Translating accurately

A slightly-ridiculous picture of Stephen being stoned

Making sure a translation is accurate is tricky work.  Does "accurate" mean following the words of the Greek New Testament and using those same words, except in a different language?  Or does "accurate" mean trying to ensure that readers of the translated New Testaments understand the same thing that original readers of the Greek NT understood?  It's quite complicated!

One recent example of this comes from the Ikoma language translation of Acts.  On a recent village trip to test their translation draft, the Ikoma translators realized something was amiss.  In Acts 22:20, the NIV reads, "And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him."  The Ikoma people listening to the translators read were confused if Stephen actually died or not while Paul was looking on.  They thought it sounded like people were trying to kill Stephen and he was wounded somehow so he lost some blood.  It just didn't make sense.

So was this translation accurate?  The draft translation was similar to how it is in the NIV, and it didn't add or subtract anything from the Greek.  All the right words were there, and the sentence structure was correct in Ikoma.

As you might have already guessed, we decided that if the translation is not communicating the right message, it is not accurate.  The Ikoma translators are in the process of changing this right now so that it is clear that Saul was standing there while Stephen was stoned to death.  To DEATH.