Bible Translations in Sweden

The article focuses on approaches to Bible translation that existed in Sweden in different periods. Special attention is payed to what is to date the latest translation in 2000 (Bible 2000). On the eve of celebration of the 500th anniversary of the first translation of the Gospels (1526) this topic is particularly relevant and discussed more and more actively in works by Swedish researchers, first and foremost because a new edition of the next Bible translation is planned in 2026. This tradition goes back to 1540-1541 when translation of the full Bible was printed, known as the Gustav Vasa Bible (Gustav Vasas Bibel), which has made an impact on the hearts and minds of Swedish people for almost four centuries and formed the basis of Standard Swedish. The approach declared by Luther has become a fundamental principle of Bible translations into Swedish: text must convey precisely the message, spirit and content of the original, not literally, however, but in the language that is clear to uneducated people. The Gustav Vasa Bible was reissued twice: in 1618 (the Gustav II Adolf Bible) and 1703 (the Charles XII Bible). Whats more, every new edition was redacted officially. In 1773 Gustav III established the Biblical Commission and requested to replace the outdated text with a new one. However, there were numerous changes in the Swedish Language during the XXth century. Besides, the development of linguistics and translation studies, as well as new scientific data have formed the basis of a new Bible translation project that was launched in 1972 and ended up with publishing the Bible-2000. The translation is the result of collaboration between numerous scholars and average readers. It took almost thirty years to perform the work. In the end, a text was created which most people think is unique, as it strives to convey the style of each particular book. However, there is obviously a gap between the new text and the centuries-old tradition of Bible translation, because after textual analysis was complete, scholars and translators often took decisions about how to render separate words and whole phrases. Their decisions had nothing in common with established practice. Consequently, critics consider that the text of Bible-2000 is often greatly oversimplified, everyday, lacking its solemn beauty and magnificence.

FEMINISM AND BIBLE TRANSLATION

The article considers the development of translation ideas as viewed from a gender-studies perspective. The author elucidates three lines of feminist approach towards the Bible, namely: its rejection as the book refl ecting the masculine bias; the application of gender critique in order to make manifest and subsequently deconstruct its patriarchal nature; the use of “depatriarchalizing principle” which lies in the close reading of the Bible in order to reveal its true meaning of equality. The last approach entails signifi cant implications and possibilities for translators who can make the Bible “inclusive” and its women visible. Key words: feminism, gender studies, Bible translation, inclusive language, depatriarchalizing principle, gender-neutral translation.

Die invloed van die lojaliteite en onderliggende vertaalfilosofie van die vertaler op die vertaalkeuses, met verwysing na die Afr2020 Bybelvertaling

The influence of the translator’s loyalties and underlying translation philosophy on the translation choices, with reference to the Afr2020 Bible translation. When the reader looks a little deeper than the initial superficial ‘Revised’ Old Translation impression that reading the Afrikaans 2020 translation gives you, then one realizes that a great deal of effort had to be put into leading such a large group of diverse translators to understand the essence of a direct translation and to be able to apply it consistently. But it is precisely here that problems can arise. Due to the nature of skopus and the style of the Afrikaans 2020 translation, this direct translation can be categorised on the side of the more literal translations and it thus has a very high percentage of agreement with the 1953 Old Afrikaans translation. If the direct translation is not just another name or a revision of the so-called word-for-word translation, then what is this direct translation? Van der Merwe referring to this translation also touches on this issue when he says: ‘a ‘direct’ translation of the Bible is not new jargon for a word-for-word translation of the Bible. It is an attempt to ‘interpretively resemble’ in good idiomatic Afrikaans all the communicative clues of the source text in the contexts construed for the source text audience’. This underlying fundamental premise brings a lot of tension to the fore. Van der Merwe also confirms this (2014:294) by stating: ‘attempts to translate ancient texts directly (is) an almost impossible ideal (to) pursue’.Contribution: This study evaluated the Afrikaans 2020 translation according to its own criteria, the translation brief and to its self-proclaimed nature as ‘direct’ translation in order to try to make an objective evaluation and assessment of this great work. This process also pointed out where the loyalties of the translators lie, and what the underlying translation philosophy is, and how difficult it is to make a distinction between the direct translation method and using archaic words and terms.

Det er jo min elskede Salomon – eller er det?

The new Bible translation, Bibelen 2020, makes biblical books accessible to readers with little prior knowledge of the Bible, in idiomatic, contemporary Danish. However, the article argues that the attempt to make the texts accessible may have problematic consequences when the translation directly reflects one specific interpretation. This is particularly the case in the Song of Songs. Bibelen 2020 indicates the speaker of each passage, and the introduction identifies one female speaker (“Sulamit”) and one male (her beloved “Salomon”). In a very problematic way, this interpretation and the idea that the beloved is “Salomon”, referred to as “king”, have been built into the translation. The article discusses the once popular interpretation of the book as a drama including one woman and two men and argues that elements of such an approach can illuminate important aspects of the text. It is argued that these aspects are largely lost in the translation in Bibelen 2020.

Revisiting the Bible Translation of Robert Morrison and William Milne

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.

Converting the Words of God: An experimental evaluation of stylistic choices in the new Dutch Bible translation

In an experiment stylistic choices in the new Dutch Bible translation were evaluated. 185 participants evaluated 4 fragments which differed in type of variation (lexical or syntactic), source of the fragment (Bible - classical text) and the way the variations were applied (single - mixed). Also the religious¬ness of the evaluator was taken into account. Examined is whether lexical modernization and syntactic simplification are evaluated the same, whether single variations show a better insight into the evaluations and if the evaluation is influenced by the source of the text or the religiousness of the evaluator. The results showed that there is a difference in evaluation between syntactic and lexical variation, that single variation gives better insight into the evaluations and that source of the text and religiousness do not influence the evaluations. This study demonstrates that translators must involve readers at an early stage in their discussions on a required or appropriate register.

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

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.

Strengthening Christian Identity through Scripture Songwriting in Indonesia

Bible translation and indigenous hymnody have always been important parts of the localization of the Christian faith. In this study, we describe how local songwriters creating songs with lyrics based on translated scriptures play a vital role in the process of localization in Christian communities in Indonesia. We focus primarily on thirty-nine scripture songwriting workshops that we and our colleagues conducted over the past six years in Indonesia, as well as ongoing interactions we had with communities in Ambon and Central Sulawesi. We begin with a literature review to establish the influences which shaped our songwriting workshops and our motivation for conducting them, and then we describe the workshops themselves and the process of musical localization that took place. Throughout the study, we highlight the role of local agency, the importance of fusion genres, and the creation of unique Christian identities through the localization of music.