They should publish and proclaim in all their towns and in Jerusalem: Publish and proclaim are near synonyms. The first verb has the causative meaning of announcing, that is, of making people to hear. The second verb is literally “to cause to pass by” or “to cause to pass through,” that is, “to make the message known publicly.” New English Bible combines the two verbs in the expression “make proclamation” and Revised English Bible says “issue this proclamation.” The instruction to proclaim the festival is from Lev 23.4, where it refers to all the festivals.
Because this event was taking place in Jerusalem, Good News Translation reverses the order of in all their towns and in Jerusalem by saying “through Jerusalem and the other cities and towns.” Revised Standard Version says explicitly that they should make the announcement in the towns and in Jerusalem, but Good News Translation implies the announcing.
As indicated by the different renderings of the beginning of this verse in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, two readings are possible. The Hebrew text is followed by Revised Standard Version (also Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), which indicates that these instructions were found in the Law. Good News Translation represents a reading that omits one word of the Hebrew text (also New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet). It has the heads of the clans, the priests, and the Levites giving the instructions instead of the people of Israel. The Handbook recommends that the translation be according to the Hebrew text. Parole de Vie follows the Hebrew text and offers a good model for verses 14-15 as follows:
• In this law that the LORD gave them through Moses, they find this order: the Israelites should live in shelters during the festival of Shelters, the seventh month. They should make the following [instructions] known and announce it to everyone in all their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out on the mountain. Bring back branches of wild or domestic olive trees….”
Go out to the hills: The people are instructed to Go out of the towns and out of Jerusalem to the hills. The Hebrew word for hills is often translated “mountains” as in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “Go out to the mountains.” The mountains are sometimes identified with prosperity in the Old Testament (for example, in Psa 72.3; see A Handbook on Psalms), but here the reference is simply to hillsides or “the hill country” (New International Version), where the trees were growing.
Bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written: In Lev 23.40 it is written that the people are to bring branches on the first day of the festival, but the purpose of bringing the branches is not given. It may have been the custom to wave branches in a procession on that day (compare Matt 21.8; John 12.13; Rev 7.9). Here it was considered, either from tradition or from their own interpretation of the instructions, that the branches were to be used to make booths. This interpretation is given the authority of Scripture by the words as it is written in the Law, as Good News Translation makes explicit.
The trees listed here are not the same as in Lev 23.40 but correspond to those commonly found around Jerusalem at that time. Olive refers to the evergreen tree, Olea europaea, which is commonly found in Palestine and the Mediterranean region (see Gen 8.11). Wild olive, which is literally “oil tree,” is probably a member of the pine or cypress family (see 1 Kgs 6.23, where Revised Standard Version has “olivewood”). Myrtle is the evergreen shrub, Myrtis communis, which has fragrant leaves (see Isa 41.19). Palm refers to the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, which grows in the valleys around Jerusalem (see Exo 15.27). The description other leafy trees is mentioned in Lev. 23.40 and is used of the oak tree in Ezek 6.13.
Where these trees are not known, descriptive noun compounds may be used or descriptive phrases. Olive trees are “oil trees” or “trees that bear fruit for oil.” If Revised Standard Version is followed for wild olive, domestic trees are planted by people while wild trees are not deliberately planted. They grow in the wild or in the bush. If Good News Translation and most other versions are followed, pines or cypress trees are “trees that do not lose their leaves” or “trees whose leaves do not fall.” The myrtle is a “small tree that smells good.” The date palm may be referred to generically as a palm tree or it may be described as a “fruit-bearing tree of dry places.” The Hebrew text adds other leafy trees to the list of trees that are named individually. The implication is that all these trees are “trees having leafy branches.” Contemporary English Version renders it “branches of leafy trees.” Good News Translation, however, assumes that leafy is implied in the meaning of “branches,” while Traduction œcuménique de la Bible repeats “foliage” with each tree and then says “and the foliage of other trees that are bushy.” The Traduction œcuménique de la Bible rendering is both clear and explicit and is therefore a good model for translators to follow.
Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .