Privileging African Languages and Cultures to Reduce Western Bias in Bible Translation

2020·2 MB·English

by  JUDITH A. HEATH

PRIVILEGING AFRICAN LANGUAGES
AND CULTURES
TO REDUCE WESTERN BIAS
IN BIBLE TRANSLATION

A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF
GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIRMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE
DOCTOR OF MINISTRY

BY
JUDITH A. HEATH
MAY 2020
Copyright © 2020 by Judith A. Heath. All Rights Reserved.
Dedicated to…

Bible translators in Chad – past, present, future.
We stand on the shoulders of those before us.

The 3rd year theology students at FATES in N’Djamena, Chad in 2019 and 2020.
May the Lord help you to be salt and light in the places where he sends you.
CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................... viii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING ................................................................... 1
The Language Situation in Africa ....................................................................................... 1
Bible Translation in Africa ................................................................................................. 2
Challenges in Bible Translation in Africa .......................................................................... 3
Problem – Western Bias in Bible Translation in Africa ..................................................... 5
Question – How Could Translator Training Reduce Western Bias? .................................. 9
Design of this Thesis ......................................................................................................... 11
CHAPTER 2 THEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................ 13
The Bible and Inspiration.................................................................................................. 13
A God Who Communicated in the Past ............................................................................ 23
Towards a Theology of Translation .................................................................................. 31
Contextualizing God’s Word for Africa Today ................................................................ 35
CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 46
Postcolonial Criticism and the Bible ................................................................................. 47
African Culture and African Theology ............................................................................. 58
Bible Translation in Africa ............................................................................................... 79
CHAPTER 4 PROJECT DESIGN ............................................................................................. 109
Course Design ................................................................................................................. 109
Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 114
CHAPTER 5 QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESULTS ........................................ 116
Scripture texts for Pre- and Post-tests ............................................................................. 116
Quantitative Results from the Pre- and Post-Tests ......................................................... 119
Qualitative Results from the Pre- and Post-Test Interviews ........................................... 122
Qualitative Results from Course Evaluations ................................................................. 124
iv
CHAPTER 6 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................................... 126
Better Hebrew Learning .................................................................................................. 126
Referring to Multiple Translation Sources ..................................................................... 129
Choosing Locally Adapted Translation Solutions .......................................................... 132
Towards the Development of an African Hermeneutic .................................................. 135
Limitations of this Project; Other Opportunities Provided ............................................. 137
More Effective Training for OT Translation in Africa ................................................... 139
APPENDIX A OT EXEGESIS COURSE MATERIALS ......................................................... 145
English Translation of Course Outline ........................................................................... 145
English Translation of OT Exegetical Steps ................................................................... 147
APPENDIX B SAMPLE PRE-TEST FORMS .......................................................................... 148
Image of interlinear page with TOB/FC (1 Sam 1:1-6) .................................................. 148
English Translation of the Pre-Test Translation Answer Sheet ...................................... 149
English Translation of the Pre-Test Interview Form (1 Sam 1:1-6) ............................... 151
APPENDIX C SAMPLE POST-TEST FORMS ....................................................................... 152
Image of interlinear page with TOB/FC (1 Sam 17:13-19) ............................................ 152
English Translation of the Post-Test Translation Answer Sheet .................................... 153
English Translation of the Post-Test Interview Form (1 Sam 17.13-19) ........................ 155
APPENDIX D DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON STUDENTS ..................................... 156
APPENDIX E DATA ANALYSIS RESULTS FOR PRE-TEST ............................................. 157
APPENDIX F DATA ANALYSIS RESULTS FOR POST-TEST ........................................... 162
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................ 169
VITA ............................................................................................................................................ 174

v
TABLES

Table 1. Translation Issues in the Pre-test Passage (1 Samuel 1:1-6) .......................................... 117
Table 2. Translation Issues in the Post-test Passage (1 Samuel 17:13-19) .................................. 118
Table 3. Data Analysis Example from the Post-Test ................................................................... 120
Table 4. Data Analysis Axes and Scoring Rubric ........................................................................ 121
Table 5. Data Analysis Axes and Results for the Pre- and Post-Tests ......................................... 121

vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Dr. Bryan Harmelink, Dr. Roy Ciampa and the D.Min cohort members for
their encouragement and support throughout our residencies and the thesis-writing process. Many
important ideas were vigorously debated, but we also had a lot of fun!
The staff of the FATES seminary in N’Djamena, Chad were gracious in granting my request to
teach at their institution and in welcoming me into their fellowship. I am proud to be counted among the
occasional teachers at this fine institution. The 3rd-year theology students at FATES in 2019 and 2020
were willing to try new ways of learning, even when the teacher was a woman (a first for them). I am
grateful for their openness, kindness, and perseverance.
I am grateful to my supervisors and leaders in SIL Chad who gave me time and encouragement to
pursue this D.Min degree, and who also allowed me the latitude to experiment with some new ideas in the
SIL Chad workshop program.
Many thanks to John and Ellen Ratichek of Bedford, MA who gave me a quiet place to hide away
for a week to write.
Finally, I thank my family for encouraging me not only in this thesis process, but in our whole
joint ministry in Chad. To Jeff, Katherine, and Stephanie, thank you for spending two decades of your
lives in Chad, making friends, learning languages, and sharing God’s love through his translated Word
with those around you.

vii
ABBREVIATIONS

AIC African Independent Churches, African Indigenous Churches
ANE Ancient Near East
BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
D.Min Doctor of Ministry
FATES Faculté de Théologie Evangélique Shalom
FC Bible en Français courant
KJV King James Version
LL local language
NBTO National Bible Translation Organization
NT New Testament
OT Old Testament
PNG Papua New Guinea
SIL Historically, Summer Institute of Linguistics; now the acronym stands on its own.
TOB Traduction œcuménique de la Bible
UBS United Bible Societies

viii
ABSTRACT

Many Bible translation projects in Africa rely on European-language translations as source texts.
This thesis proposes prioritizing African and biblical languages in translator training, freeing translators to
consider multiple Bible versions and choose natural solutions in their local language.
For this project, an OT Exegesis course was taught in Chad. Before and after the course, students
translated Scripture into their local languages. ‘Think-aloud’ interviews provided insight into their
translation choices. Their translation skills were measured on two axes: number of versions consulted
during translation, and frequency of adaptations made for naturalness. This thesis discusses project
findings and makes recommendations for translator training in Africa.
ix
CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

The Language Situation in Africa
Africa, the world’s second largest continent,1 is home to 2144 indigenous languages.2 This is 30%
of the world’s languages. In addition, languages from other parts of the world have found a home in
Africa. Of these, the most widespread are the former colonial languages – English, French, and
Portuguese.
At the government level, each African country has one or more official languages. This official
language may be a language of wider communication common in that country, such as Swahili, Amharic,
or Arabic. However, more commonly, the former colonial language is the official language of the
country. Government and education in many African countries function in English, French, or
Portuguese.
Africa is a multi-lingual continent. Many people speak several languages, often including their
mother tongue, a language of wider communication common in the area where they grew up, and the
official language that they learned at school. They may have different levels of fluency in each of these
languages and a different attitude toward each one, feeling that certain languages are most appropriate for
certain domains of life (home, work, education, religion).

1. “Africa Profile,” accessed September 25, 2019, http://www.wycliffe.net/world?continent=AFR.
2. “What Regions Have the Most Indigenous Languages?” Ethnologue, accessed May 3, 2019,
https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/regions-most-indigenous-languages.
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