UBS Translation Program in 2001

From Translation as Communication
to Translation as Engagement

Introduction

At its World Assembly in Midrand, South Africa, in October 2000, the global fellowship of the United Bible Societies established directions for its ministry in the new millennium. In part, these were a reaffirmation of goals that had been established at the previous World Assembly in Mississauga, Canada, in 1996; in part, they were new directions that would guide the Fellowship into the future.

The Mississauga Declaration had drawn attention to “the unfinished task” of Scripture translation. The Directions from Midrand spoke of “helping people interact with the Word of God” and of the Bible Societies carrying out their task “in partnership and co-operation with all Christian churches and with church-related organisations”.

The goal of inviting people to engage with the Scriptures and the effort to serve all the churches was the hallmark of the UBS translation program in 2001.

Scripture Engagement

The UBS defined its task as “achieving the widest possible, effective and meaningful distribution of the Holy Scriptures” but Midrand questioned whether this goal was adequate either in the post-modern world of the West or among the non-literate peoples around the globe. Marketing and distribution should not be an end in themselves. Instead, the Fellowship came to recognize that its responsibility and its mission should be expanded to include helping people to engage with the Scriptures.

A task team established through the UBS World Service Center offered this definition of Scripture engagement:

Scripture engagement is a concept that emphasises making the Scriptures discoverable, accessible, and relevant, that is:

• making the Bible recoverable and discoverable as sacred Scripture,
• making Scripture accessible as the place of life-enhancing and life-transforming encounter.

During AMRETCON, the annual meetings of Bible Society translation officers in the Americas, a workshop was held in which the participants were asked to say what an Encounter Bible would look like for audiences of children in Latin America, indigenous peoples, an audio audience and an audience that uses the Web. The recommendations of the discussion groups formed the action plan that the Americas translation team is carrying forward at the present time.

Throughout the Fellowship many projects have been completed or are under way that seek to engage the reader, listener or viewer. The American Bible Society’s CD-ROM CEV Learning Bible is a prime example of bringing the viewer to an encounter with the biblical text. The Première Bible being developed by the French Bible Society is another example, as is the earlier animated video The Miracle Maker that the British and Foreign Bible Society helped to sponsor, as well as its current program, Making the Bible Heard. In Latin America the UBS worked closely with the Roman Catholic Church in the preparation of a three-year video-plus-booklet program in preparation for the 2000 Jubilee. The materials prepared for this program have now been made available in an interactive CD-ROM. Scripture Comics have been produced by many Bible Societies, as well as music, Scripture audio cassettes and CDs. To match what the Fellowship as a whole is doing, the translation team is seeking new and more effective ways to move Scripture translation beyond communication to engagement.

Serving all the Churches

Midrand reaffirmed commitments made by UBS at its Councils of Chiang Mai in 1980 and Budapest in 1988, and at the World Assembly of Mississauga in 1996, to serve churches of all Christian confessions. At Midrand, the Fellowship affirmed that we as Bible Societies seek to carry out our “task in partnership with all Christian churches”, and we agreed together to undertake “to strengthen the interconfessional nature of our Fellowship in the service of all churches.”

Many examples of interconfessional co-operation can be cited, especially the Guidelines for Interconfessional Cooperation in the Translation of the Bible that were signed by representatives of UBS and the Vatican in Rome in 1987. A number of projects also reflect the commitment of the Bible Societies to the Orthodox Churches and their request that more attention be devoted to their liturgical text.

The Greek Bible Society has launched a translation of the Septuagint into modern Greek. A Ukrainian translation of the Septuagint is currently in its testing and review stages. In Africa, the Bible Society of Ethiopia is collaborating with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on two projects: one a new edition of the Ge'ez New Testament, the other a new translation of the complete Orthodox Bible into modern Amharic.

Among several translation projects in Armenia, the revision of the Patriarchate Bible and a Classical Armenian text project may be noted. A Slavonic text project is also under way and a critical edition of the Gospel of John has been published by the Bible Society in Russia. Through the Bible Society of Turkey, there is a Syriac New Testament project to prepare a semi-critical and semi-diplomatic edition of the Mar Gabriel manuscript from the Peshitta tradition.

