You are selected to interpret a worship service simultaneously for an evangelical audience. For me, it was English into Italian, but for the sake of this post you can imagine it’s your strongest language pair. Eager to serve the Lord & test your interpreting skills, you accept the challenge.
On the day, you show up early, settle in, and review the notes the main preacher sent you the night before. They include a long list of biblical and non-biblical quotations, all carefully researched and translated as part of your prep. Having done your due diligence, you feel confident you can deliver.
Five minutes into the service, though, one of the speakers throws you a curveball. “As we read in 1 Thessalonians 1:2,” he begins, and proceeds to quote the verse directly:
We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. (1 Thess 1:2 – NIV)
1 Thessalonians?! You quickly realize this quote is not on your list. You reach for your phone, but before you can look it up, he shifts into a prayer for persecuted Christians in Nigeria - at what feels like the speed of light⚡… at least to you, the interpreter with your head buried in your phone trying to open your Bible app.
Make your split-second decision:
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you opt for a calculated omission, ensuring you get a head start in translating the prayer that follows
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you report the content of the quote to the best of your ability, without saying it’s from 1 Thessalonians - this way you avoid putting words in Paul’s mouth (the apostle Paul is believed to be the author of 1 Thessalonians 📖)
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you translate the quote yourself - it’s not rocket science, after all🚀- AND you say it is from 1 Thessalonians, giving your audience full access to the message without putting the beginning of the prayer at risk
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you take the scary route and go all in: you invest precious seconds searching for the official translation in a version suitable for your evangelical audience, hoping the Lord and a good internet connection assist you in your commendable endeavor.
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other interpreting strategy
This case study is inspired by a real-life scenario I’ve faced as a professional interpreter. Here’s what I actually did in the moment.
My answer
Other interpreting strategy. As professionals we owe respect to the communities we serve, regardless of our personal beliefs. According to Chirstian tradition, the Bible is the infallible Word of the Lord; it is considered a sacred text and translated from its original languages by teams of scholars, who devote their entire lives to rendering every possible nuance. However inspired you may be on a random Sunday morning, I can almost guarantee you will not outperform them. This is why, as a policy, I refrain from translating Bible quotes “on the spot”, however simple they may appear.
So, what do I do instead?
I start by providing the chapter and verse of the quote. This ensures any member of the audience can find the passage themself if they feel prompted to. Then, I paraphrase the content of the quote, making sure meaning gets to them without putting words in the apostle’s mouth. In our case, the speaker was actualizing the quote, applying it to the present, so my rendering sounded something like this:
As the apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 1:2, we are to always thank God for one another and continually mention each other in prayer.
This option checks all the boxes:
- Quotation avoided
- Citation given
- Meaning conveyed.
What would you have done?