The Process of Bible Translation

How do you translate the Bible? What’s involved? What steps do you follow?

How do you translate texts written in Greek or Hebrew thousands of years ago into a modern day language of Papua New Guinea? The languages are radically different. The cultures are radically different. The geographies and technologies and economies are radically different.

These questions are much too broad to answer in a single blog post, but here are a few initial thoughts…

First of all, what is the goal when we translate the Bible? What are the ‘guiding principles’ so to speak? Basically, any translation of the Bible should be:

1. ACCURATE – the translation must faithfully re-express the meaning of the original message as exactly as possible (there must not be any omissions, additions, or changes to the original meaning)
2. CLEAR – the translation must be clear and understandable (not confusing or unclear)
3. NATURAL – the translation must sound like normal, every-day speech (not foreign or wooden or artificial)

So, what process do we follow to translate the Bible in a way that is ACCURATE, CLEAR, and NATURAL?

First, someone (or a group of people) need to know both the source language and culture (Biblical Greek for example) AND the target language and culture (Domung for example). There are no Domung speakers that know Greek. And very few that even know English proficiently. Thus, our first task as Bible translators is to learn the Domung language and culture and also try to teach our Domung co-translators about Greek and Hebrew language and culture as well as English (since there are so many tools and resources available in English). This process takes years.

After this language and culture learning has progressed enough, the ‘actual’ work of translation can start. The process can vary depending on lots of factors, but generally it looks something like this:

1. Research a passage of Scripture to understand its meaning
2. Draft an initial translation (often using helps like oral drafting, acting it out, making an event line or a story board, etc)
3. Check the initial draft for accuracy, clarity, and naturalness
4. Revise the translation as needed and type it into Paratext (or some other similar program)
5. Check the key terms to ensure they are consistent (e.g. ‘God’ vs ‘Lord’ or ‘righteous’ or ‘holy’ etc.)
6. Interlinearize the text to provide a literal word-for-word translation of the Domung language into English (this provides another check on the translation and also allows ‘outsiders’ like us to interact with the translation more deeply since we are still learning Domung)
7. Back Translate the Domung translation into English or Tok Pisin (the trade-language most widely used in PNG). Back translation must be done by someone who was not part of the drafting team so that they are ‘independent’. It is a very different approach to the ‘front translation’ into Domung because the goal is to very accurately communicate the meaning of the Domung translation into a language of wider communication – it does not need to sound very natural or be completely clear.
8. Advisor Check the translation by reviewing and comparing the interlinear word-for-word version, the slightly more free back translation, the actual Domung translation, and the original Greek or Hebrew text. Make notes on where the translation may have issues.
9. Revise the translation to incorporate all the advisor’s notes and feedback.
10. Community Check the translation to ensure that it sounds natural and is clear to other Domung speakers (who have NOT been a part of the translation process).
11. Revise the translation as needed.
12. Consultant Check the translation. An expert in exegetical and translation principles and in Biblical languages checks the Domung translation. This expert will not know the Domung language and thus cannot directly check the Domung translation itself; instead, they compare the English or Tok Pisin back translation to the source texts (Greek or Hebrew) to ensure the Domung translation is accurate, clear, and natural.
13. Revise the translation as needed.
14. Publish the translation!

It’s a long process that can take many years for each book of the Bible. But as you can imagine, because we are translating the Word of God, we want to make sure the translation is as accurate, clear, and natural as possible!

We are still in the very early stages of the Domung translation project and the scope of the work is often overwhelming. But we are trying to remember that this is ultimately God’s work, not ours and that His grace is sufficient.