Revisiting the Bible Translation of Robert Morrison and William Milne

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-318
Author(s):  
Archie C. C. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Hebrew Text ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
English Translations ◽  
The Creation

The article revisits the collaborative project of two early missionaries to China, Robert Morrison and William Milne, who overcame the ‘practical impossibility’ of translating the Protestant Bible into Chinese in 1823. The issues of the doctrinal constraints, the influence of the contemporary English translations, faithfulness to the Hebrew text and cultural sensitivity to the target language will be raised with reference to concrete examples cited from their joint translation version. The creation account of Genesis and passages on the rendering of the biblical ‘sea monsters’ into Chinese will be selected for focused study in order to show how Morrison and Milne were influenced by the KJV but at times departed from it in their reading of the original Hebrew text. Furthermore, it is also noted that they have shown a certain degree of sensitivity to the Chinese cultural context in their choice of terminology in translating the biblical text into Chinese.

scholarly journals Creation accounts in Gen. 1 & 2: a feminist interpretation

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33
Author(s):  
Ubong Ekpenyong Eyo
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Text ◽  
Male Gender ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Feminist Interpretation ◽  
Culturally Based ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Book Of Genesis ◽  
Holy Writ ◽  
King James Version

It is the view of most people who claim the authoritative nature of the Bible that, women assigned secondary status in relation to men is ordained and supported in the Bible. Many have quoted different texts of the holy writ to support their culturally-biased position on issue of gender equality. Most often views in respect to gender issues are culturally-based and interpreted rather than divinely-based and interpreted. There is therefore the need to look back at Jesus’ words, “But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.” (Matt 19:4; Mark 10:6 King James Version). The two accounts in the Book of Genesis by the Priestly and Yahwistic strands give a complimentary account of the creation of humankind (both male and female) in the image and likeness of God and their creation from a single stock אדם who was not a male gender. At a cursory reading of the creation accounts, one will tend to see האדם as the male gender, but looking at the Hebrew text more closely it will be noticed that the Hebrew words אישה and אישwere only introduced after the two genders have been separated. Note carefully that it was not איש that was asked to tend the garden, who named the animals, was given instruction of what to eat or what not to eat, who fell into a deep sleep or whose ribs was used in the creation of אישה but it was האדם . It was after the creation or ‘separation’ of אישה (woman – the female האדם) that the other part was called איש (man – the male האדם) (see vv 23 & 24 King James Version). It will therefore not be right to speak of the creation of אישה out of איש, because as at the time of the creation of the former, the later was not in existence as איש To view these creation accounts with the sense of gender superiority (either male over female or vice versa) is to read the texts using lenses which have been obscured and tainted by patriarchal, matriarchal or cultural biases.

Metaphorical Representations of the Biblical Concepts of Death and Resurrection When Translating in a Buddhist Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Somov
Keyword(s):  
Target Language ◽  
Conceptual System ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Cognitive Metaphor ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Standing Up ◽  
Waking Up ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
Buddhist Culture

This article applies Lakoff and Johnson’s cognitive metaphor theory to the key terms of death and resurrection in the Scriptures and examines the translation of these terms into languages with a traditional Buddhist culture whose worldview is different from that of the Bible. The present analysis indicates that in the conceptual system of the biblical authors, the concept of death is metaphorically described as sleep while resurrection is pictured as waking up and standing up. However, in the Buddhist worldview the concept of the resurrection is absent and the concept of death is not always metaphorically extended as sleep. This article discusses the practical possibilities and limits of the representations of these metaphorical extensions in three Buddhist-context translation projects of the Institute for Bible Translation in Russia: Buryat, Kalmyk, and Tuvan. It also offers some suggestions about searching for their possible representations in the target language.

