Life In Translation

Hey y'all,
In this episode, I talk about how I've been studying the word אמן in Hebrew, and some instances how it can be tricky to translate. Then I discuss a bit about the life, death, and legacy of John Allen Chau, a missionary killed two years-ago attempting to reach the Sentinelese with the Gospel.

Here's the article, by Pastor Garrett Kell, about John Chau: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-god-might-do-with-satans-arrows

In this episode, I interview Seth and Ricky,  a couple of my friends from school, about the Bible Translation projects they are currently working on in Indonesia and Mexico. We discuss what makes their respective projects unique, some of the difficulties in translating the Bible within their specific community, and how reading and discussing the Bible in a different culture has helped enhance their understanding of God's Word.

To contact me with questions, comments, or funny puns, click here.

God bless!

In this episode, I discuss a project I'm working on for my Discourse Analysis class, where we analyze large sections of text to better understand some of the broader features used in different types of stories, writings, or speech across languages. Today I read the Afghan folk story of Buzaki Chini (The Little Chinese Goat), then talk about some of the translation issues I encountered working on the project, and discuss how similar translation difficulties come up in the Bible.

Link to the 1650 Metrical Psalter: https://www.bible.com/bible/1365/PSA.1.MP1650

Hey!
In this episode I spend a fair amount of time talking about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, and more broadly how Christians should respond to Islamic Extremism. While what I talk about is definitely not comprehensive, I particularly want to address the fear many Christian feel when seeing events like this on the News.
Should Christians be afraid of Muslims extremism?
No.
Why not?
Not just because most Muslims denounce such attacks, but most importantly because Jesus promises us something better than safety in this world.

Scripture reading is from the ESV.

To contact me, click here.

This week I talk some about a conference I attended remotely, and (not surprisingly) about how Hebrew is coming. From there I talk a bit about William Tyndale and his famous statement that he wanted to make even ploughboys know more about the Bible than the educated Bible scholars of his day, so I lay out a few principles for reading and getting the most out of the Bible.

For resources on learning to study the Bible and learning to follow its thoughts, I highly recommend this video series by DA Carson (here) and the Look At The Book series by John Piper (here).

Contact me here.

How many Heavens did God make? How many waters did the Spirit hover over?  Why can't we say "two fishes" In English?

In this episode I talk some about about a homework assignment I've been working on, the surprisingly complex questions that can arise because of singular and plural (and dual) nouns in different languages, and how that affects translation.

To help support my education and missionwork:https://lifeintranslationblog.wordpress.com/support/

In this episode I talk a little about what it is like to start Hebrew studies again, and also give an update on the goings on among the refugees in Greece. Then I switch to talking about one of the first major Bible Translations, the Vulgate, and how the issues which Jerome encountered are very similar in many ways to the issues surrounding modern Bible Translation.

If you would like to give to support the work in Greece, you can do so here.

Quotes from Luther are lightly edited from the translation quoted by John Piper in "Brothers, We are Not Professionals."

In this episode, I talk a little about a family reunion I had in the Smokey Mountains, and also talk more in-depth about a security training course I participated in. I focus specifically on why it is still important to send missionaries to dangerous parts or persecuted parts of the world, and how that call is not just a duty but a privilege. Less educational or nerdy of an episode maybe, but it answers some important "why" questions that confront missionaries all the time.

And I mention Hebrew paradigms. Thus the alliteration in the title.

In this episode I talk a little about a family vacation I am preparing to take, and getting ready for security training. I also explore a project my sister is working on with the Latin text of John 1, and discuss what comes to a linguist's mind when they look at the text of a language they aren't super familiar with. This way I sneak in a little introduction to some of the major branches of linguistics, like phonetics & phonology, grammar, discourse, and sociolinguistics, just so that you know why Bible Translators need more than two weeks of boot camp to do their job.

What is Bible Translation? Why is it that 2,000 years after the Bible was written, some languages still don't have it? How much work remains to be done and why isn't it just as simple as plugging the text into Google Translate?

In this episode I discuss the current situation of Bible Translation around the world, some of the challenges inherent to the project, and give an overview of what it would take to get even an oversimplified, idealized project from start to finish.

Scripture Access Statistics from Wycliffe Global Alliance: https://www.wycliffe.net/resources/scripture-access-statistics/