Bible Translation

Dear Victorious,

My brother-in-law is working for a non-profit that translates the Bible into other languages. Frankly, I can't imagine that this hasn't been done already. Could this really matter that much in our modern day and age?

General D. - Tucson, AZ

Dear General,

Yes, it really could. The Bible is probably the most translated book ever (as well as the best selling book of all time). And it's already in a language that most of the world can understand. Nevertheless, I've read estimates that say there are still millions of people speaking thousands of languages and dialects for which no current Bible translation exists. I don't know about you, but I'd consider that a problem.

And translating the Bible isn't really so easy. Consider that English is one of the most complex languages on earth. So translating from one language to another can be quite a serious challenge. Tenses and meanings are different. A meaning of love, for example, can exist in one language but not in another. Words may not have the same meaning all the time. (This is true even in the English language!) But let's look at another language to get a good picture of the dilemma that Bible translation presents.

English and Chinese are two completely unrelated languages. They don't share a common linguistic or cultural history. One of the differences is in the way names are given. Chinese has a relatively small set of surnames for people and no set of common given names. Given names can be chosen from the whole language, though in practice some characters are used more often than others. What this means is that there is no standard way of translating a name from English into Chinese. You can try to pick a given name that sounds like your English name, or you can pick a name with characters whose meaning you like. This is not unique, and will differ based on personal preference.

There isn't a "right" translation of an English name. Some attempts at translating then, may use Chinese characters, but it is not a Chinese name or dialogue and would not be used by a native Chinese in everyday speech. So despite being technically accurate, the translation still may not have value to the intended reader. And Chinese is just one example of such language differences.

So, to answer your question, yes, Bible translations are a big deal. And you should support your brother-in-law's commitment to this important work.