Wednesday Wonder – February 7, 2024

Lost in translation.

Last week I was attending a virtual conference on biblical storytelling. It is one of the educational opportunities I look forward to each year. It helps me learn new ideas about how to tell the old, old story in new and engaging ways. It allows me to share with others about what works and what doesn’t. And it allows me to engage with some master storytellers who can bring the Word alive for me again through their telling.

This year our keynote speaker was a rabbi. And we were looking at telling from what we call the Old Testament, the Jewish scriptures. From her first address it became clear that translation is important. I always knew this, but listening to her I saw ever more clearly how true this is.

We use many translations of the Bible in Christian circles. Everyone has a favourite. For some it is the King James Version with all the Shakespearean type language. For others it is the New Living or the Good News translations because the language is more like our everyday speech. I prefer the New Revised Standard Version. It was the version we used in seminary and is felt to be one of the most true to the original versions of the scriptures. But no matter which version we are more comfortable with, they are all translations. None of them are the original.

The original language of Jewish scriptures was in Hebrew. Some of the oldest versions of the New Testament, or Christian scriptures, that have been found are in Greek. But we know Jesus spoke Aramaic, so perhaps the originals of some were in that language but we don’t have them. The earliest parts of the New Testament are the letters attributed to Paul and he was a Roman citizen, so the language of the empire might have been his original wording.

What it all comes down to, is that none of it was in English to start. We have had to translate it to our language. The rabbi at my conference reminded us that there was no need to translate the Jewish scriptures to English because every Jew learned Hebrew and could read the original. Not so for those of us who read the scriptures today. Yes, I did take a course in Greek while at seminary. If I have to, I can still pull out my Greek New Testament and translate it myself. But it is very time consuming and I do not enjoy it. Much easier to simply look at multiple English translations and compare them instead.

Every one who translates makes decisions and their theology, their biases come into the translation. The same is true for telling the scriptures. For simply reading them for that matter. How we, the individual reader, interpret or ‘hear’ the passage influences how we understand it. We need to ensure we have context and understand where our passage fits into the larger story in order to properly interpret and therefore, translate, what we are reading.

Each time I share a passage of scripture with you, I try to give you a bit of the bigger picture so we understand where this part of the story fits. I also try to tell the passage with inflection and meaning. In a way, I want you to hear what I see, so you see it too. My understanding of the passage influences how I tell it. That also influences how you hear it.

What I see and understand in the story is what I try to convey to you when I tell the story. In some ways, it is like being a journalist trying to convey the heart of a story. What is important, who is involved, why does it even matter? These are things biblical storytellers try to bring alive.

We do the same in our everyday lives. We are all storytellers to some extent. I have recently been telling my story more than usual. How passionate or dispassionate the telling influences how powerfully the hearer reacts to what is being told. When we can tell our story in a way that allows others to truly see what we are experiencing, we both have an amazing experience.

That is what I try to do each week when I share the scriptures with you. This is what I am aware of when sitting sharing personal stories with people. Connecting in a meaningful way often comes through story. Our brains are hardwired for story. We need a story to process information. But how we approach a story is different for each of us. We need to remember whether scripture or life story, we begin translating and interpreting the minute we hear or read it. Our life, experience and knowledge impact how we tell a story.

By telling stories to one another we learn more about each other, our own lives and our world. Keep telling your story and THE story. We all grow together when we do.

Peace,
Rev. Mary-Jane