Basil A. Rebera (1935–2021) was an Old Testament Scholar and a

Translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, 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 English la ...

Consultant with the

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focusing on translations of the

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

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and

The Bible Translator ''The Bible Translator'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal relating to theory and practice of Bible translation. From its foundation in 1950, TBT appeared in two series - ''Technical Papers'' in January and July, and ''Practical Papers'' in Ap ...

. 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 Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

led by

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. Fr D. S. Amalorpavadass 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

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and his linguistic analysis has caught the attention of many Translation scholars. 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 theological seminary in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system of dispensationalism. DTS has campuses in Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., as well as extension ...

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

Staffordshire University The University of Staffordshire is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has its main campus in Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses in Stafford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, and London. History In 1901, industrialist Alfred ...

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

Studies

Graduate

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

United Theological College, Bangalore United Theological College (UTC) is an ecumenical Mainline Protestant, mainline seminary founded in 1910. It is situated in the southern city of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka in South India and affiliated to India's first Theological Unive ...

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

Senate of Serampore College (University) The Senate of Serampore College (University) is an ecumenical regulatory and affiliating body for Christian theological education, which works in partnership with Bible colleges, seminaries and theological research institutes in the Indian subco ...

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, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

''(B. D.)'' 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 yea ...

. Incidentally, when the Old Testament Scholar and an

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

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 languages, Canaanitic branch of the Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Isra ...

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, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

specializing in

Old Testament The Old Testament (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 and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

. 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 (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

, specializing in Old Testament under E. C. John from 1971 to 1973 working out a dissertation entitled ''The meaning of mispat and sedeq/sedaqah in the pre-exilic prophetic literature and their translation in the Sinhalese 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), unde ...

, 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 Timotheas Hembrom (31 July 1939 – 18 August 2020) was an ordained Minister of the Church of North India and an Old Testament Scholar who taught at the Bishop's College, Kolkata, affiliated to the nation's first University, the Senate of Seram ...

. 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

were notable for their contribution to the

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in translation and revision of the scriptures into other languages. While

was involved in

Santali language Santali (, , , , ) is a Kherwarian languages, Kherwarian Munda languages, Munda language spoken natively by the Santals, Santal people of South Asia. It is the most widely-spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, ...

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 Tibeto-Burman, spoken mostly by Naga peoples. Konyak languages, Northern Naga languages do not fall within the group, in spite of being spoken by Naga groups; instead, these form part ...

. Similarly, G. Babu Rao joined the

in 1973 as Translator H. S. Wilson (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 languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

translation of the

Research

For research studies, Rebera studied at the

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

and at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

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 Translation scholar.

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

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and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, 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 (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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, engag ...

. 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 * ''D ...

, 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 pre-exilic prophetic literature and their translation in the Sinhalese Bible'', * 1975, ''The

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

and Inter-Confessional Translations'', in D. S. Amalorpavadass (Edited), Report of the II All-India Biblical Meeting'', NBCLC, Bangalore, 1975, p.348.

' * 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>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebera, Basil A. Sinhalese people Sri Lankan academics 20th-century Christian clergy Senate of Serampore College (University) alumni 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 from Sri Lanka Syntacticians Australian people of Sri Lankan descent 1935 births Sri Lankan Christians 2021 deaths