How did you get interested in Bible translation? When I was in high school, I discovered that I was very much interested in languages, both modern (Dutch, English, French, German) and classical (Latin and Greek) languages. When I was sixteen, I heard about the work of a Dutch Bible translator, Chris Fahner, who had completed the New Testament in the Western Yali language in what was then called Irian Jaya (now: Papua, Indonesia). This sparked my interest in doing Bible translation work overseas. When I read Translating the Word of God by John Beekman and John Callow, I knew for sure that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. 

What gets you excited when you work with others in Bible translation? I get excited when local translators get to the point where they become independent translators, and produce translations that are accurate, clear, natural, and beautiful. Papuan languages follow an SOV structure and their syntax requires a lot of restructuring of clauses compared to the Koine Greek text and its Indonesian translations. It is good to see that more experienced translators deal with those issues in a natural way, without any prompting from a facilitator or consultant. In addition, translators need to be creative to find good descriptive renderings for words and concepts that are not attested in the receptor language. I enjoy working with capable and highly motivated translators who show this kind of creativity.

What is your consulting philosophy? Not every speaker of the receptor language is necessarily a good translator. Translators need to be trained and mentored in order to develop their natural and potential competencies. An important aspect of the training of new translators is to build on their critical thinking skills. Technical skills like exegeting and translating are not the only competencies that are important. Bible translation also requires a positive attitude and a spiritual mindset. In addition, planning and (time) management skills are also important. Last but not least, the ability to work together as a team is an important factor that can make or break the success of a translation project. As a consultant, I always want to learn new things from those who I am consulting for.

What translation resources do you really value? Paratext and Translator’s Workplace are my favorite translation resources. Those provide many resources for translators and exegetes. I am also excited about the Key Terms of the Old Testament project (KTOT), which has over 100 entries now. Full disclosure: I am one of its founding fathers, and currently still an author and editor in this project. So I may be a bit biased. However, good quality translation work requires that we pay close attention to the meaning(s) of Biblical key terms and to the ways they can be rendered. This is exactly what KTOT has been doing.

How do you continue to grow as a consultant? I try to write at least one article on translation practice and theory every year. I also continue to teach translation courses for consultants-in-training and for master students. Continued interaction with translation teams also helps me to keep learning new things.

How do you share your translation discoveries with others? Mostly through writing and publishing articles or books - like my doctoral dissertations on metaphor (2004) and on contextualization (2013). I also attend the biennial BT conferences and I usually present a paper there. I also share my insights in my lectures.

Can you share about a time when you realized you were wrong and what you learned from it? I see consulting work as a dialogue between a consultant and a translation team. As a consultant, I always want to hear the team’s perspective, and what their reasons are for following a certain interpretation or for using a certain rendering. Bible translation is not always a matter of “right” or “wrong”. Sometimes there is more than one plausible solution, and this should be readily recognized by translation consultants. I cannot remember an issue where my advice was wrong. But maybe this says more about my memory than about the facts.

What are your top tips for someone starting on a career path in Bible translation?  Make sure you have a strong foundation both in theology / exegesis and in linguistics and anthropology. Facilitation skills and team working skills are also very important. Interview experienced translators and consultants, and ask them about highlights and hindrances in the work of Bible translation. Don’t panic if you don’t have all the gifts that are needed. Bible translation work is teamwork and it is a process of lifelong learning.

Share something that you learned from a mentor or from a mentee? I learned most from translation consultants who did the first consultant checks on Una Scripture portions (Andrew Sims, Gilles Gravelle, Marge Crofts). By observing their consultant work, I learned the importance of doing proper comprehension testing, and of making implicit information explicit. From my doctoral supervisor (Dr. Lourens de Vries), I learned that explication of implicit information should be limited to that which is necessary. I also learned that in “missionary” / “pioneer” translations there is more room for explication than, for example, in translations for established church communities.

What do you see as the place of the church in Bible translation? The church is very important in Bible translation. In the case of the Una translation project, my wife Margreet and I were invited by the local church in 1986 to come to Irian Jaya (Papua, Indonesia) to be involved in Bible translation work. We arrived in 1988. We trained and mentored local pastors and elders to do the translation work. We also reported to the leadership of the GJRP church. Without the direct and continuous involvement of the church, the Una New Testament (2007) and the complete Bible (2022) would not have come to fruition. Scripture engagement would also have been impossible without the church.

What would you say to young / aspiring translators? Read John Beekman and John Callow’s Translating the Word of God. And Kathleen Callow’s Discourse Considerations in Translating the Word of God. Or any other literature that shows the diversity of human languages and that inspires you to participate in the magnificent task of Bible translation.

Any other comments? Bible translation is not just about producing the vernacular Scriptures as fast and cheap as possible. The process is more important than the product. The journey is more important than the destiny. Bible translation needs to be accompanied by and embedded in Scripture engagement. It also needs to be strengthened by incarnational ministry that aims at transformed lives and communities.

I applaud attempts to encourage representatives of local churches and communities to play a more important role in approving translated Scriptures for their language community. At the same time, I still see an important role for professional translation consultants who serve these communities with their expertise in Biblical languages and translation practices. Bible translation, including the final checking and approval of translated Scriptures, is teamwork that requires different members of the body of Christ to work together in accordance with the variety of gifts given to each member of the body.