BIBLE NEWS: Translation is NOT easy

A few days back we mentioned that the Bible was not written in English - it's original writings were in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Thanks to scholars, we have a plethora of English translations which do their best to convey the original writings accurately. But what about people who speak less-popular languages? They often only have one translation provided by Missionaries like Wycliffe Bibe Translators. These languages may not have scholars who understand the ancient languages, and may not even have a starting point for discussion of things like "sheep" and "goats" depending on what part of the world they're in. So what is a Bible translator to do? Some recent controversies have highlighted the difficulty that Bible Translators have walking the line between making the Bible understandable to a foreign culture and language, and maintaining the theology taught by Christ.

Creson said that in some cases, what are known to scholars as the "divine familial terms" -- God the Father and the Son of God -- don't make sense in translation in some cultures. Islamic teaching, for example, rejects the notion that God could be involved in a relationship similar to a human family, and Creson argues that people in such cultures might be immediately put off by those terms.
"Translation is a very laborious process, because you have to understand the culture of the community, and you don't understand that overnight," he said.
But using words like "Messiah" instead of "Son" and "Lord" instead of "Father" badly distorts the essential Christian doctrine of the Trinity, in which God is said to be one being in three persons, according to Wycliffe's critics.

Be praying for Bible translators. The job may seem straightforward - exchanging words for other words - but all too often, it is walking a minefield without a map.