes the self-righteous people who came to be baptized.

The Greek text of the first half of the verse is shown below.

Ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας

The English translation, in the same order as each Greek word, and with some alternative English words to choose from, is below.

Do/make/produce therefore fruits fit/appropriate of the repentance

Literal

A literal translation would usually follow the words and order of the Greek text as closely as possible, such as the following.

Therefore, produce fruits that are worthy of repentance (Luke 3:8a ULT)

Note that this modified-literal translation retains the words “fruits” and “repentance.” The word order is also very similar to the Greek text. This is because the ULT is designed to show translators what is in the original text. But it may not be the natural or clear way to communicate this meaning in your language.

Meaning-Based

Meaning-based translations, on the other hand, are more likely to change the words and order if the translators think it will help to clarify the meaning. Consider these three meaning-based translations.

From the Living Bible:

… prove that you have turned from sin by doing worthy deeds.

From the New Living Translation:

Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.

From the unfoldingWord® Simplified Text:

Do the things that show that you have truly rejected your previous sinful way of living!

Notice that these translations have changed the word order to be more natural in English. Also, the word “fruits” no longer appears. In fact, the Living Bible translation uses almost none of the words in the ULT translation. Instead, rather than “fruits,” the meaning-based translations refer to “deeds” or to “the way you live.” “Fruits” in this verse is used as part of a metaphor. The meaning of “fruits” in this metaphor is “the things that a person does.” (See Metaphor.)

So in these versions, the translators translated the meaning in context, rather than just the words. They also used more understandable phrases such as “turned from sin” or “turned away from your sinful behavior” rather than the single difficult word “repentance,” or they explained the word by saying, “repented of your sins and turned to God.” The meaning in all of them is the same, but the form is very different. In the meaning-based translations, the meaning is much clearer.

Translate for Meaning

The Importance of Meaning

The people who wrote the Bible had messages from God that God wanted people to understand. These original writers used the language that their people spoke so that they and their people could understand God’s messages. God wants people today to understand those same messages. But people today do not speak those languages that the Bible was written in long ago. So God has given us the task of translating the Bible into the languages that people speak today.

The particular language that people use to communicate God’s messages is not important. The specific words that are used are not important. What is important is the meaning that those words communicate. The meaning is the message, not the words or the language. What we must translate, then, is not the words or the forms of the sentences of the source languages, but the meaning.

Look at the pairs of sentences below.

• It rained all night. / Rain fell all night.

• John was very surprised when he heard the news. / The news very much amazed John when he heard it.

• It was a hot day. / The day was hot.

• Peter’s house / The house that belongs to Peter

You can see that the meaning of each pair of sentences is the same, even though they use different words. This is the way it is in a good translation. We will use different words than the source text, but we will keep the meaning the same. We will use words that our people understand and use them in a way that is natural for our language. Communicating the same meaning as the source text in a clear and natural way is the goal of translation.

Credits: Example sentences from Barnwell, pp. 19-20, (c) SIL International 1986, used by permission.

Choosing a Translation Team

Importance of a Translation Team

Translating the Bible is a very large and difficult task that may take many people to
accomplish. This module will discuss the skills that will be needed by members of the
Bible translation team, and the responsibilities that these people will have. Some
people will have many skills and responsibilities, and other people will have only a few.
But it is important that every Bible translation team includes enough people to make
sure that all of these skills are represented on the team.

Church Leaders

Before starting a translation project, as many church networks as possible should be
contacted and encouraged to become a part of the translation and even to send some
of their people to be a part of the translation team. They should be consulted and
asked for their input into the translation project, its goals, and its process.

In most successful projects, a strategic leader (or team of leaders) with a desire to
serve and equip the church that speaks the language is a catalyzing and motivating
force to unite the churches, inaugurate the project, and move the project forward.
These leaders are often the drivers that form the translation committee and help to
oversee from the beginning the efforts of the larger translation effort and its integration
into the formation and growth of the church in the people group.

Translation Committee

It is good if the leaders of these churches and church networks can form a committee to guide the work, choose the translators, resolve problems that arise, and encourage the churches to pray for the work and to support the work financially.

This committee can also choose the pastors and other leaders who will check the translation at the Accuracy and Validation stages.

When it comes time, committee members can make decisions about the format of the translation and how it will be distributed. They can also encourage the churches to use the translated Scriptures.

This committee should also plan for the maintenance of the translation after it has been translated and distributed. The committee may want to appoint someone to review the comments and suggestions for improvement that will come from the churches that use the translation. Door43 provides a place for people to access the translation and also to leave these kinds of comments.

Translators

These are the people who will do the work of making the translation drafts. They will be appointed by the Translation Committee. They need to be people who are native speakers of the target language, who can read the source language (the Gateway Language) very well, and who are respected in the community for their Christian character. For more details about these things, see Translator Qualifications.

Besides making the first drafts, these people will form the core of the translation team that will check each other’s work, check the translation with the language community, and perform the Translation Words and Translation Notes checks. After each review or checking session, these translators will be responsible to make the changes to the translation that are necessary so that it communicates what it should in the best way. So they will revise the translation many, many times.

Typists

If the translators themselves are not typing the translation draft into a computer or tablet, then someone else on the team must do this. This needs to be someone who can type without making a lot of errors. This person also needs to know how to use punctuation marks correctly and consistently. This person may also need to type the revisions and corrections to the translation after each round of checking.

Translation Testers

Some people need to test the translation with members of the language community to make sure that the translation is clear and sounds natural in the target language. Usually these are the translators, but they could be other people. These testers need to read the translation to people and then ask them questions to see how they are understanding it. For a description of this task, see Other Methods.

Accuracy Checkers

The people who are selected to check the translation for accuracy should be people who already know the Bible well in the source language. They should be able to read well in the source language. They will be comparing the translation to the source Bible, to make sure that the translation communicates everything that is in the source Bible. They should be people who are interested in the translation work and who have time to do a good job of checking. It is best for accuracy checkers to include members of the different church groups who speak the target language and who will use the translation.

Validation Checkers

Those who do Validation Checking should be leaders of groups of churches or people who are very widely respected in the language area. It is important that these people approve of the translation so that it will be accepted and used in the churches. Since many of these people are very busy, they may choose to appoint others whom they trust to check the translation for them. Also, it may work best to send different books or chapters to different people, and not burden one or two people with checking the whole translation.

Tech Support

These people must have experience (or aptitude) with technology and computers for all things pertaining to file management, as well as training and use of software and hardware.

Project Management

These people must have skills in organization, planning, and management of the translation team’s time, effort and workload.

Process Management

These people have skills in teaching, leading, and coaching in workshops, as well as ongoing assessment and improvement of team methodology and application of translation principles.

Mapping Skills to Roles

The combined skills that are needed in a Church-Centric Bible Translation team can
be configured into a team of many different roles. The best composition of any
given team cannot be prescribed in advance. It might even change over time, but the team must account for all the essential skills. We accomplish this as follows:

1. We work with the leaders of the church networks to ensure that they understand the skills and functions needed on their translation team, as described in unfoldingWord® Translation Academy.

2. We help them to identify an initial team composition based on the skills and contextual reality of their team (e.g., size of the team, theological ability, translation experience, language skill, geographic distribution, relationship dynamics, etc.). Their team may be small, with several skills being provided by the same person. Or the team may be large (in some cases as many as 25 full-time translators and hundreds of volunteers), with many people providing the same skill in an overlapping and intentionally redundant manner. Regardless of the structure and size of the team that is needed in a given context, the combined roles on any team must provide the combination of skills needed to achieve excellence in Bible translation.

3. The team begins working together on an initial translation project (we recommend Open Bible Stories) and observes the effectiveness of their team’s configuration. As needed, adjustments to the team structure are made to improve efficiency, and training is provided to increase skill and effectiveness.

Translator Qualifications

Qualifications of the Translator or Translation Team

The leaders of the church networks that will be involved in the translation should consider the following questions when choosing the people who will be members of the translation team. These questions will help the church and community leaders know if the people that they choose will be able to successfully translate the Bible or the Open Bible Stories.

1. Is the person known to be a very good speaker of the target language? It is important that the person speak the target language very well.

   • Can this person read and write the target language well?
   • Has the person been living in the language community for much of his or her life? Someone who has lived away from the language area for a very long period of time might have difficulty making a natural translation.
   • Do people respect the way this person speaks their own language?
   • What is the age and local language background of each translator? It is usually good to have people from different places in the language area and of different ages, because people of different places and ages might use the language differently. The various translators must agree on how to say things in a way that everyone can understand clearly.

2. Does the person have a very good understanding of the source language?

   • What level of education have they received, and how have they obtained skills in the source language?
   • Does the Christian community recognize that this person has adequate skills to speak the source language and an education sufficient to use the Notes or other exegetical helps provided?
   • Can the person read and write the source language with fluency and understanding?

3. Is the person respected in the community as a follower of Christ? The person must be humble and willing to listen to suggestions or corrections from others concerning his or her translation work. The person must be always willing to learn from others.

   • How long have they been a Christian, and are they in good standing with their Christian community?
   • How has this person shown himself to be committed to Christ as a disciple? Bible translation is difficult, involves many revisions, and requires dedication to the task.

After the translators have been working for a while, the translation committee will need to make sure that they are working well. They may ask: Has the translator been willing to work with others in testing and checking their translation? Does their work meet the expectations of their fellow translators and local church leaders?

Choosing a Source Text

Factors to Consider for a Source Text

When choosing a source text, there are a number of factors that must be considered:

• Statement of Faith — Does the text agree with the Statement of Faith?
• Translation Guidelines — Does the text agree with the Translation Guidelines?
• Language — Is the text in a suitable language that translators and checkers understand well?
• Copyrights, Licensing, and Source Texts — Is the text released under a license that gives sufficient legal freedom?
• Source Texts and Version Numbers — Is the text the latest, most updated version?
• The Original and Source Languages — Does the translation team understand the difference between source languages and original languages?
• Original Manuscripts — Does the translation team understand about Original Manuscripts and Textual Variants?

It is important that the leaders of the churches in the language group agree that the source text is a good one. The Open Bible Stories are available in many source languages on https://ufw.io/stories/. There are also translations of the Bible there to be used as sources for translation in English, and soon, Other Languages, as well.

Copyrights, Licensing, and Source Texts

Why Is It Important?

When choosing a source text from which to do a translation, there are two reasons why it is important to consider the copyright and licensing issues. First, if you translate from a copyrighted work without prior permission, you are breaking the law because translation is a right reserved for the owner of the content. In some places, copyright infringement is a criminal offense and may be prosecuted by the government without the copyright holder’s consent! Second, when a translation is done from a copyrighted work, the translation is the intellectual property of the copyright holder of the source text. They maintain all the rights of the translation just as they do with the source text. For these and other reasons, unfoldingWord will only distribute translations that are not in violation of copyright law.

What License Do We Use?

Content created by unfoldingWord® is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) (see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). We believe this license is the greatest help to the church because it is permissive enough to allow translation and other derivatives to be made from it, but not so permissive that those derivatives can be locked up under restrictive licenses. For a complete discussion on this issue, read The Christian Commons (see https://www.unfoldingword.org/tcc/) or Letting Go (see https://www.unfoldingword.org/letting-go).

What Source Texts Can Be Used?

Source texts can be used if they are in the public domain or are available under one of the following licenses, which permit translated work to be released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License:

• CC0 Public Domain Dedication (CC0) (see https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
• CC Attribution (CC BY) (see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
• CC Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) (see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
• Works released under the Free Translate License (see https://www.unfoldingword.org/freetranslate/)

For all other works in question, please contact help@door43.org .

Note:

• All source texts that appear as source texts in translationStudio or translationCore have been reviewed and are legal for use by anyone as a source text.
• Before anything is published by unfoldingWord, the source text must be reviewed and available under one of the licenses listed above.
• Please check your source text before you start translating to avoid being unable to have your translation published.

Source Texts and Version Numbers

Importance of Version Numbers

Especially in an open project like unfoldingWord, it is important to keep track of published versions. It is important because translations (and source texts) can change frequently. Being able to identify each version helps bring clarity about which text is actually being talked about. Version numbers are also important because all translations should be based on the latest source text. If the source text changes, the translation should eventually be updated to match the latest version.

Before starting a translation project, please ensure that you have the latest version of the source text.

How Versioning Works

Version numbers are only given when a work is released, not when they are edited. Revision history is kept in Door43, but this is different than a work being given a version number.

Each source text is given a whole number for each release (version 1, 2, 3, etc). Any translations based on that source text will take the version number of the source text and add .1 (thus, a translation from English OBS version 4 would become version 4.1). Any further translation based on the intermediate translation would add another .1 to the version number it was created from (for example 4.1.1). New releases of any of these texts increment their “decimal place” by 1.

Please see https://ufw.io/versioning for more details.

Where to Find the Latest Version

The latest published versions of resources in the Door43 Catalog may be seen online at https://door43.org/en/?user=Door43-Catalog. The unfoldingWord® English source content is also available in various formats from https://www.unfoldingword.org/content/.

Note: translationCore, translationStudio and the unfoldingWord® app do not always have the latest versions since updating content does not happen automatically (you may use the source content update feature in each of these apps to get the latest versions).

Decisions for Writing Your Language

Important Questions to Answer About Writing

When a language is first written, the translator must decide how to indicate certain features of all written languages.

These questions will give the wider community an understanding of some of the preliminary decisions made by the translator for writing the local language in the areas of punctuation, spelling, and the writing of names in the Bible. The translation team and the community should agree on how to do this.

