reed

There are two general types of reed in Israel, the Common Reed Phragmites australis and the Giant Reed Arundo donax, and it is impossible to say which one is intended in a given biblical context.

The English word “cane” comes from the Hebrew word qaneh. Qaneh is the most general Hebrew word of the many referring to reeds and rushes. Like the English word “reed,” it may refer to a specific type of reed or be a general name for several kinds of water plant. This word is also used to refer to the stalk of grain in Pharaoh’s dream (Genesis 41:5, Genesis 41:22), to the shaft and branches of the golden lampstand in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:31 et al.), to the beam of a scale (Isaiah 46:6), to the upper arm of a person (Job 31:22), to a measuring stick (Ezekiel 40:3 et al.), and to aromatic cane (Song of Songs 4:14 et al.).

The Greek word kalamos is also used to refer to a measuring stick (Revelation 11:1 et al.) and to a pen (3 John 1:13 and 3 Maccabees 4:20).

The common reed is a tall grass with stiff, sharply-pointed leaves and a plume-like flower head that reaches to more than 2 meters (7 feet). It grows in lakes and streams, the roots creeping across the bottom of the lake to produce new leaves and stalks.

The giant reed is similar to the common reed but tends to grow not in the water but on the river banks. Its majestic plumes can reach up to 5 meters (17 feet) in height on hollow stalks that look like bamboo.

Reeds of both kinds were used for baskets, mats, flutes, pens, arrows, and roof-coverings. Isaiah 42:3 says that the Messiah will be gentle with weak people (“a bruised reed he will not break”), in contrast to the typical iron-fisted tyrants of the day. The Pharaoh is likened to an undependable reed staff in 2 Kings 18:21 et al. In 1 Kings 14:15 Israel is compared to a reed shaking in the water.

The common reed of the Mediterranean area has relatives in Europe, India, Japan, and North America. It is thought to be the only species of the genus Phragmites (although some botanists divide it into three species). It is very important for conservationists, because it provides habitat for many kinds of animals and birds. In North America the weaker native type is being overtaken by more robust types from Europe, which are now threatening other kinds of marsh plants. In Japan people eat the young shoots of reeds. Native Americans used to eat the seeds.

Translators living near lakes and rivers will be able to find an equivalent, if not a relative, of the reed. Others can be generic and use “grass” or a phrase such as “tall grass growing in the water.”

Common reed, photo by Rob Koops

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

In Newari it is translated as “bamboo.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)

gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

complete verse (Ruth 1:4 - 1:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Ruth 1:4-1:5:

  • Noongar: “Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, he died, and Naomi stayed with her two sons. Her two sons married two wives from Moab, named Orpah and Ruth. When they had lived there ten years, Mahlon and Chilion died; so Naomi was widowed, without sons and without a husband.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
  • Eastern Bru: “The two sons took wives from the people of Moab. The names of the women were Orpha and Ruth. So they lived in that place about ten years. But in that place, Mahlon and Chilion also died. So Naomi still lived, but she no longer had husband or children.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Some-time-later her children married [plural] Moabnon (women). The name of one was Orpah and the (other)-one was Ruth. After- ten years -had-passed, Mahlon and Kilion also died, so only Noemi was left.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “They married women from Moab. One of them was named Orpah, and the other one was named Ruth. But after they had lived in that area for about ten years, Mahlon and Chilion died. So then Naomi had no husband and no sons.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Ruth 1:6 - 1:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Ruth 1:6-1:7:

  • Noongar: “Now in Moab, Naomi heard that God had helped his people and given them bread. Naomi and her sons’ wives got ready to return to her home in Bethlehem. So Naomi and her two sons’ wives left their houses in Moab and set out to return on the road to Judah.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
  • Eastern Bru: “After that Naomi heard that God had given again food to eat for the people who followed him in the country of Judah. So Naomi and her two daughters-in-law, they prepared to move from the country of Moab. Then the three of them went out from the place where they lived and they began to go back to the country of Judah.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When Noemi heard that the LORD had-remembered his people by giving them good harvest/produce, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return to Juda. And while they are- now -on-(their)-journey going-back to Juda,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “One day while Naomi was in Moab, she heard someone say that Yahweh had helped his people in Israel and that now there was plenty of food to eat. So she prepared to return to Bethlehem. She left the place where she had been living and started to walk with her daughters-in-law along the road back to Judah.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Psalm 1:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 1:2:

