What does "orality" (oral forms of discourse) have to do with the "Scriptures," a corpus of sacred written documents? The aim of these essays is to reveal how the field of "orality studies" concerns the manifold process of composing, translating, and transmitting the diverse texts of Scriptures. This oft-neglected oral/aural dimension of communication provides us with a sharper perception of and greater appreciation for the various literary features of the biblical writings and their associated semantic and spiritual implications. Part One, ORIENTATION, overviews the principal aspects of orality studies: key terms, methodologies, as well as controversies about the transmission of Scripture. Part Two, DOCUMENTATION, presents three illustrative "case studies" involving composition, featuring full-text analyses that expound an oral-oriented, literary-rhetorical "hearing" of Isaiah 66, John 17, and Philippians. Part Three, APPLICATION, invites readers to engage more actively with translating the biblical text by critically considering four additional passages from an oral-aural "soundpoint"-Song of Songs 8, Revelation 5, Philemon, and 1 Corinthians 13. The final chapter encourages the application of an orality-based methodology, to achieve an exegetically accurate, yet artistically dynamic transmission of the Bible in today's media-rich world. The book thus seeks to motivate its readers-whether teachers, students, translators, or mass-media communicators-to always lend a sensitive ear to the text whenever they engage the Scriptures. "Throughout this book, Wendland progressively, and with increasing intensity, draws our attention to an enormous amount of detailed examples of the manifold poetic and rhetorical phenomena encoded in biblical orature. The cumulative effect of these detailed examples builds a powerful case for the necessity of recognizing and exploiting the expressive nature and potential of biblical oral arts. Clearly, oral verbal arts communicate much more than "mere words." As Wendland puts it, they also 'animate hearts'" (from the Foreword). Ernst R. Wendland (Ph.D., African Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin) is an instructor at Lusaka Lutheran Seminary and a dissertation examiner in Zambian languages at the University of Zambia. A former UBS Translation Consultant, he still serves as Professor Extraordinary in the Centre for Bible Interpretation and Translation in Africa, Department of Ancient Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

This book applies a literary functional equivalence (LiFE) approach in a practical, procedure-documented manner to the text analysis and translation for various literature of the Scriptures. Eight case studies from the lyric corpus of the Hebrew Bible are considered: Job 28, Psalm 73, Proverbs 31, Psalm 137, Proverbs 26, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes 12 and Psalm 24. The author explains and illustrates a rhetorical literary-structure method with different focus and emphasis depending on the form, content and communication aim of the poetic book. Chapters conclude with implications and applications for Scripture translation. The biblical passages included here are not so frequently considered by scholars, teachers, and preachers, and may be neglected by translators due to their perceived difficulty. My cravings as a linguist, translator, poet, and ethno-arts supporter were all satisfied by the buffet Wendland sets before us. He compares...structures of Hebrew with those of... African] vernaculars...suggesting ways to translate them...using dynamic target language poetic devices and cultural forms. This is literature translating literature.... Dr. Brenda H. Boerger, from the Foreword Ernst R. Wendland (Ph.D., African Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin) is an instructor at Lusaka Lutheran Seminary and a dissertation examiner in Zambian languages at the University of Zambia. A former UBS Translation Consultant, he still serves as Professor Extraordinary in the Centre for Bible Interpretation and Translation in Africa, Department of Ancient Studies, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

This workbook is intended to introduce translators, exegetes, Bible students, and communicators of the Scriptures to some of the main forms and functions of biblical literature, prose as well as poetry. The aim is to enable readers to better understand the original text and then convey selected texts in a correspondingly "literary" - artistic, poetic, rhetorical - manner in their mother tongue or another target language. These lessons have been prepared as a practical supplement to accompany the text Translating the Literature of Scripture (Wendland 2004), which expounds a literary-rhetorical approach to Bible translation, here termed Literary-functional equivalence (LiFE, for short). LiFE combines a concern not only for the artistic and literary dimension of the Scriptures, but also for relative functional parity as part of a flexible translation strategy.

Most of the important literary types, or genres, found in the corpus of the Scriptures are described, illustrated, and applied in translation exercises. This text-intensive approach is intended to sharpen the translator's perception of these forms in the biblical writings, analyze them for greater understanding, and then employ this knowledge in the search for an equivalent manner and mode of expression in the target language. There are two principal concerns regarding quality control: accuracy and appropriateness. Regarding accuracy, the basic content and communicative intentions (i.e., the "meaning") of any translation of the Scriptures must remain sufficiently close to those of the original text. And regarding appropriateness, the final translation product must be widely acceptable to the constituency and to the purpose(s) for which it was commissioned and prepared.

This Second Edition includes several major additions which considerably broaden the range of the issues covered and also exposes students and instructors alike to some additional perspectives. The various exercises of this workbook offer a practical methodology for helping not only Bible translators, but other readers as well, to better comprehend and to communicate some of the important poetic and rhetorical aspects of the original. This text can also be used to introduce theological instructors, students, and biblical exegetes in general to the prominent literary character of the Word of God. This vital dimension of the Scriptures is often ignored in exegetical textbooks and courses alike, so this workbook might well serve to fill a gap in the field of biblical studies.

About the author
Dr. Wendland teaches at the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia and is a United Bible Societies Translation Consultant based in that country. He is also affiliated with the Centre for Bible Interpretation and Translation in Africa at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Scholars have recently begun to document the many outstanding literary (artistic, structural, and rhetorical) properties of the biblical text, qualities contributing, to a significant dimension of "meaning" that few translations, past or present, attempt to reproduce even on a limited basis. Closely related to this is the correspondingly manifold communicative potential of different target languages all over the world, a rich inventory of resources that are only rarely exploited to the full in a translation. Accordingly, this book proposes the implementation of a literary functional-equivalence (LiFE) method of translation that seeks to represent or recreate in a given language the variety of expressive and affective dynamics - the great impact and appeal, including the beauty - of the diverse tests of Scripture. Many examples pertaining to the biblical language as well as several Bantu languages are included to illustrate this methodology and show how competent mother-tongue translators can be trained to apply it practically in their work. Dr. Wendland teaches at the Lutheran Bible Institute and Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia, and is a United Bible Societies Translation Consultant. He is the author of numerous studies on the Bantu languages of South Central Africa, biblical exegesis, and translation theory.

This book is a practical guide for the translator with limited or no background in Hebrew. The book helps translators compare the stylistic techniques of the Hebrew text in order to create the same poetic effect in their own languages. It highlights typical problems faced by Old Testament translators and suggests ways to set out the text that will help the reader.

Many scholars have tended to take African Christianity as a given, and study its social, political, economic or ecological implications, without coming to terms with the nature and character of African Christian faith A knowledge of how faith is understood at the popular level and how it functions in personal, domestic, and communal life is essential to this task. In this context a significant contemporary Christian movement which has received little attention is studied in depth - revival meetings or crusades which are a regular and popular feature of urban life in Malawi.

The purpose of this textbook is to introduce Bible students and translators to the basic compositional structure and literary style of Hebrew poetry, especially the lyric-liturgical poetry found in the Book of Psalms. Wendland follows a "discourse analysis" approach--examining different aspects of the poetic texts as an integrated whole. His primary focus is upon the formal features of the psalms, but elements of content (key terms) and function (psalm types or genres) also receive due consideration. Dr. Wendland teaches at the Lutheran Bible Institute and Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia, and is a United Bible Societies Translation Consultant. He is the author of numerous studies on the Bantu languages of South Central Africa, biblical exegesis, and translation theory.