Opening Thoughts

The subject of translation is one fraught with difficulties. New translations of the Bible appear with alarming frequency. In order to discern the value of one translation over another, certain criteria must be understood and appreciated.

There are two fundamental categories of translational methodology. The older, and more familiar, is known as "formal equivalence," better known as a "word for word" translation. The King James Version, the Revised Standard Version and the New American Standard Version are examples of this method. Here the translator works with the best original documents, and attempts, as best as can be accomplished given the variations in word order and style from one language to another, to produce an accurate and yet readable translation.

And then there is the methodology known as "dynamic equivalence," or "thought for thought" translation. Here the translator studies the manuscripts as collections of thoughts, and renders them as he or she would express that thought in contemporary language. This often involves abandoning precise wording, but results in a more understandable translation. The Good News Bible and the New Living Translation are fine examples of this method.

Some Bible versions are not translations at all, but are rather paraphrases. Here the author expresses each verse from a personal point of view, and will sometimes have no familiarity with the original languages. The result is a biased, unreliable rendering. The Living Bible is an example of this.

The Book of Mormon

I said all this as an entre into my comments on Timothy Wilson's "Reading the Book of Mormon in Plain English." I will frame my comments using the broad categories listed above.

The obvious difficulty in using such an approach is that the original "manuscripts" (the plates) are no longer available. Strictly speaking, translation is not possible. All renderings are paraphrases.

A further difficulty is involved in calling the Book of Mormon a "translation" at all. This would imply that the "translator" had a working knowledge of the language in which the manuscripts were written. We know that Joseph Smith rendered the characters on the plates through the power of the Holy Spirit, and not through any specific language training. Were other examples of "reformed Egyptian" to appear, I doubt Joseph could have learned the language and translated the document.

One needs to use a 19th-century broad definition of the word "translation" in order to understand how Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon. None of the usual ideas of translation work here.

Given the inevitable production of books such as Wilson's, however, it may be useful to borrow the phraseology of biblical translation methodology in the development of some paradigm for discussing these works. Renderings of the Book of Mormon from one known language (English) into another known language (French or Spanish, for example) can follow one of the two approaches. And such renderings, as I understand, utilize the former (formal equivalence) philosophy. Again, such efforts must give way to inherent inter-language problems, but the intention is to provide a word-for-word translation.

But a new English rendering, absent any source materials, must, by definition, involve paraphrase. I don't see any other way, short of direct revelation.

Wilson's work appeared some years ago as "Mormon's Story," a large, hardback, hernia-inducing volume made larger by the presence of the authorized text of the Book of Mormon appearing alongside his paraphrase. I've owned this book for several years, and enjoyed his approach.

I welcome the appearance of a smaller, paperback edition. Unlike the hardback, the paperback does not include the authorized text. It retains the names of the various books comprising the Book of Mormon; chapters are appropriately marked and introduced with single-sentence introduction, but versification is absent. The result is a readable, smooth telling of the story.

Any such effort will necessarily involve paraphrase, and will thus entail some danger in how far the interpretive license is to be taken. Lynn Matthews Anderson, in her "Easy To Read Book of Mormon," has been criticized for her attempts to introduce gender-neutral language into the Book of Mormon. I could not perceive any such agenda in Wilson's book.

How easy is the "Plain English" version? A brief introductory note places the reading level at the 8th to 9th grade. This simplification brings the book to a level where it can be helpful in many circumstances where a complex, archaic English of the Book of Mormon is problematic.

Here's a sample of Wilson's rendering of a familiar story: the decision to kill Laban, told in 1 Nephi:

