Ernst R. Wendland (Ph.D., African Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin) earned a B.A. in Classics and Biblical Languages from Northwestern College (Wisconsin), an M.A. in Linguistics and a Ph.D. in African Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin, and a Master of Sacred Theology in exegetical theology from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Wendland has lived in Zambia since 1962 and been an instructor at the Lutheran Bible Institute and Seminary (Lusaka, Zambia) since 1968. A retired United Bible Societies translation consultant, Wendland works as an external examiner in Zambian languages at the University of Zambia and as visiting professor in the Department of Ancient Studies at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. His research and writing interests include various aspects of Bible translation as well as structural, stylistic, poetic, and rhetorical studies in biblical texts and the Bantu languages of South-Central Africa. He is the author of numerous studies on the Bantu languages of South Central Africa, biblical exegesis, literary-poetic analysis, rhetorical criticism, and translation theory and practice.
Ernst is married to Margaret, who served as an RN at Mweembezhi Lutheran Dispensary and the US Embassy in Lusaka. The Lord has blessed them with four children: Robert, Joel, Stephen. and Naomi.