Purpose

Why should I participate in the OSBT community?

Why students should participate in the OSB Community.

• Unlike reading groups which happen at a certain time and place, this site can connect students with different schedules providing another forum for developing your facility with biblical languages.
• Participation in the community can help graduates maintain a vital connection to other translators, and prevent their skills from getting "rusty".
• The mandatory translations YOU MUST DO for class, which in most circumstances will never see the light of day (after you get your grades), can become a part of something greater - a completely free version of the bible.

Why pastors should participate in the OSB Community.

• Like students pastors can interact with a community of bible translators and grow in their facility with Greek and Hebrew which will open greater insight into God's word.
• Pastors can reference the translation notes regarding ambiguous passages and gain insight.

Why Teachers should participate in the OSB Community.

• Teachers can interact with their students through the community format.
• Teachers can contribute their expertise and help to bring along young translators through editing and commenting on translations.
• Teachers can even by contributing by contributing their own translations.

Why should we have an Open Source Bible Translation?

Benefits

1. Faster revision process

a. User driven review process means anyone can report errors or suggest improvements.
b. Corrections and revisions can be made on the spot.
c. Recent updates and revisions listed and linked for immediate viewing and review.
d. Annual Snapshot of the project will lock in the official “stable” version for that year revisions will be marked by numbering system such as 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, etc. depending on the extent of the revisions. made. Version 1.0 will be officially marked January 1, the year the first full translation is complete.

2. Running justification of all major translation decisions and revisions-

a. Will provide a record of why translators made the choices they did.
b. Rating system ensures only most widely accepted readings move into first position.
c. Contributor’s page will list all contributors and track the percentage of their contribution.

3. Freely quotable and distributable at no cost under GPL (General Public License).

a. Quotations of any length may be used freely in derivative works by anyone under GPL.
b. Copies may be printed or downloaded and freely distributed free of charge.

4. Strengthen and broaden interest in Biblical Scholarship

a. A forum for people to contribute to a significant work of biblical scholarship.
b. A reference for students, pastors, and scholars.
c. A resource for students to hone their skills.

Questions about Open Source Bible Translation

1. How will you ensure the quality of the translation?

a. The user driven revision process will mean that the text is under constant scrutiny and open to revision.
b. The recent additions and revisions listed on the opening page will alert people to changes to the text and solicit reviews.

2. How will you ensure that the good translations don’t get replaced with bad ones?

a. All new revisions will go to the bottom of the list because they have a rating of zero stars.
b. Revisions will move up in the list as users rate them according to their usefulness.
c. Only the most highly rated verses appear in the running translation.

3. What approach to translation will be taken?

a. Literal Translation: The goal is to provide a translation in contemporary English that is as grammatically similar as possible to the Greek and Hebrew. For this reason we are adopting a literal word for word approach to translation. It is our belief that all translators must begin with a literal rendering before making any critical decisions about its presentation and that a literal (word for word) rendering will provide the best starting point for any subsequent adaptation of the text.
b. Gender inclusive renderings: We must try to accurately reflect the intentions of the authors with reference to gender (humanity for mankind) etc. However we must do this in a way which preserves - as much as possible - the grammatical character of the original while being fluant in the target language.

4. What is the Theological Perspective of the Translation?

a. To the best of our ability we want our theology to grow out of our reading of the text and not drive the translation of it. Justifications for translation decisions should be given for grammatical and contextual reasons. No one should assign a rating to a revision that only gives a theological justification.
b. This project was started by Evangelicals who believe in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and in their truth and accuracy when read according to the rules governing the genre of each text. We ask that contributors maintain the integrity of this project by reflecting these values in their translation decisions.