Biblical instructions for translation?

Hi Pm. Welcome to town! As a Biblical fundamentalist who hold to the fundamentals of those scriptures, I believe the Bible is like any manual or textbook. The closer to you keep to what is written the more precise you will be in the implementation of it in practice and understanding. I regard the handling and translation of the Bible with the warning of the verses 18 and 19 of the last chapter of the Bible which state that a curse from God will be upon any who either diminish or add to what is written. Since it is written in the book of Revelation, some would say it applies to only that book, but I think not. It is a clear indication of how God views the handling of his words and imo, significant that it is in the last words of the entire book.Also in the first chapter of Revelation, verse 3 we read a blessing on those who read, hear and keep the words written in the book. There are other scriptures, both in the OT and NT that imply the same message concerning the handling of scripture.Suppose that the aircraft mechanic decides to render his own private thinking in what the training manual states and implements his own ideas into practice as a mechanic. Not good! The same goes with the Bible. Unless the text indicates otherwise, the text of the oldest and most reliable manuscripts should be kept in both interpretation and translation of scripture. The same rule would apply to all languages. The words nearest to the most reliable Greek and Hebrew manuscripts in any given language should be implemented in originating a text. Then each reader (not the translator) do the interpreting of those words. This way you have a sound foundational basis to work from and the original message is not lost in time.

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The immeasurable present is forever consuming the eternal future and extending the infinite past. buz

No. Not when you're liable for the possible death of others. The mechanic goes by the book and if he/she thinks differently, he/she may make suggestions for changing the manual, but he or she had better go by the book which has been tested and tried. CRASH frog you can go with the inovative self sufficient relativist, but I'll fly with the objective fundies who go by the book. With Julia, we're talking taste and health, but with mechanics and the Bible, we're talking life and death and the eternal destination of the soul. Imo, no room for guesswork, experimentation and personal relativism here.

I use language interlinear Hebrew and Greek to English texts for checking for acuracy of a translated text. No particular scripture comes to mind for translating guideline other than the admonition to keep what is written for the basis of determination of message. There is a scripture which states that no scripture of private interpretation and I take that to mean unless otherwise indicated, keep what is written. Of course, one can concoct all kinds of varied doctrines from isolated statements out of text and unfortunately that's done all the time.