ABSTRACT
Although it is important that the entire biblical text be translated in the best way possible, it is especially critical that certain salient terms are translated well. Bible translators refer to these as ‘key terms’, roughly defined as “terms that have special cultural or religious significance, which may occur frequently in the text, and may have complex relationships with other related or contrastive terms” (Salisbury 2002). Terms are like addresses for concepts. Using a term evokes all the information stored at that address, both the dictionary meaning of the concept as well as a range of encyclopaedic information. Concepts are networked to other concepts, and these networks also become more accessible when a term is used. It is important that the terms used in a translation evoke at least some contextual assumptions in the audience’s minds, and ultimately, if not initially, that these contextual assumptions be the intended ones.
