Translating the Scripture for Sound and Performance: New Directions in Biblical Studies

The various studies presented in this anthology underscore the foundational matter of translation in biblical studies as understood from the specific perspective of Biblical Performance Criticism. If the assumption for the biblical messages being received is not individual silent reading, then the question becomes, how does this public performative mode of communication affect the translation of this biblical material? Rather than respond to this in general theoretical terms, most in this collection of articles offer specific applications to particular Hebrew and Greek passages of Scripture. Almost all the authors have firsthand experience with the translation of biblical materials into non-European languages in communities who maintain a vibrant oral tradition. The premise is that the original Scriptures, which were composed in and for performance, are being prepared again for live audiences who will receive these sacred texts, not primarily in printed form, but first and foremost in community by means of oral and visual media. This volume is an invitation for others to join us in researching more intensely this intersection of sound, performance, and translation in a contemporary communication of the Word.

JAMES A. MAXEY is Translations and Biblical Scholar at the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship at American Bible Society. He is Dean of Admissions for the Nida School of Translation Studies and Managing Editor of the journal, Translation. His first book, From Orality to Orality, is published by Cascade Books in the Biblical Performance Criticism series.

Instructor--Lusaka Lutheran Seminary (Zambia); Visiting Professor in the Dept. of Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch University; dissertation examiner in Zambian languages for the University of Zambia (UNZA).