• Does your language have a way of indicating direct or quoted speech? How do you show it?
• What guidelines have you followed for indicating verse numbering, quoted speech and Old Testament quotations? (Are you following the style of the national language? What variations have you decided to use to suit your language?)
• What guidelines have you followed in writing names in the Bible? Do you use the names written in the national language Bible? Do you have guidelines from your own language as to how names are pronounced and if they need added titles? Has this decision been acceptable to the community?
• Have you taken note of any spelling rules for your language that you would like to share with others, such as where a word changes its form or two words combine? Are these rules acceptable to the community?

Alphabet/Orthography

Creating an Alphabet

If your language has not been written down before, then you will need to create an alphabet so that you can write it. There are many things to think about when creating an alphabet, and creating a good one can be very difficult. If this seems to be too difficult, you could do an audio translation instead of a written one.

The goal of a good alphabet is to use one letter to represent each different sound of your language.

If a neighboring language already has an alphabet, and if that language has similar sounds to your language, it might work well to simply borrow their alphabet. If not, then the next best thing is to borrow the alphabet from the national language that you learned in school. However, it is likely that your language has sounds that the national language does not have, so it will be difficult to use this alphabet to represent all of the sounds of your language. In that case, it is good to think about each sound in your language. Write out the national language alphabet on a piece of paper from top to bottom. Then write a word from your language next to each letter that either starts with that sound or has that sound in it. Underline the letter that makes that sound in each of the words.

There may be letters in the national alphabet that your language does not use. That is fine. Now think about the sounds from these words that you had a hard time writing, or sounds that you could not find a letter for. If the sound is similar to a sound that you did find a letter for, then maybe you can modify that letter to represent the other sound. For example, if you have a sound represented by “s,” and a similar sound that there was no letter for, you could add a mark to the letter for the similar sound, such as putting ‘ or ^ or ~ on top of it. If you find that there is a group of sounds that seem to all have the same kind of difference from the national language sounds, then it is good to modify that group of letters in the same way.

Once you have finished this exercise and cannot think of any more sounds in your language, try writing a story or write down something that happened recently. As you write, you will probably discover sounds that you had not thought of earlier. Continue to modify letters so that you can write these sounds. Add these sounds to the list you made earlier.

Take your list of sounds to other speakers of your language who also read the national language and see what they think about it. Maybe they can suggest a different way to modify some letters that is simpler or easier to read. Also show these other people the story you wrote and teach them to read it by referring to your list of words and letter-sounds. If they can learn to read it easily, then your alphabet is good. If it is difficult, then there might be parts of the alphabet that still need work to make it simpler, or there may be different sounds that are being represented by the same letter, or there may be some sounds that you still need to find letters for.

It is good to continue to work on this alphabet together with other speakers of your language who are good readers in the national language. You can discuss the different sounds and decide together on the best way to represent them.

If the national language uses a writing system other than the Roman alphabet, then think about the different marks that you could use to modify the symbols so that they can represent the sounds of your language. It is best if you can mark the symbols in ways that can be reproduced on a computer. You can experiment with the writing systems in a word processor. If you need help creating a keyboard, send an email request to help@door43.org . When you use symbols that can be typed on a computer keyboard, then your translation can be stored, copied, and distributed electronically. Then people can get it for no cost and read it on tablets or cell phones.

Alphabet Development

Definitions

These are definitions of words that we use to talk about how people make the sounds that form into words, and also definitions of words that refer to the parts of words.

Consonant

These are the sounds that people make when the air flow from their lungs is interrupted or limited by the position of the tongue, teeth or lips. The majority of letters in the alphabet are consonant letters. Most consonant letters have only one sound.

Vowel

These sounds are made by the mouth when the breath flows out through the mouth without being blocked by the teeth, tongue, or lips. (In English, vowels are a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y.)

Syllable (syl-ab-al)

A part of a word that has only one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants. Some words have only one syllable.

Affix

Something that is added to a word that changes its meaning. This could be at the beginning, or the end, or in the body of a word.

Root

The most basic part of a word. The root is what is left when all the affixes are removed.

Morpheme

A word or a part of a word that has a meaning and that contains no smaller part that has a meaning. (For example, “syllable” has 3 syllables, but only 1 morpheme, while “syllables” has 3 syllables and two morphemes (syl-lab-les). (The final “s” is a morpheme that means “plural.”))

How Syllables Make Words

Every language has sounds which combine to form syllables. An affix of a word or the root of a word may have a single syllable, or it may have a number of syllables. Sounds combine to make syllables which also join together to make morphemes. Morphemes work together to make meaningful words.
It is important to understand the way syllables are formed in your language and how those syllables influence one another so that spelling rules can be written and people can more easily learn to read your language.

Vowel sounds are the basic part of syllables. English has only five vowel symbols, “a, e, i, o, u.” But English has up to 11 vowel sounds that are written with vowel combinations and many other ways. The sounds of individual English vowels can be found in words such as, “beat, bit, bait, bet, bat, but, body, bought, boat, book, boot.”

The Vowels of English

(Each of these vowels has its own symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet.)

The vowel sounds form the middle of each syllable, and the consonant sounds come before and after the vowels.

Articulation is the description of how air comes through the mouth or nose to produce the sounds that we can recognize as speech.

Points of articulation are those places along the throat or mouth where air is constricted or its flow is stopped. Common points of articulation include the lips, the teeth, the dental (alveolar) ridge, the palate (hard roof of the mouth), the velum (soft roof of the mouth), uvula, and the vocal cords (or glottis).

Articulators are the moving parts of the mouth, particularly the parts of the tongue that slow the flow of air. The parts of the tongue that can do this include the tongue root, the back, the blade, and the tip. The lips can also slow the air flow through the mouth without the use of the tongue. Sounds made with the lips include consonants such as “b,” “v,” and “m.”

The manner of articulation describes how the airflow is slowed. It can come to a complete stop (as with “p” or “b,” which are called stop consonants or stops), have heavy friction (like “f” or “v,” called fricatives), or be only slightly restricted (like “w” or “y,” called semi-vowels, because they are almost as free as vowels.)

Voicing shows whether or not the vocal chords are vibrating when the air passes through them. Most vowels, such as “a, e, i, u, o” are voiced sounds. Consonants can be voiced (+v), like “b, d, g, v,” or voiceless (-v) such as “p, t, k, f.” These are made at the same point of articulation and with the same articulators as the voiced consonants first mentioned. The only difference between “b, d, g, v” and “p, t, k, f” is voicing (+v and –v).

The Consonants of English

Naming the sounds can be done by calling their features. The sound of “b” is called a Voiced Bilabial (meaning “two lips”) Stop. The sound of “f” is known as a Voicelss Labio-dental (meaning “lip-teeth”) Fricative. The sound of “n” is called a Voiced Alveolar (meaning “ridge”) Nasal.

Symbolizing the sounds can be done one of two ways. Either you can use the symbol for that sound found in the International Phonetic Alphabet, or you can use well-known symbols from an alphabet known by the reader.

Consonant Chart – a consonant symbol chart is offered here without mentioning the Articulators. As you explore the sounds of your language, listening for voicing and feeling the position of your tongue and lips when you make the sound, you can fill out the charts in this article with symbols to represent those sounds.

Using the unfoldingWord® Translation Notes

Translation Notes

Translation Notes are short explanations of words or phrases from the ULT. These notes are designed to help a translator to know what the text means, and to give ideas for how to express that meaning in the target language. In our software tools, the current verse of the ULT is visible to the translator and the part of the verse that the Note addresses is highlighted in yellow. Since we cannot reproduce highlighting in this resource, we will represent the highlighting with italics. Any part of the verse that is quoted in the note is in bold. Below is a verse of the ULT, followed by a typical note.

For I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is here. (2 Timothy 4:6 ULT)

Paul is referring to his death as a departure. This is a delicate way of referring to something unpleasant. Alternate translation: “soon I will die and leave this world” (See: euphemism)

Most notes are written in sentence style. After a short explanation, most notes also offer one or more alternate translations. These are suggestions for how the translator might express the same meaning as that of the highlighted word or phrase in the ULT, in case the expression in the ULT is not clear. After the alternate translation, most notes include a link to an article in Translation Academy that explains the translation issue in more detail.

Types of Notes

There are many different types of notes in the Translation Notes. Each type of Note gives the explanation in a different way. Knowing the type of note will help you (the translator) make decisions on the best way to translate the Bible text into your language.

• Notes with Definitions — Sometimes you may not know what a word in the ULT means. Simple definitions of words or phrases are added without quotes or sentence format.

• Notes that Explain — Simple explanations about words or phrases are in sentence format.

• Notes that suggest other ways to translate — Because there are many different kinds of these Notes, they are explained in more detail below.

Suggested Translations

There are several types of suggested translations.

• Notes with Synonyms and Equivalent Phrases — Sometimes the Notes provide a translation suggestion that can replace the word or phrase in the ULT. These replacements can fit into the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. These are synonyms and equivalent phrases and are written in double quotes. These mean the same as the text in the ULT.

• Notes with Alternate Translations — An Alternate translation is a suggested change to the form or content of the ULT because the target language may prefer a different form. The Alternate translation should only be used when the ULT form or content is not accurate or natural in your language.

• Notes that Clarify the UST Translation — When the UST provides a good Alternate translation for the ULT, then there may be no Note providing an Alternate translation. However, on occasion, a Note will provide Alternate translations in addition to the text from the UST, and sometimes it will quote the text from the UST as an Alternate translation. In that case, the Note will say “(UST)” after the text from the UST.

• Notes that have Alternate Meanings — Some Notes provide Alternate Meanings when a word or phrase can be understood in more than one way. When this happens, the Note will put the most probable meaning first.

• Notes with Probable or Possible Meanings — Sometimes Bible scholars do not know for sure, or do not agree on, what a particular phrase or sentence in the Bible means. Some reasons for this include: there are minor differences in the ancient Bible texts, or a word may have more than one meaning or use, or it may not be clear what a word (such as a pronoun) refers to in a particular phrase. In this case, the Note will give the most probable meaning or will list several possible meanings with the most probable meaning first.

• Notes that Identify Figures of Speech — When there is a Figure of Speech in the ULT text, then the notes will provide an explanation of how to translate that Figure of Speech. Sometimes an Alternate Translation is provided. There will also be a link to the unfoldingWord® Translation Academy page for additional information and translation strategies to help the translator accurately translate the meaning of that type of Figure of Speech.

• Notes that Identify Indirect and Direct Quotes — There are two kinds of quotations: direct quotation and indirect quotation. When translating a quotation, translators need to decide whether to translate it as a direct quotation or an indirect quotation. These Notes will alert the translator to the choice that needs to be made.

• Notes for Long ULT Phrases — Sometimes there is a Note which refers to a phrase and then other Notes which refer to portions of that phrase. In that case, the Note for the longer phrase is first, and the Notes for its smaller parts follow afterward. In that way, the Notes can give translation suggestions or explanations for the whole as well as each part.

Connecting Statement and General Information in the Notes

Description

Sometimes, at the top of the list of Notes, there are Notes that start with “Connecting Statement” or “General Information.”

A Connecting Statement tells how a chunk of text is related to the chunk(s) that came before it. Here are some of the kinds of information that may be revealed in the connecting statements:

• whether this chunk is at the beginning, middle, or end of a passage
• who is speaking
• to whom the speaker is speaking

A General Information Note tells about issues in the chunk that cover more than one phrase. The following are some of the kinds of information that appear in a general information statement:

• the person or thing that a pronoun refers to
• important background or implied information that is needed to understand the text in the chunk
• logical arguments and conclusions

Both types of Notes are to help you understand the passage better and be aware of issues that you might need to address in translation.

Examples

Whether this chunk is at the beginning, continuation, or end of a passage

1 It came about that when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. 2 Now when John heard in the prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent a message by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for another?” (Matthew 11:1-3 ULT)

¹ It came about that when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. ² Now when John heard in the prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent a message by his disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you the Coming One, or is there another person we should be looking for?” (Matthew 11:1-3 ULT)

• General Information: — This is the beginning of a new part of the story where the writer tells of how Jesus responded to disciples of John the Baptist. (See: Introduction of New Event)

This Note alerts you to the beginning of a new part of a story and gives you a link to a page that tells more about new events and issues concerning translating them.

Who is speaking

¹⁷ For he was numbered with us and received his share of this ministry. ¹⁸ (Now indeed this man bought a field with the earnings from his wickedness, and he fell headfirst, and his belly burst open, and all his inward parts poured out. ¹⁹ It became known to all those living in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language “Akeldama,” that is, “Field of Blood.”) (Acts 1:17-19 ULT)

• Connecting Statement: — Peter continues his speech to the believers that he began in Acts 1:16.

This Note tells you that it is still Peter speaking in verse 17 so you can mark that correctly in your language.

The person or thing that pronouns refer to

²⁰ Then Isaiah is very bold when he says,
“I was found by those who did not seek me.
I appeared to those who did not ask for me.”
²¹ But to Israel he says, “All the day long I reached out my hands
to a disobedient and stubborn people.” (Romans 10:20-21 ULT)

• General Information: — Here the words “I,” “me,” and “my” refer to God.

This Note lets you know who the pronouns refer to. You may need to add something so that readers will know that Isaiah is not speaking for himself, but is quoting what God said.

Important background or implied information

²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is in a desert.) ²⁷ So he arose and went. Now there was a man from Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was over all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship. ²⁸ He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. (Acts 8:26-28 ULT)

• General Information: — This is the beginning of the part of the story about Philip and the man from Ethiopia. Verse 27 gives background information about the man from Ethiopia. (See: Backgrounds)

This Note alerts you to the beginning of a new part of a story and to some background information so you can be aware of these things and use your language’s ways of showing these things. The Note includes a link to the page about background information so you can learn more about how to translate that kind of information.

Notes with Definitions

Description

Sometimes you may not know what a word in the ULT means. The Notes may have a definition or a description of the word or phrase to help you understand what it means.

