Language-specific Insights

mandrake

The Hebrew that is translated in English typically as “mandrake” is translated in various French translations (Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle Français courant, Parole de Vie) as pommes d’amour or “love apples” which indicates the function as an aphrodisiac (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin). Likewise, in a number of German translations (Luther, Gute Nachricht Bibel), Liebesäpfel with the same meaning is used. Incidentally, in both German and French the respective terms also refer to candy apples .

In Elhomwe it is translated as woohura, a traditional medicine that “turns infertility to fertility” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Nyamwezi as ntalantu’, a plant that “is known to have many medicinal purposes for womanhood, one of those is fertility” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext).

 

Commentators do not agree on the identity of the Hebrew word duda’im. While many assert that the word must refer to Mandragora or Mandrake Mandragora autumnalis, Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) says it cannot be so since mandragora has never grown in Mesopotamia, where the story of Genesis 30:14ff. takes place. In Song of Songs 7:13 duda’im refers to some sort of “choice fruit” associated with apples, and cultivated on river banks (not dug up in the fields, as was the case with duda’im in Genesis). Whatever the original plant was (in Mesopotamia), when the story was told in Israel they used a word that was known to the hearers, namely duda’im. In Genesis the context implies, though not directly, that duda’im has something to do with fertility. And the most popular conception-inducing plant in Bible times, according to scholars, was the mandragora (mandrake). The translators of the Septuagint and the Targum, with their own ideas about love and fertility, took duda’im in its Holy Land setting rather than trying to establish the identity of the plant in the Mesopotamian context. The English versions have copied the Septuagint, using “mandrake.”

The mandrake is a stemless herb related to the potato and tomato but grows lower to the ground. Its leaves are dark green, reaching 30 centimeters (1 foot) long and 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide, spreading out rose-like from the center. Purple or blue flowers appear on stalks out of the center and develop into yellow fruits that, when ripe, look like eggs in a bird’s nest. They have a distinct smell that some find sweet and others unpleasant. The mandrake’s large root is often forked, giving the appearance of a human body, which is perhaps the basis for its widespread reputation as a love potion throughout the Middle East and Europe, and for its name, the “love apple.”

The supposed magical properties of mandrakes are many and bizarre. It is said to scream when pulled out of the earth. The leaves are said to shine in the dark. In the Middle Ages Germans dressed them up and made sacrifices to them, lest the spirits be offended. French people believed little elves lived inside them and required daily offerings. As recently as 1630, three women in Hamburg were executed for witchcraft on the grounds that they had mandrake roots in their homes. Arabs call mandrakes the Devil’s candles.

The options to translate “mandrake” are:
1. Translate using a similar plant, such as the wild garden egg (so Berom of Nigeria) plus a footnote. In Hausa of Nigeria gautan daji (or yalo) would be a possible model in some places.
2. Translate using a functional equivalent, that is, some local plant known as an aid to conception, as Tiv of Nigeria has done (mkehem).
3. Create a descriptive expression such as “love flower” (Contemporary English Version) or “love fruit.”
4. Transliterate from Hebrew duda’im or a major language and write a footnote saying that this plant may have been considered an aid to conception. When transliterating, it may be useful to add “root of” as a tag, showing that it was the root of the plant that was effective.

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

eat (Genesis 25)

The Hebrew that is translated as “eat” in English is translated in Nyamwezi as nchoyangi’zye or “eat ravenously” (“chow down”). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

hovering over the face of the waters

The Hebrew in Genesis 1:2 that is translated into English as “moving (or: hovering) over the (sur)face of the waters” is translated into Ebira as “(the spirit of God) stayed above the water doing NANANA [ideophone].” (Source: Rob Koops)

In Bari it is translated with bibirto, “which is used of a bird hovering over its nest or fluttering round a bunch of ripe bananas.” (Source: Source: P. Guillebaud in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 189ff. .)

