About
The goal of biblical scholarship is to
bring people closer to God.
But how, when it remains inaccessible?
This question is at the heart of everything we do. Inspired by a career in biblical scholarship and a life-long passion for Bible translation, Elizabeth Robar founded Cambridge Digital Bible Research (now known as Scriptura) in 2020 in Cambridge, UK. By bringing together experts in Bible translation, academic biblical and theological studies, and digital humanities, Scriptura aims to free biblical scholarship from its box. Scriptura exists to serve interpreters and translators of the Bible by bringing them into robust discussion with the best of biblical scholarship and equipping them to hear the message of Scripture.
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Read Prescience Labs evaluation of Psalms: Layer by Layer materials that provide language teams with "helpful and conveniently usable resources to mitigate the frustrations surrounding the translation of Hebrew poetry and to aid in producing translations that retain both the accuracy and the emotional intent of the Psalms while using a culturally-appropriate poetic format."
Our Story
Elizabeth grew up wanting to be a Bible translator. God sent her into academics instead. Now she knows why: the world of Bible translation had a need for biblical scholars with a foot in multiple words: scholarship, Bible translation, digital humanities, business and teaching.
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She founded Cambridge Digital Bible Research (now known as Scriptura) in 2020 in Cambridge, UK to start building the kind of team that could begin bridging the gap between splendidly isolated biblical scholarship and those translators and other interpreters who need the results.
By bringing together experts in Bible translation, academic biblical and theological studies, and digital humanities, Scriptura aims to free biblical scholarship from its box. We serve interpreters and translators of the Bible by bringing them into robust discussion with the best of biblical scholarship and equipping them to hear the message of Scripture.
CDBR Staff
Elizabeth Robar
Director
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Elizabeth founded Scriptura (formerly known as Cambridge Digital Bible Research) in 2020 with the goal of marrying her two passions: Biblical Hebrew scholarship and Bible translation. She received her Ph.D. in 2013 from the University of Cambridge and has lived in Cambridge since, working first at Tyndale House and then running Scriptura. She now supervises graduate students from various institutions.
Ryan Sikes
Research Associate
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Ryan joined Scriptura in 2021 to work on the Psalms: Layer by Layer project. He creates, reviews, and edits visualisations, leads workshops, and creates visual exegetical summaries of key issues in the Psalms. He studied at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and was previously a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Douglas Robar
IT Manager
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Doug has background in IT consulting and software training. He guides Scriptura technology and software choices to accelerate their work and worldwide workers.
Hannah Clardy
Academic Manager
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Hannah joined the staff of Scriptura in 2020. Her role includes developing methods of analysis for the Psalms, creating visualisations, and managing the review process. She enjoys discovering connections within Scripture and exploring the many ways that culture shapes interpretive method. Hannah received her Ph.D. in 2019 from the University of Edinburgh (Hebrew and Old Testament Studies) and currently resides in her home state of Arkansas.
Joseph Habib
Research Manager
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Joseph joined the staff of Scriptura in 2021. He excels in researching everything that is interesting about the Bible.
Layer by Layer Core Team
Advisory Board
Reinier de Blois (Ph.D., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Global ICAP Coordinator and Translation Consultant (United Bible Societies); Director of the Nida Institute
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Randall Buth (Ph.D., UCLA)
Founder, Biblical Language Center; Vice-President, Institute for Biblical Languages and Translation
Aaron Hornkohl (Ph.D., The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Chair
Language Teaching Officer & Senior Research Associate in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge
Phil King (Ph.D., London School of Theology)
Senior Linguistics Consultant (SIL)
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Eric Sarwar (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary)
Adjunct Professor of Global Music at APU; Founder, Tehillim School of Church Music & Worship (Pakistan)
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Andy Warren-Rothlin (Ph.D., University of Cambridge)
Global Translation Advisor (United Bible Societies)
Board of Directors
Reinier de Blois
Ph.D., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Global ICAP Coordinator and Translation Consultant (United Bible Societies); Director of the Nida Institute
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Katie Frost
M.M., M.A., M.A.
Enthoarts Consultant (SIL); co-founder of Psalms: Layer by Layer
Elizabeth Robar
Ph.D., University of Cambridge
CDBR Director; co-founder of Psalms: Layer by Layer
Dave Roberts, CAPT (Ret.), USN
COO, Breuer & Co.
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Dave Ruth, CAPT, USN
Ph.D., Naval Postgraduate School
Permanent Military Professor, US Naval Academy
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Katie Frost
Ethnoart Consultant (SIL)
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​Katie (M.M., M.A., M.A.) serves as an associate instructor at Dallas International University and as an arts consultant with SIL International. Her experience in both ethnoarts and linguistics/translation led to co-founding the Psalms: Layer by Layerproject as part of pursuing how these disciplines intersect in biblical Hebrew poetry.
Nikki Mustin
Translation Specialist (Scriptura)
Translation Consultant (Seed Company)
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Nikki (B.A. Linguistics, University of Central Arkansas; M.A. Bible Translation, Dallas International University) is a Translation Consultant, and has specialised in training translation teams in the ways of oral translation, exegesis, and internalisation. With Scriptura, her focus is both the analysis/scholarly side of the work, as well as the field-facing side—including running workshops, localising materials into other major languages, and creating tools specifically for translators.
Meaghan Smith
Bible Translation Resource Specialist (SIL)
Meaghan (M.A. Applied Linguistics with a concentration in Bible Translation, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics) serves on SIL International's Translation Resources Team. Bringing ten years of experience as an exegetical advisor for local Bible translators in Ethiopia, she is excited to help further equip translation teams there and around the world.