cattle, livestock

The Hebrew that is translated in English as “livestock” (or “cattle”) is translated in Newari as “living beings brought up in a house” or “living beings cared for in a house” (source: Newari Back Translation). Specifically “cattle” is “cows and oxen.”

In Kwere it is “animals that are being kept.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

mule

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated with “mule” in English is translated in Swahili with nyumbu which also is a homonym for “wildebeest,” potentially causing confusion.

In Kutu it is translated with “big donkey” because there is no other adequate term in Kutu. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the Hausa Common Language Bible it is translated jakin-doki or “donkey-horse,” since mules are also not known in Nigeria. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

 

The word pirdah refers to the female mule while pered can refer to either the male or the female. In biblical times mules were used for riding and as pack animals while horses were mainly used to pull military chariots. They appear to have been introduced into Canaan much later than horses. Mules are not mentioned in the Bible until the time of David while horses are mentioned in the Joseph story and in Deuteronomy 17:16 where the king is forbidden to acquire them. Technically the owning of mules was not prohibited although the breeding of them would have fallen under the prohibition of Leviticus 19:19, which forbade the cross-breeding of animals. The Israelites thus seem to have relied on mules imported from neighboring countries.

The mule is not an animal found naturally anywhere, but is the result of people breeding male donkeys with female horses. It is also possible to breed male horses with female donkeys, but the offspring, technically called “hinnies”, not “mules”, are usually smaller than mules. Mules are bigger and stronger than donkeys and are much more resistant to disease than either horses or donkeys. They are usually dark brown with bigger ears than the parent horse.

Although there are male and female mules they are infertile and not able to breed. This makes the stronger males much easier to handle than stallions.

Although the mule in English is associated with stubbornness this is not usually the case in other cultures since mules are very easy to handle if treated properly. In Psalms 32:9 the mule is linked to the horse as both being animals that lack sufficient understanding and need to be guided in the right direction.

Even in languages of societies that know mules, they are often referred to as “horse-donkeys”, or “donkey-horses”. This seems to be a good translation solution even in languages that have no word for mule.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1Kings 18:5)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (1 Kings 18:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 18:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then, Ahab said to Obadiah, ‘Go and check the water springs in the whole land and all the streams (in the small valleys). Go and check if we could possibly get some grass to rescue the horses and the donkeys so that some of the animals may not die.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go to all the springs of the land and along all the rivers. Might there be a little grass for our horses and mules to eat? If there is grass, we might not have to kill them.”” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Ahab said to Obadias, ‘We (incl.) will-go to all the springs and place-where- water -flows in our (incl.) nation, for we (incl.) might be-able-to-see grass for our (incl.) horses and mules, so we (incl.) do- not -need to kill them.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “By this time, the famine/lack of food and water had become very severe in Samaria. So Ahab summoned Obadiah and said to him, ‘We must check/look near every spring and in every valley to see if we can find enough grass to give to some of my horses and mules, so that they will not all die.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 18:5

Go through the land: The second person singular verb Go translates the Masoretic Text. Some translations, following the Septuagint, read “Let us go” (so Revised English Bible, Good News Translation, New American Bible, Anchor Bible, Osty-Trinquet). As Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament shows, however, the second person singular in the Masoretic Text makes sense. In this verse Ahab charges Obadiah to go search for grass, and verse 6 indicates that Ahab himself has decided to make a similar search. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text. So it will be better to translate this verb as a direct command to Obadiah by saying “You, go through the land.” The Hebrew word rendered land probably refers in this context to the area surrounding the city of Samaria. But it is best for translators to retain a rather general term in the receptor language.

Springs of water is a literal rendering. This will be redundant in some languages because the word springs clearly implies water. So translators should look for the most natural equivalent here rather than seeking to imitate Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation says simply “spring.”

Valleys translates a Hebrew noun that often refers to a river valley that has water flowing in it only during the winter months (see 1 Kgs 17.3, where Revised Standard Version renders it “brook”). Translations such as “wadi[s]” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Anchor Bible), “stream bed” (Good News Translation), and “streams” (New American Bible) express the meaning better in English than does valleys.

Perhaps we may find grass …: The Hebrew particle translated perhaps introduces a possible result of the proposed course of action. The result is not certain but only a possibility. In some languages it may have to be translated by a verbal expression like “it may happen that” or something similar.

The first person plural pronoun we in Ahab’s words to Obadiah should be taken as inclusive and so translated.

Mules: See the comments on 1 Kgs 1.33.

Not lose some of the animals: Lose translates the same Hebrew verb that is rendered “cut off” in verse 4. While the Revised Standard Version rendering is possible, the use of the same verb may be maintained in some languages by saying “killing off the prophets” and “kill off our animals.” New American Bible and New Jerusalem Bible use the verb “slaughter” here in verse 5. The irony is that while Jezebel was killing the prophets of God, Ahab was worried that he might have to kill some of his animals.

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 18:5

18:5a Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and every valley.

Ahab told Obadiah, “Travel (sing) around the land to see/check all the springs and the wadis/streams.
-or-

⌊King⌋ Ahab instructed/commanded Obadiah, “Go (sing) throughout the land of Israel. Search/Look (sing) around/near all possible sources of water.

18:5b Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive

Perhaps we(incl.) will find grass so that we can keep the/⌊our(incl.) ⌋ horses and mules alive.
-or-
If we(incl.) can find enough grass for the horses and mules ⌊to eat⌋,

18:5c so that we will not have to destroy any livestock.”

Then we(incl.) will not need to kill any of our(incl.) livestock.”
-or-
we(incl.) will not need to kill any of them.”

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.