This last Sunday evening, the second group of 11 young Israelis graduated their course having been trained in Biblical Hebrew Teaching. They are preparing to train and assist Bible translators, active in translating the Bible into local languages around the world, on a volunteer basis.

Courses in Biblical Hebrew, involving some of these latest graduates, are being planned for Kenya and The Ivory Coast in the near future. Contacts for further courses have been established in The Solomon Islands, Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Spain.

Dr. Samy Tioyé, in his address said, “We have many people that are well versed in New Testament Greek Bible translating around the world. Increasingly Christians are realising that the New Testament is based on the Hebrew Tanach (Old Testament) and we do not have enough knowledge or experience in Hebrew translating. The Bible translating field, from Hebrew, is ripe and desperately needs people that are proficient in Biblical Hebrew to assist Bible translating efforts around the world.” Dr. Tioyé is the Global Translation Advisor at United Bible Societies.

Hebrew for the Nations (Ivrit LaAmim) was initiated in 2017, and is directed by Baruch (Brian) Kvasnica, under the auspices of the Jerusalem Seminary and in coordination with “Lech L’cha”, a ministry to teach, train and encourage young believers to live a life of faith, and the Jerusalem Center for Bible Translators.

The first Biblical Hebrew Teaching course was conducted in 2018 with 12 young Israelis graduating. Of these 2 were already sent out to Nigeria to conduct Biblical Hebrew courses with local Bible translators and 2 others are studying to add professional qualifications as Ulpan (Hebrew language school) teachers.