The Indispensability of Back Translation

Translation of the Bible into the mother tongues of peoples requires that it be faithful to the source text while seeing to it that the naturalness of the translation in the receptor language is likewise achieved. These translation ideals may appear complementary on the surface but they produce unintended tensions in the actual translation endeavor. Faithfulness to the text requires that the intention of the Biblical author be transferred in the most exact way possible to the target language. Naturalness of translation creates the burden of transmitting this authorial intention to the target language in the simplest and least artificial way possible. The faithfulness criterion unwittingly creates a line that instantly separates the translation officer from his/her translators. The officer seeks for the translation to be faithful to the source text while the translators' loyalty is to the receptor language. Naturalness of translation can only be properly assessed by the translators, not by the translation officer. He/she does not speak the receptor language. How, then, can the officer mediate faithfulness and naturalness in the translation of the Bible into an unfamiliar language? Here is where back translation is most indispensable. Back translation provides the tool for checking the accuracy of a Bible translation into the mother tongues of peoples.