Working for the Word - a Bible translation podcast

It's a joy to welcome Dr. Elizabeth Robar to the podcast and hear about all the exciting stuff she's up to. You can read some of her articles here.  Elizabeth has loved languages ever since she first discovered she could teach herself Latin from her mother’s college textbook. First came philology (the traditional comparative study of a family of languages), then came linguistics (the modern comparative study of all known languages of the world), and thus was born an interest in the structure of language and languages as undergirding and determining our knowledge of the biblical text, not to mention ourselves, our world and our God. Elizabeth’s current research interests include the Semitic languages, Biblical Greek, linguistics, syntax and everything that flows out from these: literary studies, discourse analysis, grammar writ large (a.k.a. exegesis), and how best to transmit what knowledge we have to the next generation. This has led to an interest in classical education, including language-learning pedagogy. In addition to academic research, Elizabeth enjoys mentoring younger scholars, encouraging them to not despair at the breadth and depth of the work needed but rather to identify the work allotted to them and to do it faithfully and well. Some days that work is highly academic in nature, and other days it is simply loving one’s neighbour. Both are equally important. In the episode we mention copenhagen-alliance.org.  my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

In this episode we dive into Psalm 107 and talk about its connection to Lamentations 3:32, and how it helps translators understand better the range of meaning of hesed in Hebrew (steadfast love). I forgot to mention that Lamentations 3:32 also speaks of God's hesed in the plural, just like the end of Psalm 107. And Lamentations is like a longer vignette of Psalm 107 in the sense that Israel finds itself in the midst of horrific affliction because of their sin, and they are hoping that God, in His gracious hesed, will give them a great reversal, just as the pattern in Psalm 107 portrays. The music in the middle of the episode comes from this full version of Psalm 107 that I put to music and recorded in my simple apartment in Yaounde, Cameroon, when I was just beginning my time as a foreign missionary Bible translator. my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

How can video games help us understand and translate the Bible better? That's what we're going to talk about in this episode!  If you want to watch the discovery tour of Assassin's Creed: Origins, click here. For Odyssey, click here. Enjoy! my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

In this episode we conclude our discussion of the "all rights reserved" copyright mentality and talk about what the future might look like if we were to adopt the "free and open" paradigm for the sake of the global Church. Once again, I quote and paraphrase primarily from Letting Go by Tim Jore. my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

In this episode we continue our discussion of the "all rights reserved" copyright mentality and tackle the final hindrances/objections to embracing the open licensing of biblical content and resources. Once again, I quote and paraphrase primarily from Letting Go by Tim Jore. my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

In this episode we continue our discussion of the copyright mentality and tackle two more common hindrances/objections to embracing the open licensing of biblical content and resources. In this episode I quote and paraphrase primarily from Letting Go by Tim Jore. my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

Hardly anyone is talking about this, so I was compelled to dedicate several episodes to the subject. The global Church needs biblical resources and the tools to do sustainable Bible translation, but our Western, paternalistic copyright laws are keeping many people in a state theological famine. In this episode we take the time to begin carefully thinking through the implications of open licenses to biblical content, as well as all the major objections to the creative commons paradigm. In this episode I quote and paraphrase primarily from Letting Go by Tim Jore. my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

Julia Woods kindly joins us in this episode to talk about the exciting things going on in remote places you may never get to see. Even if for nothing else, listen to this episode to experience the samples of Siberian throat-singing! my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

Get a free copy of my novel as an audio book here.  In this episode we talk about a verse you may never have noticed in the KJV that seems to have translators scratching their heads.  We also discuss some of the inflammatory history of the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Old Testament.   Book quoted: The Murderous History of Bible Translations my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook

In this episode we have the pleasure of meeting Brian Kelly, to have a conversation about oral Bible translation and how we can change our paradigm to reach oral communities. You can also watch a video presentation from Brian about oral translation strategies here. Don't Throw the Book at Them by Harry Box The Network of Biblical Storytellers The International Orality Network my books | free Scripture prayer apps | music | Hebrew | academic articles | facebook