Little words are often significant. Not long ago, we translated the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23-35). It begins with a word that can mean “therefore” or “for this reason”. But what that means is not at all clear at first glance; what is the “therefore” there for?

If you look at the context, you see that this is what Jesus said immediately after telling Peter he should forgive, not 7 times, but 77 times. And then he gives the reason by telling a story. It would be better to translate this little word as “Here is why:” or “This is why”. Why should Peter forgive that much? Here’s why: our heavenly Father forgives us a nearly uncountable number of times, as can be illustrated by the story Jesus tells.

The story goes on to explain that one debtor owed the king “10,000 talents”. The word “talent” here does not mean a skill or ability; it is a transliteration of a Greek word meaning a measure of weight (probably 60-70 pounds). This is a huge amount of money, but if we translate it as “talents,” the Roma will not understand. So our translators rendered it as “10,000 bags of gold”, which will communicate the enormity of the sum to Roma listeners.

These examples of “therefore” and “talents” are some of the things we look for when we do a final check of the translation to make sure that they are accurate, clear, and natural in the Roma languages.

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support!

Todd & Pamala Price (Kirsten, Daniel & Ariela)