Translation Notes Examples

Simple definitions of words or phrases are added without quotes or sentence format. Here are examples:

It is like children sitting the marketplace, who call out to one another and say, “We played a flute for you.” (Matthew 11:16b-17a ULT)

• marketplace — a large, open-air area where people would come to sell their goods
• flute — a long, hollow musical instrument which is played by blowing air in or over one end

Behold, those in expensive clothing and living in luxury are in kings’ palaces. (Luke 7:25b ULT)

• kings’ palaces — the large, expensive houses that kings live in

Translation Principles

• Use words that are already part of your language if possible.
• Keep expressions short if possible.
• Represent God’s commands and historical facts accurately.

Translation Strategies

See Translate Unknowns for more information on translating words or phrases that are not known in your language.

Notes that Explain

Description

Sometimes you may not know what a word or phrase means in the ULT, and it may also be used in the UST. In this case, it will be explained in the Notes. These explanations are meant to help you understand the word or phrase. Do not translate the explanations into your Bible. Use them to help you understand the meaning so you can translate the Bible text correctly.

Translation Notes Examples

Simple explanations about words or phrases are written as full sentences. They begin with a capital letter and end with a period (“.”).

The fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. (Luke 5:2b ULT)

• washing their nets — They were cleaning their fishing nets in order to use them again to catch fish.

If you did not know that fishermen used nets to catch fish, you might wonder why the fishermen were cleaning their nets. This explanation can help you choose good words for “were washing” and “nets.”

And they signaled to their partners in the other boat (Luke 5:7a ULT)

• signaled — They were too far from shore to call so they made gestures, probably waving their arms.

This Note can help you understand what kind of signal the people made. It was an action that people would be able to see from a distance. This will help you choose a good word or phrase for “signaled.”

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. (Luke 1:15b ULT)

• even from his mother’s womb — The word “even” here indicates that this is especially surprising news. People had been filled with the Holy Spirit before, but no one had heard of an unborn baby being filled with the Holy Spirit.

This Note can help you understand what the word “even” means in this sentence so that you can find a way of showing how surprising this was.

Notes with Synonyms and Equivalent Phrases

Description

Some Notes provide a translation suggestion (“Alternate translation”) that can replace the word or phrase that they quote from the ULT. These replacements can fit into the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. These synonyms and equivalent phrases are enclosed in double-quotes. They mean the same as the text in the ULT. This kind of Note can help you to think of other ways to say the same thing in case the word or phrase in the ULT does not seem to have a natural equivalent in your language.

Translation Notes Examples

Make ready the way of the Lord, (Luke 3:4b ULT)

• the way — “the path” or “the road”

In this example, the words “the path” or the words “the road” can replace the words “the way” found in the ULT. You can decide whether it is natural to say “way,” “path,” or “road” in your language.

Likewise, deacons must be dignified, not double-talkers. (1 Timothy 3:8a ULT)

• Deacons, likewise — “In the same way, deacons” or “Deacons, like overseers”

In this example, the words “In the same way, deacons” or “Deacons, like overseers” can replace the words “Likewise, deacons” in the ULT. You, as the translator, can decide what is natural for your language.

Notes with Alternate Translations

Description

An Alternate translation is a possible way to change the form of the ULT in case the target language either prefers or needs a different form. The Alternate translation should be used when the ULT form or content would give a wrong meaning, or would be unclear or unnatural.

For example, the alternate translation suggestion may involve stating implicit information clearly, changing passive voice to active, or rewording rhetorical questions as statements. The Notes often explain why there is an Alternate translation and have a link to a page that explains the topic.

Translation Notes Examples

Some purposes and examples of Alternate translations are:

Making Implicit Information Clear

It is the law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree or statute that the king issues can be changed. (Daniel 6:15b ULT)

• no decree … can be changed — An additional sentence may be added here to aid in understanding. Alternate translation: “no decree … can be changed. So they must throw Daniel into the pit of lions.” (See: Explicit)

The additional sentence shows what the speaker wanted the king to understand from his reminder that the king’s decrees and statues cannot be changed. In the translation, you (the translator) may need to state clearly some things that the original speaker or writer left unstated or implicit.

Passive to Active

To the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. (Luke 12:10b ULT)

• it will not be forgiven — This can be expressed with an active verb. Alternate translation: God will not forgive him. This can also be expressed in a positive way using a verb that means the opposite of “forgive.” Alternate translation: “God will consider him guilty forever” (See: Active Passive)

This Note provides an example of how translators can translate this passive sentence if their languages do not use passive sentences.

Rhetorical Question

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:4b ULT)

• why are you persecuting me? — This rhetorical question communicates a rebuke to Saul. In some languages, a statement would be more natural (Alternate Translation): “You are persecuting me!” or a command might be more natural (Alternate translation): “Stop persecuting me!” (See: Rhetorical Questions)

The translation suggestion here provides an alternate way to translate the rhetorical question if your language does not use that form of rhetorical question to rebuke someone.

Notes that Clarify the UST Translation

Description

Sometimes a Note suggests a translation from the UST. In that case the text from the UST will be followed by “(UST).”

Translation Notes Examples

He who sits in the heavens will sneer at them. (Psalms 2:4a ULT)

But the one who sits on his throne in heaven laughs at them. (Psalms 2:4a UST)

The Note for this verse says:

• sits in the heavens — Here, sitting represents ruling. What he sits on can be stated clearly. Alternate translation: “rules in the heavens” or “sits on his throne in heaven” (UST) (See Metonymy)

Here there are two suggested translations for the phrase “sits in the heavens.” The first expresses clearly what “sits in the heavens” represents. The second gives a hint about the idea of ruling by stated clearly that he sits on his “throne.” This suggestion is from the UST.

And he saw Jesus, fell on his face, and begged him. (Luke 5:12b ULT)

When he saw Jesus, he bowed down to the ground. (Luke 5:12b UST)

The Note for this verse says:

• he fell on his face — “he knelt and touched the ground with his face” or “he bowed down to the ground” (UST)

Here the words from the UST are provided as another translation suggestion.

Notes that have Alternate Meanings

Description

Alternate meanings refer to situations where Bible scholars have different understandings of what a word or phrase means.

The note will have the ULT text followed by an explanation starting with the words “Possible meanings are.” The meanings are numbered, and the first one is the one that Bible scholars consider the most likely to be correct. If a meaning is given in a way that it can be used as a translation, it will have quote marks around it.

In these cases, you (the translator) need to decide which meaning to translate. Translators may choose the first meaning, or they may choose one of the other meanings if the people in their community use and respect another Bible version that has one of those other meanings.

Translation Notes Examples

But take a small number of hairs from them and tie them into the folds of your robe. (Ezekiel 5:3 ULT)

• the folds of your robe — Possible meanings are: (1) “the cloth on your arms” (“your sleeves”) (UST) or (2) “the end of the cloth on your robe” (“your hem”) or (3) the fold in the garment where it is tucked into the belt.

This note has the ULT text followed by three possible meanings. The word translated as “the folds of your robe” refers to the loose parts of the robe. Most scholars believe it refers here to the sleeves, but it could also refer to the loose part at the bottom or also to the folds in the middle, around the belt.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at the knees of Jesus. (Luke 5:8a ULT)

• fell down at Jesus’ knees — Possible meanings are (1) “knelt down before Jesus” or (2) “bowed down at Jesus’ feet” or (3) “lay down on the ground at Jesus’ feet.” Peter did not fall accidentally. He did this as a sign of humility and respect for Jesus.

This note explains what “fell down at Jesus’ knees” might mean. The first meaning is most likely correct, but the other meanings are also possible. If your language does not have a general expression that could include various actions like these, you may need to choose one of these possibilities that describe more specifically what Simon Peter did. It is also helpful to think about why Simon Peter did this, and what kind of action would communicate the same attitude of humility and respect in your culture.

Notes with Probable or Possible Meanings

Description

Sometimes Bible scholars do not know for sure, or do not agree on, what a particular phrase or sentence in the Bible means. Some reasons for this include:

• there are minor differences in the ancient Bible texts
• a word may have more than one meaning or use
• it may not be clear what a word (such as a pronoun) refers to in a particular phrase

Translation Notes Examples

When many scholars say that a word or phrase means one thing, and many others say that it means other things, we show the most common meanings that they give. Our notes for these situations begin with “Possible meanings are” and then give a numbered list. We recommend that you use the first meaning given. However, if people in your community have access to another Bible that uses one of the other possible meanings, you may decide that it is better to use that meaning.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” (Luke 5:8 ULT)

• fell down at the knees of Jesus — Possible meanings are: (1) “knelt down before Jesus” or (2) “bowed down at Jesus feet” or (3) “lay down on the ground at Jesus feet.” Peter did not fall accidentally. He did this as a sign of humility and respect for Jesus.

Translation Strategies

(1) Translate it in such a way that the reader could understand either meaning as a possibility.

(2) If it is not possible to do that in your language, then choose a meaning and translate it with that meaning.

(3) If not choosing a meaning would make it hard for the readers to understand the passage in general, then choose a meaning and translate it with that meaning.

Notes that Identify Figures of Speech

Description

Figures of speech are ways of saying things that use words in non-literal ways. That is, the meaning of a figure of speech is not the same as the more direct meaning of its words. There are many different types of figures of speech.

In the translationNotes there will be an explanation about the meaning of a figure of speech that is in the passage. Sometimes an alternate translation is provided. This is marked as “Alternate Translation:”. There will also be a link to an unfoldingWord® Translation Academy (UTA) page that gives additional information and translation strategies for that kind of figure of speech.

In order to translate the meaning, you need to be able to recognize the figure of speech and know what it means in the source language. Then you can choose either a figure of speech or a direct way to communicate that same meaning in the target language.

Translation Notes Examples

Note: When you are viewing the actual translationNote, you can click on the link to learn about figures of speech and general strategies for translating them. However, the links to UTA articles in the examples below are not functional.

Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he,’ and they will lead many astray. (Mark 13:6 ULT)

• in my name — Possible meanings are (Alternate translation:) (1) “claiming my authority” or (2) “claiming that God sent them.” (See: Metonymy and Idiom)

The figure of speech in this Note is called a metonymy. The phrase “in my name” does not refer to the speaker’s name (Jesus), but to his person and authority. (Thus, in this context, the word “name” is a metonym for the ideas of “person/authority.”) The Note explains the metonymy in this passage by giving two alternate translations. After that, there is a link to the UTA page about metonymy. Click on the link to learn about metonymy and general strategies for translating metonyms. Because this phrase is also a common idiom, the Note includes a link to the UTA page that explains idioms.

“You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is coming?” (Luke 3:7b ULT)

• You offspring of vipers — In this metaphor, John compares the crowd to vipers, which were deadly or dangerous snakes that represent evil. Alternate translation: “you evil poisonous snakes” or “people should stay away from you just like they avoid poisonous snakes” (See: Metaphor)

The figure of speech in this Note is called a metaphor. The Note explains the metaphor and gives two alternate translations. After that, there is a link to the UTA page about metaphors.

Notes that Identify Indirect and Direct Quotes

Description

There are two kinds of quotations: direct quotation and indirect quotation. When translating a quotation, translators need to decide whether to translate it as a direct quotation or an indirect quotation. (See Direct and Indirect Quotations.)

When there is a direct or indirect quote in the ULT, the Notes may have an option for translating it as the other kind of quote. The translation suggestion may start with “It can be translated as a direct quote:” or “It can be translated as an indirect quote:” and it will be followed by that kind of quote. This will be followed by a link to the information page called “Direct and Indirect Quotations” that explains both kinds of quotations.

There may be a Note about direct and indirect quotes when a quote has another quote inside of it, because these can be confusing. In some languages it may be more natural to translate one of these quotes with a direct quote and the other quote with an indirect quote. The note will end with a link to the information page called “Quotes within Quotes.”

Translation Notes Examples

He commanded him to tell no one. (Luke 5:14a ULT)

• to tell no one — This can be translated as a direct quote: “Do not tell anyone” There is implied information that can also be stated explicitly (Alternate translation): “do not tell anyone that you have been healed” (See: Direct and Indirect Quotations and Ellipsis)

Here the translationNote shows how to change the indirect quote to a direct quote, in case that would be clearer or more natural in the target language.

At the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First pull out the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:30 ULT)

• I will say to the reapers, “First pull out the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn” — You can translate this as an indirect quote: “I will tell the reapers to first gather up the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (See: Direct and Indirect Quotations)

Here the translationNote shows how to change the direct quote to an indirect quote, in case that would be clearer or more natural in the target language. Do not use quotation marks around Indirect quotes. They were used here only to make it clear what you could say as an indirect quote.

Notes for Long ULT Phrases

Description

Sometimes there are notes for a phrase and separate notes for portions of that phrase. In that case, the larger phrase is explained first, and its parts afterward.

Translation Notes Examples

But it is to the extent of your hardness and unrepentant heart that you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath. (Romans 2:5a ULT)

• But it is to the extent of your hardness and unrepentant heart — Paul uses a metaphor to compare a person who refuses to obey God to something hard, like a stone. He also uses the metonym “heart” to represent the whole person. Alternate translation: “it is because you refuse to listen and repent” (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
• hardness and unrepentant heart — The phrase “unrepentant heart” explains the word “hardness” (See: Doublet)

In this example the first note explains the metaphor and the metonym in the longer phrase as a whole, and the second note explains the doublet within the longer phrase.

Using unfoldingWord® Translation Words

unfoldingWord® Translation Words

As a translator, it is your duty to do your best to make sure that each Bible passage you translate has the meaning that the writer of that Bible passage intended it to communicate. In order to do this, you will need to study translation helps prepared by Bible scholars, including the unfoldingWord® Translation Words resource.

