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 7:31)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 7:31:

  • Kupsabiny: “And at the top side of each table, there was a curved metal which could hold/support the basin. It was one foot and six inches deep. But/And the width was two feet and three inches. The outer/side part was decorated with patterns.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “On top of the cart there was a cylindrical frame that protruded from the top of the cart by 45 cm and its circumference was 68 cm. All around it was decorated with engraving. The sideboards of the cart were square, not round.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Each cart has four bronze wheels and has bronze axles. Every corner of the carts have supports for the rounded place-to-put of the bronze basin. The supports were- decorated with seems-like flowers that are interwoven. The rounded place-to-put is one and a half higher from the top of the cart, and the width of the opening/[lit. mouth] of-this two feet and three inches. Around the opening/[lit. mouth] (it has shaped decorations.) The walls of the cart are squares and not round.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “On top of each cart, under each basin, was a frame that resembled a circular collar. The top of each circular frame was 18 inches above the top of the cart, and the bottom of it was nine inches below the top of the cart. There were also decorations of bronze wreaths on the frame engraved within square panels.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 7:31

As mentioned in the discussion on the previous verse, this verse seems out of place in the Masoretic Text. New American Bible, therefore, places this material after verse 35.

Its opening: The pronoun Its refers to the basin. Revised English Bible makes this explicit by saying “The opening for the basin.” The word for opening is literally “mouth” in Hebrew. And certain languages may find this the best translation of the term in this context.

Within a crown: Apparently the basin was set within a crown, or circular collar (Good News Translation “circular frame”), that sat on the bronze supports.

Which projected upward one cubit … a cubit and a half deep: One cubit (about 50 centimeters or 18 inches) above the top of the square-shaped frame and panels was a circular frame with legs (called “supports” in verse 30b) extending down to the top of the cart. The exact description in this verse is not clear. Good News Translation understands this to mean that the circular frame projected both above the top of the cart and down into the cart. But the sense may well be that the circular frame to hold the basin was a cubit above the cart and that the circular frame was either a cubit and a half deep or “a cubit and a half wide” (New Revised Standard Version; New Living Translation says “2¼ feet across”). The equivalent of a cubit and a half is “seventy-five centimeters” (Bible en français courant) or “twenty-seven inches” (Contemporary English Version).

As a pedestal is made renders two Hebrew words, which are literally “after the structure of a stand.” This expression, as translated in Revised Standard Version, contains at least two problems. First, it is passive, so those languages requiring an active statement may have to say something like “as they [indefinite] make a pedestal.” Second, the meaning of these two Hebrew words is not certain. Revised English Bible says “with a level edge,” but De Vries has “of similar design.” The exact meaning is not clear, but Revised Standard Version (also New Revised Standard Version) probably expresses the correct meaning. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh gives a clearer translation for this part of the verse with “… this funnel was round, in the fashion of a stand, a cubit and a half in diameter.”

At its opening there were carvings; and its panels were square, not round: This seems to say the circular frame had carvings within square panels around the circular frame. The meaning is not clear. If the panels refer to the panels mentioned in verse 28, then Revised English Bible has a good model here: “the opening was round with a level edge, and it had decorations in relief. The panels of the trolleys were square, not round.”

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 7:31

7:31a The opening to each stand inside the crown at the top

Inside the base there was an opening ⌊for the water bowl/container⌋.
-or-
Each water cart had a frame/collar ⌊to receive/support a water basin⌋.

7:31b was one cubit deep, with a round opening like the design of a pedestal,

This opening held/had a ring/crown one cubit deep.
-or-
This frame/collar extended half a meter down,

7:31c a cubit and a half wide.

This opening was round. The ring/crown, along with its frame, measured a cubit and a half from one side to the other.
-or-
and the distance across the entire thing was three-quarters of a meter.

7:31d And around its opening were engravings,

Around the ring there were engraved ⌊shapes/patterns⌋.
-or-
They cut/engraved ⌊designs⌋ into the outside of the frame/collar.

7:31e but the panels of the stands were square, not round.

The panels of each base were square in shape. They were not round/circular ⌊like the opening⌋.
-or-
However, the flat metal sheets ⌊that supported the water basins⌋ were square.

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