This is an email discussion list devoted to discussing issues relating to Bible translation.
Messages on any topics directly related to Bible translation. Messages
can be about vernacular translation (such as for
Bibleless people groups) or about translation in national languages such as
English (since the same translation principles apply whether we are
translating in English or another language). Following are some topics which
would be especially appropriate, but there are others, as well:
We ask that any opinions stated in a message be supported by evidence. Evidence can be from the Biblical languages, translation or communication theory, your own experience with translating other languages, fieldtesting you have done on the wording of some translation, etc. We do not want to simply debate opinions on this list, but, rather, to have ideas supported by data or other kinds of evidence so that we can bring as great a degree of objectivity to our messages as possible.
Do not discuss general Bible issues on this forum. It is appropriate to discuss the interpretation of a particular Bible passage, IF you are relating that interpretation to how that passage might be translated. Otherwise, save your comments on Biblical interpretation for other general Bible study forums.
Do not discuss general theological issues on this forum. It is OK to include brief mention of the theological implications of some translation issue, but please do keep any theological comments brief. And do not criticize other theological positions when you mention your own. Keep your comments focused on translation issues themselves. As such, try not to discuss, for their own sake, issues which are related to translation but not directly relevant to how translation is done, such as inspiration, inerrancy, or the canon of scripture. In other words, always keep any theological comments directly related to a specific translation issue, or the translation of a specific passage of the Bible.
Do not question the spirituality, doctrine, intelligence, or credentials of anyone else on the group or anyone who has worked on any Bible translation. As always, keep your comments focused on Bible translation issues themselves, not on personalities.
Do not speak negatively about any denomination or religious group or mission organization. If you wish to do so, find a general religion discussion forum and post your comments there. Keep all your comments focused on Bible translation issues. It is OK to critique a specific passage in a denominational Bible version, but stick to translation issues when you do so, not to a criticism of the religious group itself.
Do not make generalized statements about any Bible version, especially comments such as "Such and such a translation is too free and not worth using," or "This version is too literal and not usable by ordinary readers," or "This version is too liberal," or "This version is based on the false Alexandrian cult Greek texts." Any comments made about a specific Bible version should be technical comments relating to specific aspects of Bible translation theory, such as a comment on the style or translation philosophy of a particular version. And it is helpful if any comment made about a version is not about the version as a whole, but, rather, about how a specific part of it is translated. Be sure that any opinion you state about a version is supported by objective evidence of some kind.
Try not to make blanket critical statements against any one particular translation philosophy. For instance, if you personally do not like meaning-based translations, do not simply dismiss them with a general statement, but, instead, post a message about one or more particular Bible passages and give evidence why a literal rendering of that passage is better, in your opinion, than a more idiomatic rendering.
Anyone who has a serious interest in Bible translation. Mother tongue translators and missionaries involved in the Bible translation task are welcome. (There is also a private BT list for anyone professionally involved in worldwide Bible translation. Email the List Moderator at bible-translation-request@lists.kastanet.org for information about this private list.)
To see if you might be interested, feel free to read previous messages
posted at our list message archives:
http://www.geocities.com/bible_translation/list/archives/maillist.html
If
you do not have Internet access to view the archives, send a message
to:
bible-translation-request@lists.kastanet.org
and
ask for some sample messages from the archives.
No. Mailing list messages will come to your regular email address and you can post messages and reply to messages from your regular email program.
If you have already received an invitation to join the list and replied to
it, you are already subscribed. Otherwise, send an email message to:
bible-translation-subscribe@lists.kastanet.org
It
can be a blank message, or, if you prefer, for your email records, you can
include the word "subscribe" somewhere in the message header or message
itself. Be sure to return the Confirmation message you receive from the
listserver to complete your subscription.
This information is given in a link (clickable from many email programs) at
the bottom of each list message. You simply send a blank email message
to:
bible-translation-unsubscribe@lists.kastanet.org
Once you are subscribed, you may send your email message to:
bible-translation@lists.kastanet.org
The
entire mailing list will receive your message.
Click on your Reply button and your message will be sent to the member to whom you are replying as well as the entire list.
No. Only those who have subscribed to this Bible Translation mailing list can read messages on this list. Our message archives, however, can be read by anyone, whether they are subscribed or not, but the Internet address of the message archives is not widely distributed.
Yes, and please do, as long as they, also, have a serious interest in Bible translation. See the next question for how to invite others.
You can forward to your friends and colleagues information about the list,
including any message from the list. Tell them that they can subscribe by
sending a message to:
bible-translation-subscribe@lists.kastanet.org
Send a message to the list moderator who will try to help you. Give details
of the problem you are experiencing. Send your message to:
bible-translation-request@lists.kastanet.org
There are several Internet websites devoted to Bible translation,
including:
Yes, but we would appreciate it if you would send a copy of your message to someone else, who could be another member of the mailing list, who can translate your message to English.
Yes, but we do ask that we focus on specific translation issues in any versions and that we conduct such discussion in a professional manner, without judgmental attitudes toward a version or its translators.
No, not here. Since the KJVO debate is not directly related to Bible
translation issues, we will not discuss it here. If you wish to discuss KJVO
issues, there are other mailing lists and forums where you can do so,
including:
Bible Versions
Discussion Forum
Yes, but please argue professionally and courteously. We do not all share the same views on Bible translation issues. We can disagree, but if we do so, let us disagree politely. Let us keep the tone of our messages professional and gracious. Those who persist in posting with a negative, divisive, or sarcastic tone, or whose messages are perceived to personally attack other members, or "flame" others or the list, will be asked to stop doing so. If they persist, their messages will be moderated or they may be removed from the mailing list.
