Working for the Word - a Bible translation podcast

In this episode I had the privilege of interviewing my friend Ryder Wishart whose organization has launched a new, free mobile app that facilitates recording and managing oral Bible translations, especially where there is no internet. Learn more about LangQuest. Learn more about Ryder. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  |  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Links mentioned: https://doreancon.org https://globalbibletools.com

Sources:  ⁠https://www.bible-researcher.com/gender.html⁠ This episode was generated by NotebookLM and curated by Andrew Case. In this episode we cover the complex and often contentious debate regarding gender-inclusive language in biblical translation, exploring the divergent philosophies that have shaped modern versions like the TNIV and the 2011 NIV. We examine the basic principles of the Commit...

Edited and curated by Andrew Case and generated by NotebookLM based on: https://doi.org/10.54395/JOT-MJLIL21 This episode examines the evolution of the Hebrew word lilith , found in Isaiah 34:14 (לִּילִ֔ית), from its likely origins as a biological bird to its status as a modern cultural icon. Through onomatopoeic experiments and applied psychology, the author argues that the term originally imitat...

Guest: Randy Groff. Subtitle: How Ethical is Parachute Consulting? Watch the original presentation. A big thank-you to Randy Groff for being willing to share his talk on this podcast. In this presentation, Randy Groff critiques the "parachute consulting" model, where specialists briefly visit unfamiliar regions to approve Bible translations based solely on back translations. Drawing on d...

Watch the original video . “A sound translation will help shape theology - but theology should not dictate how the text is translated.” Many thanks to Steve Payne for being willing to share his work on this podcast. In this presentation, translation consultant Stephen Payne explores the complex ethical and practical dilemmas faced when approving biblical texts for publication. He argues that while...

This episode examines the debate regarding the effectiveness and adoption of vernacular Bible translations in multilingual communities. While some researchers argue that diglossia and language prestige cause churches to favor national languages for formal worship, others present data showing that intentional engagement strategies can successfully integrate local languages into the church. A system...

Dave Eberhard has done a large scientific study with other colleagues for progress.bible, and the results are devastating. This is something I’ve been trying to raise caution about for a long time, but now we have hard evidence and data to support a simple idea which Dave is calling The Sequencing of Translation Hypothesis . This states that the following general tendency holds in most multilingua...

⁠⁠⁠Get the free book.⁠⁠ In this episode, we tackle the most common defense for silencing the Divine Name: the "lost pronunciation" argument. This chapter dismantles the idea that because we lack an audio recording of Moses, we should default to a title. By drawing a direct parallel to the name of Jesus , the author points out a striking inconsistency: while the English "Jesus"...

⁠⁠⁠Get the free book.⁠⁠ A 1992 United Bible Societies study group identified sixbroad options for translating the divine name which continue to frame thediscussion:   1.    transliterate the name (adapting “Yahweh” or an established form like “Jehovah”) 2.    substitute a title such as the equivalent of “Lord” (followingSeptuagint and NT practice of using kurios ) 3.    translate the meaning of YH...

⁠⁠⁠Get the free book.⁠⁠ In this episode , we explore the historical and theological evolution of the divine name in translation, tracing a path from the early Latin Vulgate to the modern digital age. We begin by examining the tension within the Protestant Reformation, where figures like Martin Luther and John Calvin criticized the "foul superstition" of replacing God's personal name...

⁠⁠⁠Get the free book.⁠ Nehemiah Gordon is one of the most famously outspoken proponents of the pronunciation “Yehovah.” He argues that the Masoretes did not point YHWH with the vowels of  Adonai , but rather were preserving the secret, correct pronunciation of God’s name. Unpacking all of Gordon’s “scholarly sleight of hand” and dubious claims reaches beyond the scope of this book, but the reader...

⁠⁠⁠Get the free book.⁠ One of the issues with the pronunciation “Yahweh” is the lack of manuscript evidence. With the exception of those listed previously, there is little evidence in Greek and other languages to suggest the final  eh  vowel. Most transliterations have a final  o  or  u  vowel. Perhaps these are all based on the contracted form יָהוּ rather than the full form יַהְוֶה and do not re...

