cubit

The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that is translated as “cubit” or into a metric or imperial measurement in English is translated in Kutu, Kwere, and Nyamwezi as makono or “armlength.” Since a cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, one armlength (measured from the center of the chest to the fingertips) equals two cubits or roughly 1 meter. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Similarly, in Akoose, the translation is “arm distance.” (Source: Joseph Nkwelle Ngome and Marlie van Rooyen & Jacobus A. Naudé in Communicatio 2009, p. 251ff.)

In Klao it is converted into “hand spans” (app. 6 inches or 12 cm) and “finger spans” (app. 1 inch or 2 cm) (source: Don Slager) and in Bariai into leoa or “fathom,” which comprises the distance from a person’s fingertip to fingertip with arms outstretched, app. 6 feet (source: Bariai Back Translation).

distance (long / wide / high)

The concepts of distance that are translated in English with “long,” “wide,” and “high/tall” are translated in Kwere with one word: utali. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

sanctuary

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “sanctuary” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with opatulika or “separated place.” This is understood in a religious setup as a place designated for worship. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (1 Kings 6:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 6:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “The House of God was partitioned in order to make a Secret room which is very much feared/respected together with a Sitting (common) room. All the sides of that Secret room were the same. Each side had thirty feet. The Sitting room had a length of sixty feet. Small pieces of timber from cedar tree were put on the walls of that house from bottom to top and cypress timber were used on the floors of the house. The timber on the walls of that house were beautified/decorated with some things which looked like gourds and flowers being engraved on (them). The timber closed/sealed everywhere as if no single stone had been used. That Secret room had been made/prepared so that the Box of the Covenant of God would be kept there. The whole wall of that Secret room was smeared with gold up to the top (ceiling). There was a altar for sweet-smelling sacrifices by the door of the Secret room of the House of God. That thing was made of cedar wood and was covered with gold. The wall of the Sitting room too was smeared with gold and the front part of that Secret room was crossed with chains made of gold. So, Solomon beautified/decorated every part of the House of God using gold.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The room in front of the Most Holy Place, the Holy Place, was 18 meters long.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And the length of the room outside the Most Holy Place was 60 feet.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “In front of the Very Holy Place there was a room that was 60 feet long.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 6:17

For this whole verse the Masoretic Text reads “and forty cubits was the house, that is, the nave in front of me.” Probably a copyist dropped a letter here, so that the Masoretic Text reads “in front of me” (lifnay in Hebrew) instead of “in front of it” (lifnayw in Hebrew). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text, but the note in the full study edition of Traduction œcuménique de la Bible correctly states that the Masoretic Text here is “incomprehensible.” In translation it will almost certainly be necessary to add the words the inner sanctuary after “in front of,” as in Revised Standard Version (similarly the Latin Vulgate, Good News Translation, and most translations). As in the previous verse, the inner sanctuary refers to “the Most Holy Place.”

The nave, or room in front of the Most Holy Place, was twice the length of the Most Holy Place (see the comments on verse 3).

Forty cubits is equivalent to about 20 meters or 60 feet.

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 6:17

6:17 And the main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long.

The part of the house in front of this very holy/sacred place was forty cubits long.
-or-
The large temple hall was about twenty meters in length. It was in front of the inner room/sanctuary.

© 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.