An Ecocentric Reading of אמת‎, חסד‎, and דעת אלהים‎ in Hosea 4.1-6

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-360
Author(s):  
Olugbemiro O. Berekiah
Keyword(s):  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Hebrew Text ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Human Relationship ◽  
The Earth ◽  
English Translations

Many critics have blamed the current ecological crisis on an interpretation of the biblical text that legitimates human abuse of the earth’s resources, through a misconstruction of the human relationship with the rest of the created order. The Hebrew text of Hosea 4.1-6 documents a tacit knowledge of the consequence of human action on the ecosystem, evidence that has been eclipsed in various English translations due to the contextual gap between the text and the English recipient. This paper attempts a reconstruction of the Hebrew text, and undertakes a fresh translation that exposes the cosmological underpinnings of the text. The passage is then interpreted from an ecocentric perspective in a synchronic reading with other passages. This reveals an awareness of an intricate relationship among humanity, the earth, and non-human inhabitants of the earth, a relationship that Hosea describes with the terms אמת‎, חסד‎, and דעת אלהים‎.

Bases and Models Revisited: The Importance of Using Different Types of Reference Translations

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
Robert A. Bascom
Keyword(s):  
Functional Model ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Clear Advantage ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Different Types

In a 1979 article in The Bible Translator, Harold Fehderau developed a basic theoretical outline for what subsequently became common practice in many Bible translation projects—consulting both a formal “base” translation and a functional “model” translation in the language(s) of wider communication in the region. The starting point for this approach is the fact that most translation projects worldwide did not (and still do not) work directly with the source languages, but rather work(ed) with the biblical text by way of a single intermediate translation in the language(s) of wider communication within the local context. The clear advantage of this practice is that translators will by definition be translating from the text they are best able to understand, which presumably gives them the best chance to represent the original text well. But there are pitfalls to this method, some of which Fehderau alluded to in his article. One such pitfall will now be examined, from a consultant visit to the Tojolabal translation project being carried out in southern Mexico.

Cutting and Blending Trees of Life (African Cultural Context and the Bible)

Exchange ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 350-369
Author(s):  
Hulisani Ramantswana
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Critical Engagement ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Grafting From

Abstract This paper is a critical engagement with Dorothy Bea Akoto-Abutiate’s book Proverbs and the African Tree of Life: Grafting Biblical Proverbs onto Ghanaian Eve Folk Proverbs (Leiden: Brill 2014). In the book, Akoto-Abutiate grafts together the African Ghanaian folk proverbs and the proverbial sayings in Proverbs 25:1-29:27 in order to appropriate the Biblical message in the Ghanaian context. For Akoto-Abutiate the Biblical book of Proverbs or the Bible in general is a ‘tree of life’ and so is/are the African cultural context(s). She, therefore, suggests the ‘hermeneutic of grafting’ as the most appropriate model through which engagement between African cultural context(s) and the Biblical text can productively happen without undermining the former. The African cultural context in this model is regarded as the dominant and pre-existing tree of life onto which the Biblical shoot(s) are grafted. This paper engages ‘hermeneutic of grafting’ from a decolonial perspective thereby highlighting the pros and cons of Akoto-Abutiate’s approach.

He-Bibles and She-Bibles: Reflections On the Violence Done To Texts By Productions of English Translations of the Bible

1996 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-269
Author(s):  
Robert P. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Geneva Bible ◽  
English Translations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biblical Translation

AbstractThe political nature of English Bibles (Geneva Bible, Douai-Rhemes, KingJames Bible) in the long history of biblical translation is often neglected in the analysis of Bibles as ideological weapons ofwar in the theopolitical struggles of the time of their production. The eventual triumph of the KJB centuries later inscribed ideological traces of partisan versions of those struggles in "the English Bible." Violence is done to the biblical text and by readers of the text in the perpetuation of such Bibles as translations. Some examples of these kinds of violence are discussed, with observations on the hermeneutic constraints built into such translations.

scholarly journals Translation Methods Found in New Testament Bible of Mark’s Gospel

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-179
Author(s):  
Ni Wayan Swarniti
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Formal Method ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Free Translation ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Translation Methods

Language is one of the important things in human life. By using the language, we can communicate with others. This research tried to analyze the bible translation by using methods of translation theory by Newmark (1988). This research was a qualitative research that focused to analyze the Gospel according to Mark. Bible entitled New Testament (2005) was published by The Indonesian Bible Society for The Gideons International. It was printed by Percetakan Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia. The book consists of 727 pages. Informal method was used to present the results of the analysis. It was the explanation of the translation methods used. Formal method was used to describe the table of the frequency of the translation methods applied in the bible translation found in new testament bible of Mark’s gospel. The translation methods found in data source were word for word translation, literal translation, faithful translation, semantic translation, free translation, idiomatic translation, and communicative translation. Adaptation was not found in all chapters of data source. The most translation method applied in new testament bible of Mark’s gospel was free translation. Free translation had the highest percentage in every chapter in new testament bible of Mark’s gospel. In the other word, the translator tried to transfer the meaning from source text into target text with changing the form based on cultures in target language.

