What is the story behind the LEB?

Rich DeRuiter

I've noticed the Lexham English Bible (still incomplete) and found it to be a unique translation: at least it's not the ESV, or any other published version, as far as I can tell.

Just wondering, what's the story behind the LEB? Is it the work of a single individual (W. Hall Harris III), or a translation committee, or Logos staff, or something even more interesting?

I noticed this because I was looking at Ephesians 4:25 and the LEB was the only modern English translation I saw that handled το πσευδοσ [to pseudos] literally as "the lie" rather than "falsehood," as all the other modern English translations I looked at handled it. (BTW, the Spanish RVA and NVI translate it as "the lie" too.) Obviously the LEB is unique -- at least on this passage. So I became curious.

I looked at the Lexham page on the web site, but it did not satisfy my curiosity.

So, what can you tell us about this unique translation? What's the translation philosophy/approach? Who, where, why, how?

TCBlack

Doesn't appear to be lots of information on this Rich.  This is the only bit I could find:

http://www.logos.com/lexham

 

Rich DeRuiter

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/16570#Comment_16570

tcblack said:

Doesn't appear to be lots of information on this Rich.  This is the only bit I could find:

http://www.logos.com/lexham

Yeah, that's the web page I was referring to. Not very satisfying, is it.

Rick Brannan (Logos)

Richard DeRuiter said:

Just wondering, what's the story behind the LEB? Is it the work of a single individual (W. Hall Harris III), or a translation committee, or Logos staff, or something even more interesting?

...

So, what can you tell us about this unique translation? What's the translation philosophy/approach? Who, where, why, how?

Hi Rich.

The Lexham English Bible (New Testament) is an outgrowth of the Lexham Greek-English Interlinear New Testament (LGNTI). Hall Harris is primarily responsible for the translation, and if you've got the LGNTI then you can get an idea of the translation (though the LEB is not an exact reproduction of the translation line of the LGNTI).

As far as translation philosophy, I don't know that there is a
simple label that can be applied, and we don't have a formal statement
on philosophy prepared at present. But the basic idea is to be
transparent to the underlying text. So the LEB might be stilted and
wooden in places, but when this occurs it usually has something to do
with the underlying text.

We've been using the task of preparing the reverse interlinear as a check on the translation, to ensure that the words, phrases and clauses in the English translation have some sort of verified relationship with the underlying text. So that's why we have a reverse interlinear from day 1 for the released portions of the translation.

TCBlack

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/16581#Comment_16581

Thanks for the information Rick. 

Rich DeRuiter

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/16581#Comment_16581

Rick Brannan said:

Hall Harris is primarily responsible for the translation,

From what I can see he's done a fine job! He should be commended.

Rick Brannan said:

As far as translation philosophy, I don't know that there is a
simple label that can be applied...

It sounds like a word-for-word, style translation, and the texts I've looked at would bare that out. In what I've seen it's more literal than either the NASB or the ESV -- though I've not studied it much past my current sermon prep on Eph 4:25-5:2.

I wonder if Mr (Dr?) Harris would be open to some critical evaluation from time to time on certain passages. If so, what would be a helpful way to offer it? For example, in 4:15, it would be more literal to say "being truthful" (maybe "living by [the] truth"), than "speaking the truth," especially in the context (which is about  behavior in general, not particularly about speech). Anyway, I would hope that some thoughtful and well-reasoned criticism might be welcome. Maybe it would be too hard to manage, and I would be the first to understand that too.

But great work on a monumental project! Can't wait for the next bit to come out!

Rick Brannan (Logos)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/16600#Comment_16600

Hi Rich.

Richard DeRuiter said:

I wonder if Mr (Dr?) Harris would be open to some critical evaluation from time to time on certain passages. If so, what would be a helpful way to offer it?

On who Hall Harris is, he is on the faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary and is also the project director of the NET Bible project, so he is no stranger to translation of the New Testament. More info can be found on his DTS faculty page: http://www.dts.edu/about/faculty/hharris/.

On how to deliver feedback, there is no established mechanism at present. We'll have to consider the best way for that to take place. Thanks for the suggestion!

Rich DeRuiter

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/16607#Comment_16607

Rick Brannan said:

On who Hall Harris is, he is on the faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary and is also the project director of the NET Bible project, so he is no stranger to translation of the New Testament. More info can be found on his DTS faculty page: http://www.dts.edu/about/faculty/hharris/.

On how to deliver feedback, there is no established mechanism at present. We'll have to consider the best way for that to take place. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks Rick. Maybe I'll contact him on a day when I'm not supposed to be working on sermon/service prep.