Working for the Word - a Bible translation podcast

Read the thesis. Listen to the SEB version of Jonah. I recently came across this new master’s thesis out of Dallas International University by Christine Doi on differences between oral and written English. It’s fascinating, but I know most people won’t have time to read all 166 pages of it. So I went ahead and generated a NotebookLM summary of it for you, and it turned out to be amazing. I hope yo...

In this episode we conclude our journey through the 1877 book ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Suggestions for Translators, Editors, and Revisers of the Bible ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by the Reverend R.B. Girdlestone. The Problem with Creative Commons Sharealike Get a free copy of Abolish the Jesus Trade "Interesting Book Summaries from Andrew Case" podcast "Libros Importantes" podcast ⁠⁠⁠ website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠...

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 references Italics and other modes of marking supplementary words ⁠⁠ web...

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 Bible Alternative...

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 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | ...

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 second talk that I presented. You can find an unfinished draft of the talk and others here . ⁠ website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  |  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  |  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

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 hu...

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 God On the transferenc...

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. §...

Watch this video to get the full story. "Abolish the Jesus Trade": https://sellingJesus.org/book It’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...

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 ⁠⁠  |  ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

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 S...

The Solid Rock Hebrew Bible represents a significant step forward in the ongoing effort to recover the most accurate possible form of the biblical text. Unlike many standard editions in circulation today—which are largely based on a single medieval manuscript—this volume offers an eclectic Hebrew text informed by the insights of modern textual criticism. The goal: to move closer to the original wo...

What if Mother Teresa or Billy Graham lived and worked — and nobody knew their names? What if one of the church’s most influential missionaries went almost unnoticed? Meet Katharine (Katy) Barnwell. Within Bible translation, she’s a legend. Outside of Bible translation, few have heard of her. But not even Billy Graham holds a candle to what God did through Katy . From hiding as a child from Nazi b...

In this episode, we dive into the captivating and complex history of Bible translation in Thailand. Our guest, Doug Liao, has spent a lot of time studying the history of Bible translation into Thai, and helps introduce us to the pioneers who brought the Scriptures to this unique cultural landscape. In this lesson from history we'll be reminded of how messy and controversial Bible translation can b...

After hearing the panel discussion on AI a couple episodes back, some of you may be wondering what exactly it might look like for you to explore using AI for your translation project. I myself was curious as well. So I reached out to James, who led the panel discussion, and he connected me to Jeff Webster with Seed Company who has a good deal of experience helping teams evaluate and use AI for dra...

Read the article.⁠ One of the common misconceptions about the  King James Version  (KJV) of the Bible is that it is a  universally  public domain work—something many tout as a feature of its superiority to modern copyrighted translations. But most don’t realize that  it is still under a special perpetual copyright of the Crown in the United Kingdom . Unlike the KJV, some modern translations such a...

As AI gains more and more momentum, I believe that Christians should be compelled to think biblically and carefully about the technology. Are there redemptive uses for it, and what are the dangers? Is it all a doomsday scenario, or are there ways in which it can be used for God’s glory in a responsible way that promotes human flourishing and the spread of the gospel and the edification of the Chur...

The Spoken English Bible is a new translation of the Bible that is intended to be heard and told, not read. It is being produced from the original languages and is intended to maximize retention while still being faithful to the meaning. The SEB is owned and produced by SIL International, and is licensed under the open CC BY-SA license. In this episode I’m joined by Josh Frost who is a member of t...

Links: Global Bible Tools Intro How to Self-Publish a Free Book That Is Truly Freely Given Video version of the psalm at the end of the episode The Dark Side of Copyright ⁠ website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  |  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ books ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  |  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  music ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hebrew  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

It’s an incredible time to be alive, especially getting to watch the advances of AI in various fields. While I realize that there’s probably a sizeable percentage of this audience that thinks AI is the opposite of progress, I want to introduce you to a tool that you might find useful. It’s called NotebookLM by Google , and it’s free for you to start using today. You can create notebooks and fill t...

I co-wrote this article with Conley Owens for sellingJesus.org . It was originally published on the Selling Jesus podcast. "For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ" (2 Cor. 2:17, ESV). This highly technical discussion is not an easy listen, and it's recommended that you complement it...

An important decision a translator makes is whether or not to domesticate/contextualize/localize the foreign elements of a text. In this episode, we will discuss the concepts of domestication and foreignization in Bible translation, and explore some of the factors that translators should consider when making this decision. As we’ll see, foreignness in translation demands a delicate balance between...

The other day I ran across a fascinating article written by a Cambridge PhD student who memorized the entire book of Job in Hebrew as part of her dissertation research. The article was entitled Learning to love: The surprising joy of memorising Job , and after reading it I knew I wanted to learn more about the process and the insights she gleaned from the experience. So I reached out to her and sh...

"Accuracy is often thought to be the main criterion for good translation, but acceptability is just as important." Drew Maust is a translation consultant and one of the editors of the SIL Journal of Translation. He kindly agreed to read and share a recent article of his on this podcast. A big thanks to Drew for taking the time to record his insights for us to learn from! Despite the obje...