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Appendix to Translation Notes

Decisions Concerning Translation Notes

The Translation Notes are written for words and phrases in the Unlocked Literal Bible. Some of the notes explain the meaning of a word or phrase, and some of the notes suggest ways of translating them. When Bible scholars are not sure of the meaning of a word or phrase, the notes tell about the most probable meaning first, and then the other reasonable meanings afterward.

If a word or phrase appears several times in a chapter, there may be just one note that explains it; when the word or phrase occurs again in the chapter, there may be a note directing the translators to see how they translated it earlier in the chapter.

Generally notes are not written about words that are explained in Translation Words. However, if a word has more than one meaning, there may be a note that tells which meaning the word has in that verse.

There are two kinds of notes that are not about specfic words or phrases. "Connecting Statements" tell how a verse, or a group of verses, fit in the text. They tell how the information is related to the rest of the text. "General Information" notes give other information to help the translators understand the passage.

How to use the Translation Notes

The notes are intended to help translators understand Bible passages well so that they can translate them accurately. Translators are not expected to use all of the translation suggestions that are given in the notes. They are only there so that if translators have difficulty with a particular phrase, the suggestion can give them ideas of how they might translate it.

Some of the notes have links to topics in the Translation Manual. These topics are meant to help translators understand the translation issues addressed in the notes and to see different strategies for dealing with those issues.

Types of Translation Notes

Connecting Statement and General Information

Sometimes, at the top of the list of notes, there are notes that start with Connecting Statement or General Information.

A connecting statement tells how the verse is related to earlier verses. The following are some of the kinds of information in the connecting statements.

whether this verse is at the beginning, middle, or end of a passage
who is speaking
whom the speaker is speaking to

A general information note tells about issues in the verse that cover more than one phrase. The following are some of the kinds of information that appear in a general information statement.

the person or thing that pronouns refer to
important background or implied information that is needed to understand the text in the verse
logical arguments and conclusions

Both types of notes are to help you understand the passage better and be aware of issues that you might need to address in translation.

Notes with Definitions

Sometimes you may not know what a word in the ULB means. The notes may have a definition or a description of the word or phrase to help you understand what it means.

Notes that Explain

Sometimes you may not know what a word or phrase means in the ULB, and it may also be used in the UDB. In this case, it will be explained in the notes. These explanations are meant to help you understand the word or phrase. Do not translate the explanations into your Bible. Use them to help you understand the meaning so you can translate the Bible text correctly.

Notes with Synonyms and Equivalent Phrases

Some Notes provide a translation suggestion that can replace the word or phrase that they quote from the ULB. These replacements can fit into the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. These are synonyms and equivalent phrases and are written in double-quotes. These mean the same as the text in the ULB. This kind of Note can help you to think of other ways to say the same thing, in case the word or phrase in the ULB does not seem to have a natural equivalent in your language.

Notes with Alternate Translations

Sometimes if people try to translate a sentence using the same form as the ULB, it may result in a wrong meaning, or it may be unclear or unnatural in their language. So some Translation Notes have the words “Alternate translation” followed by one or more translations. These translations express the same meaning as the ULB, but with a different form. If following the form of the ULB would not give the correct meaning in a clear and natural way, translators may use the alternate translations to help them think of ways of expressing the idea clearly in their own language.

The alternate translation suggestion may involve, for example, stating implicit information clearly, changing passive voice to active, or rewording rhetorical questions as statements. The notes often explain why there is an alternate translation and have a link to a page that explains the topic.

Notes about Alternate Meanings

Sometimes Bible scholars do not know for sure, or do not agree on, what a particular phrase or sentence in the Bible means. Some reasons for this include:

There are minor differences in the ancient Bible texts.
A word in the ancient Bible texts is rarely used, so its meaning is not clearly known.
A word in the original language may have more than one meaning or use.
It may not be clear what a word (such as a pronoun) in the original language refers to in a particular phrase.

When many scholars say that a word or phrase means one thing, and many others say that it means other things, we often have notes showing the most common meanings that they give.

Sometimes translators can translate the text into their language in such a way that readers can understand any of the possible meanings. Sometimes translators have to decide which meaning to translate.

Sometimes the ULB translators had to choose one of the meanings in order to make the text understandable. Our notes for these situations tell about the meanings that are used in other versions.

The translator needs to decide which meaning to translate. He may choose the meaning used in the ULB or he may choose one of the other meanings if the people in their community use and respect another Bible version that has one of those other meanings.

Notes about Probable or Possible Meanings

Sometimes Bible scholars do not know for sure, or do not agree on, what a particular phrase or sentence in the Bible means. Some reasons for this include:

There are minor differences in the ancient Bible texts. A word in the ancient Bible texts is rarely used, so its meaning is not clearly known. A word in the original language may have more than one meaning or use. It may not be clear what a word (such as a pronoun) in the original language refers to in a particular phrase. When many scholars say that a word or phrase means one thing, and many others say that it means other things, we often have notes showing the most common meanings that they give.

When the ULB translators could translate the text in a way such that readers can understand the multiple meanings, our notes begin with "Possible meanings are" and then give a numbered list. We recommend that you use the first meaning given. However, if people in your community have access to another Bible that uses one of the other possible meanings, you may decide that it is better to use that meaning.

Notes with Links

The Translation Manual contains a section called Translation Topics. This section provides specific explanations, support, and suggestions for handling various aspects of translating Scripture. Translation Topics is divided into short sections that are designed to be highly flexible for just-in-time learning for both in web and offline formats.

Each Translation Note follows a phrase from the ULB and will provide immediate help on how to translate that phrase. Sometimes there will be a statement in parenthesis at the end of the suggested translation that may look like this: (See: Metaphor). The word or words in green are a link to a topic in the Translation Manual. You can click on the link to learn more about the topic.

There are several reasons to read the topic information:

Learning about the topic will help the translator to translate more accurately. The topics have been chosen to provide a basic understanding of the principles and strategies of translation.

Notes That Identify Figures of Speech

Figures of speech are ways of saying things that use words in non-literal ways. That is, the meaning of a figure of speech is not the same as the more direct meaning of its words. There are many different types of figures of speech.

In the Translation Notes there will be an explanation about the meaning of a figure of speech that is in the passage. Sometimes an alternate translation is provided. There will also be a link to page in the translation topics section of the Translation Manual that gives additional information and strategies for that kind of figure of speech.

In order to translate the meaning, you need to be able to recognize the figure of speech and know what it means in the source language. Then you can choose either a figure of speech or a direct way to communicate that same meaning in the target language.

Notes that Identify Indirect and Direct Quotes

There are two kinds of quotations: direct quotation and indirect quotation. When translating a quotation, translators need to decide whether to translate it as a direct quotation or an indirect quotation. (See: Direct and Indirect Quotations)

When there is a direct or indirect quote in the ULB, the notes may have an option for translating it as the other kind of quote. The translation suggestion may start with "It can be translated as a direct quote:" or "It can be translated as an indirect quote:" and it will be followed by that kind of quote. This will be followed by a link to the information page called "Direct and Indirect Quotations" that explains both kinds of quotations.

There may be a note about direct and indirect quotes when a quote has another quote inside of it, because these can be confusing. In some languages it may be more natural to translate one of these quotes with a direct quote and the other quote with an indirect quote. The note will end with a link to the information page called "Quotes within Quotes."

Notes for Long ULB Phrases

Sometimes there are notes for a phrase and separate notes for portions of that phrase. In that case, the larger phrase is explained first, and its parts afterward.

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