How do translators translate the words for “God” ( אֱלֹהִים/ θεός /上帝 / 神) or “LORD” ( יְהוָה/ κύριoς / 上主 / 耶和華) in Taiwan’s indigenous languages? How do we translate abstract words such as “love”, “peace” or “justice”? How do we communicate the truths about God written down 3000-2000 years ago in the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament in such a way that both elderly and young people can understand them clearly and correctly in their mother-tongue?
For four days (8-11 July 2013), twenty translators representing five indigenous language Bible translation projects (Amis, Bunun, Drekay, Paiwan and Tsou), the New Taiwanese Bible translation project, plus two visitors from the Hong Kong Bible Society, along with UBS and BST staff, gathered together in the beautiful mountain village of Pei-nan in Taitung County on the south-east coast of Taiwan for intensive training, learning and mutual encouragement. (Oncoming typhoon Soulik forced us to cover Friday’s sessions on Thursday and finish one day earlier than originally planned.)
Translation Team leaders led morning devotions. We reflected on the way God gave names to people in the Bible, and the meaning of the different names we have—names in indigenous mother-tongues, Japanese, Mandarin or English. Teams also testified to God’s grace and the way God has led their translation projects over the past 50-60 years. The Bunun Team sang in their traditional harmony and praised God for creating us and giving us new life in Jesus Christ. (You can hear them online.)
Teaching sessions each morning (8:30-12:00) were led by UBS Global Translation Advisers Dr. Simon IMG_7467Wong 黃錫木 (Hong Kong), Dr. Yu Suee-yan 尤垂然 (Malaysia), and BST Translation Advisers Dr. Liang Wang-huei 梁望惠 (Taiwan) and Dr. Paul McLean 麥煜道 (Canada). Topics included: (1) modern Bible translation theories and methods, for example, Formal Correspondence versus Functional Equivalent translation theories; Relevance Theory; Skopos or Purpose Theory; and Frames of Reference Theory; (2) project administration and review procedures—from initial drafting to final publication; (3) exegetical and translation issues in the books of Genesis, Psalms, Isaiah, Mark and Philemon; and (4) how best to translate the numerous Old Testament names or titles for “God” from Hebrew (with the help of Mandarin Chinese Bibles) into Taiwan’s various indigenous languages—designations such as: God, Almighty God, YHWH/LORD, the LORD God, the LORD of Hosts, the Holy One, and the Redeemer.
Thursday morning, Dr. Esteban Voth (biblical scholar from Argentina and leader of the UBS’s Global Translation Team) gave a fascinating presentation on the historical development of written languages in Esteban Voththe Ancient Near East, from cuneiform and syllabic scripts used in ancient Babylon and Assyria, to alphabetic scripts used in North-West Semitic languages like Aramaic and Hebrew. We all gained a new appreciation for the Hebrew language and the Hebrew scribes who carefully and faithfully wrote down, copied and transmitted all the words in what Christians now call the “Old Testament.” Dr. Voth also encouraged us by the fact that we are members of a large “family of translators” working faithfully in Taiwan, China, South-East Asia and the Pacific, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, to share the Good News of God with all peoples in a language they can understand.
During the afternoon sessions (1:30-5:30), we Translation Advisers gave the Teams practical hands-on training in how to use the UBS’s specialized Bible translation software, Paratext 7.4 (聖經輔助工具 7.4). We reviewed project management and basic Paratext skills that some people had learned in previous BST training workshops. We also taught more advanced checking practices which use detailed “Wordlists” and “Key Biblical Terms” to help Teams achieve the UBS’s high standards of excellence. Those with more experience using Paratext worked alongside those who were learning new Paratext skills for the first time, in order to encourage one another and strengthen all of the BST’s translation Teams.
Former classmates from the Presbyterian Church’s (Indigenous) Yu-Shan Theological Seminary reconnected. And new friendships were made between translators from different language groups who live on opposite sides of the high central mountains of Taiwan. These days of training and “life together” offered us all a rare opportunity to share our diverse experiences of translating the Bible, to laugh and learn together, and to support one another in this very challenging and specialized mission work.
Evenings were left unscheduled. People could walk around the beautiful grounds, relax at the local hot springs, or get together with Translation Advisers for more practice using Paratext. God provided in a special way on Wednesday night. Dr. Simon Wong and I worked alongside Rev. Manias Chang Yu-fa (張玉發). Now 75 years old, Manias has been a key translator on the Bunun project since it started with the creation of a written Bunun script in the 1950s. We successfully helped him learn tools in Paratext that will simplify the drafting process for the Bunun Old Testament.
Just as we were finishing, Rev. Kualj, the lead typist for the Paiwan translation team came to us with an urgent request. Paratext was “freezing” whenever it tried to read summary sections from the 1993 Short Old Testament. If we could not solve this problem, he and the Paiwan Team would have great trouble making progress. As we brainstormed, God gave us a new insight and provided the solution. Kualj worked on it until 2AM. The next morning, he joyfully reported that he had made the necessary adjustments for the entire OT. We praised God for helping us solve this difficult problem—and while we were still meeting together! The Paiwan Team can now move forward more efficiently and accurately as they translate and review the rest of the OT.
All of us who attended this translation training workshop thank the UBS and the BST for setting Bible translation as a basic priority for the Church’s mission work among all the ethnic groups in Taiwan and overseas. We are deeply grateful for the Board of the BST who generously supported this important training event, and for BST staff who helped with planning, hospitality and logistics. All the translation teams have returned to their homes where they are already applying what they learned. BST Translation Advisers will follow-up this training every time we visit the projects. Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support for Bible translation work among Taiwan’s indigenous peoples and beyond.
“…my word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
