The Translating Project
If I ever want to publish this book (even online) I have to translate it, too!
Now, I had no desire to re-translate the Bible - that wasn't why I started this thing!!! But I did have four semesters of classical greek at LSU (and I've always thanked God that it was secular-ancient greek, and not religious-bible-school-greek! No offense to anyone out there, I just didn't want to get teaching and interpretaion mixed in with my vocabulary and grammar!) So I figured I'd give it a go.
So far, I've translated three Episodes:
Episode Sixty-Eight (Acts 17, since Thessalonica is my other pet project),
Episode Eighty-Six (Philemon, which is short and tells a simple story), and
Episode Ninety-Nine (Third John, also short, also tells a simple story).
Then I put these three here onto Blogger just to get YOUR feedback!
So... how's my translation? :)
Also, some have asked about my translating methods. Actually, it was very simple. (Not easy, but simple!)
First, I looked at six English translations: the NLT, NKJV, NASB, RSV, Websters and the Young's Literal. I put them all onto a spreadsheet, verse by verse, and I started to translate, verse by verse. Whatever words they all agreed on, I copied. (If the word was used in the two oldest versions, it was fair game! Anything over a hundred years old can be reprinted free from all copyright law! By the way, that's one reason the King James Version is still so popular - no royalty costs for the publishers!)
After comparing them, wherever they used different words, I went to the greek word. (I used my Oxford University Liddell-Scott Lexicon. I refuse to even read from a Lexicon that was produced by religious christians. These guys studied secular Greek! The Holy Spirit can do the rest, after that, anyway!) I also drew heavily on my English Dictionaries and Thesaruses. Every good translator does.
So I may not be a brilliant Greek Scholar, but I majored in English! I studied grammar and Latin and Language in general, too. And I studied writing. By the way, the best Greek Scholar in the whole world still has to know how to write simple sentences! :)
Of course I think that I did a pretty good job! :) But I won't really know... until somebody tells me.
So please check my three Episodes! Compare them to whatever you trust the most. Tell me if my version seems both reliable and easy to read. Tell me this: if you had to make it your only translation - would you feel comfortable with that? (I think that's the strongest test I could apply.) Oh, you may not be a greek scholar, either. But I need a broad variety of feedback. Your opinion counts! :)
Please leave as many Comments as you like. As often as you like!
And be honest. I need to know how good it is...
Thank you for reading.
Now, I had no desire to re-translate the Bible - that wasn't why I started this thing!!! But I did have four semesters of classical greek at LSU (and I've always thanked God that it was secular-ancient greek, and not religious-bible-school-greek! No offense to anyone out there, I just didn't want to get teaching and interpretaion mixed in with my vocabulary and grammar!) So I figured I'd give it a go.
So far, I've translated three Episodes:
Episode Sixty-Eight (Acts 17, since Thessalonica is my other pet project),
Episode Eighty-Six (Philemon, which is short and tells a simple story), and
Episode Ninety-Nine (Third John, also short, also tells a simple story).
Then I put these three here onto Blogger just to get YOUR feedback!
So... how's my translation? :)
Also, some have asked about my translating methods. Actually, it was very simple. (Not easy, but simple!)
First, I looked at six English translations: the NLT, NKJV, NASB, RSV, Websters and the Young's Literal. I put them all onto a spreadsheet, verse by verse, and I started to translate, verse by verse. Whatever words they all agreed on, I copied. (If the word was used in the two oldest versions, it was fair game! Anything over a hundred years old can be reprinted free from all copyright law! By the way, that's one reason the King James Version is still so popular - no royalty costs for the publishers!)
After comparing them, wherever they used different words, I went to the greek word. (I used my Oxford University Liddell-Scott Lexicon. I refuse to even read from a Lexicon that was produced by religious christians. These guys studied secular Greek! The Holy Spirit can do the rest, after that, anyway!) I also drew heavily on my English Dictionaries and Thesaruses. Every good translator does.
So I may not be a brilliant Greek Scholar, but I majored in English! I studied grammar and Latin and Language in general, too. And I studied writing. By the way, the best Greek Scholar in the whole world still has to know how to write simple sentences! :)
Of course I think that I did a pretty good job! :) But I won't really know... until somebody tells me.
So please check my three Episodes! Compare them to whatever you trust the most. Tell me if my version seems both reliable and easy to read. Tell me this: if you had to make it your only translation - would you feel comfortable with that? (I think that's the strongest test I could apply.) Oh, you may not be a greek scholar, either. But I need a broad variety of feedback. Your opinion counts! :)
Please leave as many Comments as you like. As often as you like!
And be honest. I need to know how good it is...
Thank you for reading.