The Perspicuity of Scripture as Applied to Bible Translation – Part 3

All things being accounted for, the Scriptures are understandable! It is in those terms that we attempted previously (Briefings, August and December 2009) to state the doctrine of perspicuity or clarity of the Scriptures as applied to Bible translation.

In examining the Scriptures, one soon discovers many aspects that may render them difficult to be understood.The difficulties can be compounded by the spiritual and intellectual limitations of the reader. In light of those difficulties, the Roman Catholic Church has traditionally either forbidden or discouraged the laity from interpreting the Scriptures on their own. By contrast, adherents to the Protestant tradition have emphasized the priesthood of believers and the understandability of the Scriptures. Consequently, we endeavor to make the Scriptures available to all: We translate them!

The essential goal of Bible translation is understandability. The translator endeavors to pass on to the reader of the translation all the components of meaning that genuinely exist in the text from which the translation originates (that is, from the source text). Thus, the perspicuity or clarity of the Scriptures constitutes an impetus to Bible translating.

Many factors define the sphere within which the translator may appropriately transfer the meaning of the source text while respecting both the proven difficulties and the inherent understandability of the Scriptures. They may be put in two categories: factors related to the source text and factors related to the translated text. The factors are theological, exegetical, or linguistic in nature.

The Source Text: Here are a few examples of theological factors that may be associated with the source text:

(1) According to Hebrews 1:1-2 and Jude 3, God has primarily addressed His revelation to believers;  (2) The priesthood of believers grants to the believer access to God’s revelation (1 Peter 2: 5, 9); (3) The belief in verbal plenary inspiration has led students and preachers of the Bible to a word-based approach; (4) The Scriptures declare their own difficulty (2 Peter 3:16) and the limitation of man (John 5:39); (5) God provides assistance in understanding the Scriptures (1 Cor. 2:14). Because of those theological factors, translating should be a process of preserving what God means and the way He said what He meant.

A few exegetical factors associated with the source text may be stated as well: (1) Historicity rather than mysticism is the essence of biblical texts; (2) Ambiguity in the Scriptures is by design of the Author, not by error; (3) Style and form of the text are purposeful rather than random; (4) All things being equal, all components are translatable. These factors, at the very least, promote accuracy and preclude casual innovation in translation.

As for linguistic factors associated with the source text, we may include these few: (1) The biblical authors respected grammatical, linguistic norms, i.e., the Bible is not written in a somewhat heavenly language; (2) The subject matter primarily decided the choice of vocabulary; (3) The degree of details in developing a subject entailed the degree of sophistication in the use of vocabulary. Hence, proper linguistics is very significant in Bible translating.

The Translated Text: Some important factors affect the translated text as well. A few theological ones may be these: (1) God communicated to be understood;   (2) The essential theme developed in the Bible is that of redemption; (3) At the last judgment, each man will give account for himself on the basis of what God communicated (Romans 14:2). Because of those factors, translations must be clear and not obscure.

Exegetical factors pertain to the translated text also:  (1) The language of the Scriptures is in its greater percentage lay-people language; (2) In general, biblical authors did not expect their readers to know languages other than the one in which they wrote; they even translated terms like “Abba” after writing them, meaning “father”;  (3) A strict, literal translation may violate the intended meaning of the author. Because of those factors, translations must be modified-literal, not word-for-word.

A few linguistic factors that relate to the translated text may be these: (1) Each language has its own linguistic characteristics; for example, Greek is different from English, which is different from German, which is different from Swahili; (2) For a translation to be understood by the reader, the form of the receptor language has priority over the form of the original language. On the basis of these factors, translation is a literary process.

In light of all this, the translator is compelled to produce a translation that is both slavishly respectful of the original text and clearly understandable in the receptor language. Producing or promoting a translation that does otherwise would violate the  doctrine of perspicuity of Scripture.