Basil A. Rebera is an Old Testament Scholar and a

Translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

Consultant with the

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...

focusing on translations of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

the world over. As a contributor to scholarly research, Rebera's writings have been reviewed in

Journal of Biblical Literature The ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' (''JBL'') is one of three academic journals published by the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). First published in 1881, ''JBL'' is the flagship journal of the field. ''JBL'' is published quarterly and inc ...

and

The Bible Translator ''The Bible Translator'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal relating to theory and practice of Bible translation. Since the foundation in 1950, it has appeared in two series - ''Technical Papers'' in January and July, and ''Practical Papers'' in ...

. In 1975, Rebera took part in the second All-India Biblical Meeting held under the aegis of the National Biblical, Catechetical and Liturgical Centre in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

led by

Rev Rev or Rév may refer to: Abbreviations Rev. * Rev., an abbreviation for revolution, as in Revolutions per minute * Rev., an abbreviation for the religious style The Reverend * Rev., the abbreviation for Runtime Revolution, a development environ ...

. Fr

D. S. Amalorpavadass Rev. Fr. Duraiswami Simon Amalorpavadass (15 June 1932 – 25 May 1990) was a Catholic South-Indian theologian who played a vital role in the renewal of life and mission of the Roman Catholic Church in India, particularly after Vatican II. ...

where Rebera presented a report on the Inter-Confessional translations of the

Bible Society of India The Bible Society of India is a Christian body that is authorized to translate, produce, distribute and market the Bible and is a member of the United Bible Societies. The motto of the Society is to translate the word of God into languages, which ...

Contribution

Rebera is an authority on

Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Arka ...

and his linguistic analysis has caught the attention of many

Translation scholar Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

s. Kristin Moen Saxegaard in ''Character Complexity in the Book of Ruth'' writes that Further, Robert B. Chisholm of the

Dallas Theological Seminary Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) is an evangelical theology, theological seminary in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system dispensationalism. DTS has campuses in Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., as well as cont ...

in ''Interpreting the Historical Books: An Exegetical Handbook'' writes that Joy Sisley of the

Staffordshire University , mottoeng = Dare to know , type = Public , endowment = £70 million (2015) , administrative_staff = 1,375 , chancellor = Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford , vice_chancellor = Professor Martin Jones , ...

in her work, ''Power and Interpretive Authority in Multimedia Translation'' writes,

Studies

Graduate

Rebera pursued graduate studies in theology from 1967-1971 at the

United Theological College, Bangalore United Theological College (UTC) is an Eccumenical Christian seminary founded in 1910 situated in the southern city of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka in South India and affiliated to India's first Theological University, the Senate of Seram ...

, the only autonomous College under the nation's first University, the

Senate of Serampore College (University) The Senate of Serampore College (University) is located in Serampore in West Bengal, India. Serampore was granted the status of university in 1829, making it India's first institution to have the status of a university.Government of India, Mini ...

K. M. Hiwale (Compiled), ''Directory of the United Theological College 1910-1997'', Bangalore, 1997. Past students of the college diploma course, p.40; Postgraduate course, p.108. where he obtained a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

''(

B. D. In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

)'' during the Principalship of

Joshua Russell Chandran Joshua Russell Chandran (1918–2000) was an Indian Christian theologian, who served as President of Senate of Serampore College, Bengal (1970–1), and as President of the United Theological College, Bangalore (1954–83), and was for some year ...

. Incidentally, when the Old Testament Scholar and an alma mater of the College,

Victor Premasagar Victor Premasagar (1927–2005) was the fourth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop in Medak. He was an Indian churchman and Old Testament scholar who made major contributions to research on the Old Testament and to the field of theology. Prem ...

happened to proceed to St. Andrew's University for research studies, he happened to stop over at the College and taught introductory

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...

to the graduate students. As a student of Victor Premasagar, Rebera took interest in learning the ancient Biblical languages and went on to enroll for postgraduate studies in

Biblical Studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...

specializing in

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. During his collegiate studies, Rebera took an active part in literary pursuits and was made Assistant Editor of the ''UTC College Magazine'' during 1969-1970.

Post-graduate

Soon after Rebera completed his graduate studies, the

led by the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

consisting of A. E. Inbanathan and C. Arangaden, then General Secretary and Associate General Secretary (Translations) respectively, chose Rebera to pursue post-graduate studies in Biblical Studies so that he would be an asset to the Bible Society of India. Rebera then continued his studies at the Seminary by enrolling into

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...

, specializing in Old Testament under E. C. John from 1971-1973 working out a dissertation entitled ''The meaning of mispat and sedeq/sedaqah in the

pre-exilic Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...

prophetic literature and their translation in the

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

Bible''.Basil A. Rebera, ''The meaning of mispat and sedeq/sedaqah in the pre-exilic prophetic literature and their translation in the Sinhalese Bible'' in ''Thesis Titles'',

Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College The Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College (BTESSC) is the arm of theological education under the Senate of Serampore College (University). BTESSC was formed in 1975. The Senate of Serampore College (University), under ...

, Bangalore, 1991. Rebera was part the pioneer group of postgraduate students who specialised in Old Testament comprising A. P. Chacko, G. Babu Rao, Nitoy Achümi, S. J. Theodore and Timotheas Hembrom. The University awarded graduate and postgraduate degrees in the ensuing convocations during the Registrarship of C. Devasahayam.