In order to use unfoldingWord® Translation Words, follow these steps:

1. Identify the important words and any words in the source text that are difficult to understand or have an uncertain meaning.
2. Look at the section called “unfoldingWord® Translation Words.”
3. Find the words that you identified as important or difficult, and click on the first one.
4. Read the unfoldingWord® Translation Words entry for that word.
5. After reading the definition, read the Bible passage again, thinking about the definition that you read in unfoldingWord® Translation Words.
6. Think of possible ways to translate the word in your language that fit the Bible context and the definition. It can be helpful to compare words and phrases in your language that have similar meaning, and try each one.
7. Choose the one that you think is best and write it down.
8. Repeat the above steps for other unfoldingWord® Translation Words that you identified.
9. When you have thought of a good translation for each of the unfoldingWord® Translation Words, then translate the whole passage.
10. Test your translated passage by reading it to others. Change to a different word or phrase in places where others do not understand the meaning.

Once you have found a good translation for a term, you should use it consistently throughout the translation. If you find a place where that translation does not fit, then think through the process again. It could be that a word with similar meaning will fit better in the new context. Keep track of which word or words you are using to translate each term and make this information available to everyone on the translation team. This will help everyone on the translation team to know which words they should be using.

Unknown Ideas

Sometimes a word refers to a thing or custom that is unknown in the target language. Possible solutions are to use a descriptive phrase, substitute something similar, use a foreign word from another language, use a more general word, or use more specific words. See the lesson on Translate Unknowns for more information.

One kind of ‘unknown idea’ are words that refer to Jewish and Christian religious customs and beliefs. Some common unknown ideas are:

Names of places, such as:

• temple (a building where the Israelites offered sacrifices to God)
• synagogue (a building where Jewish people assemble to worship God)
• sacrificial altar (a raised structure on which sacrifices were burned as gifts, or offerings, to God.)

Titles of people who hold an office, such as:

• priest (someone who is chosen to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of his people)
• pharisee (important group of Israel’s religious leaders in Jesus’ time)
• prophet (person who delivers messages that come directly from God)
• Son of Man
• Son of God
• king (ruler of an independent city, state or country).

Key Biblical Concepts, such as:

• forgiveness (to not resent that person and not be angry at him for doing something hurtful)
• salvation (being saved or rescued from evil, enemies, or from danger)
• redemption (the act of buying back something that was previously owned or that was held captive)
• mercy (helping people who are in need)
• grace (help or regard that is given to someone who has not earned it)

Notice that all of these are nouns, but they represent events, so they may need to be translated by verb (action) clauses.

You may need to discuss the definitions of these unfoldingWord® Translation Words with other members of the translation team or people from your church or village in order to discover the best way to translate them.

Using unfoldingWord® Translation Questions

As a translator, it is your duty to do your best to make sure that each Bible passage you translate has the meaning that the writer of that Bible passage intended it to communicate. In order to do this, you will need to study translation helps prepared by Bible scholars, including the translationQuestions.

The translationQuestions (tQ) are based on the text of the ULT, but they can be used to check any Bible translation. They ask questions about the content of the Bible. This content should not change as it is translated into different languages. Along with each question, tQ provides a suggested answer for that question. You can use these sets of questions and answers as a way to check the accuracy of your translation, and you can also use them with members of the language community.

Using tQ during community checks will help the translator to know if the target language translation is clearly communicating the right thing. If the community member cannot correctly answer the questions after hearing the translation of the Bible chapter, then the translation is not clear or not accurate at those places and probably needs to be improved.

Checking Translations with tQ

In order to use tQ when doing a self-check, follow these steps:

1. Translate a passage, or chapter, of the Bible.
2. Look at the section called “Questions.”
3. Read the question entry for that passage.
4. Think of the answer from the translation. Try to not answer from what you know from other Bible translations.
5. Click on the question to have the answer displayed.
6. If your answer is correct, you may have done a good translation. But remember, you still need to test the translation with the language community to see if it communicates that same meaning to others.

In order to use tQ for a community check, follow these steps:

1. Read the newly-completed translation of a Bible chapter or passage to one or more community members.
2. Tell the listeners to only answer the questions from this translation and to not answer using what they know from other translations of the Bible. This is a test of the translation, not of the people. Because of this, testing the translation with people who do not know the Bible well is very useful.
3. Look at the section called “Questions.”
4. Read the first question entry for that chapter.
5. Ask the community members to answer the question. Remind them to think of the answer only from the translation.
6. Click on the question to have the answer displayed. If the community member’s answer is very similar to the answer displayed, then the translation is clearly communicating the right thing. If the person cannot answer the question or answers the question incorrectly, that part of the translation may not be communicating well and may need to be changed.
7. Continue with the rest of the questions for the chapter.

Textual Variants

Description

Thousands of years ago, people wrote the books of the Bible. Other people then copied them by hand and translated them. They did this work very carefully, and over the years many people made thousands of copies. However, people who looked at them later saw that there were small differences between them. Some copiers accidentally left out some words, or some mistook one word for another that looked like it. Occasionally, they added words or even whole sentences, either by accident or because they wanted to explain something. Modern Bibles are translations of the old copies. Some modern Bibles include some of these sentences that were added. In the ULT, these added sentences are usually written in footnotes.

Bible scholars have read many old copies and compared them with each other. For each place in the Bible where there was a difference, they have figured out which wordings are most likely correct. The translators of the ULT based the ULT on wordings that scholars say are most likely correct. Because people who use the ULT may have access to Bibles that are based on other copies, the ULT translators have sometimes included information about some of the differences between them, either in the ULT footnotes or in the unfoldingWord® Translation Notes.

Translators are encouraged to translate the text in the ULT and to write about added sentences in footnotes, as is done in the ULT. However, if the local church really wants those sentences to be included in the main text, translators may put them in the text and include a footnote about them.

Examples From the Bible

Matthew 18:10-11 ULT has a footnote about verse 11.

¹⁰ See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always look on the face of my Father who is in heaven. ^{11 [1]}

^[1] Many authorities, some ancient, insert v. 11: For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost.

John 7:53-8:11 is not in the best earliest manuscripts. It has been included in the ULT, but it is marked off with square brackets ([ ]) at the beginning and end, and there is a footnote after verse 11.

53 [Then everyone went to his own house … 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”] ^[2]

^[2] Some ancient manuscripts include John 7:53-8:11

Translation Strategies

When there is a textual variant, you may choose to follow the ULT or another version that you have access to.

(1) Translate the verses as they are in the ULT and include the footnote that the ULT provides.

(2) Translate the verses as another version has them, and change the footnote so that it fits this situation.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

The translation strategies are applied to Mark 7:14-16 ULT, which has a footnote about verse 16.

¹⁴ He called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. ¹⁵ There is nothing from outside the man that can defile him when it enters into him. But the things that come out of the man are the things that defile the man.” ^{16 [1]}

^[1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 16: If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.

(1) Translate the verses as they are in the ULT and include the footnote that the ULT provides.

¹⁴ He called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. ¹⁵ There is nothing from outside the man that can defile him when it enters into him. But the things that come out of the man are the things that defile the man.” ^{16 [1]}

^[1] Some ancient manuscripts include verse 16: If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.

(2) Translate the verses as another version has them, and change the footnote so that it fits this situation.

¹⁴ He called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. ¹⁵There is nothing from outside the man that can defile him when it enters into him. But the things that come out of the man are the things that defile the man. ¹⁶ If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.” ^[1]

^[1] Some ancient manuscripts do not include verse 16.

Verse Bridges

Description

In some cases, you will see in the unfoldingWord® Simplified Text (UST) that two or more verse numbers are combined, such as 17-18. This is called a verse bridge. This means that the information in the verses was rearranged so that the story or message could be more easily understood.

29 These were the clans of the Horites: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, and Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, Dishan: these are clans of the Horites, according to their clan lists in the land of Seir. (Genesis 36:29-30 ULT)

29-30 The people groups who were descendants of Hor lived in Seir land. The names of the people groups are Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. (Genesis 36:29-30 UST)

In the ULT text, verses 29 and 30 are separate, and the information about the people living in Seir is at the end of verse 30. In the UST text, the verses are joined, and the information about them living in Seir is at the beginning. For many languages, this is a more logical order of information.

Examples From the Bible

Where the UST has a verse bridge, the ULT will have separate verses.

^4-5 Yahweh our God will bless you in the land that he is giving to you. If you obey Yahweh our God and obey all the commandments that I am giving to you today, there will not be any poor people among you. (Deuteronomy 15:4-5 UST)

⁴ However, there should be no poor among you (for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land that he gives you as an inheritance to possess), ⁵ if only you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all these commandments that I am commanding you today. (Deuteronomy 15:4-5 ULT)

^16-17 But Yahweh said to him, “I will not permit you to eat the fruit of the tree that will enable you to know what actions are good to do and what actions are evil to do. If you eat any fruit from that tree, on the day you eat it you will surely die. But I will permit you to eat the fruit of any of the other trees in the park.” (Genesis 2:16-17 UST)

¹⁶ Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From every tree in the garden you may freely eat. ¹⁷ But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat, for on the day that you eat from it, you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 ULT)

Translation Strategies

Order the information in a way that will be clear to your readers. If the order of information is clear as it is in the ULT, then use that order. But if the order is confusing or gives the wrong meaning, then change the order so that it is more clear.

(1) If you put information from one verse before information from an earlier verse, then combine the verses and put a hyphen between the two verse numbers.

See how to mark verses in translationStudio.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) If information from one verse is put before information from an earlier verse, then combine the verses and put the verse numbers before the first verse with a hyphen between them.

2 You must select three cities for yourself in the middle of your land that Yahweh your God is giving you to possess. 3 You must build a road and divide the borders of your land into three parts, the land that Yahweh your God is causing you to inherit, so that everyone who kills another person may flee there. (Deuteronomy 19:2-3 ULT)

2-3 You must divide into three parts the land that he is giving to you. Then select a city in each part. You must make good roads in order that people can get to those cities easily. Someone who kills another person can escape to one of those cities to be safe. (Deuteronomy 19:2-3 UST)

Writing Styles

Description

There are different kinds or types of writing, and each type of writing has its own purpose. Because these purposes are different, the different kinds of writing are organized in different ways. They use different verbs, different kinds of sentences, and refer to the people and things that they write about in different ways. These differences help the reader to quickly know the purpose of the writing, and they work to communicate the author’s meaning in the best way.

Types of Writing

These four basic types of writing exist in every language. Each of them has a different purpose:

• Narrative or Parable — tells a story or event
• Explanatory — explains facts or teaches principles
• Procedural — tells how to do something
• Argumentative — tries to persuade someone to do something

Reason This Is a Translation Issue

Every language has its own way of organizing these different types of writing. You (the translator) must understand the type of writing that you are translating, understand how it is organized in the source language, and also know how your language organizes this kind of writing. You must put the writing into the form that your language uses for that type of writing so that people will understand it correctly. In every translation, the way that words, sentences, and paragraphs are arranged will affect how people will understand the message.

Writing Styles

The following are ways of writing that may combine with the four basic types above. These writing styles often present challenges in translation.

• Poetry — expresses ideas and feelings in a beautiful way
• Proverbs — briefly teaches a truth or gives wise advice
• Symbolic Language — uses symbols to represent things and events
• Symbolic Prophecy — uses symbolic language to show what will happen in the future
• Hypothetical Situations — tells about what would happen if something were real or expresses an emotion about something that is not real

Discourse Features

The differences between the different types of writing in a language can be called their discourse features. The purpose of a particular text will influence what kinds of discourse features are used. For example, in a narrative, discourse features would include:

• telling about events that happen before and after other events
• introducing people in the story
• introducing new events in the story
• conversation and the use of quotes
• referring to people and things with nouns or pronouns

Languages have different ways of using these different discourse features. The translator will need to study the way his language does each of these things, so that his translation communicates the right message in a clear and natural way. Other types of writing have other discourse features.

Specific Discourse Topics

1. Introduction of a New Event — Phrases like “One day” or “It came about that” or “This is how it happened” or “Sometime after that” signal to the reader that a new event is about to be told.
2. Introduction of New and Old Participants — Languages have ways of introducing new people and of referring to those people again.
3. Background Information — An author may use background information for several reasons: (1) to add interest to the story, (2) to provide information that is important for understanding the story or (3) to explain why something in the story is important.
4. Pronouns — When to Use Them — Languages have patterns for how frequently to use pronouns. If that pattern is not followed, wrong meaning can result.
5. End of Story — Stories can end with various kinds of information. Languages have different ways of showing how that information is related to the story.
6. Quotations and Quote Margins — Languages have different ways of reporting what someone said.
7. Connecting Words — Languages have patterns for how to use connecting words (such as “and,” “but,” or “then”).

Background Information

Description

When people tell a story, they normally tell the events in the order that they happened. This sequence of events makes up the storyline. The storyline is full of action verbs that move the story along in time. But sometimes a writer may take a break from the storyline and give some information to help his listeners understand the story better. This type of information is called background information. The background information might be about things that happened before the events he has already told about, or it might explain something in the story, or it might be about something that would happen much later in the story.

Example — The bolded phrases in the story below are all background information.

Peter and John went on a hunting trip because their village was going to have a feast the next day. Peter was the best hunter in the village. He once killed three wild pigs in one day! They walked for hours through low bushes until they heard a wild pig. The pig ran, but they managed to shoot the pig and kill it. Then they tied up its legs with some rope they had brought with them and carried it home on a pole. When they brought it to the village, Peter’s cousin saw the pig and realized that it was his own pig. Peter had mistakenly killed his cousin’s pig.

Background information often tells about something that had happened earlier or something that would happen much later. Examples of these are: “their village was going to have a feast the next day,” “He once killed three wild pigs in one day,” and “that they had brought with them.”

