Official recommendations of the ETEN Innovation Lab, in light of ongoing research, innovation, and new opportunities in Bible translation.

Draft 8

Recommendation 1: Multimodal Translation Processes Beginning with Orality and Visuality

Effective and impactful Bible translations must be trustworthy and trusted. Importantly, trustworthy and trusted translations begin with a trustworthy translation process. A translation will not be trusted if the translation process is unknown or unclear to the church and community; it is not sufficient to produce a “quality” final product. To produce a trustworthy and trusted translation, the church and community must be involved in the translation process.

For this reason, the Lab recognizes that quality translation processes are an important part of quality translation products. The lab recommends multimodal processes that include team-based familiarization, internalization and articulation that is spoken or signed.

The Lab has observed that multimodal translation processes produce better first drafts, use more authentic and natural language, and allow earlier and easier access to God’s Word by the church and community. For these reasons, the Lab recommends multimodal translation processes be the preferred methodology for the remaining Bible translation need.

Additional Detail

Recommendation 2: Empower the Church for Quality Translation

The global church is empowered for quality Bible translation by processes that are rooted in their experience and expertise. “As the church is called to participate with God in His mission of making Himself known, Bible translation is primarily a ministry of the church. It is, therefore, expected that the church will give leadership to the planning and implementing of Bible translation programs.” (ETEN Innovation Lab Charter, 2020)

Empowering the church requires quality assurance processes that enable translation at a pace and scope that support church ministry goals.

The Lab recommends that the church is empowered for quality translation when…

• The local church is at the center of decision-making, resourcing, and quality assessment processes of Bible translation programs in locally relevant ways. In places where the local church is young, church-planting networks and nearby missional churches may be expected to serve and equip as the local church as it grows in its understanding of Scripture and capacity for Bible translation.
• The church leads and is involved in every stage of translation, including authentication. The translation process must (1) serve the church’s needs, (2) be clear and accessible, (3) be flexible enough to adapt to local needs while still ensuring quality. When these criteria are met, the church and community can easily participate in translation.
• The local church knows the variety of expertise that is available through the global church and Bible translation agencies to contribute to quality assurance in translation and is able to access that for its training, mentoring, capacity building and other needs. (see Additional Detail below for more discussion)
• Tools and resources necessary for translation are freely and readily available. Biblical and translation resources, as well as technology tools help the community discuss and understand the meaning of Scripture. “Freely” speaks of the cost to the end-user and open licensing.  “Readily available” means that the tool can be easily found (e.g. via internet search) and easily used.
• Translated Scripture is in use early. Church and community feedback are critical for ensuring quality and reinforcing local ownership.

Additional Detail

Recommendation 3: Iterative Quality Assurance by the Church and Community

Bible translation has always been an iterative process. Each successive revision improves upon the quality of the former. It is not uncommon for English translations to offer updates every 20 years. In fact, at least one major English translation has the goal of regularly updating to ensure that it speaks to each new generation.