I want to draw your attention to a new resource that was recently published, One Bible, Many Versions. Dave Brunn spent over 20 years in Papua New Guinea with New Tribes Mission serving among the Lamogai people through church planting, literacy training, and Bible translation. Among his works is a complete translation of the New Testament into the Lamogai language. When it comes to translation matters, he is a guy who has been there and done that. For him, the theory is reality.
I had dinner with Dave last September at the national Evangelical Missiological Society gathering in Chicago. We talked about his forthcoming book. I recently received a copy and had a chance to ask him about its contents and some other relevant questions that I thought may be helpful for you. You may order a copy HERE.
Commenting on the book, David Hesselgrave wrote, “One Bible, Many Versions is very well written. It is, in fact, one of the finest treatments of the subject of translation that I have been privileged to read. In the providence of God I trust that many, many others will read this book and benefit from it as I have.” Referring to the book, D. A. Carson, noted, “It will. . . remind us of how difficult good Bible translation is and how grateful we should be for the wonderful and even complementary choices we have in English Bibles.”
What motivated you to write One Bible, Many Versions?
As a career translator, I believe there is a lot of confusion among English-speaking Christians about Bible translation. My aim in writing this book is to give Christians an “inside” view into the principles and practices of Bible translation from the perspective of an experienced translator. I wrote the book at a “non-technical” level so the average Christian can read it with full understanding.
Why should pastors consider this a valuable resource?
There are many competing claims about English Bible versions today, and Christians are looking for answers. Pastors who read this book will gain a more complete understanding of the challenges faced by every translator, and will therefore be better equipped to lead the church in respectful, balanced discussions about this issue.
When I hear Christians discuss Bible translation and debate about “which Bible version is best,” it is clear to me that most of those debates are based on an incomplete, somewhat oversimplified view of translation. As Christians become better informed about the complexities of Bible translation, I believe they will be less dogmatic, and many of the debates will diminish. Here is an excerpt from D. A. Carson’s gracious endorsement of the book: “This book will diffuse some of the polarizations that characterize many of the disputes.”
What did your years as a translator teach you about “faithful” and “accurate” translation?
When my wife and I first arrived in Papua New Guinea in 1980, I was committed to translating God’s Word as faithfully and accurately as possible. I thought I had a good understanding of what that meant; but when I started translating into the Lamogai language, I quickly realized that my view of translation was incomplete and even a bit idealistic. I found that some of my standards of faithful and accurate translation were based on English grammatical features that do not exist in Lamogai. If those standards were really God’s universal standards then Lamogai would automatically be disqualified from having a faithful or accurate translation of God’s Word.
One piece of the puzzle that I had not taken into consideration is the fact that English and koine Greek are related languages—both members of the Indo-European language family. That means the degree of literalness that exists in some English versions of the New Testament is largely due to the fact that the translators were translating from one Indo-European language into a distantly related language.
I realized that I had unintentionally made English the ultimate standard for Bible translation. This realization became even more noteworthy when I learned that only 6% of the world’s living languages are classified as “Indo-European.” That means 94% of the languages spoken around the world today are not related to koine Greek in the way English is. My view of translation was based on a pretty narrow segment of the worldwide linguistic landscape.
How is your book different from other books about Bible translation?
Many of the books and articles that have been written about the ongoing translation debate focus almost exclusively on theoretical “ideals” and do not attempt to give an objective, comprehensive view of “real” translation practice. The authors generally start by explaining their predetermined point of view and then use a few carefully selected translation examples to support their philosophical position.
In this book, I do not argue translation philosophy; and I do not disparage any translation of Scripture. Instead I have tried to humbly and respectfully present objective evidence that has often been left out of the translation discussion. My aim is to raise the light level of the average English-speaking Christian, allowing the truth about translation to dispel unwarranted disunity related to this issue. My heartfelt prayer is that God will be glorified as His children become more unified through a deeper understanding of the truth about Bible translation.
Thank you, Dave, for sharing with us today and for your Kingdom labors.
If you would like to know more about Dave and his work, here are a few links to check out:
http://www.
http://www.DaveBrunn.com
http://twitter.com/
http://www.facebook.com/
This book looks very helpful in clearing up a lot of the misunderstandings people have when it comes to Bible translations. As the author mentioned, “only 6% of the world’s living languages are classified as Indo-European. That means 94% of the languages spoken around the world today are not related to koine Greek in the way English is.” I recently experienced an example of this as a friend and I studied 1 Peter 2:5 together. My friend is a refugee from Eritrea and was reading the text in a Tigrinya translation. In English, verse 5 says, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood…” His translation read the last phrase as “Holy Spirit priests”. I thought that it was quite a good translation! There is much to learn from this discussion.