Afrikaans Bible Research Articles

Translation hermeneutics of the 1933/1953, 1983 and 2020 Afrikaans Bibles

The official Afrikaans Bible translations, published in 1933/1953, 1983 and 2020, influenced Reformed theology, sociopolitical perceptions and the role of the church in society. These issues bled through in the translations via the hermeneutical scope of the different eras. This study focuses on the influence of the hermeneutic foundations of the translators on the content, style and linguistic choices in these translations. The differences between the translations are quite obvious to the reader and a reflection of the fact that different translation strategies were followed. There were vastly different sociopolitical and religious contexts prevailing during the different translation projects. Not only did the sociohistorical setting in South Africa undergo dramatic changes, but internationally there were historic events, such as the two World Wars, the rise and fall of communism, globalisation and the rapid development of technology and the Internet. No official hermeneutic strategies were documented or self-reflectively employed by the translators of the Afrikaans Bibles and therefore this study will approach the hermeneutics of the translations from a descriptive point of view. Sociocultural and sociopolitical contexts together with developments in theological reflection will provide the background for understanding the prevailing hermeneutics of the translations.Contribution: A new Afrikaans Bible was released in 2020, and a need arose to put the Afrikaans translations in applicable hermeneutical contexts. This discussion provides insights into the hermeneutical backgrounds of the three official Afrikaans translations. This contributes to the knowledge base of Afrikaans Bible translations and provides new insights into the hermeneutics of these translations.

Translation types and niche translations: Comparing five Afrikaans translations

Before the introduction of the dynamic-equivalent translation method by Eugene Nida, most Bible translations, in terms of translation type, were literal and formal correspondence translations. With the expansion of Bible translation globally over the past 60 years, alternative translation types started to appear – sometimes claiming uniqueness and even superiority. That, in turn, led to a reverse situation where ‘literal only’ or ‘literal-superiority’ claims were made. This has been a cause for significant debate and controversy. The purpose of this comparison of translation types is to indicate how translations differ from each other on a continuum and to determine if some versions in Afrikaans align with translation typology. The method followed in this article is to classify translation types in two main groupings: more literal and more dynamic; and four subtypes: corresponding translations, resembling translations, clarifying translations, and simplifying translations. In light of this classification, five publications of the Bible in Afrikaans are compared to Bible publications in English and Dutch. This study has found that each of the five Afrikaans translations does fit under one of the four types for which the criteria were laid out. The finding was that the typology applied to Bible versions in English, Dutch and Afrikaans. This typology implies that translations from different types are not necessarily in competition with each other, but that they complement each other. Each version in Afrikaans has then been compared to each other in terms of an end-user market niche and, based on that, there seems to be a continuing need for versions in all the different types. Translations do improve over time as translation theory and source-language scholarship evolve, but the validity of each type and publications in each type argue for versions of several types to endure.Contribution: This article is not the first attempt to describe translation types. Several translators, as well as some functionalist translation studies did important scientific work in this regard. However, this article’s principal contribution to translation studies is to propose a simplified yet adequate model of four translation types with new terminology, terms which do not overlap but are descriptive of function. And then secondly, to align each type with scripture engagement and the translation niche.

Die Ou Testament as verhoudingsboek: Nagedink oor die waarde van die Ou Testament

Die publikasie van twee verskillende uitgawes van die Bybel in Afrikaans is 'n resente aanduiding van die kontroversiële posisie van die Ou Testament in die Bybel. Onderliggend aan die aandrang op 'n afsonderlike uitgawe van die Bybel in Afrikaans is die oortuiging dat die waarde van die Ou Testament eintlik lê in die heenwysings, voorspellings, sinspelings en profesieë wat dit bevat ten opsigte van Jesus Christus. Vervolgens die probleemstelling wat in hierdie bydrae ondersoek gaan word: Wat is die waarde van die Ou Testament as deel van die kanon van die Christelike kerk? Die binêre teenoorstelling van begrippe (wet: evangelie; belofte: vervulling; kontinuïteit: diskontinuïteit) om die verhouding tussen Ou en Nuwe Testament te beskryf, deug nie meer om die verhouding effektief te beskryf nie. 'n Alternatiewe moontlikheid vir die waardering van die Ou Testament word voorgestel wat kortliks daarop neerkom dat die Ou Testament gelees moet word as 'n verhoudingsboek wat primêr handel oor God en mens wat in 'n verhouding met mekaar, ander en die skepping staan.

