Translation Notes #1 - a coherent glossary

on
One of the strengths of The Big Picture Story Bible is its consistent message of God's Forever King - the promise of his coming in the Old Testament, and the fulfilment of that promise in the New. The pictures speak a thousand words (and they are one of the book's greatest strengths as they both illustrate the words AND reinforce some of the teaching), but the words are important too.

The consistent message is emphasised by the deliberate consistent language. Use of phrases like "God's Forever King", "God's Great Sign", "God's Special Place", "God's Promised One" occur throughout the book, reinforcing the one message. So in the translation there needs to be this consistency, a coherent glossary, a λεξιλόγιο μετάφρασης.

At the end of March the editorial committee for this project met in Starbucks in Holargos, a little north of Athens city centre to decide on this glossary. Phrases like "God's Promised One" are particularly tricky. In Modern Greek there is a participle that functions as an adjective, using the verb "to promise", but it's meaning is exclusively "promising" - a future idea. So, rather than have a neat, three-word phrase with an ambiguous meaning, or a made-up phrase that might need interpreting in the first few occurrences, we have chosen the slightly more prosaic "το Παιδί της Υπόσχεσης" (the Child of the Promise). Or, at least, that's what we've chosen for now...

Today we will meet to work on the first 5 chapters of the translation. I'll let you know how we get on!