     I replied to my brothers, "Let's go back to Jerusalem and be faithful in keeping the Lord's commandments. Since He is mightier than all the earth, surely He is mightier than Laban's fifty, or even his fifty thousand! Let's go and be strong like Moses, for when he spoke the Red Sea parted, and our forefathers walked out of captivity on dry ground. Then Pharaoh's armies followed and were drowned in the Red Sea. You know this is true, and you know that an angel has just spoken to you, so how can you doubt? Let's go, for the Lord will deliver us, just as He delivered our forefathers. He'll destroy Laban, just as He destroyed Pharaoh's armies." After Laman and Lemuel heard this, they were still angry and afraid, but they followed me back to the walls of Jerusalem.
     By now it was dark. I told my brothers to wait for me and hide outside the walls. Then I crept into the city and carefully made my way back to Laban's house. I was being led by the Spirit, not knowing what I was going to do, but I went ahead anyway. As I came near Laban's house, I saw a drunken man stagger and fall down. I crept closer and discovered that it was Laban! I drew his sword from its sheath. The handle was made of pure gold, the workmanship very fine, and the blade was made from the finest steel.
     All at once the Spirit told me to kill Laban. I replied in my heart, "I have never killed anyone, and I do not want to kill this man." But the Spirit replied, "The Lord has delivered him into your hands as He said He would." I knew Laban had not listened to the Lord's commandments. My brothers and I had asked Laban for the records and he had refused to give them up. Rather than yield to the Lord, Laban had become proud and greedy, and our wealth had fallen into his hands after he had commanded his servants to kill us.
     A third time the Spirit spoke, "Kill him, for the Lord has delivered him into your hands. The Lord destroys the wicked to bring about His righteous purposes. It is better for one man to die than for a whole nation to falter and pass away in unbelief."

As an experiment, I sat with a bishop and another LDS friend -- I read from the standard text, the friend read from Wilson's book. We all agreed that, while there is no substitute for the "real thing," this paraphrase kept closely to the story line, making the story itself easier to understand.

Wilson will periodically comment on the text. These comments are included in the text, but are printed in a much smaller type size, and set off from the text in white space between paragraphs. I don't see any possibility for anyone mistaking these comments as part of the text itself.

Evaluation

I have a few very minor quibbles. First, the standard text for 1 Nephi 2:5:

     And he came down by the borders near the shore of the Red Sea; and he traveled in the wilderness in the borders which are nearer the Red Sea; and he did travel in the wilderness with his family, which consisted of my mother, Sariah, and my elder brothers, who were Laman, Lemuel, and Sam.

Now, Wilson's rendering, excerpting only the portion of the verse having to do with the family of Nephi:

     Our family consisted of my father, Lehi, my mother, Sariah, my older brothers, Laman, Lemuel and Sam, and I, Nephi.

One recognizes that the phrase "I, Nephi," is a reflection of the very familiar opening verse of the Book of Mormon. On that level alone, I would rather he hadn't reverted to such familiarity. But it is made worse when the phrase is placed in the predicate of the sentence, where it should read "me, Nephi." Grammatical inaccuracies at the expense of familiarity are regrettable. Happily, these are few and far between.

Additionally, the language of prayer retains the use of old English archaisms. Bible translators have recognized the need to abandon this practice. Up until the last few years, the only popular contemporary rendering of the Bible to retain such language in prayer was the New American Standard Version. Alas, even the venerable Lockman Foundation, producer of this fine translation, gave it up and issued a revision that brought this practice to an end. Understanding that God really doesn't speak the King's English, Wilson would have done well to bring this up to date as well.

These very minor exceptions aside, Reading the Book of Mormon in Plain English is an excellent choice for those wanting to read the Book of Mormon, but have had troubles working their way through the difficult English. Wilson seems to be driven by only one agenda -- that of making the Book of Mormon more readable.

There will, of course, be those purists who will not want the Book of Mormon in any form other than that which came from the pen of Joseph Smith. (Of course, the current version isn't what came from that pen, having undergone many revisions.) I'm amused when someone says, "Of course I use the King James Version of the Bible. If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!" Modern renderings, paraphrases, will never be acceptable.

My comment to my friends -- and this is only my opinion -- "This may be what the Book of Mormon might have sounded like had the restoration happened five years ago." A stretch? Maybe.

I really like this book, and commend it to you as a useful addition to your libraries. Children in your home will love the lively narrative; those with limited English skills will be very happy to have the story accessible in a readable, easy to understand format.

------
Jeff Needle is an office manager/computer programmer living in
southern California.  He has been involved for many years in
the study and appreciation of Mormonism.  Although a non-member,
he has participated in a number of LDS internet discussion lists,
as well as submitting reviews to AML-List.

... nfx v3.1 jeff.needle@general.com