Spring 2009
Just now, as this letter is being written, one of the Central Asian
teams is gathered in Moscow
for a consultant checking session on some Old Testament books. Here one of the
translators tells about her involvement in Bible translation:
 “I live in Central Asia, in a land
steeped in Muslim traditions and customs.
I never dreamed that I would one day be involved in Bible translation,
but God Himself deemed it fit to give me this work.
“Eight years ago I met the exegetical advisor of the translation
project. He came to the editorial office
where I was working and presented us with a copy of IBT’s The Birth of Jesus Christ in 80 Languages of the CIS. I was very interested to read the translation
of Luke 2:1-20 in my native language - this was the first time that I had ever
read the Bible passage about the birth of Jesus Christ. I liked the translation
very much; it was clear and straightforward.
“When it was time to do comprehension testing of Luke’s Gospel I was
invited to take part in this work by editing the translated text. Later my role in the project shifted so that
I became a translator myself. It has been such a joy for me to work on thirteen
of the Old Testament books.
“Translating the Holy Scriptures is definitely an extraordinary
task. It is not a simple job because the
Bible is at the same time both sacred Scripture and a monument of world
literature. So many genres (historical
narrative, poetry, exhortation, etc.) are woven together in the books of the
Bible, so there are always difficulties that arise in translating the
text. The Russian language, which
serves as my source* language for translating the Biblical text, is very
different from my mother tongue and we must always keep in mind that the
resultant translation ought to sound as natural as possible and not be just a
literal translation of the Russian text.
“I believe that Bible translation is a sacred task, so I do not try to
conceal my involvement in the project from colleagues at my workplace. Of course,
I sometimes hear reproaches from them, especially from one colleague, who once
asked me why I should want to get involved in such a thing. Later he asked me, “You aren’t thinking of
betraying your faith, are you?” I
explained to him that IBT is a scholarly organization and that my translation
work is serving to expand my knowledge. He
doesn’t actively badger me about the issue anymore, but sometimes when I ask
him how he would translate a certain word he refuses to tell me, realizing that
I need it for my translation work."
“Our people definitely need the Bible in their native language. Everyone
should have access to the sacred texts. Even
when studying the Koran, one needs to have an understanding of the foundation
on which it is based, the Bible.”
*) Although the translator may be using a Russian translation as
source text, the exegetical advisor and translation consultant check her
translation against the original languages, which is Hebrew in the case of the
OT.
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support of IBT’s translation work!
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Tax
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Word for the Nations
On behalf of IBT-Russia/CIS
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Rolla, MO 65402
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