Don Slager (UBS) – Page 2

making peace

English translations say “Syrians made peace with the Israelites after being defeated by them” in 2 Samuel 10:19— The idiomatic expression used by the Dan translator in this context for making peace is “giving a white chicken.” When people offer a white chicken, they accept defeat. The victorious party is expected to accept the chicken to show that they will not retaliate. It’s important that the chicken be white, not any other color, and that its legs not be tied (showing freedom).

clap your hands and stamp your foot

The Hebrew in Ezekiel 6:11 that is translated as “clap your hands and stamp your foot” in English is translated in Dan as “roll in the dirt and raise your hands,” the more culturally appropriate expression for sorrow. (Source: Don Slager)

whitewashed wall

The Greek in Acts 23:3 that is translated in English as “(you) whitewashed wall” is translated in a number of ways:

Lalana Chinantec: “you are like a masonry wall on which they have put white paint. It is no longer evident what it is like inside.” (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
Bariai: “a disintegrating wall and yet they applied paint to it so that it merely looks good” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “deceiver”
Eastern Highland Otomi: “you talk up above (not from the heart)”
Morelos Nahuatl: “you change words (you are a hypocrite)”
Mezquital Otomi: “you two faced person”
Rincón Zapotec: “you who make your face broad” (source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Dan: “whitewashed tomb” (to highlight the hypocrisy) (Source: Don Slager)
Mairasi: “you bad person and you liar trying to be like a clean person” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

rows of stones on Aaron's breastpiece

The Hebrew that is translated into a wide and often differing variety of gemstones on Aaron’s breastpiece in English and other translations, was translated with a focus on their colors in a West African language:

Row One: a red stone, a stone the color of the yellow fruit inside the pod of the African locust bean (parkia biglobosa ), and a blue colored stone mixed with the color of fresh growth on trees (green)

Row Two: deep red stone, a blue colored stone, diamond

Row Three: a stone the color of an orange, a stone with many colored stripes, a stone the color of a local purple fruit

Row Four: a stone of deep green color, a stone with splotches of color, and a green stone.

(See this blog entry )

The Manya translators “only knew a word for diamond, so we transliterated the others, giving some idea of the color for each one.” (Source: Don Slager)

The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge

The Hebrew proverb that is translated as “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” in English is rendered in Medumba with the existing proverb “They, the others, have eaten caterpillars; And we have got a stomach ache.” (Source: Jan de Waard in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 146ff. )

In Maan, the translation is “Parents ate green grapes, but their children’s teeth were sour.” (Source: Don Slager)

uncircumcised

The Hebrew, Greek, and Ge’ez that is translated as “uncircumcised” in English is translated in Klao as “ungodly.” (Source: Don Slager)

in the sanctuary you shall pour out a drink offering

The Hebrew that is translated as “in the sanctuary (or: “holy place”) you shall pour out a drink offering” in English is translated in Manya as “on the holy altar you shall pour out a drink offering” for clarifications sake. (Source: Don Slager)

stork

The Hebrew that is translated as “stork” in English is translated in Maan as “big water bird,” as the stork is not locally know. (Source: Don Slager)

In the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with mulungu wachilendo it is translated as kakowa or “egret.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

There is almost complete agreement that chasidah is the stork. There are two species of stork that pass over Israel, where they stay for a few days as they migrate from Europe to Africa and vice versa. These are the White Stork Ciconia ciconia and the Black Stork Ciconia nigra.

Both of these storks are large birds with long legs and long necks. They are heavier than most herons or cranes. The white stork has a white body, black wings, and a red beak and legs. The black stork is a glossy brownish black color with a white belly. It also has a red beak and legs. These storks migrate from central and eastern Europe to East and Central Africa, occasionally reaching Zimbabwe and parts of South Africa in good rainy seasons. Both types spend most of the time on the ground or in shallow water searching for food. The white stork eats mainly locusts, grasshoppers, and other insects, as well as frogs, lizards, and the chicks of ground-nesting birds. The black stork prefers fish and frogs but also eats the same things as the white stork.

When storks are about to move to another feeding ground, they usually soar around in upward currents of air called thermals, reaching great heights, and then they soar off in the direction they have chosen, conserving their energy by only occasionally beating their wings.

It is possible that the name chasidah is derived from the word chesed, meaning “kindness” or “faithfulness”, perhaps a reference to the fact that they seem to take especially good care of their young when nesting.

Storks of various species are found in most parts of the world, and many of them have migrating habits. There are species of stork that migrate from Europe to India and the Far East, some that migrate from Southeast Asia to Australia, and one, the Abdim’s Stork Ciconia abdimii, which migrates from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe and Botswana, signaling the arrival of the rainy season wherever it goes.

In the few areas where storks are not known, a borrowed word or a transliteration can be used, perhaps with a footnote to indicate that this is a big bird that migrates long distances over Israel.