Yesterday, as soon as the Cheyenne translator understood the concept, translation of that concept was almost immediate. But it was not translation itself that caused the problem. The problem was one of communication of the concept. If we expect mother tongue speakers of other languages to translate the Bible, with our technical assistance, we are expecting a great deal if we ourselves do not have adequate exegetical resources for understanding what it is that is to be translated. English versions do not adequately express the connections between the words in the translation in a way that we can understand clearly what the concepts are and can then help translate those concepts to other languages.
Bible translation is a daunting task.
And, personally, I want to add that the team needs to include those who pray for exegetes, translation project coordinators, and mother tongue translators. Well, perhaps I have said too much for one message. But this time, Mike, I've been sharing quite a bit from my heart, as well as my head. All rights reserved.