Glossary
Critical text. Greek text achieved by using the methods of textual criticism to identify and eliminate copyist errors. The standard critical editions of the Greek New Testament are the Nestle-Aland 27th edition (NA27) and the United Bible Societies’ 4th edition (UBS4 ).
Dead metaphor. A metaphor that has lost its concrete image in the minds of readers, who move directly to the abstract meaning. “That’s just sour grapes” is a dead metaphor in most contexts, since few readers would think of grapes when they heard it.
Diaspora. A word meaning “dispersion” and referring to Jews living outside of Palestine. Most Diaspora Jews of the first century spoke Greek.
Dynamic equivalence. An older name for functional equivalence, coined by Eugene Nida.
External (textual) evidence. Evidence that is used to evaluate the value of a manuscript for discerning the original text of Scripture. External evidence includes the age of a manuscript, its “family” identification, and the geographical distribution of its readings.
Formal equivalence. A translation philosophy, also known as “literal” or “word-for-word” translation, that seeks to retain the form of the Hebrew or Greek as much as possible.
Functional equivalence. A translation philosophy, also known as idiomatic or meaning-based translation (and formerly known as dynamic equivalence), that seeks to reproduce the meaning of the text in good idiomatic (natural) English, regardless of the form.
Gender accurate language. Language that intentionally clarifies or specifies whether references are to males only or to both males and females.
Gender inclusive language. A synonym for “gender accurate” language; language that intentionally clarifies or specifies whether references are to males only or to both males and females.
Generic language. Language that refers generally to people, both males and females. The English word “men” has traditionally been used as a generic term for both men and women.
Idiomatic translation. See functional equivalence.
Internal (textual) evidence. Evidence that is used to evaluate the value of individual variants (or readings) within the textual tradition of the Greek New Testament. Internal evidence seeks to discern the tendencies of authors and copyists and so to work backward to determine the original text of Scripture.
Lexeme. A fundamental unit of the vocabulary of a language. A lexeme is the form of the word you would look up in a dictionary. For example, “make” is one lexeme, but it takes various forms in different contexts (make, makes, made, making, etc.).
Lexical concordance. The translation goal of trying consistently to use the same word in the receptor language (e.g., English) for a particular word in the source language (e.g., Hebrew or Greek).
Lexical semantics. The study of words and their meanings.
“Literal” translation. See formal equivalence.
Live metaphor. A metaphor in which the implicit comparison continues to be evoked in the mind of readers. “God is a rock” is a live metaphor since the image of a rock remains in the mind of the reader. “He’s rock solid” is (probably) a dead metaphor since the reader will immediately move to the meaning “He’s dependable” without considering the characteristics of a rock.
Majority Text. The Greek text of the New Testament achieved by following the readings of the majority of manuscripts; also known as the Byzantine text. Since the majority of manuscripts are late, copied between AD 1000 and 1540, the Majority Text is generally viewed as inferior to the text found in the Critical Text, which represents the readings of earlier manuscripts.
Manuscript. A hand-copied document. Textual critics study the manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament to determine the original text of Scripture.
Masoretic Text. The “standard” Hebrew text named after the Jewish scribes known as the Masoretes, who meticulously copied it. The standard edition used in colleges, universities, and seminaries is the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (5th edition).
Mediating version. A translation that occupies the middle ground between formal and functional equivalence.
Metaphor. A figure of speech that uses one thing to describe something else by way of comparison. “God is a rock” is a metaphor. See also simile, dead metaphor, live metaphor.
Metonymy. A figure of speech where one thing is used for something related to it (e.g., “The pen is mightier than the sword”).
Paraphrase. Used in different, sometimes contradictory, ways: (1) negatively: of an overly free translation; (2) neutrally: of saying the same thing using different words, for the sake of clarity or simplicity; (3) technically in linguistics: rewriting or restating a message in the same language, in contrast to translation, which is rewriting or restating a message in a different language.
Receptor language. The language into which a translation is made; also known as the target language.
Register. Type or level of language used in a particular social situation or when communicating with a particular set of people. Language with a “higher register” is directed toward those with a larger vocabulary and greater competence in that language.
Septuagint. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, produced in the third century BC. The word means “seventy” and is named after the legend that seventy (or seventy-two) Hebrew scholars produced it. It is abbreviated “LXX,” the Roman numeral for “seventy.”
Simile. A figure of speech comparing one thing to another, especially in a phrase containing the word “like” or “as” (e.g., “We are all like sheep”). See also metaphor.
Source language. The language of the text being translated; also known as the original or donor language. See also receptor language.
Synecdoche. A figure of speech where a part of something is used for the whole, or vice versa. “He owns a nice set of wheels” (part for whole); “California just passed a new law” (whole for part).
Syntactic correspondence. Translation goal that seeks to reproduce the grammar or syntax of the original text as closely as possible.
Textual criticism. The science and art of studying the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Bible to determine the original words of Scripture.
Textus Receptus. The edition of the Greek New Testament used to translate the King James Version. The Textus Receptus was based on only a few late Greek manuscripts and so is not as reliable as modern critical editions of the Greek New Testament.
Transculturation. Reformulating the historical meaning of the text to fit a new cultural situation. Transculturation goes beyond “translation,” which reproduces the same historical meaning in a different language. Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch Version is an extreme form of transcul-turation.
Transliteration. The practice of spelling out the form of a word in one language with the letters of another language. For example, abba is an English transliteration of an Aramaic word meaning “father.” “Father” is a translation; abba is a transliteration.
Word-for-word translation. See formal equivalence.