Bible translation seems plagued by a few myths that won’t let go. One of them was recently repeated by Dr. Eugene Merrill in the Christian Post when he said that “if you want a more contemporary […] translation, you’re going to have to give up some accuracy.” I don’t think it’s true. Dr. Merrill was…
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According to a recent report by Lifeway Research, described by David Roach in the Baptist Press, “most American Bible readers … value accuracy over readability,” which is why they “prefer word-for-word translations of the original Greek and Hebrew over thought-for-thought translations.” There is overwhelming evidence and near universal agreement among linguists that word-for-word translations are…
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The terms “dynamic equivalence” and “formal equivalence” mask the fact that at least two distinct theoretical issues separate most translations: 1. what counts as “the same” in translation; and 2. how much text should be translated at a time. Even though the two issues are not the same, they are related, and we find the…
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A recent post by Mike Aubrey (quoting and disagreeing with Paul Helm) again raises the issue of “dynamic equivalence,” and, more generally, the goal of translation. In a comment, Jason Staples suggests: Good post. I think the basic translation philosophy of attempting to most clearly convey the meaning of a text (which is effectively “dynamic…
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