Accuracy versus Readability: Reconciling the Two Extreme Poles of Bible Translation Versions

Abstract

This study aims at providing scientific arguments against the phenomena that appear in the Bible translation especially the extreme poles of literal and free translation versions. These two contradictory poles can be reconciled so that the literal products are not only accurate but also readable and vice versa the products of free translation version are not only readable but has a high level of accuracy. Data is in the form of terms taken from a famous biblical text of English – Indonesian translation entitled “The Sermon on the Mount” from two different versions namely literal and free translations. This study reveals that the reconciliation process of the two extreme poles can be done through the selection of proper translation procedure and by applying the chosen procedure correctly. Based on the finding, the meeting point of literal and free translation versions lies on the literal procedure, whereas the method of choosing correct procedure in literal translation can be done by way of starting from literal procedure to the left and from literal procedure to the right for the free translation version.