In Kutu it is translated as “spreading over the water” and in Nyamwezi as ku’elela: “to circle around slowly over water, without touching it.” In Kwere it is translated with katanda, which carries the meaning of being ‘spread out’ over the water as one would spread a blanket out over a bed. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

buried in a good old age

The Hebrew in Genesis 15:15 that is translated as “buried in a good old age” in English is translated in Nyamwezi as u’lazyi’kwe visoga or “buried well,” an idiom that means one has died having lived a good/fulfilling life. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

distance of a bowshot

The Hebrew in Genesis 21:16 that is translated as “distance of a bowshot” in English is translated in Nyamwezi as ntambo igana li’mo or “about 100 paces,” since the distance of a bowshot did not communicate distance very well. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

made life bitter

The Hebrew in Genesis 26:35 that is translated as “made life bitter” or similar in English is translated in Indonesian as “made heart bitter” (Alkitab Terjemahan Baru translation) (source: Daniel Arichea in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 209ff. )

In Nyamwezi, nnandyo is used, a term that communicates that “they brought sorrow/bitterness into their lives (from this point forward).” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

covenant

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The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that are translated as “covenant” in English are translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:

  • Mossi: “helping promise”
  • Vai: “a thing-time-bind” (i.e. “an arrangement agreed upon for a period of time”)
  • Loma (Liberia): “agreement”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “agreement which is tied up” (i.e. “secure and binding”)
  • Chol: “a word which is left”
  • Huastec: “a broken-off word” (“based on the concept of ‘breaking off a word’ and leaving it with the person with whom an agreement has been reached”)
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “a death command” (i.e. “a special term for testament”)
  • Piro: “a promised word”
  • Eastern Krahn: “a word between”
  • Yaka: “promise that brings together” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Nabak: alakŋaŋ or “tying the knot” (source: Fabian 2013, p. 156)
  • Kâte: ʒâʒâfic or “tie together” (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
  • Nyamwezi: ilagano: “agreement, contract, covenant, promise” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Bariai: “true talk” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Q’anjob’al: “put mouths equal” (representing agreement) (source: Newberry and Kittie Cox in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 91ff. )
  • Manikion, Indonesian: “God’s promise” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Natügu: nzesz’tikr drtwr: “oneness of mind” (source: Brenda Boerger in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 164)
  • Tagalog: tipan: mutual promising on the part of two persons agreeing to do something (also has a romantic touch and denotes something secretive) (source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
  • Tagbanwa: “initiated-agreement” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Cherokee: “that which is told” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
  • Guhu-Samane: “The concept [in Mark 14:24 and Matthew 16:28] is not easy, but the ritual freeing of a fruit and nut preserve does afford some reference. Thus, ‘As they were drinking he said to them, ‘On behalf of many this poro provision [poro is the traditional religion] of my blood is released.’ (…) God is here seen as the great benefactor and man the grateful recipient.” (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
  • Chichewa: pangano. This word can also be translated as a contract, agreement, or a treaty between two parties. In Chewa culture, two people or groups enter into an agreement to help each other in times of need. When entering into an agreement, parties look at the mutual benefits which will be gained. The agreement terms are mostly kept as a secret between the parties and the witnesses involved. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Law (2013, p. 95) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew berith was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Right from the start we witness the influence of the Septuagint on the earliest expressions of the Christian faith. In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of his blood being a kaine diatheke, a ‘new covenant.’ The covenant is elucidated in Hebrews 8:8-12 and other texts, but it was preserved in the words of Jesus with this language in Luke 22:20 when at the Last Supper Jesus said, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’s blood was to provide the grounds for the ‘new covenant,’ in contrast to the old one his disciples knew from the Jewish scriptures (e.g., Jeremiah 31:31-34). Thus, the earliest Christians accepted the Jewish Scriptures as prophecies about Jesus and in time began to call the collection the ‘Old Testament’ and the writings about Jesus and early Christianity the ‘New Testament,’ since ‘testament’ was another word for ‘covenant.’ The covenant promises of God (berith in Hebrew) were translated in the Septuagint with the word diatheke. In classical Greek diatheke had meant ‘last will, testament,’ but in the Septuagint it is the chosen equivalent for God’s covenant with his people. The author of Hebrews plays on the double meaning, and when Luke records Jesus’ announcement at the Last Supper that his blood was instituting a ‘new covenant,’ or a ‘new testament,’ he is using the language in an explicit contrast with the old covenant, found in the Jewish scriptures. Soon, the writings that would eventually be chosen to make up the texts about the life and teachings of Jesus and the earliest expression of the Christian faith would be called the New Testament. This very distinction between the Old and New Testaments is based on the Septuagint’s language.”

See also establish (covenant) and covenant (book).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Covenant in the Hebrew Bible .