Better Bibles on Translating Idioms

A couple of days ago I blogged about the idiom “brokenhearted” and closely related phrases, particularly in Isaiah 61:1. I’ve been collecting additional information via e-mail, and I may blog further on that one, though I am still pretty much looking at something like “give courage to those in despair.”

Today, Wayne Leman blogged about another idiom from Hebrew scripture, “in the eyes of.” He has provided a range of translation options for this into English and I think it’s worthwhile checking those out.

What is the best approach to translating an idiom such as this one? How important is it to you to transfer the source language idiom, if it is important at all?

One thing I have found is that the more I study idioms, the more important it seems to me that we get a clear and natural rendering in the target language. We are frequently unaware of the idioms in our own language, and for best effect, an idiom should be just that subtle, not something that makes you stop and wonder about its meaning.