scholarly journals The Zulu version of the old testament from a typological perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 212-225
Author(s):  
Victor Porkhomovsky ◽  
Irina Ryabova
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Text ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
Bible Translations ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Sacred Objects ◽  
Canonical Text

The present paper continues typological studies of the Bible translation strategies in different languages. These studies deal with passages and lexemes in the canonical text of the Biblia Hebraica, that refl ect ancient cultural and religious paradigms, but do not correspond to later monotheist principles of Judaism and Christianity. The canonical Hebrew text does not allow of any changes. Thus, two translation strategies are possible: (1) to preserve these passages in the text of the translation (a philological strategy), (2) to edit them according to the monotheist principles (ideological strategy). The focus in the present paper is made on the problem of rendering the name of the ancient Semitic goddess ’ashera, attested as the companion of the supreme gods in certain traditions and pantheons (’El /’Il/, Ba‘al, YHWH). Two strategies of rendering the name of ’ashera are attested in different Bible translations: (1) to preserve the name of the goddess (philological strategy), (2) to eliminate this name or to replace it with the names of her fetishes and sacred objects (ideological strategy). The Zulu case of rendering the name ’ashera is particularly looked at in this paper.

scholarly journals A Critical Study of Abba Ho Patēr in Romans 8:15 in the New Revised Asante Twi Version (2018)

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Foster Asamoah ◽  
Diana Adjei-Fianko
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Cultural Worldview ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Future Revision ◽  
Romans 8

Bible translation is among the difficult exercises in scholarship because it demands a careful analysis of the biblical text from the source language into the target language. The religio-cultural settings and worldview of the indigenous people are also considered so that they are able to access the word of God as written and meant by the author(s). An example of Bible translation exercise is the New Revised Asante Twi Version (NRATV) 2018, which contains some translation problems. Some texts are not translated but “carried wholly” into the new or target language to make them look as if they form part of the native language. One of such is “Abba,” which is a HebraicAramaic word found in Romans 8:15. Since Abba is not an Asante (and Akan) language, it becomes difficult for the Asante reading community (and by extension all Akan languages) and users of the Asante-Twi Bible to understand and express the concept within their religio-cultural worldview because they do not understand the thought of the author in their language. Using exegetical, mother-tongue hermeneutics and the communicative method of translation as approaches, the study has found out that the translation of …Αββα ὁ πατήρ (…Abba ho Patēr) as …Abba, Agya (…Abba, Father) in the Asante-Twi Bible (2018) should be rendered as “…Agya, M’agya” (Father, My Father). The study has thus added to the interpretations of Romans 8:15 in Asante-Twi. It is being recommended that in the future revision of the Asante-Twi Bible, the Bible Society of Ghana should consider using “…Agya, M’agya” (Father, My Father) in the translation of … Αββα ὁ πατήρ (…Abba ho Patēr).

scholarly journals Culture in Biblical Interpretation: The Use of Yoruba Cultural Elements in Adamo's African Cultural Hermeneutics

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Adekunle O. Dada
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Biblical Interpretation ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Average Reader ◽  
Descriptive Approach

African Cultural Hermeneutics is an approach in biblical interpretation that makes African socio-cultural context a subject of interpretation. This article shows how Adamo has deployed effectively Yoruba cultural elements in the development of this interpretative grid. This is done with a view to determining the extent to which he has engaged successfully the biblical text in a way that has translated to a better understanding of the Bible in Africa. A descriptive approach is adopted as the basic methodology for the article. Yoruba cultural archival resources such as traditions, songs, oracles, folklores and incantations (potent words) are appropriated to make the Bible come alive and relevant. For Adamo, these traditional resources have helped to elucidate the Bible and make its message meaningful for its average reader in Africa. Employing African cultural elements in the interpretative process should however be done with some measured caution.

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