The Hebrew that is translated as “my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” or similar in English is translated in Toma and Bandi as “his father beat them whips, but he will beat them much worse” to help with comprehension. (Source: Don Slager)
yoke
The Greek, Ge’ez, and Hebrew term that is translated into English as “yoke,” the Afar translation uses koyta (poles of camel pack) which refers to two poles in front of the hump and two behind; elsewhere in agricultural Ethiopia the yoke is only in front of the hump.
In Chol it is translated with tajbal, a term for “headband” (for carrying) (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.). Likewise, in Kele, it is translated with njɛmbɛ, “a carrying strap worn around the head and across the chest or shoulders to support a burden of firewood, garden produce or even a child carried by this on the back or hip” (source: William Ford in The Bible Translator 1957, p. 203ff. ).
In Matumbi it is translated as “rope” and “yoke is easy” is translated as “rope is slack/soft.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Kwasio it is translated with a term that refers to a “bulky piece of wood attached to the neck of a goat, preventing it from roaming freely in the brushy undergrowth.”
Joshua Ham explains: “When checking this verse in Kwasio, I was surprised to find that the Kwasio had a word for yoke. You see, none of the language groups we have worked with have a tradition of using animals to pull carts or plows. Since yokes don’t exist in the culture, there’s no need for a word for that concept in these languages.
“When I asked the Kwasio team about their word for yoke, they said that they don’t use yokes to help animals pull plows; rather, their word for yoke refers to a bulky piece of wood attached to the neck of a goat, preventing it from roaming freely in the brushy undergrowth. So while the exact use of a Kwasio yoke is not the same as a biblical yoke, there are a lot of similarities: in both cases, it’s a piece of wood around an animal’s neck that serves to keep the animal under control. While the overlap isn’t perfect, it’s pretty good — and almost certainly better than trying to squeeze in a distracting explanation of how yokes function in the biblical cultures.”
Adam Boyd (in The PNG Experience ) tells this story about finding the right term in Enga: “Jesus’s words in Matthew 11:29-30 are some of the most difficult to translate into the Enga language. From the time that I became a Christian, I was taught that a yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the neck of two animals and attached to a plough or cart that they are to pull. This is an easy enough concept to understand for people who come from societies that make use of beasts of burden, but in Papua New Guinea, there are no beasts of burden. Consequently the concept of a yoke placed on animals is completely foreign. Thus, we have struggled greatly in our attempt to translate Matthew 11:29-30.
“Recently, however, I came to learn that a yoke can also refer to a wooden frame that a person places on his neck or shoulders to make it easier to carry a heavy load. Indeed, the Bible often makes figurative use of the word ‘yoke’ as it refers to people and not to beasts of burden (see 1 Kings 12:4-14). As I was pondering that idea, I began to notice that when Engan men carry heavy logs on one shoulder, they often balance the load by supporting it with a small stick placed across the other shoulder. A few weeks ago, it clicked in my mind that the small stick they use to make it easier to carry a heavy log is like a yoke.
“Excited by this realization, I quickly asked my friend Benjamin if the stick that men use to make it easier to carry a heavy log has a name in Enga. Sure enough it does. It is called a pyakende. With great anticipation, I asked the translation team if we could use the word pyakende to translate the word ‘yoke’. After wrestling with the phrasing for a little while, we came up with the following translation: ‘In order to remove the heaviness from your shoulders, take my pyakende. When you have taken it, you will receive rest. As my pyakende helps you, what I give you to carry is not heavy and you will carry it without struggling.’”
“Yoke” is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:
Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing how yokes were used in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
scorpion
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “scorpion” in English is translated in North Tanna as “centipedes” (Luke 10:19) or “millipede” (Luke 11:12) (source: Ross McKerras).
The literal translation in Noongar is nirnt-daalang or “tail-tongue” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang) and in Uma it is translated as “stinging-caterpillar” (Source: Uma Back Translation).
There is complete agreement that these words refer to the scorpion. Many scholars accept that ‘aqrav was also a nickname for a type of whip used for punishing criminals.
The scorpion is an eight-legged creature. In the land of Israel it grows to about 13 centimeters (5 inches) long, but in some tropical countries scorpions can be up to 18 centimeters (7 inches) long. The front pair of legs has claws similar to those on a crab, and the tail, which it can arch over its head, carries a fierce sting. It feeds on other insects and on small reptiles, such as baby lizards. It grasps its prey in its claws and stings it with its tail, either killing it or paralyzing it.
In the Hebrew Bible the scorpion epitomizes harsh, inhospitable living conditions.
Scorpions are found almost worldwide, except in the Arctic tundra and on some islands. In most places, therefore, a local word will be available.
Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)
complete verse (1 Kings 12:14)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 12:14:
- Kupsabiny: “Then, Rehoboam became tough on those people following/according to the words of his generation and neglected/ignored what the elders had told him.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- Newari: “and said, "My father caused you to carry heavy loads, I will cause you to carry even heavier loads, He struck you with whips, but I will beat you with barbed whips."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “according to what the young-men had-advised. He said to them, ‘What my father caused- you (plur.) -to-obey were-heavy, but (it is) more heavier what I will-cause- you (plur.) -to-obey. If my father beat you (plur.) with a whip, I will-beat you (plur.) with lash/rod that has sharp metals.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “He told them what the younger men had advised. He said, ‘My father put heavy burdens of work and taxes on you, but I will put heavier burdens on you. It was as though he beat you with whips, but I will beat you with whips that have pieces of metal in them!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.
Translation commentary on 1 Kings 12:14
The quotation in this verse is nearly identical to the words of the young men in verse 11. Peregrino places this quotation on the page in the form of poetry (see the comments on verse 11).
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 12:14
12:14a and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying,
He did as the young men had advised him. He said ⌊to the people⌋,
-or-
He spoke ⌊to the people⌋ as the young men had recommended. He gave them this answer:
-or-
⌊Instead⌋ he did what his young friends/counselors advised. He told the people that
12:14b “Whereas my father made your yoke heavy,
“My father laid a heavy yoke/burden on you. (plur)
-or-
“My father demanded/required that you work very hard.
-or-
his father ⌊King Solomon⌋ had forced them to do a lot of work ⌊for him⌋.
12:14c I will add to your yoke.
But I will make it very heavy indeed.
-or-
But I will demand/require more work.
-or-
But he would force them to do much more work.
12:14d Whereas my father scourged you with whips,
My father beat you (plur) with whips.
-or-
My father whipped you (plur) with ropes.
-or-
His father had had them punished with ⌊ordinary⌋ whips.
12:14e I will scourge you with scorpions.”
But I will beat you (plur) with scorpions.”
-or-
But I will punish you (plur) with whips of/with metal. ”
-or-
But he would have them punished with whips that cut/bit/stung like scorpions!
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