Often background information uses “be” verbs like “was” and “were,” rather than action verbs. Examples of these are “their village was going to have a feast the next day,” and “Peter was the best hunter in the village.”

Background information can also be marked with words that tell the reader that this information is not part of the event line of the story. In this story, some of these words are “because,” “once,” and “had.”

A writer may use background information:

• to help their listeners be interested in the story
• to help their listeners understand something in the story
• to help the listeners understand why something is important in the story
• to tell the setting of a story
  > * Setting includes:
  > * where the story takes place
  > * when the story takes place
  > * who is present when the story begins
  > * what is happening when the story begins

Reasons This Is a Translation Issue

• Languages have different ways of marking background information and storyline information.
• You (the translator) need to know the order of the events in the Bible, which information is background information, and which is storyline information.
• You will need to translate the story in a way that marks the background information in a way that your own readers will understand the order of events, which information is background information, and which is storyline information.

Examples From the Bible

Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (Genesis 16:15-16 ULT)

The first sentence tells about two events. Hagar gave birth and Abraham named his son. The second sentence is background information about how old Abram was when those things happened.

And Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about 30 years of age. He was the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli. (Luke 3:23 ULT)

And Jesus himself was beginning about 30 years old. He was the son (as it was assumed) of Joseph, of Heli,

The verses before this tell about when Jesus was baptized. This sentence introduces background information about Jesus’ age and ancestors. The story resumes in chapter 4 where it tells about Jesus going to the wilderness.

Then it happened on a Sabbath that he was going through the grain fields, and his disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said … (Luke 6:1-2a ULT)

These verses give the setting of the story. The events took place in a grain field on the Sabbath day. Jesus, his disciples, and some Pharisees were there, and Jesus’ disciples were picking heads of grain and eating them. The main action in the story starts with the phrase, “But some of the Pharisees said ….”

Translation Strategies

To keep translations clear and natural you will need to study how people tell stories in your language. Observe how your language marks background information. You may need to write down some stories in order to study this. Observe what kinds of verbs your language uses for background information and what kinds of words or other markers signal that something is background information. Do these same things when you translate, so that your translation is clear and natural and people can understand it easily.

(1) Use your language’s way of showing that certain information is background information.

(2) Reorder the information so that earlier events are mentioned first. (This is not always possible when the background information is very long.)

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) Use your language’s way of showing that certain information is background information. The examples below explain how this was done in the ULT English translations.

And Jesus himself was beginning about 30 years old. He was the son (as it was assumed) of Joseph, of Heli. (Luke 3:23 ULT)

English uses the word “and” to show that there is some kind of change in the story. The verb “was” shows that it is background information.

Therefore, also exhorting many other things, he preached the good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, having been rebuked by him concerning Herodias, the wife of his brother, and concerning all the evil things that Herod had done, added even this to them all: He locked John up in prison. (Luke 3:18-20 ULT)

The bolded phrases happened before John rebuked Herod. In English, the helping verb “had” in “had done” shows that Herod did those things before John rebuked him.

(2) Reorder the information so that earlier events are mentioned first.

Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (Genesis 16:16 ULT)

“When Abram was 86 years old, Hagar gave birth to his son, and Abram named his son Ishmael.”

Therefore, also exhorting many other things, he preached the good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, having been rebuked by him concerning Herodias, the wife of his brother, and concerning all the evil things that Herod had done, added even this to them all: He locked John up in prison. (Luke 3:18-20 ULT)

The translation below reorders John’s rebuke and Herod’s actions.

“Now Herod the tetrarch married his brother’s wife, Herodias, and he did many other evil things, so John rebuked him. But then Herod did another very evil thing. He had John locked up in prison.”

End of Story

Description

There are different types of information that may be given at the end of a story. Often this is background information. This background information is different from the actions that make up the main part of the story. A book of the Bible is often made up of many smaller stories that are part of the larger story of the book itself. For example, the story of Jesus’ birth is a smaller story in the larger story of the book of Luke. Each of these stories, whether large or small, can have background information at the end of it.

The following are purposes for end of story information:

• to summarize the story
• to give a comment about what happened in the story
• to connect a smaller story to the larger story it is a part of
• to tell the reader what happens to a specific character after the main part of the story ends
• to tell on-going action that continues after the main part of the story ends
• to tell what happens after the story as a result of the events that happened in the story itself

Reasons This Is a Translation Issue

Different languages have different ways of presenting these kinds of information. If you (the translator) do not use your language’s ways of doing this, readers may not know:

• that this information is ending the story
• what the purpose of the information is
• how the information is related to the story

Translation Strategies

• Translate the particular kind of information at the end of a story the way your language expresses that kind of information.
• Translate it so that people will understand how it relates to the story it is part of.
• If possible, translate the end of the story in a way that people will know where that story ends and the next begins.

Examples From the Bible

• To summarize the story

Then the rest of the men should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. In this way it happened that all of us were brought safely to the land. (Acts 27:44 ULT)

• To give a comment about what happened in the story

Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of everyone. Then they counted the value of them, and found it was 50,000 pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was spreading and prevailing with power. (Acts 19:19-20 ULT)

• To tell the reader what happens to a specific character after the main part of the story ends

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoiced in God my savior.” And Mary stayed with her about three months and then returned to her house. (Luke 1:46-47, 56 ULT)

• To tell on-going action that continues after the main part of the story ends

All who those who heard it were amazed concerning the things that were spoken to them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all the things, pondering them in her heart. (Luke 2:18-19 ULT)

• To tell what happens after the story as a result of the events that happened in the story itself

“Woe to you, experts in the Jewish law, because you have taken away the key of knowledge; you do not enter in yourselves, and you hinder those who are entering.” After he went from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to fiercely oppose him and argued against him about many things, lying in wait to trap him in something from his mouth. (Luke 11:52-54 ULT)

Hypothetical Situations

Consider these phrases: “If the sun stopped shining …” “What if the sun stopped shining …” “Suppose the sun stopped shining …” and “If only the sun had not stopped shining.” We use such expressions to set up hypothetical situations, imagining what might have happened or what could happen in the future but probably will not. We also use them to express regret or wishes. Hypothetical expressions occur often in the Bible. You (the translator) need to translate them in a way that people will know that the event did not actually happen and so that they will understand why the event was imagined.

Description

Hypothetical situations are situations that are not real. They can be in the past, present, or future. Hypothetical situations in the past and present have not happened, are not happening now, and ones in the future are not expected to happen.

People sometimes tell about conditions and what would happen if those conditions were met, but they know that these things have not happened or probably will not happen. (The conditions comprise a phrase that starts with “if.”)

• If he had lived to be 100 years old, he would have seen his grandson’s grandson. (But he did not.)
• If he lived to be 100 years old, he would still be alive today. (But he is not.)
• If he lives to be 100 years old, he will see his grandson’s grandson. (But he probably will not.)

People sometimes express wishes about things that have not happened or that are not expected to happen.

• I wish he had come.
• I wish he were here.
• I wish he would come.

People sometimes express regrets about things that have not happened or that are not expected to happen.

• If only he had come.
• If only he were here.
• If only he would come.

Reason This Is a Translation Issue

• Translators need to recognize the different kinds of hypothetical situations in the Bible and understand that they are unreal.
• Translators need to know their own language’s ways of talking about different kinds of hypothetical situations.

Examples From the Bible

Hypothetical Situations in the Past

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the mighty deeds had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” (Matthew 11:21 ULT)

Here in Matthew 11:21, Jesus said that if the people living in the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon had been able to see the miracles that he performed, they would have repented long ago. The people of Tyre and Sidon did not actually see his miracles, and they did not repent. He said this to rebuke the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida who had seen his miracles and yet did not repent.

Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21 ULT)

Martha said this to express her wish that Jesus would have come sooner so that her brother would not have died. But Jesus did not come sooner and her brother did die.

Hypothetical Situations in the Present

And no man puts new wine into old wineskins. But if he did do that, the new wine would burst the wineskins, and it would be spilled out, and the wineskins would be destroyed. (Luke 5:37 ULT)

Jesus told about what would happen if a person were to put new wine into old wineskins. But no one would do that. He used this imaginary situation as an example to show that there are times when it is unwise to mix new things with old things. He did this so that people could understand why his disciples were not fasting as people traditionally did.

Jesus said to them, “What man would there be among you, who, if he had just one sheep, and if this sheep fell into a deep hole on the Sabbath, would not grasp hold of it and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11 ULT)

Jesus asked the religious leaders what they would do on the Sabbath if one of their sheep fell into a hole. He was not saying that their sheep would fall into a hole. He used this imaginary situation to show them that they were wrong to judge him for healing people on the Sabbath.

Hypothetical Situation in the Future

Unless those days are shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24:22 ULT)

Jesus was talking about a future time when very bad things would happen. He told what would happen if those days of trouble were to last a long time. He did this to show how bad those days will be—so bad that if they lasted a long time, no one would be saved. But then he clarified that God will shorten those days of trouble so that the elect (those he has chosen) will be saved.

Expressing Emotion About a Hypothetical Situation

People sometimes talk about hypothetical situations in order to express regrets and wishes. Regrets are about the past and wishes are about the present and future.

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by Yahweh’s hand in the land of Egypt when we were sitting by the pots of meat and were eating bread to the full. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill our whole community with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3 ULT)

Here the Israelites were afraid that they would have to suffer and die of hunger in the wilderness, and so they wished that they had stayed in Egypt and died there with full stomachs. They were complaining, expressing regret that this had not happened.

I know what you have done, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot! (Revelation 3:15 ULT)

Jesus wished that the people were either hot or cold, but they are neither. He was rebuking them, expressing anger at this.

Translation Strategies

Find out how people speaking your language show:

• that something could have happened, but did not.
• that something could be true now, but is not.
• that something could happen in the future, but will not unless something changes.
• that they wish for something, but it does not happen.
• that they regret that something did not happen.

Use your language’s ways of showing these kinds of things.

You may also want to watch the video at https://ufw.io/figs_hypo.

Introduction of a New Event

Description

When people tell a story, they tell about an event or a series of events. Often they put certain information at the beginning of the story, such as who the story is about, when it happened, and where it happened. This information that the writer gives before the events of the story begin is called the setting of the story. Some new events in a story also have a setting because they might involve new people, new times, and new places. In some languages, people also tell if they saw the event or heard about it from someone else.

When your people tell about events, what information do they give at the beginning? Is there a certain order that they put it in? In your translation, you will need to follow the way your language introduces new information at the beginning of a story or a new event rather than the way the source language did that. In this way your translation will sound natural and communicate clearly in your language.

Examples From the Bible

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zechariah, from the division of Abijah. And his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. (Luke 1:5 ULT)

The verses above introduce a story about Zechariah. The first bolded phrase tells when it happened, and the next two bolded phrases introduce the main people. The next two verses go on to explain that Zechariah and Elizabeth were old and did not have any children. All of this is the setting. Then the phrase “And it happened that” in Luke 1:8 helps to introduce the first event in this story:

And it happened that in his performing as priest before God, in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, he came up by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense. (Luke 1:8-9 ULT)

The birth of Jesus Christ happened in the following way. His mother, Mary, was engaged to marry Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18 ULT)

The bolded sentence above makes it explicit that a story about Jesus is being introduced. The story will tell about how the birth of Jesus happened.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, learned men from the east arrived in Jerusalem. (Matthew 2:1 ULT)

The bolded phrase above shows that the events concerning the learned men happened after Jesus was born.

Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. (Matthew 3:1-22 ULT)

The bolded phrase above shows that John the Baptist came preaching around the time of the previous events. It is probably very general and refers to when Jesus lived in Nazareth.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River to John, to be baptized by him. (Matthew 3:13 ULT)

The word “then” shows that Jesus came to the Jordan River some time after the events in the previous verses.

Now there was a man from the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. This man came to Jesus at night. (John 3:1-2a ULT)

The author first introduced the new person and then told about what he did and when he did it. In some languages, it might be more natural to tell about the time first.

6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came upon the earth. 7 Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives went into the ark together because of the waters of the flood. (Genesis 7:6-7 ULT)

Verse 6 is a statement of the events that happen in the rest of chapter 7. Chapter 6 already told about how God told Noah that there would be a flood, and how Noah prepared for it. Chapter 7 verse 6 introduces the part of the story that tells about Noah and his family and the animals going into the ship, the rain starting, and the rain flooding the earth. Some languages might need to make it clear that this verse simply introduces the event, or move this verse after verse 7. Verse 6 is not one of the events of the story. The people went into the ship before the flood came.

Translation Strategies

If the information given at the beginning of a new event is clear and natural to your readers, consider translating it as it is in the ULT or UST. If not, consider one of these strategies:

(1) Put the information that introduces the event in the order that your people put it.

(2) If readers would expect certain information but it is not in the Bible, consider using an indefinite word or phrase to fill in that information, such as: “another time” or “someone.”

(3) If the introduction is a summary of the whole event, use your language’s way of showing that it is a summary.

(4) If it would be strange in the target language to give a summary of the event at the beginning, indicate that the event would actually happen later in the story.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) Put the information that introduces the event in the order that your people put it.

Now there was a man from the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. This man came to Jesus at night. (John 3:1-2a ULT)

There was a man whose name was Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish Council. One night he came to Jesus.

One night a man named Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish Council, came to Jesus.

As he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alpheus, sitting at the tax collector’s tent, and he said to him … (Mark 2:14a ULT)

As he passed by, Levi the son of Alpheus was sitting at the tax collector’s tent. Jesus saw him and and said to him …

As he passed by, there was a man sitting at the tax collector’s tent. His name was Levi, and he was the son of Alpheus. Jesus saw him and said to him …

As he passed by, there was a tax collector sitting at the tax collector’s tent. His name was Levi, and he was the son of Alpheus. Jesus saw him and said to him …

(2) If readers would expect certain information, but it is not in the Bible, consider using an indefinite word or phrase such as “another time,” or “someone.”

