The Two Trends in the Sea of Bible Translation: Nowadays English Translations of the Bible

• Main Author: Olga Sushkova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: St. Philaret’s Christian Orthodox Institute 2011-02-01
• Series: Вестник Свято-Филаретовского института
• Subjects: biblical studies; formal equivalence; functional equivalence; literal translation; idiomatical translation; modern reader of bible; библеистика; функциональная эквивалентность; формальная эквивалентность; буквальный перевод; идиоматический перевод; современный читатель библии
• Online Access: https://psmb-neos-resources.hb.bizmrg.com/target/sfi/a9a43769c9e01f6d076f803f9c1f1f1849e5ea19/Vyp.4_O.V.Sushkova.pdf

The article analyses the nowadays situation in the English Bible translation: the enormous number of translations and the two main trends – formal equivalence (literal translation) and functional equivalence (idiomatical translation). Idiomatical translations see their reader as a neo-pagan of the post-Christian time. The aim is to avoid making the text too complicated which might scare the reader off. The literal method seeks translating without any interpretations, distortions or “adjusting”. They mean that the reader doesn’t care about the literary quality or the Evangelic content of the Bible because of the “familiar abstraction” of its translation.