Zagreb, (IKA) – The distinguished biblical scholar Dr. Adalbert Rebić, a priest of the Zagreb Archdiocese and prebendary of the College of Prebendaries of the Zagreb Cathedral, died on Thursday, February 20, in the St. Joseph Home for Priests in Zagreb at the age of 77 after nearly 50 years in the priesthood.
He was born in Croatia on January 23, 1937, in Klenovec Humski, a village in the municipality of Hum na Sutli, in the Parish of the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Taborsko. He studied philosophy at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, specializing in biblical studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. In 1969, he earned a doctorate in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
On October 10, 1964, he was ordained to the priesthood in Rome. From 1968 to 2007, he was a professor of biblical studies, Oriental languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic) and biblical archaeology.
As an editor of the Croatian translations of the Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Lamentations and the Book of Ezekiel, Dr. Rebić participated in the translation of the Bible into the Croatian language issued by the publishing house Stvarnost in 1968.
He was the editor of an edition of the Jerusalem Bible (Kršćanska sadašnjost, 1994) in which he translated the introductions to several books of the Old Testament from French into Croatian as well as interpretations and comments accompanying individual biblical texts. He was also responsible for the publication of a biblical manual (Biblijski priručnik) and a translation from French into Croatian of the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible (TOB). As an editor, he was responsible for the publication of a general religious lexicon (Opći religijski leksikon).
In his fruitful career, he published 28 works and approximately 400 articles in various domestic and foreign journals.
Dr. Adalbert Rebić was a member of the Croatian Literary Translators Association (since 1974), the Croatian Association of Artists and the Pontifical Marian International Academy in Rome (since 1980).
From 1991 to 1995, he held the post of the Head of the Government Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees. In 1995, he was the Minister in the Government of the Republic of Croatia in Charge of Humanitarian Affairs, according to a statement issued by the Press Office of the Archdiocese of Zagreb.