Nog 'n vertaling van die Bybel in Afrikaans: Wat maak dit anders?

Die 2020-vertaling is anders as die ander vertalings van die Bybel in Afrikaans omdat daar op 'n innoverende manier 'n wyse gevind moes word om aan die behoeftes van kerke wat die Bybel in Afrikaans gebruik, te voldoen. Dit is naamlik die behoefte aan 'n verstaanbare vertaling in idiomatiese Afrikaans wat baie na aan die bronteks bly. In hierdie alternatiewe vertaalmodel is 'n byna onmoontlike ideaal gestel: 'n "Direkte" vertaling wat poog om die bronteks te vertaal asof die skrywers direk in goeie idiomatiese Afrikaans aangehaal word. Dié vertaalmodel het 'n grondige besinning vereis oor die taalmodel waarmee gewerk sou word. In hierdie verband het die kognitiewe taalkunde waardevolle insigte gebied. Baie van hierdie insigte is nie heeltemal nuut nie, maar eerder verdere ontwikkelings en/of verfynings van tradisionele wyshede waarmee alreeds in die histories-filologiese semantiek gewerk is. 'n Voorbeeld in hierdie verband is die feit dat taal volledig ingebed is in die kultuur en ervarings van die sprekers van die betrokke taal. (Dit is daarom byna onvermydelik dat lesers sommige vertalings nie gaan verstaan nie, tensy die vertaling van toeligtende kommentaar voorsien word.) Verdere waardevolle insigte uit die kognitiewe taalkunde, wat met behulp van voorbeelde geïllustreer word, is dat daar onderskei moet word tussen die prototipiese en minder prototipiese betekenisse van uitdrukkings; dat betekenisverskuiwings geleidelik geskied en dat dit eie aan menslike taal is dat sommige onderskeidings moeilik is om te maak; en dat betekenisonderskeidings tipies met kenmerkende ko- en kontekstuele raamwerke vir elkeen van die onderskeidings gepaard gaan en dat die vorme wat sprekers gebruik of aan hulle taaluitings gee, altyd die primêre uitgangspunt van die interpretasie daarvan moet wees.

Die Hebreeuse grondteks en die 2020-vertaling van die Bybel in Afrikaans

Wanneer daar besluit word om 'n nuwe vertaling van die Bybel te maak, moet 'n aantal belangrike besluite geneem word. Dit sluit kwessies in soos watter teks vertaal sal word en op watter manier die vertaling sal plaasvind. Wat die Ou Testament betref, is daar besluit om die Masoretiese Teks as basisteks te neem. Verder is daar op die Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) as die grondteks besluit. Hierdie bydrae fokus op die tekskritiese wyse waarop die vertalers probleme in die teks hanteer het, maar om 'n insig te gee in die oorweging van watter tekskritiese strategie gevolg moet word, word vooraf aandag gegee aan die verskillende benaderings tot die hantering van die bronteks in die proses van Bybelvertaling. Die geskiedenis en aard van die Masoretiese Teks en sy uitgawes word bespreek, en die tekskritiese aantekeninge in drie belangrike uitgawes van die Masoretiese Teks word deurgaans in ag geneem. Hoewel die vertalers nie spesifieke riglyne vir die hantering van tekskritiese probleme op skrif gestel het nie, het die redaksie van die Ou Testament van die 2020-vertaling sekere basiese uitgangspunte gebruik om probleemgevalle te hanteer. Hierdie uitgangspunte word kortliks uiteengesit, waarna enkele voorbeelde bespreek word. Die benadering tot die Masoretiese Teks was konserwatief in die sin dat, sover moontlik, die teks van die Hebreeuse Bybel in die vertaling gevolg is. Soms is daar in problematiese gevalle daarvan afgewyk, maar dit het slegs ná deeglike oorweging geskied. Samevattend kan gesê word dat die 2020-vertaling die Masoretiese Teks so getrou moontlik volg, in sommige gevalle daarvan afgewyk het en sulke afwykings goed gemotiveer het.

