[B-Greek] Translation Considerations checklist: Suggestions?

Mark Hoffman markgvh at gmail.com
Mon May 3 12:56:08 EDT 2010


I am teaching an Advanced Greek class, and I have split the class into
translation teams working on translating Luke 16:19-31, the story of the
rich man and Lazarus. As one part of the course, we have spent nearly the
whole semester working through each verse of the text, doing all the
textual, lexical, exegetical ... work.
Now I am asking them not to simply translate the Greek but to compose a
translation of the text. (In my mine, there is a difference...) I was unable
to find any resource that concisely described the types of things I wanted
them to keep in mind as they worked. So, I have tried to compose and
organize a list of considerations when composing a translation. Here's the
introduction I wrote:

When translating New Testament Greek into English, we sometimes are seeking
simply to confirm the accuracy of an existing English version. Sometimes we
can look at the Greek and produce a translation in our mind that reflects
our understanding of the text. In the considerations that follow, however, I
am trying to note the kinds of things we should be thinking about if we are
actually trying to produce a share-able translation. That is, we are trying
to produce a translation that is faithful to the original Greek text, will
stand independently from our explanation of it, and will communicate
effectively to its readers.

HERE <http://www.scrollandscreen.com/files/Translation%20Considerations.pdf>is
the 3 page PDF of what I pulled together. If anyone is interested enough to
read it and comment upon it (corrections, additions, suggestions...), I
would be grateful. If you know of a similar sort of list to which you can
point me, that would be appreciated too.
Thanks.
-- 
Mark V Hoffman
www.CrossMarks.com
bibleandtech.blogspot.com | scrollandscreen.com
www.gettysburgseminary.org/mhoffman



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