years (age)

In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).

Norm Mundhenk tells this story:

“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”

In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also advanced in years.

complete verse (2 Chronicles 24:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 24:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “Jehoiada died of old age having one hundred and thirty years.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After he had become a very old man, Jehoiada died at the age of 130 years.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Jehoyada lives very long years, and he died at the age of 130 years.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Jehoiada lived to become very old. He died when he was 130 years old.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Chronicles 24:15

The common Hebrew conjunction rendered But (also New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible) may be translated in this way because there is an implied contrast between life in Judah before and after Jehoiada’s death. But since the contrast does not appear until several verses later, many versions omit the conjunction here (so Good News Translation).

Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and he died means he died after living a long time. Long life was seen as a reward for faithfulness to God. But a literal translation of grew old and full of days may be quite unnatural in other languages. So translators should seek the most natural way in their language to express the notion that Jehoiada became very old. Revised English Bible says “old and weighed down with years,” while New American Bible uses the idiom “lived to a ripe old age” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).

He was a hundred and thirty years old at his death may be rendered “He was 130 years old when he died” (God’s Word).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Chronicles 24:15

24:15a When Jehoiada was old and full of years,

Jehoiada lived many years and grew very old,
-or-
Jehoiada ⌊the sacrificer⌋ grew old

24:15b he died at the age of 130.

and he died when he was a hundred and thirty years old.
-or-
and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty (130).

© 2021, 2022 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.