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came upon the earth. (Genesis 7:6 ULT) — If people expect to be told something about when the new event happened, the phrase “after that” can help them see that it happened after the events already mentioned.

After that, when Noah was 600 years old, the flood came upon the earth.

Again he began to teach beside the sea. (Mark 4:1a ULT) — In chapter 3 Jesus was teaching at someone’s house. Readers may need to be told that this new event happened at another time, or that Jesus actually went to the sea.

Another time Jesus began to teach people again beside the sea.

Jesus went to the sea and began to teach people again there.

(3) If the introduction is a summary of the whole event, use your language’s way of showing that it is a summary.

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came upon the earth. (Genesis 7:6 ULT)

Now this is what happened when Noah was 600 years old and the flood came upon the earth.

This part tells about what happened when the flood came upon the earth. It happened when Noah was 600 years old.

(4) If it would be strange in the target language to give a summary of the event at the beginning, show that the event will actually happen later in the story.

Noah was 600 years old when the flood came upon the earth. Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives went into the ark together because of the waters of the flood. (Genesis 7:6-7 ULT)

Now this is what happened when Noah was 600 years old. Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives went into the ark together because God had said that the waters of the flood would come.

Introduction of New and Old Participants

Description

The first time that people or things are mentioned in a story, they are new participants. After that, whenever they are mentioned, they are old participants.

Now there was a man from the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus … This man came to Jesus at night … Jesus replied and said to him … (John 3:1, 2a, 3a)

The first bolded phrase introduces Nicodemus as a new participant. After being introduced, he is then referred to as “This man” and “him” when he has become an old participant.

Reason This Is a Translation Issue

In order to make your translation clear and natural, it is necessary to refer to the participants in such a way that people will know if they are new participants or participants that they have already read about. Different languages have different ways of doing this. You must follow the way that your language does this, not the way that the source language does this.

Examples From the Bible

New Participants

Often the most important new participant is introduced with a phrase that says that he existed, such as “There was a man,” as in the example below. The phrase “There was” tells us that this man existed. The word “a” in “a man” tells us that the author is speaking about him for the first time. The rest of the sentence tells where this man was from, who is family was, and what his name was.

Now there was a man from Zorah, of the families of the Danites, and his name was Manoah. (Judges 13:2a ULT)

A new participant who is not the most important participant is often introduced in relation to the more important person who was already introduced. In the example below, Manoah’s wife is simply referred to as “his wife.” This phrase shows her relationship to him.

Now there was one man from Zorah, of the families of the Danites, and his name was Manoah. His wife was barren and she had never given birth. (Judges 13:2 ULT)

Sometimes a new participant is introduced simply by name because the author assumes that the readers know who the person is. In the first verse of 1 Kings, the author assumes that his readers know who King David is, so there is no need to explain who he is.

Now King David was old, he had advanced in the days, and they covered him with the garments, but it was not warm enough for him. (1 Kings 1:1 ULT)

Old Participants

A person who has already been brought into the story can be referred to with a pronoun after that. In the example below, Manoah is referred to with the pronoun “his,” and his wife is referred to with the pronoun “she.”

His wife was barren and she had never given birth. (Judges 13:2 ULT)

Old participants can also be referred to in other ways, depending on what is happening in the story. In the example below, the story is about bearing a son, and Manoah’s wife is referred to by the noun phrase “the wife.”

The angel of Yahweh appeared to the wife and he said to her … (Judges 13:3a ULT)

If the old participant has not been mentioned for a while, or if there could be confusion between participants, the author may use the participant’s name again. In the example below, Manoah is referred to by his name, which the author has not used since verse 2.

Then Manoah prayed to Yahweh. (Judges 13:8a ULT)

Some languages place an affix on the verb that tells something about the subject. In some of those languages, people do not always use noun phrases or pronouns for old participants when they are the subject of the sentence. The marker on the verb gives enough information for the listener to understand who the subject is. (See Verbs.)

Translation Strategies

(1) If the participant is new, use one of your language’s ways of introducing new participants.

(2) If it is not clear to whom a pronoun refers, use a noun phrase or name.

(3) If an old participant is referred to by name or a noun phrase, and people wonder if this is another new participant, try using a pronoun instead. If a pronoun is not needed because people would understand it clearly from the context, then leave out the pronoun.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) If the participant is new, use one of your language’s ways of introducing new participants.

Then Joseph, who was called Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated as Son of Encouragement), a Levite from Cyprus by birth … (Acts 4:36-37 ULT) — Starting the sentence with Joseph’s name when he has not been introduced yet might be confusing in some languages.

There was a man from Cyprus who was a Levite. His name was Joseph, and he was given the name Barnabas by the apostles (that is, being interpreted, Son of Encouragement). There was a Levite from Cyprus whose name was Joseph. The apostles gave him the name Barnabas, which means Son of encouragement.

(2) If it is not clear who a pronoun refers to, use a noun phrase or name.

And it happened that when he was praying in a certain place, when he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1 ULT) — Since this is the first verse in a chapter, readers might wonder who “he” refers to.

It happened when Jesus finished praying in a certain place, that one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”

(3) If an old participant is referred to by name or a noun phrase, and people wonder if this is another new participant, try using a pronoun instead. If a pronoun is not needed because people would understand it clearly from the context, then leave out the pronoun.

Joseph’s master took Joseph and put him in prison, in the place where all the king’s prisoners were put, and Joseph stayed there. (Genesis 39:20) — Since Joseph is the main person in the story, some languages might prefer the pronoun.

Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, in the place where all the king’s prisoners were put, and he stayed there in the prison.

Parables

A parable is a short story that teaches something(s) that is true, and delivers the lesson in a way that is easy to understand and hard to forget.

Description

A parable is a short story that is told to teach something(s) that is true. Though the events in a parable could happen, they did not actually happen. They are told only to teach the lesson(s) that the listener is meant to learn. Parables rarely contain the names of specific people. (This may help you identify what is a parable and what is an account of a real event.) Parables often use figures of speech such as simile and metaphor.

Then he also told them a parable. “A blind man is not able to guide a blind man, is he? Would not both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39 ULT)

This parable teaches that if a person does not have spiritual understanding, he cannot help someone else to understand spiritual things.

Examples From the Bible

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but, rather, on the lampstand, and it shines for everyone in the house. Let your light shine before people in such a way that they see your good deeds and praise your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:15-16 ULT)

This parable teaches us not to hide the way we live for God from other people.
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Then Jesus presented another parable to them. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. This seed is indeed the smallest of all other seeds. But when it has grown, it is greater than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32 ULT)

This parable teaches that the kingdom of God may seem small at first, but it will grow and spread throughout the world.

Translation Strategies

(1) If a parable is hard to understand because it has unknown objects in it, you can replace the unknown objects with objects that people in your culture know. However, be careful to keep the lesson the same.

(2) If the teaching of the parable is unclear, consider telling a little about what it teaches in the introduction, such as “Jesus told this story about being generous.”

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) If a parable is hard to understand because it has unknown objects in it, you can replace the unknown objects with objects that people in your culture know. However, be careful to keep the lesson the same.

Jesus also said to them, “The lamp is not brought in order to put it under a basket, or under the bed, is it? Is it not so that it might be put on the lampstand?” (Mark 4:21 ULT)

If people do not know what a lampstand is, you could substitute something else that people put a light on so it can give light to the house.

Jesus also said to them, “The lamp is not brought in order to put it under a basket, or under the bed, is it? Is it not so that it might be put on a high shelf?”

Then Jesus presented another parable to them. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is indeed the smallest of all the seeds. But when it has grown, it is greater than the garden plants. It becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32 ULT)

To sow seeds means to toss them so that they scatter on the ground. If people are not familiar with sowing, you can substitute planting.

Then Jesus presented another parable to them. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field. This seed is indeed the smallest of all the seeds. But when it has grown, it is greater than the garden plants. It becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

(2) If the teaching of the parable is unclear, consider telling a little about what it teaches in the introduction, such as “Jesus told this story about being generous.”

Jesus also said to them, “The lamp is not brought in order to put it under a basket, or under the bed, is it? Is it not so that it might be put on the lampstand?” (Mark 4:21 ULT)

Jesus told them a parable about why they should witness openly. Jesus also said to them, “The lamp is not brought in order to put it under a basket, or under the bed, is it? Is it not so that it might be put on the lampstand?” (Mark 4:21 ULT)

Then Jesus presented another parable to them. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is indeed the smallest of all the seeds. But when it has grown, it is greater than the garden plants. It becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32 ULT)

Then Jesus presented another parable to them about how the kingdom of God grows. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. This seed is indeed the smallest of all the seeds. But when it has grown, it is greater than the garden plants. It becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Poetry

Description

Poetry is one of the ways that people use the words and sounds of their language to make their speech and writing more beautiful and to express strong emotion. Through poetry, people can communicate deeper emotion than they can through simple non-poetic forms. Poetry gives more weight and elegance to statements of truth, such as proverbs, and is also easier to remember than ordinary speech.

In poetry we commonly find:

• many figures of speech such as Apostrophe

• arrangements of clauses into particular patterns such as:

  • parallel lines (See Parallelism)
  • acrostics (beginning lines with successive letters of the alphabet)
  • chiasms (in which the first line relates to the last line, the second to the next-to-last line, etc.):
    > You should not give what is holy to the dogs,
    >
    >> and should not throw your pearls in front of the pigs.
    >>
    >> Otherwise they will trample them under their feet,
    >
    > and having turned, they might tear you to pieces. (Matt 7:6 ULT)

• repetition of some or all of a line:

Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts. Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. (Psalm 148:2-3 ULT)

• lines of similar length:

Listen to my call to you,

Yahweh; think about my groanings.

Listen to the sound of my call, my King and my God,

for it is to you that I pray. (Psalm 5:1-2 ULT)

• the same sound used at the end or at the beginning of two or more lines:

“Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are.” (from an English rhyme)

• the same sound repeated many times:

“Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater” (from an English rhyme)

We also find:

• old words and expressions
• dramatic imagery
• different use of grammar — including:
  
  
  
  • incomplete sentences
  
  
  • lack of connective words
  
  

Some places to look for poetry in your language

1. Songs, particularly old songs or songs used in children’s games
2. Religious ceremony or chants of priests or witch doctors
3. Prayers, blessings, and curses
4. Old legends

Elegant or fancy speech

Elegant or fancy speech is similar to poetry in that it uses beautiful language, but it does not use all of the language’s features of poetry, and it does not use them as much as poetry does. Popular speakers in the language often use elegant speech, and this is probably the easiest source of text to study to find out what makes speech elegant in your language.

Reasons This Is a Translation Issue:

• Different languages use poetry for different things. If a poetic form would not communicate the same meaning in your language, you may need to write it without the poetry.
• Different languages use different poetic devices. A poetic device that conveys elegance or emotion in a biblical language may be confusing or misunderstood in another language.
• In some languages, using poetry for a particular part of the Bible would make it much more powerful.

Examples From the Bible

The Bible uses poetry for songs, teaching, and prophecy. Almost all of the books of the Old Testament have poetry in them and many of the books are completely made up of poetry.

… for you saw my affliction; you knew the distress of my soul. (Psalm 31:7b ULT)

This example of Parallelism has two lines that mean the same thing.

Yahweh, judge the nations; vindicate me, Yahweh, because I am righteous and innocent, Most High. (Psalm 7:8 ULT)

This example of parallelism shows the contrast between what David wants God to do to him and what he wants God to do to the unrighteous nations. (See Parallelism.)

Keep your servant also from arrogant sins; let them not rule over me. (Psalm 19:13a ULT)

This example of personification speaks of sins as if they could rule over a person. (See Personification.)

Oh, give thanks to Yahweh; for he is good,

 for his covenant faithfulness endures forever.

 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods,

 for his covenant faithfulness endures forever.

 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords,

 for his covenant faithfulness endures forever.

(Psalm 136:1-3 ULT)

This example repeats the phrases “give thanks” and “his covenant faithfulness endures forever.”

Translation Strategies

If the style of poetry that is used in the source text would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider using it. If not, here are some other ways of translating it.

(1) Translate the poetry using one of your styles of poetry.

(2) Translate the poetry using your style of elegant speech.

(3) Translate the poetry using your style of ordinary speech.

If you use poetry it may be more beautiful.

If you use ordinary speech it may be more clear.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of mockers. But his delight is in the law of Yahweh, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2 ULT)

The following are examples of how people might translate Psalm 1:1-2.

(1) Translate the poetry using one of your styles of poetry. (The style in this example has words that sound similar at the end of each line.)

“Happy is the person not encouraged to sin, Disrespect for God he will not begin, To those who laugh at God he is no kin. God is his constant delight, He does what God says is right, He thinks of it all day and night.”

(2) Translate the poetry using your style of elegant speech.

This is the kind of person who is truly blessed: the one who does not follow the advice of wicked people nor stop along the road to speak with sinners nor join the gathering of those who mock God. Rather, he takes great joy in Yahweh’s law, and he meditates on it day and night.

(3) Translate the poetry using your style of ordinary speech.

The people who do not listen to the advice of bad people are really happy. They do not spend time with people who continually do evil things or join with those who do not respect God. Instead, they love to obey Yahweh’s law, and they think about it all the time.

Blessings

Description

Blessings are short sayings that people use to ask God to do something good for another person. In the Bible, the person saying the blessing speaks or writes directly to the person who will receive the blessing. The person who says the blessing does not directly speak to God, but it is understood that God is the one who will do the good thing mentioned. It is also understood that God hears the blessing, whether he is mentioned by name or not.

