tamarisk

There are two main species of tamarisk referred to in the Bible, the Leafless Tamarisk Tamarix aphylla and the much more common Nile Tamarisk Tamarix nilotica. Both species are found throughout the plains and in the wadis (dry stream beds) of the Aravah and the Negev, where they tap water that has soaked into the ground after flash floods. Tamarisks can grow in salty soil, earning them the name “salt cedar” in some places. A third species grows only in the Jordan Valley. None of them has proper leaves but rather fleshy twigs, which are eaten by goats and sheep.

Description  The leafless tamarisk grows to a height of 10 meters (33 feet) and can be 1 meter (3 feet) across at the base. The more common Nile tamarisk is smaller and is really a shrub, branching right from the ground. Tamarisks grow in very dry places due to the fact that their roots extend far into the ground. The trunk is often twist-ed. The cedar-like branches hang down like those of the weeping willow. Bedouin shepherds have planted many of them throughout the Negev for their flocks.

The fact that Abraham planted a tamarisk and worshiped Yahweh there (Genesis 21:33) indicates that these trees, like oaks, were associated with the spirit world. According to Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982), the “cedar” branches mentioned in the cleansing rituals of Leviticus 14:4 and Numbers 19:6 may possibly have been from tamarisks, although Phoenician juniper trees (very similar to cedar) were also available in some places on the journey of the wandering Israelites. Imported into the western United States, tamarisks have multiplied so fast in stream beds that they are now considered a costly nuisance. In some places they are used in making dyes and in processing leather.

The options for translating “tamarisk” are:

1. Transliterate from a major language, for example, tamarisiki, tamaris, esheli (Hebrew), or eteli/atali (Arabic).
2. Consider the function of the tree, which in Genesis was almost certainly connected to Abraham’s worship of God, and translate as “holy tree” perhaps with a footnote giving the Hebrew and/or English, especially if you have used “holy tree” in Gen 12.6 for “oak.”
3. Simply use “tree” with a footnote stating that the Hebrew specifies ’eshel, that is, tamarisk.

Leafless tamarisk, Wikimedia Commons
Nile tamarisk, Wikimedia Commons

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

priest

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Greek that are typically translated as “priest” in English (itself deriving from Latin “presbyter” — “elder”) is often translated with a consideration of existing religious traditions. (Click or tap for details)

Bratcher / Nida (1961) say this:

“However, rather than borrow local names for priests, some of which have unwanted connotations, a number of translations have employed descriptive phrases based on certain functions: (1) those describing a ceremonial activity: Pamona uses tadu, the priestess who recites the litanies in which she describes her journey to the upper or under-world to fetch life-spirit for sick people, animals or plants; Batak Toba uses the Arabic malim, ‘Muslim religious teacher;’ ‘one who presents man’s sacrifice to God’ (Bambara, Eastern Maninkakan), ‘one who presents sacrifices’ (Baoulé, Navajo (Dinė)), ‘one who takes the name of the sacrifice’ (Kpelle, and ‘to make a sacrifice go out’ (Hausa); (2) those describing an intermediary function: ‘one who speaks to God’ (Shipibo-Conibo) and ‘spokesman of the people before God’ (Tabasco Chontal).”

In Obolo it is translated as ogwu ngwugwa or “the one who offers sacrifice” (source: Enene Enene), in Mairasi as agam aevar nevwerai: “religious leader” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Ignaciano as “blesser, one who does ritual as a practice” (using a generic term rather than the otherwise common Spanish loan word sacerdote) (source: Willis Ott in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.), and in Noongar as yakin-kooranyi or “holy worker” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

For Guhu-Samane, Ernest Richert (in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. ) reports this: “The [local] cult of Poro used to be an all-encompassing religious system that essentially governed all areas of life. (…) For ‘priest’ the term ‘poro father’ would at first seem to be a natural choice. However, several priests of the old cult are still living. Although they no longer function primarily as priests of the old system they still have a substantial influence on the community, and there would be more than a chance that the unqualified term would (in some contexts particularly) be equated with the priest of the poro cult. We learned, then, that the poro fathers would sometimes be called ‘knife men’ in relation to their sacrificial work. The panel was pleased to apply this term to the Jewish priest, and the Christian community has adopted it fully. [Mark 1:44, for instance, now] reads: ‘You must definitely not tell any man of this. But you go show your body to the knife man and do what Moses said about a sacrifice concerning your being healed, and the cause (base of this) will be apparent.'”

For a revision of the 1968 version of the Bible in Khmer Joseph Hong (in: The Bible Translator 1996, 233ff. ) talks about a change in wording for this term:

​​Bau cha r (បូជា‌ចារ្យ) — The use of this new construction meaning “priest” is maintained to translate the Greek word hiereus. The term “mean sang (មាន សង្ឃ)” used in the old version actually means a “Buddhist monk,” and is felt to be theologically misleading. The Khmer considers the Buddhist monk as a “paddy field of merits,” a reserve of merits to be shared with other people. So a Khmer reader would find unthinkable that the mean sang in the Bible killed animals, the gravest sin for a Buddhist; and what a scandal it would be to say that a mean sang was married, had children, and drank wine.

See also idolatrous priests.

complete verse (1 Samuel 22:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Samuel 22:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “One day, Saul sat under a tree on mount Gibeah having a spear and there were some leaders standing around him. Then, Saul received news that David plus his people had been seen/appeared in Juda.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Now Saul heard-the-news that David and his men had-been-discovered. Saul was-sitting at-that-time under the tamarisk/[tamariska] tree, there on the hill/mountain of Gibea. He was-holding-(in-his-hand) a spear, and around him were-standing all his officials.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “One day, someone told Saul that David and his men had arrived in Judah. On that day, Saul was sitting underneath the tamarisk tree on a hill at Gibeah town. He was holding his spear, and was surrounded by his army officers.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Samuel 22:6

Now translates the common Hebrew conjunction. Here this conjunction serves to introduce a new episode in the story concerning Saul’s attempts to capture David. There is no specific indication of how much time has passed between the events of verses 5 and 6. Good News Translation therefore uses the general words “One day.” New Revised Standard Version does not even translate this conjunction, but rather begins abruptly with the words “Saul heard.” But it is probably a good idea in most languages to find some way of indicating the passage of a certain amount of time between the events described in verse 5 and those of verse 6. Contemporary English Version actually adds a section heading between these two verses (“Saul Kills the Priests of the LORD”).

For reasons of English style and logic, the information about the discovery of David is shifted to the end of this verse in Good News Translation. By so doing, the writer of the story moves quickly from the locating of David to Saul’s action against his perceived enemies in the following verses.

The passive expression that David was discovered may be made active by saying “that some of his men had seen David” or something similar.

Gibe-ah: see the comments on 10.5.

The preposition under will be more naturally rendered “in the shade of” in certain languages.

Tamarisk tree: this kind of tree seldom loses its greenness and is a good shade tree. Very possibly this tree was regarded as a sacred tree (see also 31.13; Gen 21.33). Hebrew contains a definite article, that is, the tamarisk tree, apparently referring to a specific tree.

On the height: this translates the Hebrew word ramah, which means “hill-top” (so Revised English Bible). Some would change the first letter of ramah to b, creating the word for “high place” (so Klein, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). “High place” is the traditional rendering of a Hebrew word that refers to shrines or cultic worship places (see the comments on 9.12). But there seems to be no valid reason for altering the Hebrew text at this point. Translators should translate “on top of the hill.”

With his spear in his hand: see the comments on 18.10.

Servants: or “officials” (New International Version). See the comments on 8.14.

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 .