In the work of Bible Translation, the goal of the translator is to produce a Clear, Accurate, and Natural translation that speaks to the heart of the reader. It CAN be done by wrapping up cultural terminology and traditional customs with the phonology and grammatical structures of the mother tongue language. Culturally relevant translations speak deeply to the heart because one understand ones own cultural terminology and customs best as they are communicated in one’s own heart language. And travelling with the gospel message as it travels deep into the heart, is the power of the gospel message for salvation for all who believe.
The message must be clear and easily understandable. It must be accurate and convey the intended message of Word of God. It must be natural and sound as if a native speaker were the author, so the readers are motivated to respond in worship and adoration to the clear, accurate and natural picture of Jesus presented in the translation.
In producing a clear, accurate and natural translation,
“the gospel becomes the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.”
Sometimes in an effort to produce a clear, accurate and natural translation, you discover a Redemptive Analogy buried in the culture of the language group which not only transforms the translation, but the national readers themselves.
A redemptive analogy is a practice or belief embedded within any given culture that distinctly parallels or illustrates a critical aspect of the gospel message, so much so, that that critical aspect of the gospel message can be infused into that cultural belief to clearly communicate the gospel in a clear, accurate and natural manner. Doing so, helps maintain the power of gospel message that God uses for the salvation of all who believe.
And so, we discovered God's amazing power of the gospel through the redemptive analogy of the "Tro" embedded within the culture of the Sulka people of Papua New Guinea.
After spending 12 years on a remote island in East New Britain Province living among the Sulka people, learning their language, their cultural and translating the New Testament into the Sulka language, we came to the end of the final checking of the Sulka New Testament, we hit one final roadblock. During the final checking session, we came to John 3:16. We all know it…
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
In all of our previous checking sessions, we encountered difficulty with this verse. It was never clear, accurate or natural. Sulka readers always stumbled through reading the verse and we never received any significant emotional response when it was read out loud. So as anticipated, on this occasion, as well, readers stumbled through.
So, in this last checking session, we were once again discussing John 3:16 and how to make it clear, accurate, and natural. We used a phrase that was word for word correct in meaning, translated as “God’s Son, His only Son, the only son God generated,” but which the Sulka language readers obviously thought was unclear and unnatural sounding, and also which we came to find out was not all that accurate either.
John 3:16 is such a monumental verse which encapsulates the entire gospel message which we needed to get right so that it would speak deeply to the Sulka people. Since readers always hesitated, stuttered and looked quizzical when reading this verse, it always made me think that something was just not right with the translation. We had worked for hours and hours, months and months on this verse trying to get it just right, but never ever able to make it click.
We reviewed it over and over again whenever it was read, our conversation always surrounding the term, “God’s only begotten son” never finding the right phrase until the final checking session.
So that last day of checking, with myself and four Sulka speakers, our discussion took an unexpected turn from focusing on God’s only son, to MY only son, my first-born son Ryan. When we first arrived among the Sulk people my first-born son was six months old. Our discussion began to center on Ryan, my firstborn son and only born son that I had at that time.
One of the Sulka speakers, Valtelpnua began to remind me of those very first days among the Sulka people and how the Sulka people observed my parenting skills and first thought that my wife and I were the worst parents ever because we would allow our first born son and only son to sleep alone in his own bed at night, and because we would let him cry himself to sleep. Valtelpnua told me that they would never do that with their first-born son. Valtelpnua also reminded me that when my first-born was a bit older and learning to walk, we allowed him to stumble around and fall on the ground, and how we allowed him to venture into exploring unknown territories. Again, Valtelpnua told me that the Sulka people would never allow first-born son to be unattended and not properly supervised like we did with my first-born son.
In this discussion, the Sulka men used a certain vocabulary term I had never heard in twelve years. They called my son, my “Tro”. Once I heard the word, I began to get excited because I sensed we might be on to something new. So, I asked Valtelpnua to tell me more about this “Tro”.
As the Sulka men explained the concept of the “Tro,” I began to get more and more excited.
The” Tro” is the most important person in the Sulka tribe because he is the next in line who will carry on the lineage of the tribe. Without the “Tro”, the tribe line will die. So, the “Tro” is to be sheltered and protected at all cost. He is never allowed to be put in any situation that could be dangerous or would compromise his safety. He is to be shielded from all danger and protected for fear that the family line might be cut off. No Sulka person would ever put their “Tro” in a position of harm at any cost or for any one. He is just too important to the tribe.
The more they explained the “Tro” custom to me, the more fascinated I became. When the men finished their explanation of the Sulka custom of the “Tro”, I was cautiously energized!
It seemed to be such an intriguing idea, so, I said to the Sulka men, let’s try it here. Let’s insert “Tro” here. I couldn’t get another syllable out of my mouth before the Sulka men responded with an immediate, unanimous and adamant, Hai, Ho mi kut nop hak he!!” Certainly not!! God would never offer his “Tro” up for the torture of the crucifixion. He would never kill off his own line. The “Tro” is to be ultimately protected.
The point of John 3:16 is the magnitude of the love of God. The word translated “so” in English is used in a superlative way and its purpose in this verse is to express the extent or grandness of the love of God. Another way it could be translated is,
“God loves the world to such an extent that He gave his one and son...” OR
“God loves the world this much…He gave his one and only son.”
The purpose of “so” is to highlight “the giving of God’s only son” as the demonstration of the extent of Gods’ love for people.
Knowing this, I read John 3:16 with “Tro” inserted,
“God loved the world like this that he gave His Tro…”
The men sat still as I read, almost lifeless. After a long quiet pause, with quizzical looks on the faces of all four men began to fade into hesitant astonishment, and you could almost read their minds, thinking, “No way!! Can it possibly be?” “No, no way”! And then they looked at me with furrowed brows, and I began nodding my head, yes.
At the realization of the grandeur of God’s love for them, tears slowly began streaming down the faces of each of these men. Still they sat in silence. They continued sitting in silence contemplating the realization that just jolted them off the foundational core of Sulka life as they knew it. God had finally spoken their language, and communicated at the deepest possible level of Sulka culture, and for the very first time, these four men clearly understood the gospel message deep in their hearts through the message of Tro love.
For the very first time, these Sulka men clearly understood just how much God loved them. They realized that God’s love for them was so grand, so big, that He loved them so much, that it is true, He would not even spare His own “Tro,” but He would give him up to be tortured and crucified on a cross to save them.
It was an incredible revelation. God’s “Tro” in the Sulka language became the redemptive analogy that clearly, accurately and naturally communicated the gospel message to the Sulka people. God spoke the truth and power of the gospel message clearly, accurately and naturally to the Sulka people through the cultural analogy of the Sulka “Tro.”
There are still over 2000 people groups in the world today that do not have a single syllable translated into the their mother tongue, much less John 3:16, or the entire gospel. There are still over 2000 people groups who have not clearly heard and deeply understand who Jesus is as He is revealed through the gospel message. They have not been given the opportunity to call on him and believe in him.
How true are the apostle Paul's words to the Romans...
"How, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?" Romans 10:14-15
Our task as Christians is to hurry along the coming of the day of God (1 Peter 3:12) by ensuring that every people group in the world has a testimony of the gospel message of God's kingdom. Only then will the end will come." (Matthew 24:14)
Until then, an apt response to Paul's questions in Romans 10 is the same response Isaiah gave to God when God asked him, “Whom shall I send?"
"Here I am LORD, send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)