In November 2001, the Greek Bible Society and UBS organised a four-day international symposium on The Septuagint in Biblical Studies and the Church. The symposium was held under the auspices of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece at the Inter-Orthodox Centre of the Church of Greece at Penteli Monastery near Athens. It brought together the too-often separate worlds of the academic and the ecclesiastical in a common forum to seek to gain a deeper understanding of the Scriptures. Key topics included the origins of the LXX, its relationship to the Masoretic Text, and translating the LXX in ancient and modern times.

Translation: Theory and Practice

The Triennial Translation Workshop (TTW) in 2000 had paid special attention to a review of developments in translation theory and practice during the previous two decades. The review had been carried out by a UBS Translation Working Group. Following TTW, Dr Timothy Wilt edited the working group’s papers and St Jerome Press has accepted these for publication in 2002 as a book entitled Bible Translation. New pedagogical helps for translator training are under development as a result of this initial review.

The discussion of translation and theory continued throughout the Fellowship, informally among translation officers as well as more formally in workshops and conference presentations. From May 31 to June 1, 2001, the discussion entered the realm of academic debate at the Similarity and Translation Conference in New York. This conference was co-hosted by the American Bible Society’s Institute for Biblical Scholarship and the Scuola Superiore per Interpreti e Traduttori San Pellegrino, Misano Adriatico, Rimini, Italy. The co-organisers were Dr Robert Hodgson of the American Bible Society and Dr Stefano Arduini of the University of Urbino. Calling for a transdisciplinary approach to translation studies within the theoretical concept of similarity, the conference brought together biblical and translation academics and Bible translation specialists for two days of scholarly exchange. Dr Eugene Nida launched the debate with a keynote paper entitled Similar but Different.

The Similarity Conference provided the occasion for the formal christening of the newly established American Bible Society research institute as the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship. This is an international centre whose goal is to provide scholarly service to the American Bible Society and to other Bible Societies around the world in the areas of Bible translation, experimental research, library and archives, and Bible-centred educational resources.

Translation: Program

According to the newly operational UBS software program Translation Monitoring Component, the Fellowship is currently in contact with 1,022 translation projects around the world. Although Bible Societies are in contact with this many projects, the actual number in which Bible Societies are directly involved is closer to 890, representing an average of 11 projects per Bible Society translation officer.

Africa

The Africa translation program experienced a number of changes in 2001, most notably in staffing and in structure. Three very senior translation officers retired within the space of a few months: the Rev Dr Mikre-Sellassie, Dr Peter Renju and Dr Jan Sterk. Four new appointments were made: Dr Eshetu Abate, Dr Margaret Muthwii, Dr Youssouf Dembele and Dr Anastasia Malle. The Bible Society of Nigeria also appointed a new translation officer, Dr Mark Ogharaerumi. The work of the New Reader/Literacy consultant was brought into translation as were the Computer Assisted Publishing (CAP) activities.

According to Ethnologue (14th edition, 2000, published by SIL International) there were 2,058 living languages in Africa in 2000. Less than a third of those languages have even a Portion of Scripture and the Bible Societies, therefore, continue to support translations in new languages. Currently, there are 352 Bible Society translation projects under way in Africa. At the same time, issues of non-reading and illiteracy assume increasing importance. The Bible Societies are seeking ways to develop closer partnerships with organisations like Literacy and Evangelism International to offer training in the development of literacy materials, in the teaching of reading and in the management of literacy programs. Through the office of the UBS regional translation coordinator in Nairobi, experiments are being conducted with local musicians and artists in the interpretation and presentation of biblical stories and themes through music and dance. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of churches are asking for complete Bibles and for study Bibles.

During 2001, the following Bibles were published in Africa: Kinyarwanda revised (Rwanda); Lingala Common Language (Democratic Republic of Congo); Nyore Common Language (Kenya); Swahili: Congo Common Language (Democratic Republic of Congo); Ruhaya Common Language with and without Deuterocanon (Tanzania); and Turkana Common Language (Kenya). The following New Testaments were published: Dii (Cameroon); Kalabari (Nigeria); Konso (Ethiopia); Okrika (Nigeria); Pidgin English (Cameroon); Samba (Cameroon); Sidamo (Ethiopia) and three New Testaments with Psalms - Gikuyu (Kenya); Hausa (Nigeria); and Iraqw (Tanzania).

