There are many important and essential elements to a Bible translation project: community and church engagement, prayer, financing, etc. Focusing on the core work of translation, Wycliffe Bible Translators must complete at least 10 translation steps to go from first draft to a final text (we have added revision and typesetting to the list, and divided exegetical and key term check into two steps).
But a few disclaimers need to be inserted here. A project does not necessarily move through these stages in a neat order. Instead, revision happens constantly, the key term checks are often executed before and after the consultant check, etc.
But a few disclaimers need to be inserted here. A project does not necessarily move through these stages in a neat order. Instead, revision happens constantly, the key term checks are often executed before and after the consultant check, etc.
- First draft: a preliminary, tentative translation
- Revision: changes made to the translation to improve accuracy and/or readability (happens throughout the translation stages)
- Exegetical and
- Key term check: an exegetical specialist rigorously reviews the draft with the team, paying special attention to key theological terms like "grace" and "forgiveness," in order to ensure the most accurate and clear wording possible
- Community testing: members of the translation share translation drafts with local speakers who have not been involved in the translation process. That feedback is registered and considered
- Back translation: rendering the revised first draft back into a language of wider communication (usually in a word-by-word or phrase-by-phrase format). Helps language consultants who don't speak the language to see what the translation is communicating
- Consultant check: a consultant with expertise in translation principles and the original Hebrew or Greek reviews the draft and the back translation verse-by-verse with the translation team and other speakers of the language to make sure the draft is understood accurately
- Final editing: translation team reviews the preface, glossary, footnotes, spelling, punctuation, verse and chapter numbers, paragraphing, maps, pictures, and captions
- Final oral read-through: a group of readers read through the entire translation of Scripture
- Typesetting: final decisions on the aesthetic presentation of the book and sending it to print
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