opobalsamum (balsam; balm)

The Hebrew word bosem, which is often rendered “balm” (derived from “balsam”), can refer to any type of aromatic healing substance, but it also designates the product of a particular tree, the balsam or opobalsamum Commiphora gileadensis. Arabs call it balasam or balasham. In the Talmud it is called afarsimon. Excavations near En Gedi have uncovered an ancient processing plant for balsam oil.

The opobalsamum tree likes a desert or semi-desert climate. It grows to 2‑3 meters (7‑10 feet) tall and has small, wrinkled, three-part leaves, white flowers, and pea-sized red berries that have a fragrant yellow seed inside. The bark of younger branches is gray, turning brown with age. The resin appears by itself in green droplets from the stems and branches, but collectors also make cuts in the branches to speed the process. The droplets turn from green to brown, clump together, and fall to the ground, where they are collected.

In Bible times, balsam oil was used in holy anointing oil, as medicine, and as an ingredient of perfume.

A generic word or phrase for sweet-smelling substances is appropriate to render bosem, although where a specific name for the balsam tree is available, as in southwestern Arabia and Somalia, this could also be used. At least one hundred species of the genus Commiphora are spread throughout dry areas of the world. Translators in some areas will know the plants; others may know only the dried resin of Commiphora sold in spice markets.

Balsam tree, Photo by Nigel Hepper

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

Solomon

The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is transliterated as “Solomon” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “wise” referring to 1 Kings 3:12. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Solomon” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about King Solomon (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Solomon .

Visit of the Queen of Sheba

The following is a stained glass window from the Three choir windows in the Marienkirche, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, of the 14th century, depicting Solomon and the Queen of Sheba:

Source: Der gläserne Schatz: Die Bilderbibel der St. Marienkirche in Frankfurt (Oder), Neuer Berlin Verlag, 2005, copyright for this image: Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

See also other stained glass windows from the Marienkirche in Frankfurt.

complete verse (1 Kings 10:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 10:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then the ruler of Sheba gave Solomon more than four thousand kilograms of gold, a large amount of sweet-smelling things, and some stones which cost a lot of money. As many sweet-smelling things as that woman brought to Solomon were never again brought.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After that she gave the King four tons of gold, a great deal of spices and valuable precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then she gave King Solomon five tons of gold, many spices and precious/[lit. expensive] stones. Never[intensifier] again can-be-matched the quantity of the spices that the queen of Sheba had-given to King Solomon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then the queen gave to the king the things that she had brought. She gave him almost five tons of gold and a large amount of spices and valuable gems. Never again did King Solomon receive more spices than the queen gave him at that time.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 10:10

She gave the king: In languages that do not distinguish masculine and feminine pronouns, the names of the participants in this verse may have to be given instead of using only the pronoun she and the title king. It should be clear that it is the queen of Sheba who gives gifts to King Solomon. The text speaks of what Solomon gave to the queen in return in verse 13.

A hundred and twenty talents of gold is the same amount that King Hiram had paid for the cities in Galilee (1 Kgs 9.14). The equivalent for a hundred and twenty talents is “almost five tons” (Contemporary English Version, Good News Translation) or “about 9,000 pounds” (International Children’s Bible). In terms of the metric system, this would be between 4,000 and 5,000 kilograms.

Regarding spices and precious stones, see the comments on verse 2.

Never again came such an abundance of spices …: The last part of this verse has been interpreted in at least three different ways:
(1) Such a large amount of spices were never brought again in the future at any time (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and most translations). Compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh: “Never again did such a vast quantity of spices arrive as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”
(2) Good News Translation understands this to mean that Solomon never again received such a quantity of spices during the time that he reigned, but this may be limiting the time more than the author intended.
(3) Contemporary English Version treats this as a statement about events prior to the time of Solomon by saying “more spices than anyone had ever brought into Israel.”

Of these three ways of interpreting the Hebrew, the first is preferable. It does not make the translation more explicit than the Hebrew is; and more importantly, it agrees with verse 12, which says that almug wood was never imported into the country again.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Kings 10:10

10:10a Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold,

And she gave the king about five tons of gold,
-or-
Then the queen gave King Solomon about nine thousand pounds of gold,

10:10b a great quantity of spices, and precious stones.

great quantities of spices, and precious stones.
-or-
generous amounts of spices, and valuable/costly jewels/gems.

10:10c Never again was such an abundance of spices brought in

Since then no one has brought in as many spices
-or-
No one since that time has brought ⌊to Israel⌋ such large amounts of spices

10:10d as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
-or-
as she did.

10:10c-d (reordered)

The queen of Sheba gave more spices to King Solomon than anyone has brought into Israel since that time.

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