Americas

The Americas translation program progressed and expanded during 2001. It now counts 52 active projects with 5 additional projects in the planning stages. New projects include Old Testament translations where New Testaments existed already, revisions of earlier 'missionary' translations, and translations in ‘new languages’ known as Creoles. Bible seminars introducing Christians and church leaders to the history of the Bible and to Scripture translation were held in Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Netherlands Antilles, Peru and the United States.

The publication of the New Testament in the simple Spanish translation Biblia en Lenguaje Sencillo was a major success. The translation of the remainder of the Protocanon was completed at the end of December 2001 and the Deuterocanon was scheduled to be completed early in 2002. A number of Scriptures were dedicated during the year including the Eastern Cree New Testament (Canada), the Lao Bible (Canada and Laos), the Life of Christ in Quechua: Apurimac (Peru), the Tzotzil: Chamula Bible (Mexico) and the Guaraní Bible (Bolivia). Also to be noted were the publication of the revised Navajo Bible in the United States and the newly-revised Portuguese Common Language translation Biblia na Linguajem de Hoje in Brazil.

Changes in the Americas included the retirement of one translation officer, Dr Plutarco Bonilla, and, as in Africa, the integration of CAP into the inter-regional translation services.

Asia-Pacific

The translation task in the Asia-Pacific Region is an immense challenge. Ethnologue lists 2,197 languages for Asia and 1,311 for the Pacific, of which just over a quarter have at least a Portion of Scripture. The Bible Societies of the region have 362 translation projects under way. Because of this great, unfinished task a great emphasis has been placed on translation training. A two-year Master of Theology course in biblical exegesis and translation is jointly sponsored and taught by the UBS and Trinity Theological College in Singapore. The first class of six students, Andreas Hauw, Kareasi Tambur and Semuel Aitonam from Indonesia, Premraj Nag from India and Hu Hui Ping and Shi Wen Hua from China, graduated in May. All are now either working in translation programs with their national Bible Societies or are pursuing further studies. The second class that is presently enrolled includes five students from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Singapore and the Solomon Islands.

Several Bibles and New Testaments were published during the year including the Sourashtra New Testament (India), the Chuukese Bible and Palauan Shorter Bible (Micronesia), the Cho Chin New Testament (Myanmar), the Futunian New Testament (South Pacific), and the Urdu New Testament with TAZI/WASAI study notes (Pakistan). The Indonesian Bible Society also printed a TAZI New Testament with study notes in English for the Asia-Pacific Region.

Europe-Middle East

The translation program of the Europe-Middle East Region comprises some 120 projects of which nearly half are interconfessional. The projects vary considerably in the different parts of the region. There are major western European languages with long traditions of Bible translation where revisions are under way, for example in Norway and Portugal; while in the Netherlands a new Dutch Interconfessional translation is nearing completion. In Central and Eastern Europe, major translation projects are under way in most countries - Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and the Baltic republics. Russia and the other countries of the former Soviet Union form a separate group of countries with their own particular translation needs in both major national languages and in smaller minority communities as in the Caucasus and in Siberia. Another group of projects is formed by work in classical and vernacular varieties of Arabic. Other projects include special minority languages throughout the Region such as Romani and Asturian (Spain).

Major publications during the year included the modern Turkish translation of the Bible, a new interconfessional translation of the New Testament in Polish, and a long-awaited Common Language translation of the New Testament in Russian, a Ukrainian New Testament, a Tatar New Testament (Russian Federation) and an Eastern Armenian Common Language New Testament. A Swedish sign language video of the Gospel of Mark has also been produced.

Although partnerships with sister organisations are found in all parts of the world, they are particularly prevalent in the Europe-Middle East Region. The UBS and SIL and the Institute for Biblical Translation (IBT) collaborate on a number of projects in the countries of the former USSR. Recently a new agreement was reached between the Bible Society in Russia, the UBS and IBT regarding work on translation projects within the Russian Federation.

