shatter

In Gbaya, the notion of being shattered (or devour/strip/torture) is emphasized with ɗɛ́sɛ́-ɗɛ́sɛ, an ideophone that expresses the action of shattering, like a glass or pane of glass.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

army

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

worm / maggot

In English, “worm” is a fairly general word, while “grub” refers to worms and insect larvae that eat fruit and some vegetables such as beans. “Maggot” refers to the worm-like larvae flies and beetles, which feed on decaying meat or flesh. The Hebrew words tole‘ah and tola‘ath are fairly general terms for worms of all kinds, regardless of what the worms eat.

In Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers there occurs the phrase tola‘ath shani, literally “worm of scarlet”. The Hebrew name indicates both a scarlet color and the dye producing this color. The dye is made from the kermes insect Coccus ilicis, which was found in the Ararat region. The dye was traded by the Phoenicians, who carried it to the Middle East, North Africa, southern Europe, Mesopotamia, and even further.

Unlike the more general words tole‘ah and tola‘ath, rimah and its Greek equivalent skōlēx refer exclusively in the Bible to flesh-eating worms, in other words, maggots. The use of “worm” and “vermin” in modern English versions is motivated by the fact that to say that one’s own body is covered with maggots is repulsive and impolite in English culture. It may not be in other cultures.

Worms, grubs, and maggots are small, soft, legless, tube-shaped creatures that have no bones or shells. They typically feed on overripe fruit, rotting meat, and similar things. Most are actually larvae that hatch from the eggs laid by flies or some beetles. Most of them mature into pupae and then into adult forms of the parent insects.

In the Bible worms and maggots are symbols of uncleanness, decay and insignificance. In Psalms 22:6 and Isaiah 41:14 the word tola‘ath signifies a very insignificant human being or even nation. Where comparing a person with a worm or maggot will not convey the same meaning, it may be possible to find some other insect which symbolizes insignificance. Where no such comparison exists, it will be necessary to follow something like “weak and helpless as a worm.”

Maggots were a symbol of uncleanness, decay, and death. In Job 25:6 the maggot is symbolic of a repulsive, insignificant person.

Worms and maggots are found universally, and finding equivalents should not be too hard. However, in many languages there are specific words for different kinds of worms or maggots, but no generic word that includes them all. In such cases the individual contexts should guide the translator. When the reference is to worms destroying grapes or olives, a suitable word for such a context should be found; when the reference is to maggots that feed on corpses, a suitable word for these contexts should be used. It is more important to translate appropriately for a given context than it is to translate one Hebrew or Greek word the same way every time.

The use of a word for a flesh-eating worm or maggot is appropriate for all contexts.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Translation commentary on 2 Maccabees 9:9

And so the ungodly man’s body swarmed with worms: Compare Zech 14.12. The connector And so may be omitted. There is a textual problem text here. Instead of body (Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible), many versions and commentators have “eyes” (Good News Bible, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Abel, Goldstein). The evidence of the Greek manuscripts is almost entirely for body, and this is the word we recommend. This clause may be rendered “The ungodly man’s body was swarming with worms” or even “Worms swarmed all over this ungodly man’s body.”

And while he was still living in anguish and pain, his flesh rotted away, and because of his stench the whole army felt revulsion at his decay: While he was still living may be connected to his flesh rotted away by saying “His flesh was rotting away, all while he was still living.” Then in anguish and pain may be connected to and because of his stench … (see the model below). Anguish and pain are synonyms, used for emphasis. Good News Bible says “terrible pain and agony,” which is a useful model. His flesh rotted away may be translated “His skin began rotting” (Contemporary English Version). For and because of his stench the whole army felt revulsion at his decay, Contemporary English Version is excellent with “He was stinking so badly that his entire army felt like vomiting.”

Here is an alternative model for this whole verse:

• This ungodly man’s body was swarming with worms and his flesh was rotting away, all while he was still alive. He was in terrible agony [or, He hurt terribly], and he smelled so bad that his whole army [or, all his soldiers] felt sick [or, felt like vomiting].

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.