Literêre aspekte van die 2020-vertaling van die Bybel in Afrikaans en die bydrae van die literêre adviseurs in die vertaalproses

In hierdie artikel word die rol en funksie van die literêre adviseurs in die 2020-vertaling van die Bybel bespreek. Daar word aandag gegee aan die literêre adviseurs se siening oor die Bybel as 'n taalteks, hulle plek in die vertaalspan en hoe direkte vertaling as vertaalstrategie hulle bydrae bepaal het. Daar word veral klem gelê op die onderhandelende en interaktiewe aard van hierdie vertaling en op die kompleksiteit van die vertaalopdrag, omdat die eise van getrouheid aan die bronteks, sowel as van 'n goeie vloeiende formulering in idiomatiese Afrikaans, soms moeilik te versoen was. Die interafhanklikheid van die literêre adviseurs en die eksegete en brontaalkenners word beskryf, asook hoe literêre insette in elke fase van die vertaling 'n rol gespeel het. Die bydrae van die literêre adviseurs is gerig deur die siening dat die Bybel 'n religieuse sowel as 'n literêre teks is, en dat die eindproduk van die vertaling aan albei hierdie aspekte moet laat reg geskied. Daar word aandag gegee aan voorbeelde van vertaalvraagstukke in die Psalms. Omdat parallelismes so 'n dominante stylfiguur is in die Hebreeuse poësie, word die verskynsel meer uitvoerig in die artikel beskryf, maar ander poëtiese en literêre tegnieke word ook behandel. Die gevolgtrekking is dat die literêre advi-seurswerk enersyds nie bepalend is nie, maar andersyds ook nie nalaatbaar nie.

Gesag en solidariteit: Aanspreekvorme en pronominale persoonsverwysings in die Afrikaanse Bybelvertaling van 2020

Die Bybelvertaling van 2020 neem kennis van die funksionalistiese vertaalmodel van Christiane Nord (1997, 2001) as beoordelingsraamwerk wat die funksie(s) wat dit bedoel is om te vervul, vooropstel. Hierdie funksie, soos verwoord in die vertaalopdrag (skopos) van die opdraggewer, hou in dat die vertaalde teks sowel bronkultuur-georiënteerd as eietyds qua taalgebruik moet wees. 'n Belangrike riglyn is die nosie van 'n "direkte" vertaling, waarvolgens die bronteks nie deur die vertaler geïnterpreteer moet word nie, maar die leser direk aanspreek, as sou die skrywer die teks in die ontvangertaal geskryf het. Een terrein wat egter wel 'n mate van interpretasie noodsaak, is die gebruik van tweedepersoonsvoornaamwoorde as aanspreekvorm. Die keuse van so 'n voornaamwoord word dikwels bepaal deur die verhouding tussen die spreker en die aangesprokene, wat in Afrikaans uitgedruk word deur die keuse tussen 'n formele vorm (u) en 'n informele vorm (jy/jou/julle), 'n onderskeid wat nie in die brontale gemaak word nie (vgl. Unseth 2020). In die literatuur word daar na sulke vorme in verskillende tale verwys met behulp van die afkortings V (van die Latyn vos - 'u') en T (Latyn tu - 'jy'). Hierdie artikel fokus dan spesifiek op die keuses wat in Afrikaans gemaak word tussen V en T. Dit is egter nie slegs faktore soos formaliteit of sosiale asimmetrie tussen die spreker en aangesprokene nie, maar ook houdings en emosies wat deur die keuse tussen V en T weerspieël kan word. Volgens 'n artikel van Brown en Gilman (2003) dui die aanspreekvariante (V en T) onderskeidelik 'n dinamika van gesag of mag (V) en 'n dinamika van solidariteit (T) aan. Hierdie onderskeid in die vertaling noodsaak 'n transposisie van die historiese werklikheid in die Bybelse brontekste na 'n Afrikaanstalige perspektief. Die artikel illustreer dit aan die hand van bepaalde tekste, bring dit in verband met die wyse waarop tale soos Nederlands, Engels, Duits en Noors dié verhoudings weergee, en tref 'n vergelyking, vanuit taalhistoriese perspektief, tussen die wyse waarop opeenvolgende Afrikaanse Bybelvertalings deur die Bybelgenootskap sulke verwysings hanteer in die Evangelie van Matteus.

