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Bible Translation and Kudos

Photo taken from Toyota UK website
Do you know people who drive a 4x4 just to get the kudos of owning such a safe, expensive vehicle? Probably we all do.

We don't do Bible translation so as to get kudos. Or do we? The number of times I have heard people talk about 'proper Bible translation' is amazing. What do they mean? They're usually talking about working on one of these products:

  1. A print Bible
  2. A print New Testament
  3. Print books from the Bible e.g. Proverbs, Luke & Revelation
In contrast people working on Scripture-based products such as stories (booklets, apps), videos, and audio recordings (of stories) are seen as somehow second-class. Not working on the real thing. Doing something temporary that will be replaced by the real thing later on. 

There is, of course, some truth in the fact that a print Bible will be more likely to be used by believers in churches in the long term (if it is in the right language, has the appropriate style, etc. etc.) than oral stories. It might be more appropriate to start with Scripture-based products before moving to traditional Bible translation, however:
  • They will probably have more impact
  • They are more likely to 'go viral'
  • They are more likely to generate the believers needed to use a (future) print Bible
There's a great story in Bible Translation Basics, a book by Hill, Gutt, Hill Unger and Floyd, (Harriet Hill and Margaret Hill are sometimes known as 'the Hill sisters' 😁 though they are not related) involving a family who own a Toyota Land Cruiser, but never drive it, because the cost of the petrol, repairs and so on is too high. In they end they sell it and buy a small family car that is much more economical. This makes them very happy and is a much more practical solution, until, that is, the father gets a job where he has to travel out to villages (in Africa) down pot-holed roads. Then he decides it might be time to get a Land Cruiser. Their needs have changed, and, in any case, he can now afford to run the more expensive, more solid Land Cruiser. The implication is that we might want to start with Scripture-based products before moving onto translating whole books. In many parts of the world, for projects in minority languages, that is likely to be the case!
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