(Almost) Everything That Could Be Checked

Checking
1

Overview

This document attempts to list out (almost) everything that could be checked in a Bible translation by category. The idea is not to list specific checks but the general categories of things that could be checked. Potentially, links to open resources that provide checklists for each category could also be included under each section.

Things to Check

  • Licensing
  • Copyright holder
  • Contributors
  • Spell check
    • Includes consistent capitalization
  • Punctuation
    • Check for invalid sequences and contexts
    • Check for consistency, e.g., footnotes ending with periods
  • USFM/USX formatting
  • Basic book, chapter, verse checks
    • Ensure every book, chapter, and verse has text
    • Ensure verses are statistically long enough
  • Parallel passage checks
  • Meaning consistency checks
    • List of passages that have similar meanings
    • List of passages that have contrary (paradoxical) meanings
  • Hard sayings
    • Difficult passages theologically
      • Unexpected
      • Paradoxical
    • Difficult passages to interpret
      • Ambiguous
      • Unclear
  • Key theological terms
  • Proper noun checks
    • Ensure valid transliteration or translation
    • Consistency across various occurrences
    • Includes a consistent policy for names that occur differently in Hebrew and Greek
  • Peer review
  • Community review
    • Comprehension questions
    • Naturalness
    • Clarity
  • Church leader(s) check
  • Back translation
  • Section headings (if appropriate)
  • Historical accuracy
  • Figures of Speech
    • Synonyms and equivalent phrases
    • Apostrophe
    • Doublet
    • Euphemism
    • Extended metaphor
    • Hendiadys
    • Hyperbole and generization
    • Idiom
    • Irony
    • Litotes
    • Merism
    • Metaphors
    • Metonymy
    • Parallelism
    • Personification
    • Predictive Past
    • Rhetorical question
    • Similes
    • Synechdoche
  • Grammar
    • Abstract Nouns
    • Active or Passive
    • Distinguishing versus Informing or Reminding
    • Double Negatives
    • Ellipsis
    • Forms of You
    • Forms of ‘You’ - Dual/Plural
    • Forms of ‘You’ - Singular
    • Generic Noun Phrases
    • Go and Come
    • Nominal Adjectives
    • Order of Events
    • Parts of Speech
    • Possession
    • Verbs
    • When Masculine Words Include Women
    • Word Order
  • Pronouns
    • First, Second, or Third Person
    • Exclusive and Inclusive “We”
    • Forms of “You” - Formal or Informal
    • Singular Pronouns that Refer to Groups
    • Reflexive Pronouns
    • Pronouns - When to Use Them
  • Sentences
    • Sentence Structure
    • Information Structure
    • Sentence Types
      • Statements - Other Uses
      • Imperatives - Other Uses
      • Exclamations
  • Quotes
    • Quotations and Quote Margins
    • Direct and Indirect Quotations
    • Quote Markings
    • Quotes Within Quotes
  • Writing Styles (Discourse)
    • Types of Writing
    • Background Information
    • Connecting Words
    • End of Story
    • Hypothetical Situations
    • Introduction of a New Event
    • Introduction of New and Old Participants
    • Parables
    • Poetry
    • Proverbs
    • Symbolic Language
    • Symbolic Prophecy
  • Textual Variants
  • Verse Bridges
  • Alternate versification
  • Unknowns
    • Translate Unknowns
    • Copy or Borrow Words
    • How to Translate Names
    • Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information
    • When to Make Explicit Information Implicit
    • When to Keep Information Implicit
    • Biblical Distance
    • Biblical Volume
    • Biblical Weight
    • Biblical Money
    • Hebrew Months
    • Numbers
    • Ordinal Numbers
    • Fractions
    • Decimal Numbers
    • Symbolic Action
  • Biblical Imagery
    • Common Metonymies
    • Common Patterns
    • Animals
    • Body Parts and Human Qualities
    • Farming
    • Human Behavior
    • Man-made Objects
    • Natural Phenomena
    • Plants
    • Cultural Models