아프리칸스 성경의 번역 분석 - 요한1서 1장을 중심으로 -

There are eleven official languages spoken by South Africans. Among them is Afrikaans, a simple form of Dutch that has been spoken since the immigration from European countries in 1652. The aim of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of the Afrikaans Bible translations. To accomplish this, a comparison is made among GNT5 and three different Afrikaans translations published in 1933/1953, 1983, and 2012. In order to critique the Afrikaans translations, syntactical and structural analyses of 1 John 1 in Afrikaans give insight for the comparative analysis.<BR> Through this study, it is evident that Afrikaans translations prefer simple sentences over complex and compound ones. In addition, Afrikaans translations have a tendency to go from literal translation to dynamic equivalence and then back to being literal. Despite its merit of being effective communication for modern readers, the use of the Afrikaans Bible published in 1983 as the official Scripture translation for modern Afrikaans churches has been problematic as it omits or adds words, incorrectly renders verbs and prepositions, and changes the gender of words. For this reason, a new translation of the Afrikaans Bible is necessary to provide modern readers with the correct rendering of the original author’s message in readable and practical form. Over the last few centuries, Bible translators have been seeking this ideal to find an appropriate balance. This researcher also hopes this study can help forth-coming Korean Bible translations achieve this goal.

Kontinuïteit en Diskontinuïteit in God se Rus (HEB 3:7-4:13)

Our everyday experience is well acqainted with the reality of constancy and change. Persistence over time (continuity) is normally accompanied by an awareness of change (discontinuity). In the first part of the article this distinction is investigated and described from an epistemological perspective. The second part deals with the way in which the author of the letter to the Hebrews uses it in describing the rest that God promises his people. It is argued that the theme of God’s rest entails an implicit awareness of the foundational relationship between constancy and change, which is used as hermeneutical strategy to encourage the readers on their pilgrimage. The article is concluded by refering to other themes that could be investigated on the basis of the same hermeneutical strategy. The study also leads to a few proposals for consideration by the translators of the new Afrikaans Bible. Article in Afrikaans

HISTORY, TEXT AND HERMENEUTICS: A BLACK THEOLOGY APPRAISAL OF JUDGES 12:1-6 TRANSLATIONS INTO AFRICAN LANGUAGES

The recent and recurring xenophobia/Afrophobia1 in the democratic South Africa contradicts the notion of God�s preferential option for the poor and the Church�s critical solidarity with the poor. The contradiction was exacerbated by the institutionalization of the notion of the Church�s critical solidarity with the state.2 It is in particular a disgrace to the liberating and humanizing legacy of Black Theology in South Africa. This essay reflects on language particularly Bible translation in the incitement of prejudice, stigma, discrimination and violence amongst Black South Africans during the colonial apartheid dispensation3 and now towards the Black African Other4 in the democratic South Africa. In dialogue with the Afrikaans Bible translation it underscores the need to learn from the lessons of the Afrikaners who fought against colonialism and imperialism in order to avoid the pitfalls of becoming the domestic oppressors. Towards that end the essay engages in critical reflection on the Bible translation in African languages that they do not serve the indigenous process of resisting but reinforce continued colonial and imperial domination through tribalism and ethnicity. It concludes by submitting that Black Theology practitioners need to contest the power of Bible translation in African languages in order to liberate the Bible ideology of liberation of all people and nations from colonial and imperial ideologies which are now gullibly accepted as the Word of God.

