Ronald F. Youngblood (born 1931) is an American Biblical scholar and professor of Old Testament. In addition to being one of the original translators of the New International Version of the Bible,[1] he was the general editor for Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary,[2] and on the editorial team for the Zondervan NASB Study Bible,[3] both of which earned the ECPA Christian Book Award for their respective publication years.
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Youngblood was born in Chicago in 1931. He earned his B.A. from Valparaiso University (1952), his B.D. from Fuller Theological Seminary (1955), and his Ph.D. from the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning (1961). He was ordained in 1958 at Oxford Circle Baptist Church in Philadelphia.
Youngblood has been most closely associated with Bethel Seminary, first teaching at the St. Paul campus (1961–1978) and later at the San Diego campus (1982–2001).[4] In the interim, Youngblood was also on the faculties at Wheaton Graduate School (1978–1981) and at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (1981–1982).
Youngblood first joined the New International Version (NIV) translation team in 1970, and was invited to join the Committee on Bible Translation in 1976, a few years prior to its first complete publication in 1978. He continued to serve as a translator for the first major revision in 1984, and was executive editor for the New International Reader's Version (1995, 1998).[5] Later, he played a significant role in the development of Today's New International Version.[6]
He has also served as chairman of the board of the International Bible Society,[7] and editor of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (1976–1998).[8]