untranslatable verses

The Swedish Bibel 2000 declared the 69 Old Testament verses referenced herein as “untranslatable.” Typically, other Bible translations translate those verses and mention in footnotes that the translation is uncertain or give alternate readings. Christer Åsberg, the Translation Secretary with the Swedish Bible Society at that time, explains why the Swedish Bible Society decided to not translate these verses at all (in The Bible Translator 2007, p. 1ff. ):

“In the new Swedish translation (SB) of 2000, [some verses are] not translated at all; [they are] indicated with three hyphens inside square brackets [- - -] [with a] reference to the appendix, where in the article ‘Text’ one will find a paragraph with roughly the following content:

In some cases the text is unintelligible and the variant readings differing to such an extent, that it is quite impossible to attain a reasonable certainty of what is meant, although some isolated word may occur, whose meaning it is possible to understand.

“If Bible translators find the Hebrew text untranslatable, what kind of text is it that they have produced in the translation into their own language? When a footnote says ‘The Hebrew is not understandable,’ what then is the printed text a translation of? And if the translators prefer to do without footnotes, are they then really released from the responsibility of informing their readers that the text they read is just mere guesswork?

“To leave a blank space in a Bible text seems to be an offensive act for many. (. . . ) To admit that a piece of Holy Scripture makes no sense at all may have been unimaginable in times past. In our enlightened era, an overprotective concern for the readers’ trust in the word of God is apparently a decisive factor when a translator tries to translate against all odds. The verdict ‘untranslatable’ is much more frequent in scholarly commentaries on different Bible books written by and for experts than in the translations or footnotes of the same books designed for common readers.

“Another reason (. . .) is a professional, and very human, reluctance to admit a failure. Also, many Bible translators lack translational experience of other literary genres and other classical texts where this kind of capitulation is a part of the daily run of things. They may have an innate or subconscious feeling that the Bible has unique qualities not only as a religious document but also as a linguistic and literary artifact. Completeness is felt to be proof of perfection. Some translators, and not so few of their clients, are unfamiliar with a scholarly approach to philological and exegetical matters. In some cases their background have made them immune to a kind of interpretative approximation common in older translations, confessional commentaries, and sermons. Therefore, their tolerance towards lexical, grammatical, and syntactical anomalies tends to be comparatively great.

“It is very hard to discern and to define the boundary between something that is extremely difficult and something that is quite impossible. I am convinced that all Bible translators in their heart of hearts will admit that there actually are some definitely untranslatable passages in the Bible, but are there a dozen of them or a score? Are there fifty or a hundred? Not even a group of recognized experts would probably pick out the same ten most obvious cases. (. . .)

“Conclusions:

  1. There are untranslatable passages in the Bible.
  2. How many they are is impossible to say—except for the translation team that decides which passages are untranslatable.
  3. An untranslatable passage cannot and should therefore not be translated.
  4. The lacuna should be marked in a consistent way.
  5. The translating team should stipulate their criteria for untranslatability as early as possible.
  6. It is an ethical imperative that the readers be comprehensively informed.
  7. Untranslatability has been and can be displayed in many different ways.
  8. An explanatory note should not confuse linguistic untranslatability with other kinds of textual or translational difficulties.
  9. The information given should make it clear that the translators’ recognition of untranslatability is a token of respect for the Bible, not a proof of depreciation.
  10. You shall not fear the void, but the fear of the void.”

With thanks to Mikael Winninge, Director of Translation, Swedish Bible Society

complete verse (1 Kings 7:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 7:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “There were three doors on one side, there were three others in the other side which faced each other. The width and length of those doors were the same.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “All the door frames of the doors were rectangular. They faced one another in three opposite rows.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “These also have each-three rectangular doors that are-facing-each-other.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “All the windows and doorways had rectangular frames. The windows along the long wall on one side faced the windows on the other side.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 7:5

New International Version has a footnote on this verse that states “The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.” This uncertainty is reflected in the differing translations. New International Version, for example, says “All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.” Parole de Vie is similar with “All the doors with their frames were in the form of a rectangle. They were opposite one another in three locations.”

All the doorways and windows had square frames: Windows is a translation from the Septuagint. The Masoretic Text reads “doorposts.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text and recommends the following rendering: “and all the doors and jambs [were] rectangular in frame.”

The Hebrew word translated square in Revised Standard Version (also New Century Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) really means “four-sided” (New Revised Standard Version), but the sides were not necessarily equal as the word square suggests. For this reason many modern versions use the word “rectangular” (Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). But in many languages it will be easier and equally faithful to say simply that the doorways and doorposts “had four sides.”

Window was opposite window in three tiers is literally “and front of window to window three occurrences.” New International Version understands the Hebrew to mean “face to face” instead of “window to window” and takes “front” to mean “in the front part [of the building].” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament also suggests that the expression “window to window” has the abstract sense of “face to face”; that is, the verse is not talking about windows at all but about doorways and doorposts that are face to face, as in the New International Version and Parole de Vie translations quoted above. The same understanding of the Hebrew is expressed in Anchor Bible, which renders the whole verse as “and all the entrances and doorposts had squared frames, and opposite, facing each other, three times.” But this description makes no sense. Cogan (2000, page 255) says the last part of this verse is “Unfathomable.”

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 7:5

7:5a All the doorways had rectangular frames,

The door openings all had four-sided frames.
-or-
Each of the doorways and doorposts had four sides.

7:5b with the openings facing one another in three tiers.

The Hebrew text of this verse is difficult to understand.

They were built in the front area ⌊of the house⌋. They were in three separate rows and were placed opposite each other.
-or-
They were in the front part ⌊of the hall⌋, on three different levels. These doors faced each other.

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