The single remaining copy of the 1602 Bishops' Bible with notes from the King James Bible translators has been digitized. THIS ARTICLE at Text & Canon Institute provides background and gives some interesting examples of the kinds of notes that were made. It shows a good awareness of differences in the available textual witnesses. HERE is the link directly to the digitized version at the Bodleian Library. It is worth checking out some of the prefatory material which includes a lectionary, genealogy charts, and more. Screen capture of digitized 1602 Bishops' Bible
Monday, December 18, 2023
1602 Bishops' Bible with King James Bible Translators' Notes Digitized
Friday, December 15, 2023
Using AI to Translate the Bible into Rare Languages
Interesting article from Religion News Service on using AI to translate the Bible into rare languages, a process that usually is very time-consuming or otherwise totally neglected.Image created by DALL-E 3
Out of the 7,100 languages that exist, the Bible has been translated into more than 700, making it the most-translated book in the world. Yet, those remaining languages — many of them extremely rare — have vexed Bible translators for decades. Two scientists are looking to new advancements in artificial intelligence to help close the gap.
They recently launched the "Greek Room."
The Greek Room includes three main tools: spell-checking, world alignment that ensures consistency in translation, and Wildebeest, used to detect improper characters in a script.
Their work is supported by Wycliffe, part of the Every Tribe, Every Nation project.
Thursday, December 7, 2023
Mark 1.1-8 RCL Advent 1B Translation, Commentary, Performance
I've been working on a new translation and commentary on Mark which is 'tuned' to the performing (biblical storytelling) of the text. Attached here is the Mark 1.1-8 text for this Sunday, Advent 1B of the RCL. It includes my introduction to the text which does not tell what the text is about. Rather, it puts it into context and prepares the hearers to understand it better. There are also some suggestions for the performance of the text. Let me know if / how this is helpful.
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Todd Bolen's BiblePlaces website has so many great resources. Due to a list manager change, subscribers need to re-enroll for the monthly newsletter. It is worth getting! And anyone who (re-)enrolls now, they will also get two free PowerPoints of Herodium and of Philippi. These are great resources that will give you a good idea of the kind of benefits you can get from the Photo Companions (PowerPoints organized and labelled by book, chapter, and verse) and Pictorial Libraries (organized by sites and topics). You will see that there are thousands of quality photos, maps, and illustrations. Everything is well-labeled with explanations and pointers to biblical passages. You can get further insight into the quality of the work by checking out the resources shared under Chapters (i.e., chapters of the Bible) and Sites.
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