’n Akademiese beoordeling van ’n vertaling van die Bybel in Afrikaans

Abstract

An academic evaluation of a translation of the Bible in AfrikaansIn the past the authority of Bible translations was often evaluated in terms oftheir equivalence to source texts. Development in translation theory has revealed,however, that the functionalist approach provides a more justified way of evaluatingtranslations. According to this approach the extent to which a translation fulfilsits purpose in a target culture should be the primary criterion for evaluation. Toensure that documentary translations do not jeopardize their authority by movingtoo far from the source texts Nord postulated the term “loyalty” – the loyalty thattranslators owe source-text authors as well as commissioning bodies. The aim ofthis study is to provide part of the theoretical framework in terms of which Bibletranslations can be evaluated by non-specialists. As practical illustration of thisprocedure we examined the translation of the Hebrew particle wehinneh in parts ofthe Nuwe Lewende Vertaling (2006) in order to ascertain whether its claims wereadhered to.