  • Chichewa Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero translation, 2002/2016:
    “But his delight is in the laws of Jehovah
    and in his laws he meditates day and night.” (Source: Chichewa Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “But he rejoices in the law of the Lord.
    Night and day he meditates on His law.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Instead, he (is) happy in following the teachings that (come) from the Lord,
    and he meditates on these day-(and)-night.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Eastern Bru:
    “But that person, he is very happy/delighted with the law of God only.
    And he spends time thinking about the book of that law all night and all day.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “But, he will rejoice in the Law of Lord,
    and he thinks the Law of Lord day and night.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • West African language:
    If you want to be truly happy, let your belly be sweet on God’s command words.
    Let your mind eat them day and night.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 420ff. )
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Bali sheria za Bwana ndizo ambazo zinampendeza,
    anaziwaza mchana na usiku.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Those whom God is pleased with delight in doing the things that he has instructed/taught us to do.
    They read and think about Yahweh’s requirements, day and night.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

circumcise, circumcision

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The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “circumcise” or “circumcision” in English (originally meaning of English term: “to cut around”) are (back-) translated in various ways:

  • Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “cut the flesh”
  • San Miguel El Grande Mixtec, Navajo (Dinė): “cut around”
  • Javanese: “clip-away”
  • Uab Meto: “pinch and cut” (usually shortened to “cut”)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun, Western Highland Purepecha: “put the mark”
  • Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “put the mark in the body showing that they belong to God” (or: “that they have a covenant with God”)
  • Indonesian: disunat — “undergo sunat” (sunat is derived from Arabic “sunnah (سنة)” — “(religious) way (of life)”)
  • Ekari: “cut the end of the member for which one fears shame” (in Gen. 17:10) (but typically: “the cutting custom”) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Cheke Holo: “peel for the purpose of making a sign” (source: Freddy Boswell in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 132ff. )
  • Hiri Motu: “cut the skin” (source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1079)
  • Garifuna: “cut off part of that which covers where one urinates”
  • Bribri: “cut the soft” (source for this and the one above: Ronald Ross)
  • Amele: deweg cagu qoc — “cut the body” (source: John Roberts)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “cut the flesh of the sons like Moses taught” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Totontepec Mixe: “cut so that a sign remains in one’s body” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Newari: “put the sign in one’s body” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Central Mazahua: “sign in his flesh”
  • Hopi: “being cut in a circle in his body” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Mandarin Chinese: gēlǐ (割礼 / 割禮) or “rite of cutting” (Protestant); gēsǔn (割损 / 割損) or “cut + loss” (Catholic) (Source: Zetzsche)
  • Tibetan: mdun lpags gcod (མདུན་​ལྤགས་​གཅོད།), lit. “fore + skin + cut” (source: gSungrab website )
  • Kutu: “enter the cloth (=undergarments)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Cherokee: “de-head” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 33)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Circumcision .

complete verse (1 Chronicles 15:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 15:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “Shemaiah who led the house of Elizaphan with two hundred people from his house,” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “From the descendants of Elizaphan, the leader Shemaiah and 200 of his relatives came.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “From the descendants of Elizafan, 200, and they were-led by Shemaya.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “There were 200 people from Elizaphan’s clan who came, with Shemaiah their leader.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (2 Samuel 2:30)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 2:30:

  • Kupsabiny: “When Joab had left Abner, he gathered his people and counted (them). Then he found out that nineteen of David’s people were not there without counting Asahel.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Joab stopped pursuing Abner and gathered his troops in one place. He then learned, that besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s men were missing [lit.: were less].” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “When- Joab -stopped chasing Abner, he and his men also went-home. When he gathered them, he found-out that beside Asahel, 19 have-died among them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Joab and his soldiers stopped pursuing Abner. And when he gathered all his soldiers together, he found out that in addition to Asahel, only 19 of them had been killed in the battle.” (Source: Translation for Translators)