Bible Translation as Missions

JBTM Larry B. Jones42people groups where multiple denominations are present, this is an important service. In practice,those in a people group with a vision to initiate a translation of the Bible will sometimesbe aligned with only one or a subset of the denominations present. Unfortunately, the resultingwork might be perceived to be a denominational Bible, which would not serve the entire communityof Christians in a people group.The proposition that the end-users of the translation are the ultimate, or sole, owners of thetranslation process implies the local church in a people group has the final authority to decidewhen a translation is faithful. Realistically, that authority presupposes that people in the endusercommunity have sufficient education and access to exegetical resources so as to accuratelyunderstand the meaning of the text. As mentioned above, in many places, that assumption simplydoes not pertain. In those cases, the people group still needs some outside authority (suchas a translation consultant) to assist them in affirming the faithful accuracy of their translation.Barring that, the meaning reflected in the translation is reduced to whatever the local translatorunderstood or guessed the text to have meant. While there is a postmodern philosophical casefor the legitimacy of that perspective, there are strong theological reasons for maintaining that,at least in the case of Scripture, there is an authorial intent (that is, God’s intended message forhumanity) which is independent of the reader’s understanding and which must be reflected ina faithful translation. 3The accessibility of sophisticated digital publishing software, print-on-demand, and selfpublishingtechnology offers the possibility that people groups could significantly shorten thetime frame for having copies of Scripture in their language. Instead of waiting on a seeminglyponderous publication process through a recognized Bible agency, people groups with internetaccess have the capacity to typeset and print their translation themselves, in the quantity theywant, when they want it. For mother-tongue literature in general, this is a remarkably empoweringdevelopment for the peoples of the earth. However, for Scripture publication, it doesrequire some caution because of the unique role that Scripture has in the life of a faith community.Most Bible translation projects have printed and circulated limited quantities of the firstbooks translated. These short-run printings are explicitly noted to be trial editions with communityfeedback welcomed. Sometimes the community or translators themselves arrange forthese trial edition publications. While God in His grace uses these early translation efforts tobless souls with exposure to God’s message in the language of the heart, they are generally notregarded as having the same authority as the church’s Bible. At some point, the translationof an entire New Testament or Bible has reached a point of stability and polish where it canbe released as an authoritative rule for the faith and practice of the church. The translation issubmitted to a Bible publisher/printer who verifies the faithfulness of the translation through areview by a translation consultant. The involvement of a trusted institution as publisher validatesto the church that the translation is trustworthy.3José Ángel García Landa, “Authorial Intention in Literary Hermeneutics: On Two American Theories,”Miscelánea 12 (Zaragoza, 1991): 61–92, available at www.academia.edu/405995/Authorial_Intention_in_Literary_Hermeneutics_On_Two_American_Theories, accessed January 14, 2015, gives an overview ofthe philosophical issues connected with authorial intent in literacy hermeneutics.