It is a very important knowledge set for anyone who wants to do Bible translation. Here's why I feel this way: Languages deal with even common concepts differently. Sometimes in the translation process it is imperative that the translator add a word or two (sometimes even more) in order to have the wording make good sense, and demonstrate natural discourse structure. If you are translating from a translation, then you may be adding some more words which are not even necessary in the third language, to convey the meaning of the original. In other words, the original language (Greek, in this case) may present the ideas in ways which are more similar to the third language than to English. So you can end up going around the barn a few times just to say something that is not even in the text in the original language.Sudsy wrote:Not me. Imo, this would just add to my list of projects that I don't believe are Kingdom building.Bootstrap wrote: Here's something I'm curious about: how many people wish they had a way to learn Greek, and would put time into it if they did?
My curiousity on the subject is for those who have learned Greek: what advantage has it been to Kingdom building (i.e. is there something important with knowing Greek that gives some advantage of following Jesus over those who don't ?) Perhaps it could be argued that learning Greek could become a disadvantage.
Some languages are also more "economical" than others. An example in the language we worked on is that body parts can stand for the person, such as when the English text says that "the soldiers spit on Jesus' face", the Indian language requires a passive sentence (to maintain proper discourse structure, where the topic of the discourse is always the subject of the sentence), where 'face' is the subject, and it says "Face was spit on by the soldiers." (Also a reason why I am not impressed with claims that a given translation is "more literal" than another. Literalness can literally obscure or confuse the meaning.) Also, if the Indian language where we worked was the second language text (the one you were translating from, into English, for example), you would face other problems. This language has what linguists call Inclusive & Exclusive 1st person plural pronouns, in addition to both dual & plural markers. So 'we' must specify if the hearer is included in the 'we', and also if the 'we' is only two people, or three or more.
(Incidentally, this is also why I don't care for the Funk translation of The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, because it is an English translation of the German translation, and it does not read naturally, in my opinion. I don't read or speak Dutch, so I cannot verify the accuracy of it against the other version, which is a direct translation of the Dutch text.)
Bible translation is not a part of "kingdom building" for everyone, but it has been for me.