complex architectural terms

The second part of 1 Kings 6:6 is translated into English as “for around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house” or similar in English. For the translators into Cusco Quechua this presented an interesting challenge.

Bill Michell (in Omanson 2001, p. 433) explains: “Although their [Inca] ancestors constructed magnificent buildings, architechtural terminology is quite limited in the languages spoken by Andeans today. The typical house in the rural areas is a simple, mud brick structure, with a thatched roof, a low door and no windows. However, there are some very complex buildings in the Bible. Solomon’s Temple is one of these. 1 Kings 6.6b reads: Yupaychana wasi perqataqa anchotan qallarirqanku, kinsa kutitataq ithiykachirqanku muyuriq pata kurkukunata chayman chakanapaq, ahinapin perqata mana t’oqorqankuchu: “For-adoring house the wall wide they-began three times-and they-made-it-smaller-towards-inside that-which-surrounds level-place beams to-there to reach-across in this way the-wall not they-made-a-hole.”

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).

complete verse (1 Kings 6:6)

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

  • Kupsabiny: “Solomon built a storied house which leaned on/touched the wall which he divided into three parts. The lower side was seven and ahalf feet wide, the middle one was nine feet, but the upper one was ten and a half feet. There was a part which beams were supported by which had been used to partition that storied building so that the wall of the house of God is not chiseled.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The bottom story was 2.2 meters wide. The middle story was 2.7 meters wide, the top story was 3.1 meters wide. The rooms were connected to the walls of the Temple by beams resting on ledges built out from the wall. So the beams were not inserted into the walls themselves.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The width of the first floor was seven and a half feet, the second floor was nine feet, and the third floor was ten and a half feet. The wall of the temple gradually becomes-thin on each floor in-order that the rooms could-set-over on the wall wherein it no longer needs beams anymore.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Each room in the lowest level/story was 7-1/2 feet wide. Each room in the middle level/story was nine feet wide. The rooms in the top level/story were 10-1/2 feet wide. The wall of the temple at the top level/story was thinner than the wall at the middle level/story, and the wall of the middle level/story was thinner than the wall at the bottom level/story. The result was that the rooms could be supported by the wall underneath them, and did not require wooden beams to support them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 6:6

The lowest story: The Hebrew word translated story here is the same word translated “structure” in verse 5, which tends to support the view that the “structure” and the “side chambers” (or, three-storied annex) are the same thing. The ancient versions, however, support correcting the text here to read “side-chamber.” If the Masoretic Text originally had the word for “side-chamber” here, then there is less support for understanding the “structure” in verse 5 to be the same as the “side chambers.” Following the Septuagint here, Anchor Bible says “The lowest side-chamber.” Instead of story, some languages may have to say “floor” (New Century Version) or “level” (Contemporary English Version).

As noted in the discussion on verse 5, the exact shape of these chambers is not clear, so there are these two views: (1) Perhaps there were stairstepped ledges in the stone wall of the Temple so that the Temple wall was one cubit narrower on the middle level and two cubits narrower on the top level, with straight outer wooden walls for the chambers. (2) Or, alternatively, it may be that the middle level of the annex overhung the outside wall of the lowest level of the side chambers by one cubit, and the top level overhung the middle level by one cubit. According to this second understanding, the structure would seem to get wider as it rose from the ground.

Note that Good News Translation follows the first interpretation and states that the “Temple wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below” (similarly New Century Version, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has a very good note on this verse: “The Hebrew text of this verse is not very clear. It seems to mean that the wall of the temple did not have the same thickness for the entire height, the highest part measuring one cubit less than the middle part and two cubits less than the lower part. This allowed the chambers of the lower stories to have a depth that increased with each level (5, 6, and 7 cubits respectively).”

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 6:6

6:6a The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits.

⌊They were on three floors.⌋ The bottom floor was five cubits wide. The middle floor was six cubits wide and the top floor was seven cubits wide.
-or-

⌊The rooms were built on three levels/stories.⌋ ⌊Some rooms were on⌋ the ground level/story, which was two and a half meters wide. ⌊Some were⌋ above that, on a level/story that was three meters wide. ⌊And some rooms were⌋ on top of that, on a level/story that was three and a half meters wide.

6:6b He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple,

Solomon constructed ledges around the walls of ⌊Yahweh’s⌋ house,
-or-
Solomon had ⌊his workmen build⌋ supporting ledges around the sides of the temple.

6:6c so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.

so that no ⌊supports⌋ had to be set/pushed into the walls.
-or-

⌊They did this⌋ to avoid putting/placing ⌊any/the supporting/wooden beams⌋ ⌊for the extension⌋ into the temple walls.

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