BSL Bible: launchof the pilot DVD ofMark 1.1–3.6

The BSL Bible Translation Projecthas produced a DVD of theopening chapters of the Gospel ofMark in British Sign Language.This marks a new development inBible translation in the UK,coinciding with the 400th

anniversary of the King JamesVersion. Like the KJV, the BSLBible uses new technology: fourhundred years ago it was theprinting press and today it isdigital visual media. Like the KJV,the BSL Bible expresses thebelief that God’s Word should bereceived ‘in the language of thepeople’: BSL was recognised bythe UK government in 2003 as anational minority language.

The BSL Bible is a new departurein providing a BSL ‘text’. It aimsto be a translation which is bothscholarly and accessible: to offerin natural BSL the meaning of atwo thousand year old text, withhistorical accuracy, and informedby theological discussion. Englishreaders have had this in theirlanguage for over four hundredyears.

Many Deaf people experienceDeaf ministers or BSLinterpreters translating passagesof the Bible out of English intoBSL, with some preparation or onthe spot. They may also havewatched BSL versions of Biblestories that are not exactlytranslations but are free versionsor re-tellings of the stories withdramatic embellishments or otheradaptations. What has never beenavailable is a recorded scholarlyversion of full texts of the Bible inBSL, translating the originalHebrew and Greek texts – ratherthan rendering an Englishtranslation second-hand.

This is not an easy or a smalltask, but the BSL BibleTranslation Project has made astart, and presents a pilotversion of the first section ofMark’s Gospel (1:1–3:6) forconsultation with the broadestpossible range of users.Response to the pilot will guidethe Project on how it proceedswith the enormous task it hasembarked on.

The Project was launched inSeptember 2006 and is managedby a group of Trustees with apanel of advisors. It pays somepart-time workers but reliesheavily on volunteers withexpertise in biblical scholarship,BSL linguistics and projectmanagement. It has beensponsored so far by individualsand groups and has receivedsome support from Churches,Universities, the Bible Society,Spring Harvest and otherorganisations. It needs long-term, substantial sponsorship inorder to continue, and anacceptance by a broad range ofpotential users of thetranslation, who want a BSLBible, and who approve its aimsand methodology. Thepublication of the pilot is achance to take soundings fromthe Deaf community, the DeafChurch and all interestedparties.

One of the by-products of theProject has been to buildcapacity in the people who haveworked in the translation teams– Deaf BSL users, BSL linguistsand biblical scholars, workingtogether. The first task of thetranslator is to discover themeaning of the original text. TheProject’s teams work first with abiblical scholar to discuss themeaning of the original Greektext and of Mark’s message tohis first readers. Teams of Deaf

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people and BSL linguists thenwork creatively on equivalentways of expressing in BSL themeaning of the original text. Theytry to find a way of doing thiswhich conveys the meaning of theoriginal text with accuracy, andalso expresses it naturally in BSL.The drafts are then shown tofocus groups of Deaf people andto BSL linguists and discussedagain with biblical scholars. Thenthey are revised and recorded –and the first chapters are nowpublished for wider consultation.

The BSL version, like alltranslations of the Bible, is anecessary compromise betweentwo methods, sometimes called‘literal translation’ and ‘dynamicequivalence’ (or ‘form-equivalence’ and ‘functionequivalence’). Bilingual Deafpeople and BSL interpreters areusually used to the idea of‘dynamic’ interpretation (wherethe guiding principle is thought-for-thought rather than word-for-word) because of the verydifferent ways English and BSLare structured grammatically.However, the Christian traditionof the authority of the Bible as‘the Word of God’ exercises aconstraint on most Bibletranslations to be as ‘literal’ aspossible and not to depart farfrom the ‘actual words’ of the text– although this can result in atranslation which is not natural inthe target language.

The Project teams have tried tobe as accurate as possible intranslating the Greek text ofMark’s Gospel but also toproduce a version that is naturalin BSL. The aim is to express acomparable meaning that thesource text would have had to itsoriginal readers. This is fraughtwith difficulties. One of thereasons for the existence of somany English versions of the

Bible today is that translatorssimply do not agree about howto express the meaning of theoriginal texts. An English readertoday has the luxury of havingmore than one version – perhapsone for detailed study, and onethat makes the message easierto understand. Until the web isalive with different BSL versions,the BSL Bible has to try to offerone translation that is bothaccurate and accessible. Thepilot is published in order tolearn if it is hitting the mark forits potential users.

Some versions of the Bible offerthe reader commentary notesand maps. The pilot DVD offerssome support materials like this,and seeks responses from usersto see what is useful to them.These include a map of theplaces in Judea and Galilee thatMark refers to, and someexplanatory comment about thehistorical background andMark’s theological message. Onthe website where moreinteractive links can be used, theProject aims to offer a range ofelectronic resources in Englishand BSL to accompany thefilmed passages.

The Project is initially selling theDVD but is making the sametranslation on the website freelyaccessible. This corresponds tohow English versions of theBible are often made available,both in print and on the web.The experimental nature of thistranslation means that at thisstage the Project wants as manypeople as possible to access thepilot chapters and give themfeedback on what changes theywould like and what resourcesthey would value.

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