Study Companions

Rebera and his erstwhile companions at the United Theological College, Bangalore comprising G. Babu Rao, S. J. Theodore, N. K. Achumi, A. P. Chacko, and Timotheas Hembrom were notable for their contribution to the

Bible Society A Bible society is a non-profit organization, usually nondenominational in makeup, devoted to translating, publishing, and distributing the Bible at affordable prices. In recent years they also are increasingly involved in advocating its credibi ...

in translation and revision of the scriptures into other languages. While Timotheas Hembrom was involved in

Santali language Santali (, Ol Chiki: ), Bengali: , Odia: , Devanagari: , also known as Santal, is the most widely spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho and Mundari, spoken mainly in the Indian states of Assam ...

translation, N. K. Achumi was involved in translation/revision of the Bible in

Naga language The Naga languages are a geographic and ethnic grouping of languages under the Kuki-Chin-Naga languages, spoken mostly by Naga peoples. Northern Naga languages do not fall within the group, in spite of being spoken by Naga groups; instead, the ...

. Similarly, G. Babu Rao joined the

in 1973 as Translator

H. S. Wilson H. S. Wilson ''(born 1946)'' is Executive Director of Foundation for Theological Education in the Southeast Asia based in Philadelphia. Wilson is widely known in India for his contribution to theological education in India as Director (1980 thr ...

(Edited), The Church on the Move, Essays in honour of

, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1988, p.vi

/ref> of the Telugu language, Telugu Old Testament and a decade later, in 1984, became Coordinator of the Telugu Old Testament Common Language Translation (Telugu OT-CL) Project of the

which also took along S. J. Theodore on the panel of the Telugu OT-CL Project Team. E. C. John, the Professor of Rebera and his study companions was instrumental in infusing scholarly enthusiasm among his students. Known for his scholarship and administration, E. C. John was also involved in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

translation of the

Research

For research studies, Rebera studied at the

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

and at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

and was awarded a doctorate by the Macquarie University in 1981 in Biblical StudiesPaul A. Soukup, Robert Hodgson (Edited), ''Fidelity and Translation: Communicating the Bible in New Media'', Sheed and Ward/ABS, Wisconsin/New York, 1999, p.286.

/ref> based on his dissertation entitled, ''The Book of Ruth: Dialogue and Narrative, the Function and Integration of the Two Modes in an Ancient Hebrew Story''.

Translation career

The confidence reposed in Rebera by the clergy consisting of the rural Pastor, A. E. Inbanathan and C. Arangaden remained for posterity as Rebera metamorphosed himself into a

Bible Society of India

Rebera began his career as a Translator with the Bible Society of India right from 1973 onwards.

United Bible Societies

In 1974, Rebera was appointed

Consultant by the

for the Asia-Pacific, Asia-Pacific Region Region and was based in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, a position which he held until 1988 till he moved to the

Bible Society Australia Bible Society Australia is an Australian non-profit, non-denominational, Christian organisation. It is part of a worldwide network of Bible Societies. Bible Society Australia maintains that the Bible is a significant historic text which has deepl ...

. In his second stint starting in 1993 at the United Bible Societies, Rebera became Coordinator for the Global Translation Services at the United Bible Societies and was based in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

at the

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...

. Rebera was appointed in 1993-1994Philip A. Noss, ''A History of Bible Translation'', Amer Bible Society, 2007, p.242

/ref> and oversaw translations of the Bible into many languages and also the revision of the existing versions. Rebera worked closely with the Asia-Pacific Regional Translations Coordinator, Graham S. Ogden.

Bible Society Australia

In 1988, Rebera took up the position of

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

, Translation and Text Division of the Bible Society Australia. After a 6-year stint with the Bible Society Australia, Rebera again moved to the United Bible Societies in 1993.

Writings

* 1973, ''The meaning of mispat and sedeq/sedaqah in the

prophetic literature and their translation in the

Bible'', * 1975, ''The

and Inter-Confessional Translations'',Basil Rebera, ''The

and Inter-Confessional Translations'', in

(Edited), Report of the II All-India Biblical Meeting'', NBCLC, Bangalore, 1975, p.348.

/ref> * 1982, ''Identifying participants in Old Testament dialogue'', * 1983, ''Book titles (2): the prophetic books'', * 1985, ''Yahweh or Boaz: Ruth 2:20 reconsidered'', * 1987, ''Translating Ruth 3:16'', * 1989, ''He got up’--or did he: (1 Samuel 20:25)'' * 1987, ''Lexical cohesion in Ruth : a sample'' * 1994, ''Current Trends in Scripture Translation''Basil A. Rebera, ''Current Trends in Scripture Translation'', United Bible Societies, 1994.

/ref> * 2004, ''Rev. Euan McG. Fry'', Graham S. Ogden and Basil Rebera, ''Rev. Euan McG. Fry'', ''

'', Volume 55, Number 4, October 2004.

/ref>

Gallery

Many

Theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

's have impacted the life and career of Rebera during his studies and initial ministry with the Bible Society of India. The legacy of these Theologians continues for posterity as each of them have contributed much to their respective fields in the theological sphere.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebera, Basil A. Sinhalese academics 20th-century Christian clergy Senate of Serampore College (University) alumni Living people Macquarie University people Australian National University alumni 21st-century Sri Lankan people Australian translation scholars Translators of the Bible into English Australian biblical scholars Old Testament scholars Bible versions and translations Linguists Syntacticians Australian people of Sri Lankan descent Place of birth missing (living people) Sri Lankan Christians Year of birth missing (living people)