Translating metaphors into Afrikaans in a source language-oriented translation of the Hebrew Bible

How should metaphors be treated in a source language-oriented translation of the Bible with the following translation brief? Create a source language-oriented translation of the Bible in idiomatic Afrikaans which can be read aloud and used in church services, but which is also suitable for catechism, Bible study and private use. This paper aims to make a contribution towards addressing this question. Assuming that Gutt's (2000) notion of a 'direct or stimulus-based translation' embodies the skopos of this translation, our central hypothesis is that a basic insight into the cognitive mechanism of metaphors and their cultural embeddedness provides the key towards the development of a justifiable strategy for interpreting and translating metaphors in the above-mentioned type of translation. In this paper, we do not purport to provide a guide for the analysis and translation of all metaphors; we use merely one type of metaphor to illustrate (i) the cognitive processes typically involved when metaphorical language is used and (ii) some of the implications of these complex processes for the interpretation and translation of an ancient text like the Hebrew Bible.

The Bible in Afrikaans: A direct translation – A new type of church Bible

Translating the Bible so that target audiences can easily understand the meaning of the text has dominated the theory and practice of Bible translation since the 1960s. Source oriented translations that are typically associated with word-for-word translations received little theoretical reflection. However, developments in Translation Studies have made it clear that the latter type of translations do not provide the type of equivalence more conservative churches really call for. The story of the Bible in Afrikaans relates to how the Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA) has taken seriously the needs of churches in South Africa for a source- oriented translation and teamed up with scholars to develop an academically justifiable model for a new type of church Bible. The functionalist model of Christiane Nord (1997) was used as point of departure and complimented by that of Ernst-August Gutt (2000). Pointing out the accomplishments and challenges of this pioneering project, this article paves the way for a scholarly discourse on source-oriented translations of the Bible.

“Soos ’n hamer wat ’n rots vermorsel”: die afrikaanse bybel van 1933 as vertaling

“like a hamer crushing a rock”: the afrikaans bible of 1933 as a work of translation The first complete Bible translation in Afrikaans was published in 1933. This article describes and analyses this translation. Given the new developments in translation studies, one should not evaluate a translation normatively, but rather describe it. Any new translation constructs a domesticated representation of a foreign text and culture, which simultaneously keeps intelligibility and ideology in mind. The representation refers to the linguistically inscribed preferences regarding the selection and construction of discourses in the Bible translation. The 1933 translation is analysed and explained in terms of the formation of particular cultural, political and religious identities. Some of the fixed perceptions of the 1933 translation are revisited by dealing with issues like the context of the translation, its source text, the translation team, the translation process and the sociocultural impact of the translation.

The role of pseudo-translations in early Afrikaans travel writing

The Afrikaans travel novel, Di Koningin fan Skeba (The Queen of Sheba) (1898a) is analysed within the framework of corpus-based translation studies. The pseudo-translations are compared to the rest of the narrative text of the Di Koningin fan Skeba, as well as to SJ du Toit's Di Bybel in Afrikaans (The Bible in Afrikaans) (1889–1911). The aim of the article is to point out that Di Koningin fan Skeba creates an identity for Afrikaans as a cultural language. This narrative is spatially and chronologically remote from the South Africa of Du Toit. By utilising foreign and ancient cultures in Di Koningin fan Skeba, Du Toit proves that it is possible to write in Afrikaans about any topic, no matter how far removed from the common colloquial language. The biblical connection is momentous. This affords Du Toit the opportunity to involve the world of the Bible without infringing on the church-imposed ban on the use of the Afrikaans language for sermons and Bible translation and the refusal by the British and Foreign Bible Society to translate the Bible into Afrikaans.

