fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (2 Kings 4:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 4:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “So, that woman went and closed herself inside the house with her sons as she had been told. Her boys brought bottles and she poured the oil inside.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “She and her sons did what Elisha told them, then she shut the door behind them. As her sons kept bringing the Jars to her, she kept filling them with oil.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So the woman did what Elisha told her, and the woman and her children/[lit. they of her children] shut-(the door) of their house. Then her children brought the containers to her, and she put- oil -in-them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So she did what Elisha told her to do. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she kept filling them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Kings 4:5

So: The common Hebrew conjunction here serves as a logical connector and is rightly translated So in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Another option is to leave it untranslated as in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Revised English Bible.

She went from him and shut the door upon herself and her sons: The woman then leaves the presence of the prophet and follows his instructions. But the text leaves quite a bit to the imagination of the reader here. She did not immediately go into her house and shut the door. Rather, she obeyed the order to send her sons out into the surrounding community to gather containers and then she closed the door. For this reason New International Version adds the word “afterward,” saying “She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons.”

For shut the door upon herself and her sons, see the comments on verse 4.

As she poured they brought the vessels to her is literally “and they were bringing to her and she was pouring.” In many languages it will be necessary to say more precisely what was being brought to the woman and what she was pouring; for example, New American Bible has “As they handed her the vessels, she would pour in oil.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Kings 4:5

4:5a So she left him,

So the widow woman left Elisha ⌊and did as he said⌋ .

-or-

So the woman went away ⌊to the homes of her neighbors⌋ .

4:5b and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons,

She shut the door with her and her sons inside.

-or-

Then she ⌊went home and⌋ closed the door of her house, with her sons inside with her.

4:5c they kept bringing jars to her,

As her sons brought the containers to her,

-or-

The boys started to give her the ⌊empty⌋ jars/vessels,

4:5d and she kept pouring.

she kept pouring ⌊oil⌋ ⌊into them⌋ .

-or-

and ⌊one after another⌋ she filled them ⌊with oil⌋ .

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