Not only did they do so successfully but the English of the King James Version created.

Example of formal equivalence translation. A committee of Biblical scholars convened to translate from the original Hebrew and Greek as closely as possible. Because care is taken to render the text as close as possible to the original it makes it easier to study the Scripture in a formal translation. They therefore suggest that these formal equivalents should be usedwherever possible if the translation aims at achieving formal rather than dynamic equivalence.

Even the NASB the most formal equivalent translation in English says that the father embraced him with the footnote Lit fell on his neck If that is what it literally means then why not translate it as such. In translation theory formal equivalence refers to translating by finding reasonably equivalent words and phrases while following the forms of the source languaage as closely as possible. Few if any languages are exactly parallel in terms of words sentence structure syntax etc.

A translation method in which the translator attempts to reflect to the thought rather than words or forms Nida suggests not the reaction or just function in the target language or just function in the target language or target culture but property of the text features of the form. Despite using a linguistic approach to translation Nida is much more interested. In translating Bible international diplomacy Eg.

In fact a general tendency towards formal rather than dynamic equivalence is characterized by for example a concern for accuracy 1964 p. 159 and a preference for retaining the original wording wherever possible. The use of formal equivalents might at times have serious implications in the TT since thetranslation will not be easily understood by the target audience Fawcett 1997.

Formal equivalence attempts to translate the text word-for-word literally eg. Formal Equivalence often called thought-for-thought translation as opposed to a word-for-word translation. The ESV only includes the first preposition meanwhile the NLT decides to explain what each other the list means.

One example I often come across is with food. All the other translations take some decisions to make it sounds either more natural to modern ears or to clarify more complex terms. Wear a smile one size fits all.