As translators, you can best use the ULB and UDB if you remember the following differences between the ULB and UDB, and if you learn how the target language can best deal with the issues that these differences represent.
><sup>1</sup> Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God ... <sup>7</sup> To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1,7 ULB)
The ULB shows Paul's style of beginning his letters. He does not say who his audience is until verse 7. However, the UDB follows a style that is much more natural in English and many other languages today.
The ULB often presents ideas that **imply** or **assume** other ideas that are important for the reader to understand.
The UDB often makes those other ideas explicit. The UDB does this in order to remind you that you should perhaps do the same in your translation if you think that your audience will need to know this information in order to understand the text.
When you translate, you should decide which of these implied ideas would be understood by your audience without being included. If your audience understands these ideas without including them in the text, then you do not need to make those ideas explicit. Remember also that you might even offend your audience if you needlessly present implied ideas that they would understand anyway. (see [Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information](../figs-explicit/01.md))
>But Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid! Until now you gathered in fish, but from now on you will gather in people to become my disciples." (Luke 5:10 UDB)
Here the UDB reminds the reader that Simon was a fisherman by trade. It also makes clear the similarity that Jesus was drawing between Simon's previous work and his future work. In addition, the UDB makes it clear why Jesus wanted Simon to "catch men" (ULB), that is, to lead them "to become my disciples" (UDB).
>When he saw Jesus, he <u>fell on his face</u> and begged him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you can <u>make me clean</u>." (Luke 5:12 ULB)
>When he saw Jesus, he <u>bowed down to the ground in front of him</u> and pleaded with him, "Lord, please heal me, because you are able to <u>heal me</u> if you are willing!" (Luke 5:12 UDB)
Here the UDB makes it clear that the man who had leprosy did not fall to the ground by accident. Instead, he deliberately bowed down to the ground. Also, the UDB makes it clear that he is asking Jesus to heal him. In the ULB, he only implies this request.
### Symbolic Actions
**Definition** - A symbolic action is something that someone does in order to express a certain idea.
The ULB often simply presents the symbolic action with no explanation of what it means. The UDB often presents the meaning expressed by the symbolic action as well.
When you translate, you should decide whether your audience will correctly understand a symbolic action. If your audience will not understand, then you should do as the UDB does. (see [Symbolic Action](../translate-symaction/01.md))
Here the UDB makes it clear that it was not by accident that the high priest tore his garment. It also makes clear that it was probably only his outer garment that he tore, and that he did so because he wanted to show that he was sad or angry or both.
Because the high priest actually tore his garment, the UDB must, of course, say that he did. However, if a symbolic action never actually took place, you do not have to state that action. Here is such an example:
>You would not dare to offer such gifts to your own governor! You know that he would not take them. You know that he <u>would be displeased with you and would not welcome you</u>! (Malachi 1:8 UDB)
Here the symbolic action "lift up someone's face," represented in this way in the ULB, is presented only as its meaning in the UDB: "he would be displeased with you and would not welcome you." It can be presented in this way because Malachi is not actually referring to a particular event that actually took place. He is only referring to the idea represented by that event.
Both Biblical Hebrew and Greek often use passive verb forms, while many other languages do not have that possibility. The ULB tries to use passive verb forms when the original languages use them. However, the UDB usually does not use these passive verb forms. As a result, the UDB **restructures** many phrases.
When you translate, you must decide whether the target language can present events or states using a passive expression, as in the following examples. If you cannot use a passive verb form in a particular context, then you may find in the UDB one possible way to restructure the phrase. (see [Active or Passive](../figs-activepassive/01.md))
>But the report about him spread even farther, and large crowds of people came together to hear him teach and <u>to be healed</u> of their sicknesses. (Luke 5:15 ULB)
>But many people heard about how Jesus had healed the man. The result was that large crowds came to Jesus to hear him teach and <u>to have him heal them</u> from their sicknesses. (Luke 5:15 UDB)
Here the UDB avoids the ULB's passive verb form "to be healed." It does this by restructuring the phrase. It says who the healer is: "to have him [Jesus] heal them."
**Definition** - The ULB tries to represent the figures of speech found in the biblical texts as closely as possible.
The UDB often presents the meaning of these ideas in other ways.
When you translate, you will have to decide whether the target language readers will understand a figure of speech with little effort, with some effort, or not at all. If they have to make a great effort to understand, or if they do not understand at all, you will have to present the essential meaning of the figure of speech using other words.
>He has <u>made you rich in every way</u>, in all speech and with all knowledge. (1 Corinthians 1:5 ULB)
Paul uses a metaphor of material wealth, expressed in the word "rich." Even though he immediately explains what he means "in all speech and with all knowledge," some readers might not understand. The UDB presents the idea in a different way, without using the metaphor of material wealth. (see [Metaphor](../figs-metaphor/01.md))
Jesus uses a simile that compares his apostles going to others as sheep going out among wolves. Some readers might not understand how the apostles would be like sheep while the other people would be like wolves. The UDB clarifies that the apostles would be defenseless, and that their enemies would be dangerous. (see [Simile](../figs-simile/01.md))
><u>If you expect God to declare you good in his sight because you try to keep the law</u>, you have separated yourself from Christ; God will no longer act kindly toward you. (Galatians 5:4 UDB)
Paul uses irony when he refers to them as being justified by the law. He had already taught them that no one can be justified by the law. The ULB uses quote marks around "justified" to show that Paul did not really believe that they were justified by the law. The UDB translates the same idea by making it clear that it was what the other people believed. (see [Irony](../figs-irony/01.md))
When you translate, you will have to decide how the target language prefers to present these ideas. (see [Abstract Nouns](../figs-abstractnouns/01.md))
Here the ULB expressions "all speech" and "all knowledge" are abstract noun expressions. One problem with them is that readers might not know who is supposed to do the speaking and what they are to speak, or who is doing the knowing and what it is that they know. The UDB answers these questions.
In summary, the ULB will help you translate because it can help you understand to a great degree what form the original biblical texts have. The UDB can help you translate because it can help make the ULB text's meaning clear, and also because it can give you various possible ways to make the ideas in the biblical text clear in your own translation.
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