lamb

The term that is translated as “lamb” in English is typically translated as “offspring of a sheep” in Ixcatlán Mazatec since there is no specific word for “lamb.” Since this could distract readers with thoughts of God being the sheep when the “lamb” refers to Jesus the translation into Ixcatlán Mazatec chose “little (individual) sheep” for those cases. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Dëne Súline the native term for “lamb” directly translated as “the young one of an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)

For the Kasua translation, it took a long process to find the right term. Rachel Greco (in The PNG Experience ) tells this story:

“To the Kasua people of Western Province, every four-legged animal is a pig. They call a horse a pig-horse, a cow, a pig-cow, and a sheep, a pig-sheep, because all of these animals have four legs, which is kopolo, or pig, in their language.

“When the translation team would translate the word, ‘sheep’ in the New Testament, they would translate it as ‘pig-sheep’. So when Jesus is referred to as the ‘Lamb,’ (John 1:29; Rev. 12:11; Rev. 17:14), they translated as ‘pig-sheep’ so that in John 1:29 it would read: ‘Behold, the pig-sheep of God.’

“When some members of the translation team attended the Translators Training Course, they had the opportunity to observe and study sheep for the first time. As they watched and learned more about the animals’ behavior, their understanding of these creatures—and God’s Word—rotated on its axis.

“Once during the course, Logan and Konni — the translation team’s helpers — were driving with the team to a Bible dedication when Amos, one of the team members, said passionately, ‘We can’t use the word kopolo in front of the word, ‘sheep’! Pigs know when they’re about to die and squeal and scream.’ The team had often watched villagers tie up pigs so they wouldn’t escape.

“’But,’ Amos said, ‘Jesus didn’t do that.’ The team had learned that sheep are quiet and still when death walks toward them. They had observed, as they translated the New Testament, the words of Isaiah 53 fulfilled: ‘Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he did not open his mouth.’ And now they understood what it meant. For this reason, the team decided not to put pig-sheep in the New Testament for the word ‘sheep,’ but used sheep-animal or, in their language, a:pele sipi.

“The Kasua translation team also chose to discard the word ‘pig’ before sheep because pigs are unclean animals to the Jews. The team knew that Jesus was called the ‘Lamb of God’ in the New Testament to show that he is unblemished and clean. Hopefully the Lord will open up the Kasua villagers’ eyes to these same truths about Jesus as they read of Him in their own language.”

See also The Paschal Lamb, sheep, and sheep / lamb.

David Kills Goliath

Artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India.

For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here .

For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (1 Samuel 17:35)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 17:35:

  • Kupsabiny: “I would follow that animal and fight with it until I snatch the sheep from the mouth of that animal. And if that animal tries to turn back to me, I will hold its hair/mane and beat it to death.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then, going after him, attacking him, setting the sheep free from his mouth, [and] rescuing it, I would bring it back. Then if he also came to attack me, I would also kill him.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I would-chase/pursue this and would-strike-(it), and take/get the sheep. If he would-fights-back at me I would-catch it by the neck and would-strike-(it) to-death.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I went after the lion or the bear and attacked it and rescued the lamb from the wild animal’s mouth. Then I grabbed the animal by its jaw/throat and struck it and killed it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 17:35

The Revised Standard Version rendering I went after him is a literal translation of the Hebrew words, but the meaning of the expression is “I pursued it” (Bible en français courant) or “I would chase it” (New Century Version). New Jerusalem Bible translates “I used to follow it up.”

Delivered it: the pronoun refers to the lamb mentioned in verse 34. And the masculine pronouns him and his refer to the attacking animal.

The pronoun he in the expression if he arose against me may need to be made clearer in translation. It also refers back to “the lion or the bear” who had attacked the sheep.

His beard: it is more natural in English to refer to the hair on an animal’s face as a “mane” rather than as a beard. Technically only the lion and not a bear has a mane. The Septuagint says “throat” instead of beard. For translation purposes it may be better in the receptor language to say “the hair around his throat.” New American Bible translates “I would seize it by the jaw.” Contemporary English Version and Good News Translation translate “I grab it by the throat.”

Smote … and killed: the verb rendered smote twice in this verse means “to hit” or “to beat.” In some contexts it means “to kill.” It is not clear whether one action or two separate actions are intended here. Some understand this to be one action. Klein says “kill him with a blow.” Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible say “batter it to death.” New Revised Standard Version, however, makes this two separate actions, “strike it down, and kill it.” The difference in meaning is slight, and translators should simply choose between the two possible ways of translating.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .