Bible translation textbooks bibliography, compiled by Wayne Leman, January 9, 
2001:

The following three books were published with the potential to be used together 
in Bible translation classes:

Beekman, John and John Callow. Translating the Word of God, With Scripture and 
Topical Indexes, Zondervan, 1974.

Larson, Mildred. A Manual For Problem Solving In Bible Translation, Zondervan, 
1975.

Callow, Callow. Discourse Considerations in Translating the Word of God, 
Zondervan, 1974.



Barnwell, Katharine. Bible Translation: An Introductory Course in Translation 
Principles, SIL, Third Edition, 1986. (This textbook and the following teacher's 
manual are especially for courses to teach mother tongue translators.)

Barnwell, Katharine. Teacher's Manual To Accompany Bible Translation: An 
Introductory Course in Translation Principles, SIL, 1987.

Blight, Richard C. Translation Problems From A to Z, SIL, 1992. (This is a short 
booklet, a kind of dictionary of translation issues.)

Larson, Mildred L. Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language 
Equivalence, University Press of America, Second Edition, 1998.

Larson, Mildred L., Ellis Deibler, and Marjorie Crofts (editors). Meaning-Based 
Translation Workbook: Biblical Exercises, SIL and University Press of America, 
1998.

Nida, Eugena A. Toward a Science of Translating: With Special Reference To 
Principles and Procedures Involved in Bible Translating, Brill, 1964.

Nida, Eugene A. and Charles R. Taber. The Theory and Practice of Translation, 
Brill, 1969.

Notes on Translation (quarterly journal), SIL.

The Bible Translator (quarterly journal of the United Bible Societies)

TIC Talk (electronic journal of the American Bible Society, webpage: 
http://www.ubs-translations.org/public/tictalk/ubstichome.html

Wonderly, William L. Bible Translations for Popular Use, London: United Bible 
Societies, 1968



Although the following textbook is not specifically about Bible translation 
(nor, for that matter is Meaning-Based Translation, above, by veteran Bible 
translator and Bible translation consultant, Mildred Larson), I do recommend 
this book. It is a good introduction to important translation issues:

In Other Words: A Coursebook On Translation, by Mona Baker, Routledge, 1992.



Most SIL publications can be purchased through the SIL website, Publication 
section: http://www.sil.org.

For UBS publications, see the UBS website: http://www.biblesociety.org/


Leman recommendations:

If you want to learn how to translate and can only buy one textbook, I recommend 
Meaning-Based Translation, by Dr. Larson.

If you can buy two textbooks, buy Dr. Larson's and Translating the Word of God 
by Beekman and Callow.

The principles taught in each of the textbooks in this bibliography are just as 
relevant for translation of the Bible to English or any other majority language 
as they are for translation to minority languages.