altar

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “altar” in English is translated in a number of ways:

  • Obolo: ntook or “raised structure for keeping utensils (esp. sacrifice)” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Muna: medha kaefoampe’a or “offering table” (source: René van den Berg)
  • Luchazi: muytula or “the place where one sets the burden down”/”the place where the life is laid down” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. )
  • Tzotzil: “where they place God’s gifts” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
  • Tsafiki: “table for giving to God” (source: Bruce Moore in Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.)
  • Noongar: karla-kooranyi or “sacred fire” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “offering-burning table” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “place for sacrificing” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “burning-place” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tibetan: mchod khri (མཆོད་​ཁྲི།) or “offering throne” (source: gSungrab website )
  • Bura-Pabir: “sacrifice mound” (source: Andy Warrren-Rothlin)
  • Kalanga: “fireplace of sacrifice” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Cherokee: “fire nurturing place” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 26) (note that the Jewish priest is “fire feeder” in Cherokee)
The Ignaciano translators decided to translate the difficult term in that language according to the focus of each New Testament passage in which the word appears (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Willis Ott (in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.) explains:

  • Matt. 5:23,24: “When you take your offering to God, and arriving, you remember…, do not offer your gift yet. First go to your brother…Then it is fitting to return and offer your offering to God.” (The focus is on improving relationships with people before attempting to improve a relationship with God, so the means of offering, the altar, is not focal.)
  • Matt. 23:18 (19,20): “You also teach erroneously: ‘If someone makes a promise, swearing by the offering-place/table, he is not guilty if he should break the promise. But if he swears by the gift that he put on the offering-place/table, he will be guilty if he breaks the promise.'”
  • Luke 1:11: “…to the right side of the table where they burn incense.”
  • Luke 11.51. “…the one they killed in front of the temple (or the temple enclosure).” (The focus is on location, with overtones on: “their crime was all the more heinous for killing him there”.)
  • Rom. 11:3: “Lord, they have killed all my fellow prophets that spoke for you. They do not want anyone to give offerings to you in worship.” (The focus is on the people’s rejection of religion, with God as the object of worship.)
  • 1Cor. 9:13 (10:18): “Remember that those that attend the temple have rights to eat the foods that people bring as offerings to God. They have rights to the meat that the people offer.” (The focus is on the right of priests to the offered food.)
  • Heb. 7:13: “This one of whom we are talking is from another clan. No one from that clan was ever a priest.” (The focus in on the legitimacy of this priest’s vocation.)
  • Jas. 2:21: “Remember our ancestor Abraham, when God tested him by asking him to give him his son by death. Abraham was to the point of stabbing/killing his son, thus proving his obedience.” (The focus is on the sacrifice as a demonstration of faith/obedience.)
  • Rev. 6:9 (8:3,5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7): “I saw the souls of them that…They were under the table that holds God’s fire/coals.” (This keeps the concepts of: furniture, receptacle for keeping fire, and location near God.)
  • Rev. 11:1: “Go to the temple, Measure the building and the inside enclosure (the outside is contrasted in v. 2). Measure the burning place for offered animals. Then count the people who are worshiping there.” (This altar is probably the brazen altar in a temple on earth, since people are worshiping there and since outside this area conquerors are allowed to subjugate for a certain time.)

See also altar (Acts 17:23).


In the Hebraic English translation of Everett Fox it is translated as slaughter-site and likewise in the German translation by Buber / Rosenzweig as Schlachtstatt.

cubit

The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek that is translated as “cubit” or into a metric or imperial measurement in English is translated in Kutu, Kwere, and Nyamwezi as makono or “armlength.” Since a cubit is the measurement from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, one armlength (measured from the center of the chest to the fingertips) equals two cubits or roughly 1 meter. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Similarly, in Akoose, the translation is “arm distance.” (Source: Joseph Nkwelle Ngome and Marlie van Rooyen & Jacobus A. Naudé in Communicatio 2009, p. 251ff.)

In Klao it is converted into “hand spans” (app. 6 inches or 12 cm) and “finger spans” (app. 1 inch or 2 cm) (source: Don Slager) and in Bariai into leoa or “fathom,” which comprises the distance from a person’s fingertip to fingertip with arms outstretched, app. 6 feet (source: Bariai Back Translation).

bronze altar (illustration)

The Hebrew that is translated as “bronze altar” in English is illustrated for use in Bible translations in East Africa by Pioneer Bible Translators like this:

Image owned by PBT and Jonathan McDaniel and licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

bronze

The Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “bronze” in English is translated in Newari as “bell-metal,” since bells are made of bronze in Nepal (source: Newari Back Translation).

See also bronze vessel.

distance (long / wide / high)

The concepts of distance that are translated in English with “long,” “wide,” and “high/tall” are translated in Kwere with one word: utali. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (2 Chronicles 4:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Chronicles 4:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then Solomon gave to Huram to make an altar of bronze. Each side had a length of thirty feet and height of fifteen feet.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “King Solomon built a bronze altar 9 meters square and 4.4 meters high.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Solomon also caused-to-make bronze altar with 30 feet square and 15 feet high.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Solomon’s workers made a square bronze altar that was 10 yards wide on each side, and it was 5 yards high.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Chronicles 4:1

He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high: Since this verse begins a new section, it may be best to translate the pronoun He as “Solomon” (Contemporary English Version) or “King Solomon” (Good News Translation). The action implied in the verb made is that Solomon ordered the altar to be made. He did not do it himself. So some versions say he “had a bronze altar made” (Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Parole de Vie communicates essentially the same meaning by saying “The workers made a bronze altar,” but this translation takes the focus off of Solomon.

For the construction of the altar of bronze used in the Tent of the LORD’s presence, see Exo 27.1-2. The altar that Solomon built was four times longer, four times wider, and about three times taller than the altar that Moses had built. The altar most likely had steps leading up to it (compare Ezek 43.13-17). The dimensions given here may represent the base of the altar, which would have included the steps. For a good description of this altar, see WTH, pages 239-240|fig:WTH.4.2.3.Temple altar.239-240.html. Since the base of the altar was the same length and width, some translations say it was “square” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). For the word bronze, see the comments on 1 Chr 15.19 and 2 Chr 1.5.

Regarding the modern equivalents of measurements in cubits, see the comments on 1 Chr 11.23 and 2 Chr 3.3. Twenty cubits corresponds to approximately 9 meters or 30 feet, and ten cubits corresponds to about 4.5 meters or 15 feet.

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 4:1

Section 4:1- 5:1

King Solomon made all the things for worship in the temple

4:1a He made a bronze altar

He made an altar of bronze.
-or-
Solomon built a place for sacrificing ⌊animals.⌋ It was made of bronze.
-or-
King Solomon had a bronze place/platform made for burning sacrifices.

4:1b twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.

It was twenty (20) forearm-measures long and twenty (20) forearm-measures wide. Its height was ten (10) forearm-measures.
-or-
The altar was nine (9) meters long, nine (9) meters wide, and four and a half meters (4 1/2) high.
-or-
The length and width of the altar were each thirty (30) feet. It was fifteen (15) feet high.

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