Introduction: contemporary translation studies and Bible translation

The need for a formal-equivalent Afrikaans Bible has been expressed in some circles in South Africa for many years. Among other things, this need prompted the interdenominational committee of churches that use the Bible in Afrikaans (The Church Advisory Committee: Afrikaans Translations) to request the Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA) to arrange a symposium on recent developments in translation studies and Bible translation that may be relevant to Bible translation in South Africa.

The language ecology of a new Afrikaans Bible

Three sets of codes are germane to a current Afrikaans Bible translation: Dutch, English and varieties of Afrikaans, especially Standard Afrikaans. Dutch was established as a local language of culture in the Dutch era from 1652 to 1806. The sweeping transformation of Cape society by British colonial rule gave great impetus to Dutch as a local language of culture. On account of religious language conservatism, which considers an elevated and exclusive code important, the local Dutch church had a powerful vested interest in Dutch. The English linguistic and cultural tradition that penetrated the local Dutch-Afrikaans church in the nineteenth century had an increasing impact. The Afrikaans Bible is translated in Standard Afrikaans. Both the ideological connection of this code with Afrikaner nationalism and its marked divergence from varieties of colloquial Afrikaans are relevant to a new Afrikaans Bible translation. (Acta Theologica, Supplementum 2, 2002: 280-289)

Afrikaanse Bybelvertalings "vir Afrika". Die vertalers en hulle kulturele agenda: research

The purpose of the article is to indicate the ideological dominance of the Afrikaans target culture in Afrikaans Bible translations. This is measured by the way in which the Ancient Near Eastern and Ancient Mediterranean cultures of the source texts are domesticated. An analysis of nine Afrikaans Bible translations is provided in terms of commission and intention of the translation, the translation process (translator, source text, work method, translation method), and product of the translation. It is shown that the trend is to create translations that read fluently, i.e. the appearance that the translation is not in fact a translation, but the original. Acta Theologica Vol.24(1) 2004:127-146

Die wetenskaplike onderbou van DieBybel@kinders.co.za

One of the latest translations of the Bible in Afrikaans is DieBybel@kinders.co.za. The target group of this Bible is kids. Since this is a children’s Bible, the scientific basis of this project is often overlooked. In this article the translational and semantic principles underlying this Bible are discussed. Valuable experience is being shared with other scholars. It is done in order to equip people who want to undertake similar projects in the future. The need for similar projects in the other official languages of South Africa is also emphasized.

Hoe om die Bybel beter te verstaan: Verklarings van die Bybel in Afrikaans

During the early 1920's some sporadic (and experimental) commentaries on the Bible in Afrikaans were published. However, after the Bible was translated into Afrikaans in 1933 these drops turned into a stream and soon swelled into a torrent of publications. These publications display a steady growth in Biblical understanding from a literal and even fundamentalistic interpretation to a critical exegesis of Scripture. At least three distinct phases can be demonstrated, namely a focus on the author, then on the text, and finally on the reader. Given the limited number of readers, the publication of Afrikaans commentaries in the future is faced with unique problems and decisions.

Afrikaaose Bybeivertaliogs: 'n Toekomsvisie

In this article the author argues that there is a need for a new "official" translation of the Bible. He discusses modern trends in Bible translation. He also evaluates Afrikaans translations of the Bible on the basis of these modern trends, and highlights the short-comings in the present Afrikaans versions. The aim of this article is to make scholars aware of the areas where present translations of the Bible can be improved and also to stimulate a debate on these issues. It is very important for scholars to thoroughly consider all modern trends before start working on new translations of the Bible in Afrikaans. This will ensure that the end product is of high quality, and not outdated even before it is published.