Learning from the Deaf Community about Translation and Performance

This paper argues that sign language Bible translation (SLBT) should be valued not only for increasing Deaf people’s access to Scripture in their heart languages, but also for what SLBT can teach the broader field of Bible translation, including biblical performance criticism. Key insights from sign language linguistics are surveyed to highlight the inherently multidimensional and embodied grammar of signed language. The development of American Sign Language poetry is traced to show how Western, hearing-centered literary assumptions, particularly the privileging of linear “lines” modeled on writing, have constrained sign language literary production. Building on these discussions, SLBT is presented as an effective tool for challenging traditional translation and exegetical practices, thereby inviting scholars to reconsider the ways in which biblical texts are interpreted.