Translation: Tools and Helps

A significant portion of the UBS translation effort goes into scholarly research. In order to enable translators to produce the best possible translations of the Holy Scriptures the Bible Societies seek to provide them with the best possible base texts. Thus, the German Bible Society has published Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the UBS has published the Greek New Testament that is currently in its fourth edition. At the present time, work continues on a fifth edition of the Hebrew text under the name Biblia Hebraica Quinta. The first fascicle Megilloth will be ready for publication in 2002. The UBS is also sponsoring work to produce a critical edition of the Byzantine text of the Gospel of John, carried out in the context of a major international research project at the University of Birmingham in England.

The Bible Societies also prepare special helps for translators. The Handbook for Translators Series offers a complete set of books on the New Testament, and the Old Testament series is nearing completion. This year saw the publication of the Handbooks on 1 and 2 Samuel and Tobit and Judith. A special translator's guide to using the Greek New Testament by the Rev Dr Roger Omanson is ready for publication and an in-depth comparative study of the Septuagint and Masoretic texts is being carried out by the Rev Dr Manuel Jinbachian that will offer guidance to translators of the LXX and MT texts. The Semantic Domain Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew project is well under way with Dr Reinier de Blois as Chief Editor.

Because of the popularity of Descubre La Biblia edited by the Rev Dr Edesio Sánchez (1998), the UBS in the Americas has published an expanded and adapted English version with the title Discover the Bible edited by the Rev Dr Roger Omanson. The UBS is also preparing a translators’ handbook series in French and has begun preparation of a Spanish series. The Russian and Indonesian Bible Societies are adapting and publishing handbooks in Russian and Indonesian respectively, while a joint effort is under way between the Bible Society in the Republic of China and the East Asia Branch of SIL to begin adapting the handbooks into Chinese.

In the area of computer helps, Paratext continues to be upgraded for increased efficiency and help to Bible translators by a small group of developers under the co-ordination of Nathan Miles. The Translation Notes Editor was released in 2001 and the new release of Paratext in 2002 will accommodate non-Roman scripts and right-to-left editing. The entire set of the journal The Bible Translator is being digitised and will be made available on CD-ROM as a reference library for researchers and translators.

As an additional resource for UBS translation personnel around the world, the UBS Translation Clearinghouse under the direction of Harold Scanlin and Sarah Lind continues to offer research assistance together with its scholarly newsletter TIC Talk.

UBS Governance and Translation

In keeping with the changes in UBS governance and structure that were adopted at Midrand, the status of each UBS committee was reviewed. The UBS Subcommittee on Translation was replaced by a new Committee on Translation Policy (COTP) whose members are the Rev Dr Rudi Zimmer, Chairperson, Dr Musimbi Kanyoro, Vice-chairperson, the Rev Dr Markku Kotila, Prof Elsa Tamez, and Dr Colin Yallop. The new committee reports to the UBS Global Board and its mandate includes ensuring that translation policy is implemented, developing and recommending new policies, reviewing and making recommendations to the Global Board on matters related to the overall policy of the translation program undertaken through the auspices of the national Bible Societies, and ensuring that standards set by the Committee according to accepted UBS translation policy are maintained in the appointment of translation officers. The committee held its first meeting in September in San José as guests of the Bible Society of Costa Rica.

The Committee on Scholarly Editions was maintained as an advisory body to the German Bible Society but now reports to the Committee on Translation Policy and its chairperson. The general secretary of the German Bible Society acts as advisor to the COTP on matters pertaining to Scholarly Editions.

Conclusion

In his closing address at the Midrand World Assembly, the Rev Fergus Macdonald, the UBS General Secretary, asked, “What do we need to become?” This is the question that the UBS translation community asks itself as it seeks to develop a long-term strategy that will match resources with the ever-increasing and diversifying needs for Scripture translation in the third millennium. As people everywhere, from the most advanced technological civilisations to the most remote cultures on the globe, encounter the life-transforming Scriptures, we are confident that God’s affirmation through his prophet still holds true, when he says:

“That’s how it is with my words.
They don’t return to me
without doing everything
I send them to do.” (Isaiah 55:11 CEV)