Ep. 5: Thomas Hoeksema

In this new episode, Dr. Rainer Schulte and Dr. Sarah Valente speak with Dr. Thomas Hoeksema, professor emeritus at New Mexico State University, about Bible translation and literature. Hoeksema is a founding member of the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) and served as president of ALTA from 1989-1991. He has been a contributing editor and member of the Advisory Board of Translation Review since its inception at the University of Texas at Dallas in 1978. 

His interest in the translation history of the Bible in English began as a student at the Near East School of Archaeology in Jerusalem where he studied ancient cultures and languages. During that same period he was part of a team that excavated the archaeological site at Dothan in northern Israel. Starting in 1980, Dr. Hoeksema developed honors courses at New Mexico State University under the rubric of The Bible as Literature. These courses covered many topics including the translation history of the Bible in English, the literary forms and genres expressed in the Bible, and the influence of ancient cultures and their writings and rituals on Biblical texts.

In this episode, Hoeksema presents an insightful interpretation of the Bible in English translations and reflects on his extensive experience teaching courses on the Bible as Literature. In this thought-provoking new episode, you will learn about the role of translators in biblical translations as well as moments of controversies in mistranslations of the Bible.