Ernst R. Wendland

Bible Translating as a Loyal Activity

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Bible translation is a complex act of communication that engages at least two, often very different, languages, cultures, times, and places. How can translators remain ‘loyal’ to all the factors involved? In this captivating book, Tobias Houston explores the salient issues and challenges from several interwoven perspectives. These include modern translation practice (e.g., ‘Skopos theory’), an ancient guiding Mozambican metaphor (‘beaded necklace’), and the foundational biblical notion of ‘covenant loyalty’ (chesed), which ensures bidirectional contextual fidelity as God’s word is conveyed in oral and written form to another expectant people group.”

Explaining the Practice of Elevating an Ancestor for Veneration

World Religions

“This book clearly documents the importance of ancestor-veneration rituals among the rural Bisa people of Zambia. . . . This wide-ranging interreligious study is of special relevance to local clerics and curative practitioners as well as those working in similar cultural settings where the deceased are believed to vitally interact in various ways with the living.”

From Orality to Orality

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“What does 'orality' and public performance have to do with translating the written Scriptures of God? Many misconceptions about the nature of the biblical texts and their communication in modern world languages are corrected in this thoroughly engaging, wide-ranging book that offers an innovative, multidisciplinary approach to the subject. I can heartily recommend James Maxey's pioneering work on contextualizing the New Testament for effective contemporary, multi-sensory re-presentation. This is a vital resource for all students, exegetes, commentators, teachers, translators, and other communicators of the Word.”

How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“This is just the book I was looking for! And why? To serve as an essential guide and resource text for my Lusaka Lutheran Seminary exegesis of Isaiah class. Gentry succeeds most admirably in his stated objective, which is to enable readers to read and understand the Prophets. And he does so in a way that is truly exemplary, employing a clear, concise, logically developed writing style that makes it relatively easy to probe this potentially difficult subject—the Old Testament prophetic literature. The basic principles and procedures of text interpretation are given substance in many helpful reading strategies that are exemplified by some crucial biblical case studies—primarily Isaiah, but also other prophetic texts that reflect upon the fundamental covenantal tenets of the Mosaic Torah, Deuteronomy in particular. All the key topics and tactics necessary for more effectively delving into the Prophets are introduced and amply illustrated: literary-stylistic cues, discourse structural markers, function of the foreign nations, Yahwist covenantal theology, biblical chronology and typology, and, of course, correctly discerning the future, including the apocalyptic genre. In short, the author demystifies the Hebrew prophets and successfully relates their writings also to hermeneutical issues facing the church today—all in the space of less than 150 pages. This book would serve as a helpful introduction for adult Bible studies as well as college-level courses on hermeneutics. Scholars teaching at higher academic levels too would benefit from Gentry’s excellent pedagogical approach. I had intended to complete my review of this book periodically, over the space of two weeks; however, once I got started, it took me only two days. Whether one happens to agree with the author’s various interpretive conclusions or not (I do!), one must commend him for the careful manner in which he arrives at them. Many readers now will look forward to some sort of a teacher’s guide (including various content and application questions) that could accompany this indispensable resource on the Hebrew prophets.”