Emotion Exegesis for Faithful Oral Bible Translation: Understanding the Emotional Dynamics of Scripture (Part 1)

Joshua C. Frost — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:35:28 +0000

While methods for tackling many of the issues that Bible translators commonly faced have already been refined over the decades, Bible translators have, by and large, not needed to translate the emotional dynamics of Scripture that could only be captured by voice. All of that is changing now that oral Bible translation has come onto the scene. In the last decade, oral Bible translation has grown from translation projects in a few dozen languages to translations in around a thousand languages. This 2-part paper presents a summary of my thesis findings on the topic of emotion exegesis for Bible translation. In the first part of the paper, I present three theoretical perspectives that Bible translators need to understand emotions in light of recent scientific discoveries.

Watch the related webinar presentation.

Check out further resources about orality in holistic hermeneutics at OralityResources.International.

Resources

Holistic Hermeneutics: Interpreting Scripture in Light of Oral Tradition

Joshua C. Frost — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 01:51:12 +0000

Joshua emphasized the significance of understanding the role of emotions in Bible interpretation. He discussed the emotional aspects of a biblical passage, the importance of understanding character emotions, and the challenges of interpreting emotions across different cultures.

Read the related article.

Check out further resources about orality in holistic hermeneutics at OralityResources.International.

Resources

Joshua C. Frost – OralityTalks

Emotion Exegesis for Faithful Oral Bible Translation: Understanding the Emotional Dynamics of Scripture (Part 1)

Holistic Hermeneutics: Interpreting Scripture in Light of Oral Tradition