Kenneth Lee Barker (born 1931) is an American biblical scholar and professor of Old Testament and Hebrew. In addition to writing several books, he was also one of the original translators of the

New American Standard Bible The New American Standard Bible (NASB, also simply NAS for "New American Standard") is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published by the Lockman Foundation, the complete NASB was released in 1971. New revisions were publis ...

and the

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...

of the Bible. Barker earned his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from Northwestern College, his Th.M. from

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 ...

(1960), and his Ph.D. from the

Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning or Dropsie University was a Jewish institution of higher learning in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was America's first degree-granting institution for post-doctoral Jewish studies. Funded by the ...

(1969). He joined the faculty at Dallas in 1968 as professor of Old Testament, where he remained until 1981. In 1974, he was invited to join the Committee on Bible Translation, and later served as its secretary, as well as executive director of the International Bible Society's NIV Translation Center. He has also served as academic dean at

Capital Bible Seminary Lancaster Bible College, officially named Lancaster Bible College , Capital Seminary and Graduate School and shortened to LBC , Capital, is a private university, private Bible college, seminary, and graduate school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. ...

. Barker retired from the

International Bible Society Biblica, formerly International Bible Society, was founded in 1809 and is the worldwide copyright holder of the New International Version of the Bible (NIV), licensing commercial rights to Zondervan in the United States and to Hodder & Stoughton ...

in 1996, and is currently living in

Lewisville, Texas Lewisville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Denton County with portions extending into Dallas County. As one of the Mid-Cities within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the 2020 census reported a population of 111,822. O ...

Selected publications

*''A comparative lexical and grammatical study of the Amarna Canaanisms and Canaanite vocabulary'' (1969) * Micah in the ''New American Commentary'' (1998) * Zechariah in the ''Expositor's Bible Commentary'' (1985) *''The NIV study Bible, New International Version'', with Others (1985) *''The Accuracy of the NIV'' (1996) *''The Making of the NIV'' (1997)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Kenneth L. Living people Dallas Theological Seminary alumni American biblical scholars Old Testament scholars Translators of the Bible into English University of Northwestern – St. Paul alumni Dropsie College alumni Dallas Theological Seminary faculty 1931 births Presidents of the Evangelical Theological Society