Appendix A: NET Bible Principles of Translation
1. Text
- Old Testament: For the OT the translators started with the MT (Masoretic Text) found in the current edition of BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia). In particularly difficult passages the translator may have followed a variant reading found in the versions, alternative Hebrew tradition (e.g., DSS), or in some cases, conjectural emendation. Such variations from the MT were noted by the individual translator and reviewed by the OT textual consultant.
- New Testament: For the NT the Greek text to be used by individual translators was decided by the textual consultant. The full Greek text will be published at a later date.
- Traditional passages: For passages which lack adequate textual authority (i.e., are almost certainly not part of the original autographs) the words were included in the translation in double square brackets with a note giving a brief discussion of the problem.
2. Interpretive Decisions and Tools
- Interpretive decisions, where necessary to translate a passage, were based primarily on the experience of the individual translator.
- Standard technical (critical) commentaries and relevant periodical articles were consulted in the translation process.
- The most up-to-date standard lexical tools were consulted as needed. For the OT, these included such tools as BDB, KB3, and TDOT; for the NT, BAGD, Louw-Nida, and TDNT. Older, outdated lexical tools like Gesenius-Tregelles for the OT and Thayer's, Vine's, and Vincent's for the NT, were not used at all.
- Computerized concordance programs were used where possible.
3. Form of Translation
No translation can ever achieve complete formal equivalence.[1] Even a translation which sometimes reflects Hebrew and Greek word order at the expense of English style has to resort to paraphrase in some places. On the other hand, no translation achieves complete dynamic equivalence[2] either. Thus this translation, like every other, ends up somewhere between these extremes. These considerations are reflected by the following specific qualifications:
- In vocabulary and grammatical forms every attempt has been made to reflect the different styles of the different authors of the Bible. Paul's letters should not sound like John's or Peter's or that of Hebrews in the English translation where possible.
- The level of English style is formal (not, however, technical) except in passages where somewhat more informal style would be more in keeping with the content. In general the use of contractions (dont, isnt) has been avoided.
- The language of average adults had priority. The translation attempts to use good literary style but is not overly formal or embellished.
- The translation is intended to be understandable to non-Christians as well as Christians, so liturgical language or Christian jargon has been avoided.
- Archaisms have also been avoided (e.g., letter was used instead of epistle in the NT). This includes the absolute avoidance of thou and thee, since there were no distinctions in original Greek between pronouns used to address people and deity.
- Long, complicated sentences in the original languages have been broken up into shorter sentences more acceptable in contemporary English. However, an attempt has been made to maintain the connections present in the original languages wherever possible.
- Idiomatic expressions and figurative language in the original languages have been changed when they make no sense to a typical modern English reader or are likely to lead to misunderstanding by a typical modern English reader. The literal reading has been placed in a note giving a brief explanation (translators note).
- Nouns have been used for pronouns where the English pronoun would be obscure or ambiguous. This has been indicated in a note.
- Questions expecting a negative answer have been phrased to indicate this to the English reader.
- Clearly redundant expressions such as answered and said have been avoided unless they have special rhetorical force in context. The literal reading is frequently indicated in a note.
- Introductory expressions like verily, verily have been translated idiomatically, the single amhn as I tell you the truth and the double amhn (peculiar to Johns Gospel) as I tell you the solemn truth.
- Introductory particles like ijdou (behold) have been translated to fit the context (sometimes listen; pay attention; look).
- Use of quotation marks (which did not exist in the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts) conforms to modern American English usage.
- The basic unit of translation is the paragraph. Verse numbers are included in boldface type. Poetry is set out as poetry.
- Greek historical presents have been translated by English simple past tenses since English has no corresponding use of the present tense.
- In places where passive constructions create ambiguity, obscurity, or awkwardness in modern English, either the agent has been specified from context or the construction changed to active in the English translation, with an explanatory note.
- Ellipses have been filled out according to modern English requirements (e.g., 1 John 2:19). This is normally explained in a note.
- Proper names have been standardized in accordance with accepted English usage.
4. Additional Features of the Translation and Notes
- Any place supplementary information is required (e.g., word-plays, historical details, cultural differences, etc.) this is provided in a brief study note.
- Any technical terms (corban, Mark 7:11) used in the translation are explained in a study note.
- Any unfamiliar terms for weights, measures, and coins have been explained in a study note, although in general these have been expressed in modern American units, with metric units given parenthetically in the notes.
- A limited system of cross-referencing to principal parallel texts, cross-references, or significant allusions is found in the notes.
- Descriptive section headings have been provided as an aid to the reader.
- Greek and Hebrew in the translators notes use Greek and Hebrew fonts; the occasional reference to a Greek or Hebrew word in a study note is transliterated.
Abbreviations of biblical books follow JBL standard usage. With only a few exceptions JBL style is used for all other abbreviations.
[1]
With formal equivalence each word of the original language is represented by a word in the receptor (target) language, and the word and clause order is kept as nearly identical to that of the original language as possible. Thus this approach translates word for word.
[2] With dynamic equivalence (sometimes called functional equivalence) the goal is to render the original language text in the closest natural equivalent in the receptor language, both in meaning and style. This approach translates phrase for phrase or thought for thought.