Why Translate?
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Published by David Sills, D.Miss, Ph.D.
on Friday, February 10, 2006 at 3:17 PM. 
Why bother to learn the language and translate the Bible for countless tiny people groups when we have Bibles and theological libraries in major languages and trade languages already? After all, it takes decades to learn an unwritten language well enough to translate a book the size of the Bible and teach the people of the target culture how to read what has been translated. Even then, many people groups never seem to develop a value for literacy. And, even worse, some of these groups may die out or assimilate into the dominant cultures around them before the work is complete. So, why bother? Why waste valuable time when it would be easier to teach them a language in which Bibles and libraries already exist? In fact, should we waste valuable time becoming multilingual missionaries or simply use interpreters? As countless missionaries have learned, knowing the language well is key to ministry. The heart, or natal, language is the best vehicle for Gospel communication. One hears best (and with fewer misunderstandings) when the communication is in the mother tongue.
Culturally inappropriate missions efforts, i.e., a language or communication style that is foreign to the hearers, send the message that one must leave their own culture and language to be saved. Is Christianity only for English speakers, French speakers, or Spanish speakers? Of course, it is not! Yet, the message seems to be for them and for those who can learn their languages. It is essential to learn the language of the culture in which we serve and minister.
Language learning is difficult and humbling (if not humiliating at times!) and unless held accountable, many missionaries take the path of least resistance and use an interpreter. The hard work of learning another language well results in a clearer and more accurate Gospel presentation.
Language is more than verbs, nouns, grammar, syntax, and vocabulary memorization. Linguist and Bible translator, Eugene Nida, has said, “Language learning is more than simple mechanical ability to produce acoustic signals so as to buy, sell, and find your way about; it is a process by which we make our vital contacts with a new community, a new manner of life, and a new system of thinking. To do this well is the basic requirement of effective missionary endeavor.”
Okay, so we need to learn the language, but why do the translation work? Why not use our new language skills to teach the target culture how to read the language of a major language so that we may reach, teach, and profoundly disciple them with Bibles and theological libraries we already have? Answering this argument was the life work of the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, Cameron Townsend (1896-1982). Uncle Cam, as he was affectionately known by thousands of missionaries, was a missionary, Bible translator, and missiologist.
In his early years, he had been a colporteur selling Bibles in Guatemala and Mexico as a missionary with Central America Mission. He constantly encountered indigenous people who spoke very little Spanish and read none. One day, an indigenous man asked him, “If your God is so smart, why doesn’t He speak my language?” This question began to haunt Townsend and so he sought permission to begin the work of translating the Bible into the indigenous languages. His agency told him that many of these languages were likely to die out before he could finish the translation and that the wiser move would be to use Spanish. He could not abandon his vision and so he began to translate and teach others to do the same.He began a Summer Institute of Linguistics with two students in 1934 at a rented farm in Arkansas. They dubbed the training site “Camp Wycliffe” after the famous translator of the Bible in English history. This summer of training young people to translate the Scriptures into previously unwritten languages was the beginning of Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL).
SIL tells us that there are 6,809 language groups in the world today. Many of these subdivide into numerous dialects. Each of these languages communicates in its own peculiar style that is unique to the culture. In some cases within language groups, there are dialects that are not mutually intelligible. In other cases, the people groups who share a language are at war with one another and recognize their enemies by dialectical differences. A Bible in the dialect of the enemy would be the same as no Bible to these people.
The population of language groups needing translations varies from 100 people to 10 million. Wycliffe estimates that Bible translation is in progress for about 1500 languages. Still, for over 3,000 language groups, there is not a single verse of Scripture. Translation is both a difficult and essential task. Stephan Grunlan and Marvin K. Mayers say, “Translators need to see the world through the sociolinguistic eyes of the speakers of the language into which they are translating God’s Word.”
Translators must avoid the pitfalls of both absolute literal translation and paraphrase. The translator must ask himself, “How do we say this idea in this language?” while at the same time avoiding the temptation to translate his understanding of the verse. That is, translation should be accurately putting the text in another language, not teaching the translator’s theology.It has been said that the best translation of the Bible is measure by the correctness with which the target culture understands the message, the ease of comprehension, and the involvement the person experiences because of hearing. When someone says, “I never knew that God spoke my language, too,” the translator has done his job. Grunlan and Mayers give a good summary of the translation task:
“The job of a Bible translator is to bring God’s Word to people in their own language. A good grasp of anthropological principles, vast linguistic skills, and enormous Bible knowledge does not insure a good translation. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible. The translator must turn to Him for wisdom. The translator is an instrument through which the Holy Spirit may work. However, the translator should also be a prepared instrument, working in harmony with God’s creation, which includes different languages and cultures.” p.105 Cultural Anthropology, Grunlan and Mayers.
© All rights reserved, M. David Sills
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