Reason This Is a Translation Issue

Each language has its own ways of saying blessings. There are many blessings in the Bible. They need to be translated in the way that people say blessings in your language, so that people recognize them as blessings and understand what one person wants God to do for another.

Examples From the Bible

In the Bible, people often said a blessing when they met someone or when they were leaving someone or sending someone off.

In the book of Ruth, when Boaz meets his workers in the fields, he greets them with a blessing:

Then behold, Boaz coming from Bethlehem! And he said to the reapers, “Yahweh be with you.” And they said to him, “May Yahweh bless you.” (Ruth 2:4 ULT)

Similarly, when Rebekah leaves her family, they say farewell with a blessing:

They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them.” (Genesis 24:60 ULT)

In a similar way, the writers of letters in the New Testament often wrote a blessing at the beginning of their letters as well as at the end. Here are examples from the beginning and end of Paul’s second letter to Timothy:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (2 Tim 1:2 ULT)
The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (2 Tim 4:22 ULT)

Translation Strategies

Find out how people say blessings in your language. Collect a list of common blessings, noting the form of the verb, the use of certain words, and the words that are not used in a blessing but would normally be in a sentence. Also find out what differences there might be between blessings that people use when they are speaking to each other and when they are writing to each other.

If translating a blessing literally would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider doing that. If not, here are some options:

1. Add a verb if that is natural in your language.
2. Mention God as the subject of a blessing if that is natural in your language.
3. Translate the blessing in a form that is natural and clear in your language.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) Add a verb if that is natural in your language.

The Lord with your spirit. The grace with you. (2 Tim 4:22, literal from the Greek)

In the Greek of this verse, there is no verb ‘be.’ However, in blessings in English, it is natural to use a verb. The idea that the ‘grace’ from God will be or remain with the person is implied in Greek.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (2 Tim 4:22 ULT)

(2) Mention God as the subject of a blessing if that is natural in your language.

If people expect a blessing to refer to God in your language, you might have to provide ‘God’ as the subject or as the source of the blessing. In Greek and Hebrew, usually God is not explicitly mentioned in the blessing, but it is implied that God is the one acting to show his kindness to the person being addressed.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (2 Tim 4:22 ULT)

The Lord be with your spirit. May God give grace to you.

They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them.” (Genesis 24:60 ULT)

They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may God grant that you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and may God empower your descendants to possess the gate of those who hate them.”

(3) Translate the blessing in a form that is natural and clear in your language.

Here are some ideas for ways that people might say a blessing in their language.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (2 Tim 4:22 ULT)

May the Lord be with your spirit. May God cause his grace to be with you.

May you have God’s presence with you. May you experience grace from God.

“Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them.” (Genesis 24:60 ULT)

“Our sister, we pray to God that you may be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and appeal to him that your descendants may possess the gate of those who hate them.”

“Our sister, by God’s power you will be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and your descendants will possess the gate of those who hate them.”

Proverbs

Description

Proverbs are short sayings that give wise advice or teach something that is generally true about life. People enjoy proverbs because they give a lot of wisdom in few words. Proverbs in the Bible often use metaphor and parallelism. Proverbs should not be understood as absolute and unchangeable laws. Rather, proverbs offer general advice to a person about how to live his life.

Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers over all offenses. (Proverbs 10:12 ULT)

Here is another example from the book of Proverbs.

Look at the ant, you lazy person, consider her ways, and be wise. It has no commander, officer, or ruler, yet it prepares its food in the summer, and during the harvest it stores up what it will eat. (Proverbs 6:6-8 ULT)

Reason This Is a Translation Issue

Each language has its own ways of saying proverbs. There are many proverbs in the Bible. They need to be translated in the way that people say proverbs in your language so that people recognize them as proverbs and understand what they teach.

Examples From the Bible

A good name is to be chosen over great riches,

and favor is better than silver and gold. (Proverbs 22:1 ULT)

This means that it is better to be a good person and to have a good reputation than it is to have a lot of money.

Like vinegar on the teeth and smoke in the eyes,

so is the sluggard to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26 ULT)

This means that a lazy person is very annoying to those who send him to do something.

The way of Yahweh protects those who have integrity,

but it is destruction for the wicked. (Proverbs 10:29 ULT)

This means that Yahweh protects people who do what is right, but he destroys those who are wicked.

Translation Strategies

If translating a proverb literally would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider doing that. If not, here are some options:

(1) Find out how people say proverbs in your language, and use one of those ways.

(2) If certain objects in the proverb are not known to many people in your language group, consider replacing them with objects that people know and that function in the same way in your language.

(3) Substitute a proverb in your language that has the same teaching as the proverb in the Bible.

(4) Give the same teaching but not in a form of a proverb.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) Find out how people say proverbs in your language, and use one of those ways.

A good name is to be chosen over great riches,

and favor is better than silver and gold. (Proverbs 22:1 ULT)

Here are some ideas for ways that people might say a proverb in their language.

It is better to have a good name than to have great riches,

and to be favored by people than to have silver and gold.

Wise people choose a good name over great riches,

and favor over silver and gold.

Try to have a good reputation rather than great riches.

Will riches really help you?

I would rather have a good reputation.

(2) If certain objects in the proverb are not known to many people in your language group, consider replacing them with objects that people know and that function in the same way in your language.

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,

so a fool does not deserve honor. (Proverbs 26:1 ULT)

It is not natural for a cold wind to blow in the hot season or for it to rain in the harvest season;

And it is not natural to honor a foolish person.

(3) Substitute a proverb in your language that has the same teaching as the proverb in the Bible.

Do not boast about tomorrow,

for you do not know what a day may bring. (Proverbs 27:1a ULT)

Do not count your chickens before they hatch.

(4) Give the same teaching but not in a form of a proverb.

There is a generation that curses their father

and does not bless their mother.

There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes,

and yet they are not washed of their filth. (Proverbs 30:11-12 ULT)

People who do not respect their parents think that they are righteous,

and they do not turn away from their sin.

Symbolic Language

Description

Symbolic language in speech and writing is the use of symbols to represent other things, other events, etc. In the Bible it occurs most in prophecy and poetry, especially in visions and dreams about things that will happen in the future. Though people may not immediately know the meaning of a symbol, it is important to keep the symbol in the translation.

Eat this scroll; then go speak to the house of Israel. (Ezekiel 3:1 ULT)

This was in a dream. Eating the scroll is a symbol of Ezekiel reading and understanding well what was written on the scroll, and accepting these words from God into himself.

Purposes of Symbolism

• One purpose of symbolism is to help people understand the importance or severity of an event by putting it in other, very dramatic terms.
• Another purpose of symbolism is to tell some people about something while hiding the true meaning from others who do not understand the symbolism.

Reason This Is a Translation Issue

People who read the Bible today may find it hard to recognize that the language is symbolic, and they may not know what the symbol stands for.

Translation Principles

• When symbolic language is used, it is important to keep the symbol in the translation.
• It is also important not to explain the symbol more than the original speaker or writer did, since he may not have wanted everyone living then to be able to understand it easily.

Examples From the Bible

After this I saw in my visions of the night a fourth animal, terrifying, frightening, and very strong. It had large iron teeth; it devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled underfoot what was left. It was different from the other animals, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7 ULT)

The meaning of the bolded symbols is explained in Daniel 7:23-24 as shown below. The animals represent kingdoms, iron teeth represent a powerful army, and the horns represent powerful leaders.

This is what that person said, ‘As for the fourth animal, it will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will be different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, and it will trample it down and break it into pieces. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise, and another will arise after them. He will be different from the previous ones, and he will conquer the three kings.’ (Daniel 7:23-24 ULT)

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me, and as I turned I saw seven golden lampstands. In the middle of the lampstands there was one like a son of man … He had seven stars in his right hand and a sword with two sharp edges was coming out of his mouth. As for the hidden meaning about the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. (Revelation 1:12-13a, 16a, 20 ULT)

This passage explains the meaning of the seven lampstands and the seven stars. The two-edged sword represents God’s word and judgment.

Translation Strategies

(1) Translate the text with the symbols. Often the speaker or author explains the meaning later in the passage.

(2) Translate the text with the symbols. Then explain the symbols in footnotes.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) Translate the text with the symbols. Often the speaker or author explains the meaning later in the passage.

This is what that person said, ‘As for the fourth animal, it will be a fourth kingdom on earth that will be different from all the other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, and it will trample it down and break it into pieces. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise, and another will arise after them. He will be different from the previous ones, and he will conquer the three kings.’ (Daniel 7:23-24 ULT)

(2) Translate the text with the symbols. Then explain the symbols in footnotes.

After this I saw in my visions of the night a fourth animal, terrifying, frightening, and very strong. It had large iron teeth; it devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled underfoot what was left. It was different from the other animals, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7 ULT)

After this I saw in my dream at night a fourth animal, ¹ terrifying, frightening, and very strong. It had large iron teeth; ² it devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled underfoot what was left. It was different from the other animals, and it had ten horns. ³

The footnotes would look like:

^[1] The animal is a symbol for a kingdom.
^[2] The iron teeth is a symbol for the kingdom’s powerful army.
^[3] The horns are a symbol of powerful kings.

Symbolic Prophecy

Description

Symbolic prophecy is a type of message that God gave to a prophet so that the prophet would tell others. These messages use images and symbols to show what God will do in the future.

The main books that have these prophecies are Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation. Shorter examples of symbolic prophecy are also found in other Scriptures, such as in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.

The Bible tells both how God gave each message and what the message was. When God gave the messages, he often did so in miraculous ways such as in dreams and visions. (See Dream and Vision for help translating “dreams” and “visions.”) When prophets saw these dreams and visions, they often saw images and symbols about God and heaven. Some of these images included a throne, golden lamp stands, a powerful man with white hair and white clothes, and eyes like fire and legs like bronze. Some of these images were seen by more than one prophet.

The prophecies about the world also contain images and symbols. For example, in some of the prophecies, strong animals represent kingdoms, horns represent kings or kingdoms, a dragon or serpent represents the devil, the sea represents the nations, and weeks represent longer periods of time. Some of these images were also seen by more than one prophet.

The prophecies tell about the evil in this world, how God will judge the world and punish sin, and how God will establish his righteous kingdom in the new world he is creating. They also tell about things that will happen concerning heaven and hell.

Much of prophecy in the Bible is presented as poetry. In some cultures people assume that if something is said in poetry, then it might not be true or very important. However, the prophecies in the Bible are true and very important, whether they are presented in poetic forms or non-poetic forms.

Sometimes the past tense is used in these books for events that happened in the past. However, sometimes the past tense is used for events that would happen in the future. There are two reasons for this. When prophets told about things that they saw in a dream or vision, they often used the past tense because their dream was in the past. The other reason for using the past tense to refer to future events was to emphasize that those events would certainly happen. The events were so certain to happen, it was as if they had already happened. We call this second use of the past tense “the predictive past.” (See Predictive Past.)

Some of these things happened after the prophets told about them, and some of them will happen at the end of this world.

Reasons This Is a Translation Issue

• Some of the images are hard to understand because we have never seen things like them before.
• Descriptions of things that we have never seen or that do not exist in this world are hard to translate.
• In places where God or the prophet used the past tense, readers may have difficulty knowing whether he was talking about something that had already happened or something that would happen later.

Translation Principles

• Translate the images in the text. Do not try to interpret them and translate their meaning.
• When an image appears in more than one place in the Bible, and it is described in the same way, try to translate it the same way in all those places.
• If either poetic forms or non-poetic forms would imply to your readers that the prophecy is not true or is unimportant, use a form that would not imply those things.
• Sometimes it is difficult to understand in what order the events described in the various prophecies happen. Simply write them as they appear in each prophecy.
• Translate tense in a way that the readers can understand what the speaker meant. If readers would not understand the predictive past, it is acceptable to use the future tense.
• Some of the prophecies were fulfilled after the prophets wrote about them. Some of them have not been fulfilled yet. Do not clarify in the prophecy when these prophecies were fulfilled or how they were fulfilled.

Examples From the Bible

The following passages describe powerful beings that Ezekiel, Daniel, and John saw. Images mentioned in these visions include hair that is white as wool, a voice like many waters, a golden belt, and legs or feet like polished bronze. Though the prophets saw various details, it would be good to translate the details that are the same in the same way. The bolded phrases in the passage from Revelation also occur in the passages from Daniel and Ezekiel.

In the middle of the lampstands there was one like a son of man, wearing a robe that reached down to his feet and he wore a golden sash across his chest. His head and hair were as white as wool—as white as snow—and his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like polished bronze, like bronze that had been refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many rushing waters. He had seven stars in his right hand, and a sword with two sharp edges was coming out of his mouth. His face was shining like the sun at its strongest. (Revelation 1:13-16 ULT)

As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. (Daniel 7:9 ULT)

I looked up and saw a man dressed in linen, with a belt around his waist made of pure gold from Uphaz. His body was like topaz, his face was like lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and his feet were like polished bronze, and the sound of his words was like the sound of a great crowd. (Daniel 10:5-6 ULT)

Behold! The glory of the God of Israel came from the east; his voice was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory! (Ezekiel 43:2 ULT)

The following passage shows the use of the past tense to refer to past events. The bolded verbs refer to past events.

The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, that he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. (Isaiah 1:1 ULT)

Hear, heavens, and give ear, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: (Isaiah 1:2a ULT)

“I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against me.” (Isaiah 1:2b ULT)

The following passage shows the future tense and different uses of the past tense. The bolded verbs are examples of the predictive past, where the past tense is used to show that the events certainly will happen.

