tabernacle (noun)

The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is translated as “tabernacle” in English is translated in San Blas Kuna as “house of prayer that can be carried.” (Source: Ronald Ross)

In Bandi it is translated as “holy sitting place.” The “sitting place for the Bandi is where you live.” Therefore the tabernacle is the place where God lived. (Source: Becky Grossmann in this newsletter )

In Vidunda it is translated as “God’s tent” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext) and in Tibetan as gur mchog (གུར་​མཆོག) or “perfect tent” (source: gSungrab website )

In American Sign Language it is translated with with a sign for “tent” combined with a sign referring to the outer court surrounding the tent (see Exodus 27:9 and following). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Tabernacle” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

See also tabernacle (verb) / dwell, festival of Tabernacles and ark of the covenant.

God's Promise to David

Artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India.

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complete verse (2 Samuel 7:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Samuel 7:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “I have never lived in any house from when I saved the people of Israel getting out of Egypt until today. But I have been living in a tent which was simply moved from place to place.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “From the day I brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt till today, I have never lived in a temple. I have always lived in a tent, and [I] have been coming [and] going from one place to another.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I have- not -dwelt in the temple from the time that I caused- the Israelinhon -to-come-out of Egipto until now. I only have-been-moving-from-place-to-place which my place-of-dwelling is a tent.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “I have not lived in any building from the day that I brought the Israeli people up from Egypt until now. Instead, I have been living in a tent, moving from one place to another when the Israelis moved to other places.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on 2 Samuel 7:6

The word for house is again contrasted with the idea of a tent, but some languages use the same word for the two and simply qualify them in different ways. A house may be something like “a dwelling made of wood,” or “a dwelling made of stone,” or “a permanent dwelling.” A tent, however, is “a dwelling made of animal skin,” “a dwelling made of cloth,” or “a temporary dwelling.” In the context of this passage it may be better to translate “a house made of wood” and “a house made of cloth [or, skin].”

Brought up: literally this is the causative form of the verb “ascend,” so that the overall meaning is “cause to go up.” But in many languages a verb like “save,” “deliver,” or “liberate” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) will be more natural in this context. The reference is to the time of the exodus from Egypt, when Moses led the Israelites out of slavery.

To this day: that is, up to the time that the LORD was talking with David in this story. Note that Good News Translation translates “until now.” Note also that Revised English Bible restructures the verse so that this part comes first: “Down to this day I have never dwelt in a house….” This order may be a better model for some languages.

Moving about in a tent: translators should ensure that this is not rendered in such a way as to imply movement within a tent. The idea is rather one of movement from place to place while using a temporary dwelling for lodging.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .