Anyone who has ever travelled or learned a language knows that translating something from one language to another is not always straightforward; sometimes leading to humour, misunderstanding, or possibly even a new insight as unfamiliar words force us to think in new ways. I remember, in the early days of teaching English in a secondary school in Slovakia, that one class, when asked about their favourite lessons of the day, kept insisting that it was the ‘pa-oose’. I had absolutely no idea what they meant until they wrote it down: pause. They meant break time. Thinking about it as a ‘pause’ was a new and helpful way to understand the break in the middle of a busy day.
In a conversation with some students last week, we were wrestling with the implications the Bible being a book that is translated. What does it mean for us that some words can be legitimately translated (from Greek or Hebrew) into English in several different ways? Or that some scholars have changed the way that passages are translated over time? As one person asked, ‘why wouldn’t God make the Bible more clear and straightforward for us to understand?’.
As I’ve reflected on our conversations, I’ve been more and more drawn to the powerful image of translation for followers of Jesus. Christians believe that scriptures are inspired by God and ‘useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness’ (2 Tim 3.16) and that ‘the word of God is living and active’ (1 John 1.1). The incarnation is a translation of sorts, revealing God among us.
What is also amazing is that we are called to be ‘translations’ of this love for our friends and neighbours and for this time and this place. This is the dynamic, active way that the Word of God transforms the world, in a multitude of different ways and through all sorts of different people.
That’s not to say that, like all language-learning, there isn’t still room for misunderstanding and humour as we attempt a lived-out translation of God’s love in our context, but there is also opportunity for fresh insight as we engage with the Word, both on our own and with others. Let’s dare to explore what that living Word means translated to us.
Karen
Respond