The gloom will be dispelled from her who was in anguish. In an earlier time he humiliated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the later time he will make it glorious, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who have lived in the land of the shadow of death, the light has shone on them. (Isaiah 9:1-2 ULT)

Translation Strategies

• If the prophecy uses the past tense to talk about the future and this would be misunderstood in your language, use the stretegies in Predictive Past.
• If the images in the prophecy are of things that are unknown in your culture, use the strategies in Translate Unknowns.

Sentence Structure

Description

The simplest sentence structure in English includes a subject and an action word:

• The boy ran.

Subject

The subject is who or what the sentence is about. In these examples, the subject is bolded:

• The boy is running.
• He is running.

Subjects are typically noun phrases or pronouns. (See Parts of Speach.) In the examples above, “the boy” is a noun phrase that has the noun “boy,” and “he” is a pronoun.

When the sentence is a command, in many languages it does not have a subject pronoun. People understand that the subject is “you.”

• Close the door.

Predicate

The predicate is the part of a sentence that tells something about the subject. It usually has a verb. (See Verbs.) In the sentences below, the subjects are “the man” and “he.” The predicates are in bold.

• The man is strong.
• He worked hard.
• He made a garden.

Compound Sentences

A sentence can be made up of more than one sentence. Each of the two lines below has a subject and a predicate and is a full sentence.

• He planted the yams.
• His wife planted the maize.

The compound sentence below contains the two sentences above. In English, compound sentences are joined with a conjunction such as “and,” “but,” or “or.”

• He planted the yams and his wife planted the maize.

Clauses

Sentences can also have clauses and other phrases. Clauses are like sentences because they have a subject and a predicate, but they do not normally occur by themselves. Here are some examples of clauses. The subjects are in bold, and the predicates are bolded.

• when the maize was ready
• after she picked it
• because it tasted so good

Sentences can have many clauses, and so they can become long and complex. But each sentence has to have at least one independent clause, that is, a clause that can be a sentence all by itself. The other clauses that cannot be sentences by themselves are called the dependent clauses. Dependent clauses depend on the independent clause to complete their meaning. The dependent clauses are bolded in the sentences below.

• When the maize was ready, she picked it.
• After she picked it, she carried it home and cooked it.
• Then she and her husband ate it all, because it tasted so good.

The following phrases can each be a whole sentence. They are the independent clauses from the sentences above.

• She picked it.
• She carried it home and cooked it.
• Then she and her husband ate it all.

Relative Clauses

In some languages, clauses can be used with a noun that is part of a sentence. These are called relative clauses.

In the sentence below, “the corn that was ready” is part of the predicate of the whole sentence. The relative clause “that was ready” is used with the noun “corn” to tell which corn she picked.

• His wife picked the maize that was ready.

In the sentence below “her mother, who was very annoyed” is part of the predicate of the whole sentence. The relative clause “who was very annoyed” is used with the noun “mother” to tell how her mother felt when she did not get any maize.

• She did not give any maize to her mother, who was very annoyed.

Translation Issues

• Languages have different orders for the parts of a sentence. (See Information Structure.)
• Some languages do not have relative clauses, or they use them in a limited way. (See Distinguishing versus Informing or Reminding.)

Information Structure

Description

Different languages arrange the parts of the sentence in different ways. In English, a sentence normally has the subject first, then the verb, then the object, then other modifiers, like this: Peter painted his house yesterday.

Many other languages normally put these things in a different order such as: Painted yesterday Peter his house.

Although all languages have a normal order for parts of a sentence, this order can change depending on what information the speaker or writer considers to be the most important.

Suppose that someone is answering the question, “What did Peter paint yesterday?” The person asking the question already knows all of the information in our sentence above except for the object, “his house.” Therefore, that becomes the most important part of the information, and a person answering in English might say “His house is what Peter painted (yesterday).”

This puts the most important information first, which is normal for English. Many Other Languages would normally put the most important information last. In the flow of a text, the most important information is usually what the writer considers to be new information for the reader. In some languages the new information comes first, and in others it comes last.

Reasons This Is a Translation Issue

• Different languages arrange the parts of a sentence in different ways. If you (the translator) copy the order of the parts of a sentence from the source, it may not make sense in your language.
• Different languages put important or new information in different places in the sentence. If you keep the important or new information in the same place that it had in the source language, it may be confusing or give the wrong message in your language.

Examples From the Bible

They all ate until they were satisfied. (Mark 6:42 ULT)

The parts of this sentence were in a different order in the original Greek source language. They were like this: And they ate all and they were satisfied.

In English, this means that the people ate everything. But the next verse says that they took up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces of food. In order for this to not be so confusing, the translators of the ULT put the parts of the sentence in the right order for English.

And the day began to end, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that, going into the surrounding villages and countryside, they may find lodging and food, because we are here in an desolate place.” (Luke 9:12 ULT)

In this verse, what the disciples say to Jesus puts the important information first, that he should send the crowd away. In languages that put the important information last, people would understand that the reason that they gave, being in an isolated place, is the most important part of their message to Jesus. They might then think that the disciples are afraid of the spirits in that place, and that sending the people to buy food is a way to protect them from the spirits. That is the wrong message.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way. (Luke 6:26 ULT)

In this verse, the most important part of the information is first, that “woe” is coming on the people for what they are doing. The reason that supports that warning comes last. This could be confusing for people who expect the important information to come last.

Translation Strategies

(1) Study how your language arranges the parts of a sentence, and use that order in your translation.

(2) Study where your language puts the new or important information, and rearrange the order of information so that it follows the way it is done in your language.

Translation Strategies Applied

(1) Study how your language arranges the parts of a sentence, and use that order in your translation.

This is the verse in the original Greek order:

And he went out from there and came to the hometown his, and they followed him the disciples his. (Mark 6:1)

The ULT has put this into the normal order for English:

Now Jesus went out from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. (Mark 6:1 ULT)

(2) Study where your language puts the new or important information and rearrange the order of information so that it follows the way it is done in your language.

And the day began to end, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away so that, going into the surrounding villages and countryside, they may find lodging and food, because we are here in a desolate place.” (Luke 9:12 ULT)

If your language puts the important information last, you can change the order of the verse.

Now the day was about to come to an end, and the twelve came to him and said, “Because we are here in an desolate place, send the crowd away that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and food.”

Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. (Luke 6:26 ULT)

If your language puts the important information last, you can change the order of the verse.

When all men speak well of you, which is just as people’s ancestors treated the false prophets, then woe to you!

Grammar Topics

Grammar has two main parts: words and structure. Structure involves how we put words together to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Here is a brief overview of Grammar Topics we will deal with in detail.

Parts of Speech — Every word in a language belongs to a category called a part of speech. (See Parts of Speech.)

Sentences — When we speak, we organize our thoughts in sentences. A sentence usually has a complete thought about an event or a situation or state of being. (See Sentence Structure.)

• Sentences can be statements, questions, commands, or exclamations. (See Exclamations.)
• Sentences can have more than one clause. (See Sentence Structure.)
• Some languages have both active and passive sentences. (See Active or Passive.)

Possession — This shows that there is a relationship between two nouns. In English it is marked with “of” as in “the love of God,” or with “’s” as in “God’s love,” or with a possessive pronoun as in “his love.” (See Possession.)

Quotations — A quotation is a report of what someone else has said.

• Quotations normally have two parts: Information about who said something and what the person said. (See Quotations and Quote Margins.)
• Quotations can be either direct quotes or indirect quotes. (See Direct and Indirect Quotations.)
• Quotes can have quotes within them. (See Quotes within Quotes.)
• Quotes can be marked to make it easy for readers to understand who said what. (See Quote Markings.)

Abstract Nouns

Description

Abstract nouns are nouns that refer to attitudes, qualities, events, or situations. These are things that cannot be seen or touched in a physical sense, such as happiness, weight, unity, friendship, health, and reason. This is a translation issue because some languages may express a certain idea with an abstract noun, while others would need a different way to express it.

Remember that nouns are words that refer to a person, place, thing, or idea. Abstract nouns are the nouns that refer to ideas. These can be attitudes, qualities, events, situations, or even relationships between those ideas. These are things that cannot be seen or touched in a physical sense, such as joy, peace, creation, goodness, contentment, justice, truth, freedom, vengeance, slowness, length, weight, and many, many more.

Some languages, such as Biblical Greek and English, use abstract nouns a lot. They provide a way of giving names to actions or qualities. With names, people who speak these languages can talk about the concepts as though they were things. For example, in languages that use abstract nouns, people can say, “I believe in the forgiveness of sin.”
But some languages do not use abstract nouns very much. In these languages, speakers may not have the two abstract nouns “forgiveness” and “sin,” but they would express the same meaning in other ways. For example, they would express, “I believe that God is willing to forgive people after they have sinned,” by using verb phrases instead of nouns for those ideas.

Reason This Is a Translation Issue

The Bible that you translate from may use abstract nouns to express certain ideas. Your language might not use abstract nouns for some of those ideas. Instead, it might use phrases to express those ideas. Those phrases will use other kinds of words such as adjectives, verbs, or adverbs to express the meaning of the abstract noun. For example, “What is its weight?” could be expressed as “How much does it weigh?” or “How heavy is it?”

Examples From the Bible

From childhood you have known the sacred writings … (2 Timothy 3:15a ULT)

The abstract noun “childhood” refers to when someone was a child.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6 ULT)

The abstract nouns “godliness” and “contentment” refer to being godly and content. The abstract noun “gain” refers to something that benefits or helps someone.

Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. (Luke 19:9 ULT)

The abstract noun “salvation” here refers to being saved.

The Lord does not move slowly concerning his promises, as some consider slowness to be (2 Peter 3:9a ULT)

The abstract noun “slowness” refers to the lack of speed with which something is done.

He will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the purposes of the heart. (1 Corinthians 4:5b ULT)

The abstract noun “purposes” refers to the things that people want to do and the reasons they want to do them.

Translation Strategies

If an abstract noun would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider using it. If not, here is another option:

(1) Reword the sentence with a phrase that expresses the meaning of the abstract noun. Instead of a noun, the new phrase will use a verb, an adverb, or an adjective to express the idea of the abstract noun.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) Reword the sentence with a phrase that expresses the meaning of the abstract noun. Instead of a noun, the new phrase will use a verb, an adverb, or an adjective to express the idea of the abstract noun. Alternative translations are indented below the Scripture example.

… from childhood you have known the sacred writings … (2 Timothy 3:15a ULT)

Ever since you were a child you have known the sacred writings.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6 ULT)

But being godly and content is very beneficial. But we benefit greatly when we are godly and content. But we benefit greatly when we honor and obey God and when we are happy with what we have.

Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. (Luke 19:9 ULT)

Today the people in this house have been saved … Today God has saved the people in this house …

The Lord does not move slowly concerning his promises, as some consider slowness to be. (2 Peter 3:9a ULT)

The Lord does not move slowly concerning his promises, as some consider moving slowly to be.

He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the purposes of the heart. (1 Corinthians 4:5b ULT)

He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the things that people want to do and the reasons that they want to do them.

Active or Passive

Some languages use both active and passive sentences. In active sentences, the subject does the action. In passive sentences, the subject is the one that receives the action. Here are some examples with their subjects bolded:

• Active: My father built the house in 2010.
• Passive: The house was built in 2010.

Translators whose languages do not use passive sentences will need to know how they can translate passive sentences that they find in the Bible. Other translators will need to decide when to use a passive sentence and when to use the active form.

Description

Some languages have both active and passive forms of sentences.

• In the active form, the subject does the action and is always mentioned.
• In the passive form, the action is done to the subject, and the one who does the action is not always mentioned.

In the examples of active and passive sentences below, we have bolded the subject.

• active: My father built the house in 2010.
• passive: The house was built by my father in 2010.
• passive: The house was built in 2010. (This does not tell who did the action.)

Reasons This Is a Translation Issue

All languages use active forms. Some languages use passive forms, and some do not. Some languages use passive forms only for certain purposes, and the passive form is not used for the same purposes in all of the languages that use it.

Purposes for the Passive

• The speaker is talking about the person or thing the action was done to, not about the person who did the action.
• The speaker does not want to tell who did the action.
• The speaker does not know who did the action.

Translation Principles Regarding the Passive

• Translators whose language does not use passive forms will need to find another way to express the idea.
• Translators whose language has passive forms will need to understand why the passive is used in a particular sentence in the Bible and decide whether or not to use a passive form for that purpose in his translation of the sentence.

Examples From the Bible

Then their shooters shot at your soldiers from off the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed, and your servant Uriah the Hittite was killed too. (2 Samuel 11:24 ULT)

This means that the enemy’s shooters shot and killed some of the king’s servants, including Uriah. The point is what happened to the king’s servants and Uriah, not who shot them. The purpose of the passive form here is to keep the focus on the king’s servants and Uriah.

When the men of the city arose early in the morning, and see, the altar of Baal was torn down. (Judges 6:28a ULT)

The men of the town saw what had happened to the altar of Baal, but they did not know who broke it down. The purpose of the passive form here is to communicate this event from the perspective of the men of the town.

It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. (Luke 17:2a ULT)

This describes a situation in which a person ends up in the sea with a millstone around his neck. The purpose of the passive form here is to keep the focus on what happens to this person. Who does these things to the person is not important.

Translation Strategies

If your language would use a passive form for the same purpose as in the passage that you are translating, then use a passive form. If you decide that it is better to translate without a passive form, here are some strategies that you might consider.

(1) Use the same verb in an active sentence and tell who or what did the action. If you do this, try to keep the focus on the person receiving the action.
(2) Use the same verb in an active sentence, and do not tell who or what did the action. Instead, use a generic expression like “they” or “people” or “someone.”
(3) Use a different verb.

Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

(1) Use the same verb in an active sentence and tell who did the action. If you do this, try to keep the focus on the person receiving the action.