Professional and polite. See the answer to the preceding question.
The first message each new subscriber posts is moderated, to ensure that messages are not posted by email spammers or by individuals who are not following these list guidelines. Subsequent messages are usually not moderated, but if it becomes necessary to have a moderated list, we do have that option on our listserver, and we sometimes place the list on moderated status when a number of messages are posted that do not comply with the list guidelines. This is usually a temporary measure to bring the list back into compliance with these guidelines. Typically this is done when individuals post messages which are perceived as being attacks on other list members.
Yes. Recent messages are available for viewing at our listserver address: https://lists.kastanet.org/Lists/Bible-Translation/List.html
Earlier list messages are archived at Internet address:
http://www.geocities.com/bible_translation/list/archives/maillist.html
No, but you should be seriously interested in Bible translation and willing to discuss the issues as professionally as possible. It is fine to ask lay questions, as we hope that this mailing list can serve the wider church population as a resource to educate how Bible translation is done.
They will be asked to stop doing so. If they do not stop, they will be removed from the list by the list moderator. If you are concerned about the messages of anyone on the list, feel free to privately email the List Moderators about your concern.
Yes, simply send a message directly to another member of the list, without copying your message to the entire list. Your message will be private. No one else will be able to read it. We ask that as many messages as possible be posted to the entire list so everyone can benefit from the discussion, but when a private message is truly desired, you always have that option.
Yes. We only ask that if you do have strong feelings about one manuscript text base or another, that you communicate professionally on the list about your feelings. This mailing list is for discussion of Bible translation, not textual issues, unless a particular textual issue is relevant to a question you have about how to translate a particular passage. Please do not use this mailing list primarily to promote views about a manuscript text base. There are other mailing lists and forums for discussion of such issues. On this mailing list we will not permit accusations against others who differ with our own textual views.
If you wish to discuss textual issues which are not directly related to
Bible translation issues, consider joining the Textual Criticism Mailing List,
whose Internet website is:
http://rosetta.atla-certr.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tc-list&text_mode=1
No, we ask that all posted messages have some direct relevance to Bible translation itself. You are welcome to ask questions about how to translate some textual variants, but we do not want such discussion to focus on textual criticism itself (see question 26, also).
Use the links provided at the bottom of each list message.
Yes, this would be an ideal forum for you to share a prepublication copy of an article you have written on some Bible translation topic. You should be able to get constructive feedback from other list members.
No, we have no desire to compete with publications, such as SIL's Notes On Translation, or UBS' The Bible Translator or Tic Talk, which have been in existence for many years. An email discussion list simply makes it easier for less formal discussion to take place more quickly than it can through printed journals.
Absolutely. And do feel free to post your basic questions. There is a good possibility that your question and answers that come through discussion will be of help to others on the list. We ask the same of you as of everyone else on the list, that any opinions you post be supported by some kind of evidence. Evidence can be from the Biblical languages, translation theory (or your current understanding of it), your own intuitions about how languages work, etc.
No. We do not permit messages on this list which can be interpreted as being of a commercial or business nature, including sales messages from non-profit organizations. We especially do not permit messages which spam and/or crosspost religious discussion lists trying to get people to purchase products or visit various websites.
Yes, when posting messages to this discussion list, we request that you post using Plain-Text-only format. That is, if your email program allows for this (AOL subscribers probably do not have this format, but we still want AOL subscribers to post). We might add there is a great deal of confusion swirling around email formats. So, we will work with you to find a solution.
The default format setting for many email programs is for dual-format postings (usually mislabled `HTML text') which creates two copies of a single message for our list, one in HTML (web-based) format and the other in Plain Text. We request you to not use the dual format; however, we will not disallow it. Again, AOL subscribers may be forced to use the dual format. That's OK.
It is also (unfortunately) possible to set preferences so that postings are in only one format, that of HTML. This format will not be readable by all our subscribers. So, while we will allow dual format posting, and we encourage plain-text posting, we will not at this time allow HTML-only posting. We believe that any program can be set to post in either Plain-Text-only or dual format HTML, so this should not inconvenience anyone.
If you are using Outlook Express, it is possible to select the address for the Bible Translation discussion list in your Address Book, then specify that all messages posted from your program to this discussion list will be in Plain Text. To change this setting in Outlook Express, be sure you have an entry for this discussion list in your Address Book. Find that address in your Address Book, double-click on it, click on the Name tab, then put a check mark in the box at the lower left corner of the message screen.
In Eudora, select Tools/Options/Styled text, then select either "send both plain and styled" or "send plain text only." You can also check "Ask me each time," in which case you make the selection on an individual message basis.
There is likely a similar way to configure the format of messages in other email programs such as Microsoft Outlook, Netscape, Pegasus, etc. If you have one of these programs and wish to share how to configure it, we would be interested.
With Plain-Text-only, not only will your messages be easier to read for some subscribers who use older email programs (such as Lotus cc:Mail), but you will save bandwidth and transmission time, since HTML messages (those sent with two formats) take up more cyberspace than Plain-Text-only.
Email other questions or comments to a List Moderator
at:
bible-translation-request@lists.kastanet.org
Yes, there is a discussion list for each language:
The B-Greek
mailing list
The B-Hebrew mailing
list
Yes, there is a private discussion list for those who are professionally involved in the worldwide Bible translation task. Email for information on how to subscribe to the private list. You, of course, are also welcome to subscribe to this public list and participate in any of its discussions.
Click here to go to the Bible Translation discussion list main page
FAQ last updated: $Date: 2004/03/26 10:30:22 $