Toward a professional code of ethics in Bible Translation

When professionals become members of a professional network, they are required to abide by a code of ethics or code of professional conduct. The aim of such a code of ethics is to see that members follow a common set of ethical principles in carrying out their professional duties. To determine whether Bible translators are conforming to similar ethical values and principles in the course of their practice, this paper looks at organizations belonging to FOBAI and ETEN networks to determine what ethical values most commonly guide their Bible translation work. These values are then compared with Chesterman’s (2001) four models of translation ethics namely: ethics of representation (relation), ethics of accountability (loyalty), ethics of communication and ethics of service, and the Chesterman (2016) four fundamental related values: truth, trust, value, understanding.