⁠⁠⁠Get the free book.⁠ The pronunciation “Yahweh” for יהוה has been widely accepted and used among scholars going back to at least the 16th century. However, in spite of its longstanding popularity among scholars, it can be difficult to find detailed explanations for how scholars reconstruct or derive this pronunciation. The following represents a humble, introductory effort to explain the evidenc...

⁠⁠⁠Get the free book.⁠ In my experience I have observed a widespread lack of consistent, clear thinking regarding the issue of  reverence  and the divine name. The mainstream opinion often asserts that all avoidance of saying God’s name aloud stems from a profound reverence and respect. This is usually the reason given for the substitution of  kurios  in the NT and the absence of any transliterati...

⁠⁠⁠Get the free book.⁠ For centuries the Jews pronounced the name of God without hesitation. This was their original tradition. As we have seen from the biblical witness, there is no evidence of avoidance until very late in the canonical timeline. Nor do we find any hint of reverent substitutions for the Name in the Hebrew Bible. In short, the most significant period of Israel’s early history is m...

⁠⁠Get the free book. Was the New Testament unique in its use of kurios, and what did people do with the divine name after the apostles? As we will see, vocalization continued to be avoided by some, while others sought to recover its original pronunciation or use it in various ways (such as in magic spells). From what follows it willbecome evident that confusion and chaos around God’s name dominate...

⁠⁠Get the free book. Any discussion regarding the pronunciation of the divine name must address the issue of the use of κύριος ( kurios , “Lord”) by the New Testament. The fact that the NT never uses God’s personal name as revealed in the Old Testament, or even an approximation of it, is crucial. Indeed, why did the NT authors choose to do this? Was itbecause they thought God’s name was too sacred...

⁠Get the free book. It’s important to recognize right up front that we simply do not know with absolute certainty how God’s name was originally pronounced. The common English pronunciation of  Yahweh  is an educated guess, and there are many other probable candidates such as  Yahu ,  Yaho , and  Yahuwah , but we’ll never know for sure how it sounded when God spoke it to Moses. Two key things preve...

Get the free book. The Old Testament uses a personal name for God, often called the Tetragrammaton. In Hebrew it is יהוה, and commonly rendered as “Jehovah,” “YHWH,” or “Yahweh.” Yet many modern translations replace this name with a  title : “the LORD.” This choice carries inevitable consequences. Removing or hiding the divine name in translation is not a trivial stylistic decision, but a substant...

Last year at the Bible Translation conference Kris and Susan Toler presented a paper titled Breaking the Literate Bias: Exploring the Sufficiency of Oral Bible Translation. In it they examine Oral Bible Translation (OBT) as a rigorous and sufficient alternative to traditional written methods, specifically for oral-preference communities. They argue that a deep-seated literacy bias in missions ofte...

We’ve talked about the Key Terms of the Old Testament (KTOT) project in the past, but in this episode I wanted to reintroduce it to those who are unfamiliar, and allow one of the contributors to share their work on one key term in their own voice. So let me introduce you to Ayala Wing. She was raised in Israel, in a Christian family, and she’s an OT translation consultant with Wycliffe. She and he...

First, I have a new podcast that’s extremely eclectic that summarizes interesting books of all kinds, from theology to travelogues and everything in between. If you’re at all interested in seeing some of the things I’m learning about or want to highlight for others, and don’t have time to read tons of books, these are usually about 30 mins long each. It’s a fun one. Second, the expanded and revise...

We’re going to go a bit meta in this episode. Since Jeff and Judy talked about AI in the last episode, we’re going to feed their paper into NotebookLM and see how it does presenting their ideas. Why do this? First, because it’s kind of funny. Second, because their message is important enough to listen to again from another angle, so that you can internalize it better. Third, because NotebookLM act...

Jeff and Judy Heath join us in this episode to talk about their recent presentation at the Bible Translation conference called The Privilege of the First Draft, which critically examines the technical and ethical implications of using Artificial Intelligence tools, specifically Scripture Forge, to generate initial drafts of Bible translations. The paper highlights that AI-drafted texts in their ta...