A former colleague studied Classics in college — he read old books in old languages. For his senior project, he translated the Bible’s New Testament from the original Greek. I asked what he learned. He said, “Often times, the most accurate translation is the one done by the novice.”
The novice must translate and interpret the text. Their goal is not to read their own narrative into the text. Instead, their goal is to extract meaning from the words they’ve translated. Thinking about it, I was reminded of the phrase: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Are we blind?
How many different types of ideas are translated and interpreted for us? How do we know those interpretations are accurate or truthful to the original texts? We might never know.
My interpretation: learn how to translate and interpret all kinds of ideas so that I rely less on the interpretation of others.
What’s your takeaway?