Working for the Word - a Bible translation podcast
Andrew Case
It's been said that people don't want to know: 1) how sausages are made, 2) how bibles are translated. In this podcast we bravely talk about the latter, go deep into biblical studies, and seek to treasure and understand the Bible together. It's for people who want to get nerdy about Scripture and for those who want to understand how their translations came to be. Everything from history to Hebrew, we're on a quest to learn more and make beautiful translations of God's Word. We believe the Bible is a unified, God-breathed, God-centered, hope-giving book, sweeter than honey, pointing to Jesus.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Nov 4, 2025 • 17min
Translation Principles from 1877 - part 5
In this episode we continue working our way through the 1877 book Suggestions for Translators, Editors, and Revisers of the Bible by the Reverend R.B. Girdlestone, who was a superintendent of the translating and editorial department of the British and Foreign Bible Society. We cover the following sections:Marginal referencesItalics and other modes of marking supplementary wordswebsite | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
Oct 27, 2025 • 24min
Translation Principles from 1877 - part 4
In this episode we continue working our way through the 1877 book Suggestions for Translators, Editors, and Revisers of the Bible by the Reverend R.B. Girdlestone, who was a superintendent of the translating and editorial department of the British and Foreign Bible Society. We cover the following sections:Cases in which a translator is liable to be misled by the English BibleAlternative renderings, explanations of proper names, etc.Marginal referenceswebsite | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
Oct 21, 2025 • 58min
The Rise of the Bible Societies & the First Copyrighted Bible in America
This past week I presented two talks at Doreancon 2025 on the Stewardship of Scripture, where we launched a historic statement I would invite you to consider signing and sharing. This is the first talk that I presented. You can find an unfinished draft of the talk and others here.website | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
Oct 11, 2025 • 34min
Does Copyright Protect the Text of Scripture? - A Message Presented at Doreancon 2025
Explore the fascinating relationship between copyright and Scripture. Discover how historic monopolies failed to ensure textual purity and how copyright didn’t prevent cult translations. Dive into the original purpose of copyright as censorship and its implications for modern publishing. Learn why the decentralization of manuscripts played a crucial role in preserving Scripture. Ultimately, it challenges the idea of whether guarding God's word means restricting access or passionately sharing it with the world.
Oct 3, 2025 • 34min
Typesetting the Bible Beautifully & Freely - PTXprint with Mark Penny
What do you do when you’ve finished translating a portion of the Bible and want to print it? How do you typeset it? Do you have to pay an outside expert thousands of dollars to make it look beautiful and professional? Or is there another option? My guest in this episode explains how he has spent years of his life making this step painless and free for everyone–from the most low-tech person in a hurry to the most artistic and meticulous perfectionist. PTXprintPretorewebsite | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
Sep 22, 2025 • 18min
Translation Principles from 1877 - part 3
In this episode we continue working our way through the 1877 book Suggestions for Translators, Editors, and Revisers of the Bible by the Reverend R.B. Girdlestone, who was a superintendent of the translating and editorial department of the British and Foreign Bible Society. We cover the following sections:On the translation or representation of the biblical names for GodOn the transference or translation of the word baptizeOn diversities of dialect and style; and on honorific titleswebsite | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
Sep 9, 2025 • 22min
Translation Principles from 1877 - part 2
In this episode we continue working our way through the 1877 book Suggestions for Translators, Editors, and Revisers of the Bible by the Reverend R.B. Girdlestone, who was a superintendent of the translating and editorial department of the British and Foreign Bible Society. We cover the following sections of chapter 1:§ 2.- 0N METHODS OF TRANSLATING; WITH REMARKS ON SOME EXISTING VERSIONS.§ 3. - THE RECEIVED TEXT TO BE FOLLOWED; ON THE USE OFALTERNATIVE READINGS.§ 4. - 0N ACCURACY AND CONSISTENCY IN THE TRANSLATION OF RELIGIOUS TERMS.website | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
Sep 2, 2025 • 17min
Translation Principles from 1877 - part 1
Watch this video to get the full story."Abolish the Jesus Trade": https://sellingJesus.org/bookIt’s a dark day for Bible translation, and my heart is made heavy by a recent experience I had with one of the largest organizations in the movement. I posted a video about the whole thing which you’ll find linked in the description if you’re interested in finding out what happened.In light of the sad reality I was made painfully aware of, I’d like to start a new series. I’ll be walking through translation principles so that this section of the podcast can be a place where people can get the fundamental training they need in the discipline and art of translation. But this will only come from sources that are either public domain or openly licensed. Because I highly value the past and those who have gone before, even when linguistics was a fledgling field of study compared to the present day, I want to begin with the 1877 book Suggestions for Translators, Editors, and Revisers of the Bible by the Reverend R.B. Girdlestone, who was a superintendent of the translating and editorial department of the British and Foreign Bible Society. website | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
Jul 1, 2025 • 26min
Translating YHWH Elohim with Nico Daams
It's a pleasure to feature the work of veteran Bible translator Nico Daams in this episode. In this paper he seeks to show that the name YHWH ’Elohim is used in rather unique contexts, and this in turn will suggest that the meaning of this name is more than just the sum total of the two parts YHWH and ’Elohim.Read the paper.website | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
Jun 14, 2025 • 8min
The Statement on the Stewardship of Scripture & an Invitation
An invitation to unite in one conviction: Scripture is the Word of God, and he has authorized his people to use, copy, distribute, and adapt it regardless of man’s consent.Read the statement: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12DwWu4BZpAu-Ys0Pbg0jDrK7tthzVZFEfaxpZOWEA1c/edit?usp=sharingSend feedback: https://forms.gle/67jLjk6xecJP4QMU7https://www.doreancon.org/#doreancon 2025The Stewardship of ScriptureOctober 7-8Hosted at Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church, Sunnyvale, Californiawebsite | books | twitter | music | Hebrew | articles | facebook | contact | download all episodes for offline
