sell

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

See also buy and buying / selling.

hungry

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English as “hungry” (or: “famished”) is translated in a number of ways:

  • Noongar: “without stomach” (koborl-wirt) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kölsch translation (Boch 2017): nix zo Käue han or “have nothing to chew on” and singe Mage hät geknottert wie ne Hungk or “his stomach growled like a dog” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Hunger überfiel ihn or “Hunger overtook (lit.: “attacked”) him” (in Matthew 4:2)
  • Kupsabiny: “hunger ate him” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “feeling tuber pains” (tubers are the main staple) (source Enggavoter 2004)

Jerusalem

The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:


“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .

Translation commentary on 1 Maccabees 13:49

The men in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going out to the country and back to buy and sell: This refers to the blockade that Jonathan had set up (see 1Macc 12.36). Good News Bible renders were prevented as “were now prevented,” which is misleading; it suggests the Syrian soldiers in the Jerusalem fort were unable to get what they needed only because of Simon’s victory at Gezer. “Had been prevented” is a better rendering; the siege was now in its second year. They had no way to replenish their food supplies. It is not clear what they would sell. Perhaps the meaning of from going out to the country and back to buy and sell is that they could not get out of Jerusalem to trade or barter for food. If so, we may translate the sentence as “The enemy soldiers in the fort in Jerusalem had been prevented from going [or, still could not go] out into the country [or, outside the city] to barter [or, trade things] for food.”

So they were very hungry, and many of them perished from famine: The clause they were very hungry and the word famine refer to the same experience, so this sentence may be expressed as “So they were starving and many of them died.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.