Cultural translation refers to the process of communicating ideas and concepts from one culture or language into another in a way that preserves meaning and relevance. At its core, cultural translation requires understanding both the original culture and language, as well as the target culture and language, in order to convey information accurately. This often involves adapting or translating words, phrases, concepts, imagery, and cultural references in a way that resonates with the new audience.
When it comes to the Bible, cultural translation takes on added complexity. The Bible was written thousands of years ago within ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman cultural contexts that are very different from modern societies. Translating the Bible across these cultural barriers requires great care to properly communicate its meaning and significance. Here is an overview of some key considerations in the cultural translation of the Bible:
Understanding Ancient Cultural Contexts
To properly interpret and translate the Bible, it is crucial to study the ancient cultural settings in which it was written. This includes understanding aspects like geography, history, politics, economics, social structures, religious beliefs, and ethics. For instance, knowing the agriculture-based economic systems of ancient Israel provides insight into biblical metaphors using sheep, vineyards, and other farming imagery. Understanding the hierarchical nature of Roman society sheds light on New Testament texts about masters and slaves or patrons and clients. Immersing oneself in the ancient thought-worlds that produced the Bible is foundational for cultural translation.
Transcending Cultural Distance
A major challenge in Bible translation is overcoming the vast cultural distance between the ancient biblical world and modern societies. Important cultural touchpoints like temples, ritual purity laws, ancestral lands, patronage, crucifixion, etc. may seem very foreign and require contextualization. Translators must determine what cultural adaptations or bridges will allow ancient meanings to come alive for contemporary people. Strategies like replacing measurements in stadia with kilometers, finding modern job equivalents for roles like centurion, and explaining unfamiliar terms or practices are useful. The goal is to make the Bible intelligible while preserving its original significance.
Understanding Biblical Genres
The Bible contains a variety of literary genres that were part of the ancient cultures, such as poetry, prophecy, epistle, gospel, wisdom, and apocalyptic. Understanding how these ancient genres operated – their conventions, cultural resonances, and rhetorical aims – is key for translation. For instance, some Hebrew poetry utilizes parallelism, hyperbole, and other literary devices that function differently in English. The apocalyptic visions in Ezekiel and Revelation are saturated with cryptic metaphors that require cultural familiarity to decipher. Failure to account for genres can lead to problematic translations.
Detecting Cultural Priorities & Values
Paying attention to the cultural priorities and values within biblical texts is also crucial. Certain cultural themes like honor and shame, purity and defilement, spiritual blessing and curse, and hospitality norms recur throughout the Bible. Sensitivity to these ancient cultural values allows modern applications to be drawn thoughtfully. Translators aiming for fluency must discern which cultural values transfer into modern target cultures and which require adaptation or footnotes. Striking the right balance ensures the essence is preserved.
Re-Framing Cultural References
When biblical texts reference components of ancient cultures like social roles, religious rituals, economic transactions, etc., translators must re-frame these for modern audiences. For example, the peace offering of a lamb might be conveyed as bringing a gift to mend a broken friendship. Foot washing could be equated to welcoming guests with refreshments. Denarii are translated as representing day’s wages. The goal is to take the cultural particulars embedded in the ancient text and express their significance in contemporary cultural terms.
Capturing Ethno-Centric Language
Since the biblical authors were ethnocentric Jews and early Christians writing from within their cultural perspective, the language contains socio-religious attitudes that seem exclusive or derogatory by modern standards. Translations must determine how to capture difficult phrases like “heathen”, “pagans”, “unclean Gentiles”, etc. which reflect ancient ethnocentrism. Adapting or footnoting such phrases allows the text to communicate more positively while still representing the original language and worldview.
Discerning Cultural Assumptions
Biblical texts contain unspoken cultural assumptions that translators in other cultures may not pick up on. For example, Jewish avoidance of saying God’s name directly is lost if translations consistently use “Yahweh.” Or the importance of virginity before marriage goes unnoticed if almah is simply translated as young woman instead of virgin in Isaiah 7:14. Paying attention to implicit cultural assumptions embedded in the languages and thought-patterns allows better translations to be produced.
Interpreting Cultural Imagery
Imagery, metaphors, and idioms in the Bible are often tied to the cultures that produced them. For instance, Jesus stating that swallowing a camel is easier than a rich man entering heaven works because his audience knew camels were the largest animals. Or the analogy of friends knocking on your door at midnight depends on ancient hospitality norms. Finding equivalent images that work in target languages and cultures conveys the impact. Familiarity with the original cultural imagery allows proper interpretation.
Applying Cultural Exegesis
Doing cultural exegesis of biblical texts means reading the social, ethnic, political, religious, and economic dynamics encoded within them. This can reveal insights for application. For example, close analysis of patron-client dynamics in the book of Philemon gives perspective on Paul’s rhetorical approach. Exegesis of purity rules underlying the Epistle to the Galatians helps explain the impact of its gospel message. Cultural exegesis surfaces key insights that translators can transfer meaningfully into modern contexts.
Prioritizing Eternal Principles
At the core, effective cultural translation involves separating scriptural principles and precepts that are universal and timeless from those tied exclusively to ancient cultural settings. For example, moral exhortations around justice, compassion, forgiveness transcend specific cultures. By contrast, directives around veils, beards, and circumcision may reflect ancient concerns. Understanding the difference allows the Bible’s trans-cultural teachings to come through and avoids imposing obsolete cultural requirements on modern readers.
Employing Cultural Sensitivity
Responsible translation requires cultural sensitivity – avoiding imposition of the translators’ cultural assumptions on the text and being careful not to make the text conform to prevailing cultural mores at the expense of fidelity. Tendencies to mute counter-cultural teachings on matters like gender, poverty, and sexuality must be avoided. Often what seems countercultural to modern societies contains wisdom. Cultural sensitivity means letting the text speak rather than imposing external cultural agendas upon it.
Adapting Receptivity Factors
Successful cultural translation must account for how receptive an audience will be to the message. Factors like exposure to Bible stories, common language capabilities, education levels, social openness to Christianity, the role of the Church, religious freedom, literacy rates and more impact receptivity. Adaptations should be considered such as story-framing techniques, using bridge languages, oral communication, etc. that connect with a particular cultural landscape. Receptivity factors determine what approaches will allow the Gospel to bridge effectively into specific cultural contexts.
Preserving Cultural Relevance
At the heart of impactful cultural translation is preserving the Bible’s cultural relevance – ensuring that despite differences in language, history and social location, the Bible continues to resonate with modern societies. This may involve using language, media, and communication patterns that connect with youth culture; finding points of contact with issues of justice, oppression, and stewardship; and emphasizing teachings on hope, grace, healing, and purpose that speak to the human condition across cultures. Keeping the message culturally relevant allows the Bible to speak powerfully despite intervening centuries.
In summary, cultural translation of the Bible requires great skill, knowledge, sensitivity, and discernment. Done well, it can unleash the power of God’s Word across cultural barriers allowing its meaning to come alive for new generations and peoples. By taking care to understand and inhabit the original biblical culture and context, skilled translators can keep the essence intact while finding creative ways to communicate its unchanging truths into diverse new settings. The goal is for the Bible’s teachings to transcend cultural limitations and speak prophetically in ways that transform lives and communities today as they did originally.