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)

complete verse (1 Kings 6:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 6:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “He built for that house a veranda of fifteen feet on the front side of the house of God. That veranda had a width equal to the whole house.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The vestibule in front of the main room of the temple was about nine meters long. It extended 4.5 meters out in front of the temple.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The width of the porch of the temple was 15 feet, and its length was 30 feet; just as the same width of the temple.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The entrance room was 15 feet long and 30 feet wide, just as wide as the main part of the temple.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 6:3

The vestibule … was twenty cubits long … and ten cubits deep …: Vestibule renders a technical architectural term in Hebrew that means “portico” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “porch” (Contemporary English Version, Anchor Bible). This same Hebrew term is rendered “Hall” and “porch” in 1 Kgs 7.6, and “vestibule” in 1 Kgs 7.12. It was an unroofed structure through which one had to pass in order to enter the sanctuary itself. Like the sanctuary, the vestibule was twenty cubits wide (or long) from side to side. It was ten cubits long (or deep) from front to back. The writer does not say how tall the vestibule was.

The nave refers to the part of the sanctuary in front of the inner sanctuary (verse 16). It is described in more detail in verse 17. The nave, which was forty cubits long (about 20 meters or 60 feet), and the inner sanctuary, which was twenty cubits long, together made up the house, which was sixty cubits long. As already mentioned, nave is transliterated as “Hekal” by certain versions like New Jerusalem Bible and Osty-Trinquet. But New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh provides a more helpful model with “the Great Hall [of the House].” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible is quite similar. In other languages translators may have to say “the main hall” (Anchor Bible) or “the Main Room” and explain it further in the glossary. The English word nave is misleading since it refers to a central space separated from space on the sides by rows of pillars.

For cubits see the comments on verse 2.

New Living Translation may be a helpful model for the entire verse:

• The foyer at the front of the Temple was 30 feet wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple.

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 6:3

6:3a The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple was twenty cubits long, extending across the width of the temple

The entryway to its great hall was/went along its entire width/front and was twenty cubits long.
-or-
There was an area in front of the temple hall that stretched/ran across the front wall. This area was ten meters long

6:3b and projecting out ten cubits in front of the temple.

It extended ten cubits out from ⌊the front wall of⌋ the house.
-or-
and five meters wide.

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